HKS 2015

[whtctc007]

Hey!  Anybody applying for HKS this year?

[ReinventOneself]

Yep!

[Hina]

I'm applying as well. I was planning on applying for the MPA/ID but it seems like it's tougher to get admission into than the MPP program. 

 

What are you applying for? 

[Thandiwine]

I planned to apply but since I got my GMAT results two days ago, I'm not so sure I'll give it a shot anymore.

 

How come there are so few people who apply this year? Or -maybe- they're all in another thread?

 

 

[Gov2School]

I planned to apply but since I got my GMAT results two days ago, I'm not so sure I'll give it a shot anymore.

 

How come there are so few people who apply this year? Or -maybe- they're all in another thread?

They may just not be contributing to the thread.  Without knowing what the rest of your application is like, I'd encourage you to still apply even if you're not totally satisfied with your GMAT scores.  Test scores are important, but they're not always the most important piece of your application.  Colleges are looking to build a class with different attributes, skills, and background.  Maybe your test scores aren't what they're looking for, but maybe the rest of your qualities are exactly what they want? No way to know unless you apply.  If you get rejected, you'll be no worse off than you are now, and if you get accepted, you'll be grateful you didn't count yourself out. 

[Thandiwine]

Thanks for the advice :-) It's really scary when you hear all the stories of those 700 + GMAT who get dinged. And then you think "why do I even believe I might compete with them?"

 

 

But hell, yeah, you never know unless you try.

 

I'm working on those four essays , did one and a half two months ago, 2 and a half left. Moral below ground level

 

Let's go for it! I have nothing to lose (apart from a 100 application fee, but that's well worth the expense if I get accepted).

[paxi]

Hi! I'm applying to the Harvard MPA program. Would appreciate some advice on my chances there:

 

From South Asia

Undergrad GPA: 3.0/4.0 from probably the best university in my country.

Graduate GPA: 3.67/4.0 - Dropped out of a Phd  econ program in the US - cleared Micro cores at the Phd level. Didn't find academia to my liking. 

GRE: 780 Q(87 percentile), 610 V(84%), 4.5 AWA (74%)

 

1 Year experience working for Doctors Without Borders in South  Asia

2 Years of experience working for the UN in South Asia

Entrepreneur with established successful business.

 

Main reason for choosing an MPA over the MPA/ID is that i don't want to go the academic route. Also, want to pursue something in social entrepreneurship in the future so the option of taking business courses at HBS is appealing. 

[Kaneisha]

Hi Naso, for the last 5 years or so, admission decisions have come out around the same time, so I'd say yes, you should expect to hear back by Mon Mar 16. I wish you the best of luck and congrats on your admission and fellowship offers so far!

[paradox28]

Hi Naso, for the last 5 years or so, admission decisions have come out around the same time, so I'd say yes, you should expect to hear back by Mon Mar 16. I wish you the best of luck and congrats on your admission and fellowship offers so far!

 

Do you know if they make an exception to inform people who applied to particular fellowships like Zuckerman?  They informed Zuckerman candidates that they will be emailing out interview invitations this week.  I assume that they would only invite people who have been admitted.  So a few lucky people will presumably get their admissions decision earlier...?

[ReinventOneself]

Has anyone figured out what MPP concentration you might want to do at HKS?

 

Maybe I am mistaken, but I get the impression that once you choose a concentration, there is not too much room to choose classes outside of it. My interests lie in a couple of the MPP concentrations, and I would hate to be limited by an imposed concentration without the possibility of taking complementary courses from other concentrations.

 

If anyone has any more information about this, your insights would be much appreciated.

 

I applied for the MPP, but after submitting my application was emailed by the admissions director and asked to consider switching to the Mid-Career MPA due to my extensive work experience, which I agreed to do. It turns out this probably worked out in my favor, since admissions rates for MC/MPA are apparently higher than for the MPP.

[ReinventOneself]

Wow. I didn't realize the admissions committee would advise candidates to change their application to a different program. I am glad the odds are in your favor for that program. I have 3-4 years of experience, so I'm right at home applying for the MPP.

 

I don't know if the MC/MPA has concentrations, but MPPs have to take core courses (Economics, Quantitative analysis, Politics and advocacy, Policy analysis, Strategic management, Ethics, Leadership, and Negotiations). Then they have to pick one of the following concentrations:

 

• Business and Government Policy (BGP)
• Democracy, Politics and Institutions (DPI)
• International and Global Affairs (IGA)
• International Trade and Finance (ITF)
• Political and Economic Development (PED)
• Social and Urban Policy (SUP)

My interests are a cross-section of two or three concentrations, and I was wondering what people were thinking of selecting.

