Why did YOU reject the Harris school?

[ridofme]

So as I've been researching different programs, one thing that has stuck out to me is how high the acceptance rate is at the Harris School. According to Petersons, it hovers around 60%. (http://tinyurl.com/chl4ckr)

Obviously schools like HKS and WWS are going to be in their own league, but when I compare the Harris School to the next tier of top schools, it seems to be the least competitive. For example, Fletcher is at 41%, SAIS is 43%, Maxwell is 47%, Michigan Ford is at 52%, and SIPA - often derided on these message boards as a 'cash cow' - is only 39%.

Harris's average GPA and GRE are on par with these schools, so the only conculsion I can draw is that it has a ridiculously low yield. I'd like to get some perspective from you forumites on why that may be.

For those of you who were accepted at by Harris but opted for another program, why did you reject the offer? Was the financial aid too stingy? Were you more interested in international issues (whereas Harris seems to be domestically focused)? Did you not want to live in Chicago for career-opportunity purposes (hoping to work in DC)? Did you not want to live in Chicago for cultural/weather purposes? Does Harris seem too quant-based? Were you unimpressed by campus visits? I'm really curious, because aside from the Harris School, the University of Chicago has some of the lowest acceptance rates around, and its brand name outside of policy/IR circles dwarfs schools like Michigan and Syracuse, at least in my opinion. Why does no one want to go to the Harris school?

[Clay Made]

I was accepted and considered the school before settling on Fletcher. A few points:

Poor communication from the people involved - Harris' are ridiculously bad at answering emails, returning calls, taking calls, and just general etiquette I would expect from a school that I'm committing 2 years of my life too and over $80k. The two directors are extremely incompetent (as it appears on the face of it anyway), have very little dialogue between them so to the point that when they actually do return an email, they provide contrasting information. Incredibly frustrating. And just bad form really. Why would anyone consider your school when the representatives are awful? The admissions team are just as bad, in particular the coordinator.

Little aid - I was given very little aid, and in addition I was given no reason for it. From experience reading these forums and friends who have gone to grad school, after explaining about how aid compares from various schools, a school may be more accommodating. Predictably, I received no response.

Inaccurate information - the website is littered with incorrect information. Information, which when I sought clarification on, I was given another answer. Even an updated website, and confirmation that said information was wrong, it still remains on the website.

In the 2012 incoming class, I know of at least 6 people not accepting their offer because of similar reasons to my own.

The real shame is that, the faculty is tremendous and gives a great and more welcoming perspective on the school when I spoke to them at a visitation.

[cunninlynguist]

While I don't have any personal insight to add -- I'd bet Clay Made's post offered the perspective you were looking for -- I'd caution against using Peterson's as a reliable source for anything. Their numbers appear to be at least 5 years old. That alone would render them unreliable and the recession has only made admissions more competitive.

[ridofme]

Thanks for your comments.

@cunninglynguist - While it's true that the Peterson's numbers are probably outdated, I was looking at them more for comparative value between schools rather than up-to-the minute information.

@Clay Made - Unfortunately, I have had similar experiences so far in terms of contacting the Harris School. I've also called a few times and had no one pick up the phone - not once, but three or four times. Multiple unreturned emails as well. You'd think that if their lack of responsiveness was affecting their yield so greatly they would try to turn things around. Oh well - still going to apply though.

Any other insights, foreros?

[MPPgal]

I am rejecting it, in addition to the other answers (no funding, etc):

1) Thesis advisor is a U chicago alumn and really didn´t recommend it, in fact she refused to write my LOR to there because in her words it is a cash cow for the university with terrible reputation with in.

2) Do not like that core classes have an average of 100 students vs 30 for GPPI or LBJ (sorry this might be the LAC mentality but if I am paying 60 k a year I want a personalized education)

3) Bad weather (already spent 4 yrs in upstate NY and they say it is even worst in here)

 

in fact the only pro I could see was that in some neoliberal sectors of my governement the Chicago name sounds a lot (currently work in that type of place), yet in others they compare you to the chicago boys (which is very associated with the dirty wars in LatAm and is a terrible rep to have). Just my two cents!

[gatsby8724]

I'm inclined to attend their admitted students day in order to hear about the program firsthand and make the most informed decision I can.  They're giving out modest travel vouchers, which should at least cover my flight.  If this is the route I choose to pursue, I'm happy to report back as I know not everyone can make the money/time commitment.

[BuckyandTerraceChairs]

I received significant financial aid from a top-10 institution with an easier cost-of-living. 

[harrista]

I won't be able to attend any admitted students days but my experience of communicating with Harris has been very positive, particularly being emailed by someone from Team Harris.  I bombarded her with questions and each time she replied quickly, thoroughly and with minimal hyperbole - in comparison, students from other schools that contacted me after admissions came out haven't responded to my emails which doesn't make a great impression.  I've also spent some time looking at the Team Harris facebook page which has up to date photos of what's going on at Chicago and is probably as close to the action as I'll be able to get before making a decision. 

