Hearing from the Kennedy School?

[Rose]

I cited the IGA concentration in my statement of purpose, but I wasn't aware there was any particular funding associated with just that concentration.

Do you think that the IGA concentration at HKS compares with an IR program's focus on international issues, though? I got the impression the program was a big selling point for a lot of people considering IR and PubPol applications or who might not have had quite the right preparation for the MPA/ID.

[Dreams]

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/

Thanks for the link. It is interesting. Either way good luck! It seems like there will be quite some competition since a lot of people are interested in the concentration.

[Dreams]

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

I spoke to someone at the school about it. And I didn't say special funding, just a lot of funding. Good luck to you too in the process.

[sisepuede]

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?

thanks for thinking of me fighter, we could all use some optimism right now. i have this unscientific calculation running in my head that changes with every bit of harvard speculation someone shares....who knows what they will do this year?!

i've also gotten the impression mentioned earlier that HKS has been really really up front about the high level of debt they expect folks to take on. not neccessarily from faculty, but definitely from admissions folks. i'm sure this isn't really the case, but at one point during a grad school fair, i almost felt like they were trying to scare people off with it. to be honest, i considered not applying because of it.

[splic]

*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.

eek what's the "commitment to public service" essay?! I didn't have to do it!

[fall09]

eek what's the "commitment to public service" essay?! I didn't have to do it!

There is no requirement for a "commitment to public service" essay, only (!"only"!) a policy memo, statement of purpose, CV, leadership essay and, if you are so inclined, an essay on a factor that may have affected your academic performance in the past.

However, I've had a number of admissions officers tell me that additional material rarely gets read.

[zourah]

There is no requirement for a "commitment to public service" essay, only (!"only"!) a policy memo, statement of purpose, CV, leadership essay and, if you are so inclined, an essay on a factor that may have affected your academic performance in the past.

However, I've had a number of admissions officers tell me that additional material rarely gets read.

Yes, but the prompt for the statement of purpose is a bit different than other schools' - it does say something along the lines of "how did you decide to get into public service?" instead of just, "so, what's your plan?" I'm pretty sure that's what was meant.

[Sroek]

Hey guys! I applied to Harvard specifically for the IGA program because I want to focus on security. There is additional funding according to their brochure.

I applied to thirteen schools! HKS, SAIS, GTown MSFS and CPSS, Yale, Chicago CIR, WWS, GWU Elliot, American U. SIS, USC Annenberg, Josef Korbel, Tufts Fletcher, Columbia SIPA.

Accepted: Denver and Chicago

Rejected: Yale, Tufts, Columbia, Princeton,

Waiting: HKS, SAIS, MSFS and CPSS, GWU, SIS, USC

I'm hoping that the odds of getting accepted into Harvard increase a tad by opting for the IGA program and hopefully there weren't too many people applying for that particular program. I'm curious to know how many of you did apply for the program. I specifically mentioned that my academic focus and area of interest was IGA in relation to international security in my personal statement. In fact, my public policy essay was on gangs since it relates to national security. So I built my whole package to bank on the IGA program. Let me know your thoughts. Who is interested in security studies? Who applied specifically for the IGA program? And do you think the odds are slightly better if you did?

[Cornell07]

Yes, but the prompt for the statement of purpose is a bit different than other schools' - it does say something along the lines of "how did you decide to get into public service?" instead of just, "so, what's your plan?" I'm pretty sure that's what was meant.

Right. For most schools, I used a variation on my statement of purpose (i.e. what my professional/academic background is, why my goals are, how X school plays into said goals). For WWS and HKS, they asked for a personal statement (i.e. give us an insight into your personality by means of your previous exposure and long term goals related to public service). These are two very different types of essays if you ask me. It is good in SoP to express your personality via your writing style, but with personal statements, you need to be much more forward.

[sisepuede]

*sigh* so much for my addendum on the policy implications of subsidies for traveling circus companies.

[Sroek]

Hey guys! I applied to Harvard specifically for the IGA program because I want to focus on security. There is additional funding according to their brochure.

I applied to thirteen schools! HKS, SAIS, GTown MSFS and CPSS, Yale, Chicago CIR, WWS, GWU Elliot, American U. SIS, USC Annenberg, Josef Korbel, Tufts Fletcher, Columbia SIPA.