 

The MC/MPA doesn't have a concentration like the MPP, but if it did, I'd choose the DPI concentration as it would best prepare me for my future role as King of the World. IGA would be a close second.

[kooyah]

Wow. I didn't realize the admissions committee would advise candidates to change their application to a different program. I am glad the odds are in your favor for that program. I have 3-4 years of experience, so I'm right at home applying for the MPP.

 

I don't know if the MC/MPA has concentrations, but MPPs have to take core courses (Economics, Quantitative analysis, Politics and advocacy, Policy analysis, Strategic management, Ethics, Leadership, and Negotiations). Then they have to pick one of the following concentrations:

 

• Business and Government Policy (BGP)
• Democracy, Politics and Institutions (DPI)
• International and Global Affairs (IGA)
• International Trade and Finance (ITF)
• Political and Economic Development (PED)
• Social and Urban Policy (SUP)

My interests are a cross-section of two or three concentrations, and I was wondering what people were thinking of selecting.

 

 

I'm pretty torn myself. However, I personally found this career resource guide EXTREMELY helpful in guiding my thoughts and reasoning for internships/types of jobs I want to pursue/focus my classes on at which ever school I ultimately end up going. HKS's career services put together this list of splendid PDF's detailing what it means to work at places such as Capitol Hill or NGO's and industries like Consulting. It also details WHO comes to career days and how many HKS students they take in each year along with additional resources for further research/prep. Definitely worth a look in my opinion. Not sure why I didn't come across it sooner! It's far from exhaustive, but provides a great overview into fields a majority of people seem to enter post MPP. The link goes to HKS's website where they have the different pdf's listed with a brief description.

 

http://www.hks.harvard.edu/degrees/office-of-career-advancement/alumni/explore-what-s-next-in-your-career/professional-areas-of-interest 

Edited March 4, 2015 by kooyah

[Adnane]

Anyone has heard back from Zuckerman? I believe they should reach out to the selected candidates for the next round this week.

[ajak568]

I gotta hand it to HKS. They do a good job of updating their blog frequently while all of us antsy applicants anticipate news from them. It makes me feel better to hear SOMETHING from them about the progress of admissions decisions.

 

My money's on next Friday (the 13th) for hearing decisions from HKS.

 

Suerte, people.

[ReinventOneself]

I gotta hand it to HKS. They do a good job of updating their blog frequently while all of us antsy applicants anticipate news from them. It makes me feel better to hear SOMETHING from them about the progress of admissions decisions.

 

My money's on next Friday (the 13th) for hearing decisions from HKS.

 

Suerte, people.

 

Agreed on all fronts.

 

Last year's decisions went out via email on March 13th & 14th.

[ohthewonderment]

Anyone has heard back from Zuckerman? I believe they should reach out to the selected candidates for the next round this week.

Still haven't heard anything. Have you heard from them?

[ohthewonderment]

Do you know if they make an exception to inform people who applied to particular fellowships like Zuckerman?  They informed Zuckerman candidates that they will be emailing out interview invitations this week.  I assume that they would only invite people who have been admitted.  So a few lucky people will presumably get their admissions decision earlier...?

Have you heard from Zuckerman?

[economixed_policy]

Waiting anxiously too guys! I've applied for the MPA2. Best of luck! Shouldn't be too long now I suppose

[jolene76]

I gotta hand it to HKS. They do a good job of updating their blog frequently while all of us antsy applicants anticipate news from them. It makes me feel better to hear SOMETHING from them about the progress of admissions decisions.

 

My money's on next Friday (the 13th) for hearing decisions from HKS.

 

Suerte, people.

 

It's almost too much information. I end up searching the student life posts for some encrypted clue that says I am in or out. Ha. But who am I kidding. I love the updates.

[Adnane]

All Zuckerman finalists have been notified on Friday

[David_King]

It's almost too much information. I end up searching the student life posts for some encrypted clue that says I am in or out. Ha. But who am I kidding. I love the updates.

 

Hi all.  The wait is almost over, and Matt's team over in Admissions has been putting in long hours to get the decisions ready to post.  It's true that we were able to make announcements on March 13 last year, but we didn't like the idea of doing anything so momentous on Friday the 13th *this* year - and our internal target date has been the 12th.  Matt's team is testing out the computer code to generate emails.  We really don't want to have some computer error notify applicants with the "wrong" outcomes.  (There has been a lot of that at other universities lately, so we're making *sure* that our systems are working correctly.)  That said... we are on pace for decisions on the 12th.  And there's a chance (a small one) that we'll get everything ok'ed even before that.

