Hearing from the Kennedy School?

[linden]

But once the emails are sent out this message board will be lite up like the 4th of July.

I heard that they are hoping to have decisions out the week before school starts in September. Scholarship/fellowship decisions will be made sometime in October.

Ha, ha. Seriously, though, I've been a lot calmer about HKS ever since it dawned on me that this is not over for me until my top choice closes out its wait list in May.

[saschita]

I just called the admissions office and they told me that the decisions will be released the last few days of march/first few days of April!!! This is getting really crazy....We are all having to book flights and make plans to visit schools now. It's just so hard to know whether to make plans around HKS, or just forget about it until we know....

[thewaitinggame09]

So maybe a current KSG or someone who might know how this process works...

Once we find out admission/rejection decisions, how much longer until do we find out about our financial package offer (fellowship decisions, etc.)??

[fall09]

I just called the admissions office and they told me that the decisions will be released the last few days of march/first few days of April!!! This is getting really crazy....We are all having to book flights and make plans to visit schools now. It's just so hard to know whether to make plans around HKS, or just forget about it until we know....

Uff, that is harsh news. Though they never claimed otherswise.

[mpp_hopeful]

I just called the admissions office and they told me that the decisions will be released the last few days of march/first few days of April!!! This is getting really crazy....We are all having to book flights and make plans to visit schools now. It's just so hard to know whether to make plans around HKS, or just forget about it until we know....

I'm definitely not banking on an HKS admit, but I believe I'm very competitive. I've already booked a flight/hotel for Cambridge during the admitted students weekend. Fortunately, I'm a preferred frequent flyer / hotel rewards member so I can book these things and cancel last minute without penalty. Ah, the perks of being a management and strategy consultant, on the road 80% of the time. (Get me out of this career, HKS!)

If you're in a similar position, maybe you can do the same. I know hotels are much easier to cancel last minute without penalty than flights, even for non-preferred members.

[sisepuede]

But once the emails are sent out this message board will be lite up like the 4th of July.

i have to confess that i haven't posted lately, but have been watching this board like a lunatic. i literally just woke up, reached for my laptop and checked my email for harvard.edu addresses. :roll: lame-o.

the weird thing is, i don't even know when the admitted students day is. i figure that if by some chance i do get admitted, and choose to go to the kennedy school, it won't be because the people were nice, it will be for all of the things we know about the place without ever setting foot on campus (prestige, alumni networks, most u.s. supreme court justices and presidents went there, etc). lame-o again, i know.

i did spend two days in cambridge visiting faculty, etc last fall.

[anxiouslywaiting]

I just called the admissions office and they told me that the decisions will be released the last few days of march/first few days of April!!! This is getting really crazy....We are all having to book flights and make plans to visit schools now. It's just so hard to know whether to make plans around HKS, or just forget about it until we know....

so do we believe this in a literal sense or do we think this is just their attempt to cover for themselves and keep us from continually asking them when decisions will be out? like are we actually not going to hear from them for another two weeks? or do we still think there is a chance it will be, say, this friday?

[poiuytr]

so do we believe this in a literal sense or do we think this is just their attempt to cover for themselves and keep us from continually asking them when decisions will be out? like are we actually not going to hear from them for another two weeks? or do we still think there is a chance it will be, say, this friday?

While I was on the March 16th bandwagon earlier, I think it's pretty clear we're in for another week of waiting. Unless they start coming out today, you have to assume the decisions won't be coming out while the school is on break, which I believe to be the week of March 23rd. If that's the case, they'll be releasing decisions the week of March 30 - which is consistent with the "last few days of March/first few days of April" comment.

At least we have each other.

[jonpkduq]

At least we have each other.

Hilarious! And much needed.

[thewaitinggame09]

At least we have each other.

And we got the Grad Cafe

[lp224]

Ever heard of the Maxwell Mafia?

Not to confuse threads, but what is the Maxwell Mafia?

[dayafterxmas]

Not to confuse threads, but what is the Maxwell Mafia?

It's the network of alum that helps connect new Maxwell grads to some pretty nifty employment opportunities (I mentioned it because some people are confused as to one's chances in DC after earning the MPA there). Truthfully, I grew up near DC, my dad works there with DoD people, and the Maxwell School has a great reputation in his line of work. I mean, SURE it's not Harvard, but in the public sector the Ivy name can only take you so far (this ISN'T law school!). DC is all about connections, and Maxwell has them -- trust me. Also, about the internship thing...don't sweat it.

[dayafterxmas]

sorry...now back to talking about KSG...

[anxiouslywaiting]

Sorry to add another non-related point, but I have heard a great deal about the Fletcher Mafia but never the Maxwell Mafia. Plus I have heard Syracuse is the worst...

[fighter_2008]

another unrelated point: here's my bet on the first five on this forum who will get an HKS admit and post it on this board:

1)dagger

2)mcneelified

3)sisepuede

4)cornell07

5)fighter_2008 (me!)

any takers?