Accepted: Denver and Chicago

Rejected: Yale, Tufts, Columbia, Princeton,

Waiting: HKS, SAIS, MSFS and CPSS, GWU, SIS, USC

I'm hoping that the odds of getting accepted into Harvard increase a tad by opting for the IGA program and hopefully there weren't too many people applying for that particular program. I'm curious to know how many of you did apply for the program. I specifically mentioned that my academic focus and area of interest was IGA in relation to international security in my personal statement. In fact, my public policy essay was on gangs since it relates to national security. So I built my whole package to bank on the IGA program. Let me know your thoughts. Who is interested in security studies? Who applied specifically for the IGA program? And do you think the odds are slightly better if you did?

[fall09]

Right. For most schools, I used a variation on my statement of purpose (i.e. what my professional/academic background is, why my goals are, how X school plays into said goals). For WWS and HKS, they asked for a personal statement (i.e. give us an insight into your personality by means of your previous exposure and long term goals related to public service). These are two very different types of essays if you ask me. It is good in SoP to express your personality via your writing style, but with personal statements, you need to be much more forward.

Yes, WWS and HKS were definitely more focused on personal commitment.

Interesting point actually, Cornell07. I am an international student and as such not used to the American way of selling oneself. I tend to think in collective rather than individual terms. When you say that, with WWS and HKS, you needed to be "more forward", what do you mean exactly?

[zourah]

Right. For most schools, I used a variation on my statement of purpose (i.e. what my professional/academic background is, why my goals are, how X school plays into said goals). For WWS and HKS, they asked for a personal statement (i.e. give us an insight into your personality by means of your previous exposure and long term goals related to public service). These are two very different types of essays if you ask me. It is good in SoP to express your personality via your writing style, but with personal statements, you need to be much more forward.

Yeah, because I made a commitment to service a theme in my SoP, my HKS essay shared about 50% content with any of the others, which themselves were more like 75-80% similar. Even then, I thought of it as a different breed of essay from the more generic statement of purpose - in my case, it just happened to be the spark that really helped me figure out what I wanted to say and then got incorporated into my more general statement for other schools.

[Afu]

Sroek, in response to this:

"I'm hoping that the odds of getting accepted into Harvard increase a tad by opting for the IGA program and hopefully there weren't too many people applying for that particular program. I'm curious to know how many of you did apply for the program. I specifically mentioned that my academic focus and area of interest was IGA in relation to international security in my personal statement. In fact, my public policy essay was on gangs since it relates to national security. So I built my whole package to bank on the IGA program. Let me know your thoughts. Who is interested in security studies? Who applied specifically for the IGA program? And do you think the odds are slightly better if you did?"

I applied to the IGA concentration, and it seems as though a number of people on this board applied there as well. So no, I don't think it will increase our odds of getting into HKS. I, also, built my package around the IGA program folding in previous Fulbright experience working in the warring slums of Jamaica, direct service w/Muslim victims of domestic abuse, and my current position at UNICEF ---> projecting to my interest in international mediation through shifts in gender policy/added investment in gender-focused civil society organizations. So, not security studies per se. I think that IGA might be more competitive than the other concentrations, and that it's attracted a whole new brand of MPP applicants (myself included) who might not have otherwise applied to the program.

Accepted: Yale (MA in IR), SIPA (MIA)

Waiting: HKS

Rejected: not so far....

[Rose]

Sroek--

What kind of gangs were you talking about? Do you mean street gangs in major cities or were you relating security issues more with international trafficking (in guns, humans, or drugs, etc.)? I'm just curious, since I know I had a ton of trouble with my policy memo and relating it and my SoP to the IGA (more because the classes in the concentration seemed very broad).

[Sroek]

Afu:

You sound like a solid candidate for the program and best of luck to you. I chose IGA and presented my personal experience with gangs. I grew up in Los Angeles and I witnessed the conception and emergence of the world's largest gang MS-13 (street and transnational gangs). I grew up seeing acts of violence towards all kinds of people. Sometimes it was my friends committing the crimes, and other times it was towards them. I have mourned many friends and seen their lives decay through drug abuse. By the time I was in high school I was indoctrinated in gang and drug culture from trafficking humans and drugs, to purchasing weapons on the black market, etc. I used all these experience and more to argue my case for admission. I may not have worked for a top organization like the U.N, but I have real life experience when it comes to understanding the mindset and logistics of how transnational criminal organizations think and operate. I'm currently teaching high school English to those kids that face the many challenges I faced. Hopefully, Harvard will see that I am an asset to them with great promise as a leader.

