WWS Admissions 2014

[tryingsmall]

hey anyone out there admitted to both HKS MPA/ID and WWS MPA. If so send me an inbox, we're setting up a discussion about pros and cons

[Santino]

I received a nice email from a current student asking me if I have any questions about the program, so I sent a polite and enthusiastic reply, and...radio silence. Hmmph.

[Gov2School]

Well, keep in mind that they're full time students with demanding courseloads. So while this is the most important decision in your life right now, they may have other priorities.  I wouldn't take it personally, but if it's been several days maybe send a friendly reminder. 

[Santino]

Yeah I totally get that, I'd just almost prefer that if you don't have the time then don't reach out at all--it has been nearly a week now and nothing. Oh well, perhaps she was unexpectedly busy or had something come up.

[Santino]

Rather than leave this hanging, just wanted to note that the current student mentioned above apologized for being late to respond and ended up providing some really helpful info.

Edited April 7, 2014 by Santino

[bwink]

Anyone from the waitlist hear anything?

[xiaojiber]

Just to share a few words of advice from my boss, who is a recent Woodrow Wilson School  MPA graduate and sat on their admissions committee:

 

Getting into WWS is NEVER guaranteed, no matter how good you are.  It is a very small program and it uses an extremely hands-on method to "build a class", so there is always a decent chance that if your profile is too similar to someone else's profile, then one of you is booted, even if you're both objectively amazing. 

 

WWS is free. They don't like to advertise that because they want people who truly want to be there regardless of price, but it is indeed free. Your food, housing, and stipend are provided by the school. Even your summer is funded so that you can walk into pretty much any organization you want and offer yourself as free help. So, what does that mean for admissions? It's REALLY hard to get in and tons of brilliant people get rejection letters, so don't feel bad! 

[Bombaygunner]

Question for you wise folk:

 

I'm a little confused about the Personal Statement word limit. On the WWS application page it says "approximately two to four pages." 

 

But on the Princeton web application, it says Personal Statements should be 1,000 words. So which is it? My current SOP, (12, Times New Roman, double spaced) is about 1,500 words and fills in 4 pages.

 

Cheers

[Gov2School]

You can check with the Admissions office if you want to be absolutely sure, but I stuck with the 1000 word limit as stated on the web application.