LBJ School

[wasistdas]

my final three came down to SAIS vs. Texas A&M Bush School vs. LBJ.

The decision: LBJ.

Living and working abroad for the past two years, I have met far more people in high profile/paying public and private sector jobs from schools like Michigan, UCLA, UW and LBJ than I have from any of the elite schools. This is not to say that elite schools are not elite, I think they have earned their reputation, but that people overvalue almuni networks.

In fact, my final two really came between Bush and LBJ as I don't know how anyone can seriously consider working in public service while taking out the amount of debt required to attend a DC area school.

[suani]

Hey there LBJers!

How do/did you like the LBJ school? I just got accepted to their MPAff program for Spring 2014 and was curious what current & former students' experiences are/were. I am still waiting to hear back from some DC schools so I have not made up my mind yet.

[MPPgal]

I am loving it, great school, approachable professors that care more about teaching than personal research, really nice people and Austin is great. Message me if u need more info

[suani]

Thanks, MPPgal! 

 

I will definitely let you know once I make a decision.  It looks like they offered you full tuition plus a living stipend.  May I ask what your credentials were?  I am just curious what kinds of GRE scores, GPA, and work experience folks should have in order to get some financial assistance.  I would be attending as a part-time student because I have a full-time job that I need to keep so I don't qualify for any financial assistance.  They told me that only about 30% of students receive financial assistance, so I figured it would be a long shot for me anyways.  Instead, grad school will be totally out of my own pocket.

[MPPgal]

In general they tend to offer financial assistance more to out of state people and to internationals, because for any in state person it is ridiculously cheap to come anyways although that is just my impression, I definetly know in state people that got financial aid, my credentials were 164 Q, 160 v and 4.5 w 3 yrs of work experience, international experience in 3 countries plus my own and proficient in 3 languages, 3.5 GPA from a top 40 LAC. If you are working part time they do not really do that and do note that their aid is allocated in the fall so Spring entrance can be an issue. Do see that even without financial aid we are speaking that including living expenses and out of state tuition in total it is half of Georgetown's or SAIS tuition and living expenses ( a bit less actually). With instate tuition it is about a third. If you decide not to do part time then you might be able to get some financial assistance, there are also plenty of RA positions that pay around 15 dollars an hour and if you work 20 hrs a week like I do you even get in state tuition and health insurance. 

[suani]

Thanks, MPPgal!

 

On average, do you know how much fellowship money incoming students typically receive?  I gather only a few lucky ones receive full tuition, but I wonder what the average fellowship amount is?

[MPPgal]

I mean that is a question only admissions can say, 30% sounds reasonable. I know of at least 4 other internationals who got my same scholarship, a couple of others who got full tuition plus 1k a semester or something, a few Americans with a full scholarship, a few Americans with in state tuition waivers, a few with in state plus a few Ks a yr. I would say average award is probably full tuition or maybe paying 3000 a year *there seems to a few paying that). As I have said you also need to compare the price to equally ranked schools (GT, GW, Ford, Goldman, Harris, SPEA), Texas in general has an ideology of "lets give an affordable education to everyone instead of a free one to a select few". However, from what I can gather from open houses etc LBJ was a lot more generous than any other school I got into, with a lot more people receiving aid. Even a professor at GT told me that the issue was they had very few funds in comparison to UT. 

[lbruneetoile]

Howdy there. I just received my acceptance letter (with funding, wahoo!) to LBJ so I'm pretty pumped. Still waiting to hear back from my stretch school (Goldman) but UT is definitely my top choice.

My (sort of dumb) question: does LBJ do an open house for accepted students or anything? The email I received was pretty light on details and being able to visit the school with others from my potential cohort would be really handy in making my decision. But I can't find anything like that on the LBJ site! For former/current students, does LBJ hold any events prior to the April 15 notification deadline for accepted students?

[goforthegold]

21 minutes ago, lbruneetoile said:

Howdy there. I just received my acceptance letter (with funding, wahoo!) to LBJ so I'm pretty pumped. Still waiting to hear back from my stretch school (Goldman) but UT is definitely my top choice.

My (sort of dumb) question: does LBJ do an open house for accepted students or anything? The email I received was pretty light on details and being able to visit the school with others from my potential cohort would be really handy in making my decision. But I can't find anything like that on the LBJ site! For former/current students, does LBJ hold any events prior to the April 15 notification deadline for accepted students?

LBJ sure does! Send the admissions director (the person who sent you the offer of admission email, Stacy) an email requesting further information, and she'll get back to you with all the details.

Edited February 26, 2016 by goforthegold

[Soissons]

Hello and Congrats lbruneetoile! I received my acceptance as well and am thrilled! It was especially welcome news because I just completed the TX bar exam yesterday. So happy.

This is sort of a weird question and I'm embarrassed asking it, but are we supposed to reply to the email with anything from whomever sent it? Even just a "thank you"? I'm not sure how the process works.

 

Edited February 26, 2016 by Soissons

[goforthegold]

1 hour ago, Soissons said:

Hello and Congrats lbruneetoile! I received my acceptance as well and am thrilled! It was especially welcome news because I just completed the TX bar exam yesterday. So happy.

This is sort of a weird question and I'm embarrassed asking it, but are we supposed to reply to the email with anything from whomever sent it? Even just a "thank you"? I'm not sure how the process works.