 

Reputation wise, where I am Chicago has an excellent reputation for research, economics and business but overall the Berkeley name is more prestigious. 

[nutmeg704]

I work with an alum and she says that the program focuses heavily on economics to the exclusion of all other disciplines. I'm all about building my quant skill base, but believe there are other factors at play in policy analysis. She also didn't have many good things to say about the faculty. Very stodgy and conservative.

 

I really thought I wanted to attend Harris, but have heard much more negative than positive firsthand and from internet research. And with full funding elsewhere, it's not worth the risk to me.

 

That said...what's this about travel vouchers? I wouldn't mind visiting to form my own opinions.

[Hopefully_MPP)]

ironhidalgo, would you mind sharing with us some of the interesting questions/answers with team Harris? I am having a skype conference with one of them in a few days, but I would like as many sources of information as I can get. Also, people who will attend On the MaPP, can you share your impressions? I am really curious about your opinion, as I am unable to visit. Thanks! 

[harrista]

Some of the things Team Harris said:

- Students and student life : highly motivated student body but not super competitive, good dynamic with lots of group study, general helpfulness, quite a big class with around 150 students

- Quant: the core courses (7 out of 18 courses over 2 years) are quant-focused which is good for building skills in that area. There's two levels available to these core courses. The pre-semester maths camp helps get everyone to the necessary level and after two quarters everyone is handling the coursework. People who don't enjoy maths would probably have to put in some extra work.

- Professors: some excellent professors, lots of economists and political scientists with different focuses, plenty of interesting talks to go to all the time

I also asked a bunch of stuff about U of Chicago's reputation and about the city in general, like living costs and outdoorsy-ness factor. For what it's worth, I think some of the negatives that people have raised aren't necessarily a bad thing for me - I don't expect professors to be my best friends as long as they're moderately accessible and having done puppet shows for credit and analysed romantic comedies for a law exam in undergrad, conservative course content could be good!

@Nutmeg704 would you mind sharing some of the feedback you've gotten about Harris from alums? @Hopefully_MPP it'd be great if you could share your impressions after the skype conference! Also if anyone has other insights please PM me if you don't want to post it publicly, I'd love to get as much information as possible from loads of different sources. Kind of like talking to people at open day but without the plane trip.

Edited March 19, 2013 by ironhidalgo

[gatsby8724]

I'm going to go ahead and retract my previous statement.  I was accepted to two other programs (with fellowships) that more closely align with my academic/professional interests, so I will be turning down my acceptance to Chicago.

[keshavg]

Since all of you must have graduated a while ago, what do you think of Uchicago now?

[kreitz128]

Just to follow up:  for Harris alumni what was your experience??

I thought it was interesting that this year i noticed the admissions staff did not respond to one of my emails. Then after another staff scheduled a meeting with me,  she emailed me again to introduce herself. While its high season now, seems consistent to what was said up there, even 7 years later.  Seems they may cast a wide net to fill such a big program, which would still be consistent with goals of cash cow.  On the up side, they have reached out  more than any school, and I'm on the west coast..

Edited November 17, 2020 by kreitz128

[joshyboy]

Kind of the opposite experience for me. They've been great about responding to my emails and queries. They scheduled multiple calls with me and even responded to my emails after I submitted my application. 

I do think that their overall reputation academically has improved from 8 years ago. From what I can ascertain, Harris is just a short peg lower than HKS/WWS. Feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken.

[mpp.2020]

^ Honestly, I don't think that's true. I applied last year but ended up not attending for a few reasons: Harris is in the process of rapidly expanding--the class size has increased to almost 577 from about half that a few years ago and is made up of 50% international students. At admitted students weekend, current students stated that there are definitely growing pains in the class size increase.

Those things might be pluses to some people, but when I was deciding where to attend last spring it personally read as a bit of a cash cow operation. I am super money-conscious so that's a factor as well.

[HelloItsMe]

11 hours ago, mpp.2020 said:

^ Honestly, I don't think that's true. I applied last year but ended up not attending for a few reasons: Harris is in the process of rapidly expanding--the class size has increased to almost 577 from about half that a few years ago and is made up of 50% international students. At admitted students weekend, current students stated that there are definitely growing pains in the class size increase.

Those things might be pluses to some people, but when I was deciding where to attend last spring it personally read as a bit of a cash cow operation. I am super money-conscious so that's a factor as well.

I concur with this. Although Harris’ MPP program is stellar, at admitted students day folks talked about the massive increase in class size that will be ongoing for the next few years and how it’s already strained things a bit. They also did not match financial offers I had from similar and higher ranked schools. That could possibly be because they’ve invested so much in trying to recruit literally hundreds of students, thus the cash cow vibes.