[fall09]

Afu:

You sound like a solid candidate for the program and best of luck to you. I chose IGA and presented my personal experience with gangs. I grew up in Los Angeles and I witnessed the conception and emergence of the world's largest gang MS-13 (street and transnational gangs). I grew up seeing acts of violence towards all kinds of people. Sometimes it was my friends committing the crimes, and other times it was towards them. I have mourned many friends and seen their lives decay through drug abuse. By the time I was in high school I was indoctrinated in gang and drug culture from trafficking humans and drugs, to purchasing weapons on the black market, etc. I used all these experience and more to argue my case for admission. I may not have worked for a top organization like the U.N, but I have real life experience when it comes to understanding the mindset and logistics of how transnational criminal organizations think and operate. I'm currently teaching high school English to those kids that face the many challenges I faced. Hopefully, Harvard will see that I am an asset to them with great promise as a leader.

Sroek:

Thanks for sharing this with us. Personally I think you have the kind of background that is often lacking in policy development, especially (and you mentioned the UN) in the international field. So I hope HKS will recognise the value of the kind of in-depth knowledge you have acquired growing up and provide you with the training to tackle related policy challenges.

[Afu]

Thanks Sroek. I agree (Fall09), perspectives such as Sroek's are pivotal in shaping effective policy. Best of luck to you too!

Accepted: Yale (MA in IR), SIPA (MIA), LSE (MSc in Human Rights)

Waiting: HKS

Rejected: not so far....

[Sroek]

Thanks for your kind words. I've been feeling like an underdog going up against most of you. Funny thing is, I never even graduated from high school! I just worked my butt off to get out of the ghetto and stay alive. I've been recently feeling dejected because I got rejected from SIPA, Fletcher, Yale, and WWS. I feel the noose getting tighter if you know what I mean. All I've ever wanted is to go to a first class school and be trained by the best. I grew up feeling third classed. Going to a public school in L.A., a community college, and a Cal State! I just want a chance to demonstrate my worth and contribute to the dialogue of national security issues.

[anxiouslywaiting]

I really don't know what to think about my chances at HKS at this point. I got accepted with major funding at GSPP and Fletcher, but received the total cold shoulder at WWS and SIPA. So it has been a total mixed bag thus far. I have to admit my applications to WWS and SIPA were more haphazardly put together since I knew I probably would not be able to attend b/c my significant other has no school options in NYC or Princeton. So I am attributing the rejections to that at least partially in my mind. But now I have no clue as to which way HKS will go. I am sure there are others out there who are similarly confused...

[applikant]

The jury is out, at least for MPA-ID. And I am in I received an email, no information on funding yet.

Thank you all for your companionship throughout these difficult days and best of luck.

[invictus]

Congrats, appliKant. That's a hell of a program to get into. Well done!

[Rose]

anxiouslywaiting-- I am equally confused.

My SO just got into Harvard and MIT today (for a different program), and I'm crushed to not know where I stand. We've been trying to end up in the same city, but now I don't even know. I think that my rejects had something to do with my WE, but my essays varied significantly and my efforts were as concerted as possible so I can't be sure if it was any one particular aspect or just my overall "fit" that determined things.

I have absolutely no idea what to think.

[DaveinDC]

The jury is out, at least for MPA-ID. And I am in I received an email, no information on funding yet.

Thank you all for your companionship throughout these difficult days and best of luck.

Congratulations! I must know details: where are you located? what letter does your last name start with? which direction is the wind blowing right now?!

Just kidding of course. I also applied to MPA/ID so now I'm furiously hitting refresh on my email ever two seconds...

But seriously, congrats.

[rajith]

Hey applikant, CONGRATULATIONS!! That's a "Breaking" news!! Wow, yea, we have had a terrific time sharing griefs and concerns on this page, in the most supportive way possible. Now that's camaraderie! Good Luck.