 

A few other comments, responding to the thread.  Yes, admission rates for the MCMPA are higher than for the MPPs, but they're nowhere near what people have speculated.  We don't publicize our admission rates, largely because we don't think they're very meaningful.  For this year's class of Mason Fellows (MCMPAs) for example, we will offer admission to less than a third of the applicants.  We would love to admit a far higher percentage, but we just don't have the capacity, and our applicant pool is so strong.  It takes a tremendous amount of focus and attention for us to read mid-career files, because test scores don't tell us very much about applicants who are in their 30s or above.  And as many of you know, a lot of what we end up doing when folks look at HKS is to *discourage* people from applying if they're not a fit for the school.  I think it's crazy that other schools work to encourage applications from folks who won't get in - just to boost their selectivity ratings.  We're not playing that game, and we'd love to have a higher admission rate from a terrific pool than a lower admission rate from a less terrific pool.  

 

Please also notice, as Matt has discussed so well on the admissions blog, that we have different criteria and expectations for the different programs. Of course, test scores matter for the MPP and MPA/ID programs.  The average test scores for MPA2 applicants are virtually the same as for MPP applicants, but the MPA2 committee is looking for substantially more graduate-level experience that's consistent with our MPP and MPA/ID "core requirements."  That's why we tend to think of the MPP and MPA/ID programs as places to "tool up" for a life in public policy, and we tend to think of the MPA2 program as a place to "integrate across professions."   That said, test scores are *not* the be-all-and-end-all.  We routinely turn down applicants with perfect test scores, and we routinely take applicants with far from perfect test scores.  Not everybody tests well.  We understand that, and we view files more holistically than you may expect.  Letters and essays really *do* matter.

 

As for the MCMPA programs, we just want to see that you have "enough" quant and verbal skills to do well here.  It's entirely possible for someone at the 50th percentile GREQ or GREV to get into the Mid-Career program - because if someone has been out of school for a long time, those standardized tests can mask or hide a lot of wonderful capabilities. That's one reason why we put in a new "quant" question on the application this year, and we'll probably make adjustments going forward, too.  As with the other programs, we in the MCMPA program routinely say "no" to applicants with high test scores if their life stories (or career trajectories) don't fit what we're looking for.  The Mid-Career program is, generally, designed for folks who've been making a difference in the world already, and they need some time here to really work on their leadership and management skills.  Applicants to the Mason Fellows program don't have to take the GREs, and they do just as well as the other Mid-Careers in our classes.  I hope that's a reflection of how much time we spend reviewing each application - looking for passions and competencies. 

 

By the way, it is rare for an Admissions committee to recommend that an applicant switch programs, and we do it only when we think someone really would be a *much* better fit in another program.  If you've been asked to switch, my *guess* is that you wouldn't have made it through in the first committee, and your odds in the second committee are around one in three - or less.  But that's better than zero in three, so say "yes" when Matt asks if you'd like to switch programs.  

 

Finally, a quick word about English... we're really serious about what we say regarding English test scores.  If you're taking the computer-based TOEFL, for example, you will *not* get in if you have a sub-100 TOEFL.  We use a lot of "case teaching" here, so English skills are crucial.  Please, please, please, if you don't have an English score above the minimums that are highlighted on the Admissions site, please don't apply. (We don't need to inflate our selectivity ratings.... and your time will be better spent getting the English skills up to snuff.)

 

Best of luck to everyone.  If you DO get in - know that the competition is CRAZY good, and we're counting on you coming.  And if you don't get in - know that it won't be held against you for a future application.  If you're applying to one of my programs (the MPA2 and the MCMPA), feel free to write me on my Harvard email (I rarely check GradCafe), and I'll be happy to give you some feedback.  Meanwhile.... brace yourselves for a Thursday (the 12th) email.  And the email *might* even come a bit earlier.  

[Xperto]

Wow, thanks David for such great and comprehensive response; as a MPA2 candidate I'm grateful for your insight.

To the administrators of the forum, if you can make the above post sticky for future applicants, it would be wonderful

To everyone else, good luck! The wait is almost over!!

Cheers!

Edited March 9, 2015 by Xperto

[Cristianvb]

Thanks David. Really useful!

[handiya]

Thanks David for such a comprehensive briefing on the entire process and the insights on the decision making process by the admission committee.

Your post has certainly calmed many a nerves.

Regards.

[economixed_policy]

David, thank you indeed for the insight into the admissions process. I have to say I have enjoyed following the blog and the effort that Matt and the admissions team have put in to making the process as transparent as possible; it had made the wait far easier.

Best of luck everyone!