[dagger]

another unrelated point: here's my bet on the first five on this forum who will get an HKS admit and post it on this board:

1)dagger

2)mcneelified

3)sisepuede

4)cornell07

5)fighter_2008 (me!)

any takers?

I very much dispute my position on your list but am flattered. Just off the top of my head I would argue that younglions very much deserves a position. Not to mention a few other board regulars: linden and policy_applicant. I'm sure there's many more as well that will all hear positive news.

While each school is different, I think my impending Chicago reject doesn't bode well for HKS.

[zourah]

another unrelated point: here's my bet on the first five on this forum who will get an HKS admit and post it on this board:

1)dagger

2)mcneelified

3)sisepuede

4)cornell07

5)fighter_2008 (me!)

any takers?

tempting fate...

[linden]

I very much dispute my position on your list but am flattered. Just off the top of my head I would argue that younglions very much deserves a position. Not to mention a few other board regulars: linden and policy_applicant. I'm sure there's many more as well that will all hear positive news.

While each school is different, I think my impending Chicago reject doesn't bode well for HKS.

dagger:

I nominate you as a representative to HKS' adcom. Too bad I won't get the same love from the real adcom.

[Cornell07]

another unrelated point: here's my bet on the first five on this forum who will get an HKS admit and post it on this board:

1)dagger

2)mcneelified

3)sisepuede

4)cornell07

5)fighter_2008 (me!)

any takers?

*fingers crossed* I think out of my remaining schools, I have better odds of getting into HKS than JHU-SAIS or Georgetown-SFS, and worse odds than at GW (definitely better than 50% probability) and LSE (which seems like a shoe-in at this point); I give myself a 40% probability of acceptance. It places less emphasis on having worked abroad, than my two rejections, WWS and Fletcher. It has a leadership fetish and my leadership essay rocked socks, if you know what I mean. Still, I am most worried about my "commitment to public service" essay as I think it was the weakest of all my essays. I only used it for one other school, WWS, and I didn't even get waitlisted there.

Boy would I love to live in Boston again.

[MCneelified06]

I actually think I'm less likely to get in at HKS than I was at WWS or maybe even a couple of the other schools. I was very clear on my financial aid application that I would require funding to attend -- they claim to be need-blind but they require that you send them your FAFSA BEFORE they make admission decisions? That's a joke. Anecdotally, I have heard there are a lot of people at HKS who are writing checks to attend. If $$$ is no issue, "why not Harvard?" goes the thinking. I don't mean to disrespect any current students there and I do hope I get in with some sort of award. It's a fantastic school. But their financial aid email they sent out a month or so ago talking about loan repayment and the high cost of attendance turned me off a bit.

[fighter_2008]

I very much dispute my position on your list but am flattered. Just off the top of my head I would argue that younglions very much deserves a position. Not to mention a few other board regulars: linden and policy_applicant. I'm sure there's many more as well that will all hear positive news.

While each school is different, I think my impending Chicago reject doesn't bode well for HKS.

dagger i agree that younglions is a virtual shoo-in, and I wld've put him on my top five too, but i had to give myself a fighting chance right? sorry i'm just wallowing in self-pity and consolation here...

[fall09]

*fingers crossed* I think out of my remaining schools, I have better odds of getting into HKS than JHU-SAIS or Georgetown-SFS, and worse odds than at GW (definitely better than 50% probability) and LSE (which seems like a shoe-in at this point); I give myself a 40% probability of acceptance. It places less emphasis on having worked abroad, than my two rejections, WWS and Fletcher. It has a leadership fetish and my leadership essay rocked socks, if you know what I mean. Still, I am most worried about my "commitment to public service" essay as I think it was the weakest of all my essays. I only used it for one other school, WWS, and I didn't even get waitlisted there.

Boy would I love to live in Boston again.

I wonder what the odds are of getting a WWS rejection and an HKS acceptance. So far I only know people who got into WWS (and all other shcools they applied to) but not HKS - never the other way around.

[Dreams]

I wonder what the odds are of getting a WWS rejection and an HKS acceptance. So far I only know people who got into WWS (and all other shcools they applied to) but not HKS - never the other way around.

I saw a couple instances from last year on the board where folks were turned down from WWS but taken in at HKS. While we are at it, did anyone here apply for the IGA concentration at Kennedy? I did not see that option until early this year even though it was offered at the beginning of the school year. It carries a lot of funding with it.

[fall09]

I saw a couple instances from last year on the board where folks were turned down from WWS but taken in at HKS. While we are at it, did anyone here apply for the IGA concentration at Kennedy? I did not see that option until early this year even though it was offered at the beginning of the school year. It carries a lot of funding with it.

Yes, I did. It's a new concentration that was introduced in autumn 2008. I spoke to them about my concentration choice beacause my interest is quite interdisciplinary (economic development and democratisation). I read this at some point: http://harvardcitizen.com/2008/09/17/hk ... entration/

[zourah]

While we are at it, did anyone here apply for the IGA concentration at Kennedy? I did not see that option until early this year even though it was offered at the beginning of the school year. It carries a lot of funding with it.

I did, but I haven't heard anything special about funding for that particular concentration. What makes you say that?