 

No, don't worry about it. Coming from a personal account and the admissions director, it can seem that way, but I see it as just another formal acceptance offer (albeit from LBJ!) from the school itself, not a personal one from admissions director. Though if you do have any questions, your reply will right go through and the account is manned, so it won't bounce. It's a nice touch, come to think of it. Makes the letter more personal and the school more inviting and welcoming. Or is it just me?

Edited February 26, 2016 by goforthegold

[Soissons]

21 minutes ago, goforthegold said:

No, don't worry about it. Coming from a personal account and the admissions director, it can seem that way, but I see it as just another formal acceptance offer (albeit from LBJ!) from the school itself, not a personal one from admissions director. Though if you do have any questions, your reply will go through and the account is manned, so it won't bounce. It's a nice touch, come to think of it. Makes the letter more personal and the school more inviting and welcoming. Or is it just me?

Thanks for your response! I agree, the personal touch is nice. I'm so stoked!

[RCtheSS]

Since this thread has been resurrected, I suppose I'll also use it for fall 2016 admit purposes. I emailed Stacy about visit the campus, and she just responded:

We are currently in the process of planning a couple of events for admitted students. We’ll be hosting a Virtual Open House (most likely in the first couple weeks of March) and an on campus Open House (most likely in late March). You are absolutely welcome to visit when your schedule allows though. If you have specific dates that work for your visit, just let me know, and I’ll help get you setup.

[lbruneetoile]

For anyone else who was wondering, the on-campus admitted students open house is March 28.

[RCtheSS]

I'll be there! Very excited.

[goforthegold]

Accepted my offer to UT MPA (not DC) program, with fellowship, over the weekend. I couldn't be more excited! 

[lbruneetoile]

I got a call from the Dean of the LBJ School this weekend, but I had to let it go to voicemail because I was out of the country (curse my non-international data plan!). Any idea what she would want to chat about? I want to make sure I don't sound like an unprepared goober when I call her back...

[RCtheSS]

Did she leave a message?

She may have wanted to congratulate you on your acceptance, inform you about the upcoming open house and admission events, and/or to let you ask any questions about the program.

[ParisDreams]

Man, totally regretting not applying to LBJ now. It sounds like such a great program and Austin seems like a hip and happenin' city. I'm going to apply next year (assuming I end up working one more year and rejecting my offer from SAIS). Would anyone mind private messaging their email address to me so I can keep in touch with those of you who end up going to LBJ? Thanks!

[pubpol101]

On 3/14/2016 at 11:32 AM, lbruneetoile said:

I got a call from the Dean of the LBJ School this weekend, but I had to let it go to voicemail because I was out of the country (curse my non-international data plan!). Any idea what she would want to chat about? I want to make sure I don't sound like an unprepared goober when I call her back...

It's possible that they wanted to talk about the interests you detailed in your application.

I received a personal email from an associate dean, who apparently said that my app was 'particularly attractive' and that he'd like to talk with me via email/phone about the specific interests I noted on the curriculum and my planned career trajectory. Based on the wording of his email, it was clear that he himself had read my application. Is everyone else receiving these sorts of emails? The personal touch LBJ is giving here has been quite surprising, and even more so with my non-competitiveness as an applicant straight out of undergrad.

Edited March 15, 2016 by AAAAAAAA

[coasts]

10 minutes ago, AAAAAAAA said:

It's possible that they wanted to talk about the interests you detailed in your application.

I received a personal email from an associate dean, who apparently said that my app was 'particularly attractive' and that he'd like to talk with me via email/phone about the specific interests I noted on the curriculum and my planned career trajectory. Based on the wording of his email, it was clear that he himself had read my application. Is everyone else receiving these sorts of emails? The personal touch LBJ is giving here has been quite surprising, and even more so with my non-competitiveness as an applicant straight out of undergrad.

I just got an email from the associate dean as well, with a similar offer to talk.

[pubpol101]

Does anyone know if there's a Facebook associated with the incoming class?

[goforthegold]

On March 26, 2016 at 8:39 PM, AAAAAAAA said:

Does anyone know if there's a Facebook associated with the incoming class?

There is not, to the best of my knowledge. However, based on what I have heard you will be hearing from LBJ with contact information and such of your incoming peers around May should you accept your offer of admission. 

Edited March 27, 2016 by goforthegold

[ParisDreams]

Hey everyone! Decided to apply to LBJ before the April 15th deadline and got admitted this week! Super duper excited although funding information still to come. Did LBJ already have its admit day?  I saw somewhere that a visitor was unimpressed with their diversity but that's all I've heard. Also, I know it's 4 months away but since I'm out of state, would love to start looking for roommates and things like that. Anyone aware if a facebook group has been made yet? SO excited that we will be future classmates!

[pubpol101]

6 hours ago, ParisDreams said:

Did LBJ already have its admit day?

I believe LBJ had its admit day on April 1st. You are however free to schedule a tour on your own time--I asked about it earlier, and though I haven't been able to visit yet, they said that prospies can organize class visits if they coordinate with the admissions office. I haven't heard anything about an FB group yet--no emails sent from the administration, though I haven't specifically asked them whether there was a group created.

Edited April 22, 2016 by AAAAAAAA