divertan Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 Reposting (original post in the Waiting it out forum) - Hi! Have been surfing the grad cafe forums on and off for the last few months, and was hoping to meet other people who've applied to Sanford for the MPP and hope to matriculate in Fall 2015...was looking for a thread for this year's app cycle, just to keep myself calm I think, but couldn't find one - am I on the wrong forum for this? Thought us aspiring Duke MPP grads could get to know each other on this thread, share profiles and keep everyone updated on if/when they hear from Sanford, and how...so far, I've got an email thanking me for my app, telling me decisions will start getting sent in early March, and inviting me to their open house at the end of March...not like I could fly halfway across the world for it tho! I'm an international applicant, and qualified as a lawyer - worked at a top corporate law firm in India for a year and a half, and have been working in human rights/development sector since last January - have a pretty crap GPA (which doesn't exactly convert to the US scale, but should be a 3.2 according to the DES website), a decent GRE [321 - 156 Q, 165 V, 5 AW], and limited work ex in the policy sector... Would love to get to know other people who've also applied to Sanford this year, and best of luck! =)
Xperto Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 Hello divertan! Actually I am applying to Sanford's MPP for fall 2015 too. To some extent I also do share the anxiety but I guess this is "normal" if you are really interested in your future career. I have posted my profile on the "am I competitive?" thread (even though I have not stated over there that I was applying to Sanford's MPP too, thought I did), I am also an international applicant so let's see how it goes! Hopefully this can be a self support group hahaha!! Regarding the mail you received after submitting your application (the one that states the early March decisions and the open house invite) I have received it too, but this seems to be an automated message since it comes via the applyyourself system. I think if the AdCom has not contacted you regarding any missing items from your application you should be happy! Good luck in this application season!!! Cheers!
chocolatecheesecake Posted January 15, 2015 Posted January 15, 2015 Hello all! Glad to hear you're applying to Duke, and I wish you the best of luck with the process. I am a first-year MPP at Sanford, and have really enjoyed my time here so far. We have quite a few international students in the MPP program and also the MIDP program, so you're in good company. It'll be a while before you find out of course but as you're international, I would take advantage of the student admissions ambassadors at each of the different schools you're applying to and really ask them to share more about their experience and ask the questions you're interested in. I wasn't able to visit Duke beforehand either, and being directed toward current students, as well as toward professors who took their time to email and Skype with me as a prospective student was all enormously helpful and encouraging. Let me know if you have any questions in particular about Duke!!
Xperto Posted January 15, 2015 Posted January 15, 2015 Chocolatecheesecake thanks for your kind openness Certainly the waiting can be more pleasant with people so kind like you! I will pick up your offering, it would be interesting to learn about the program from an insight perspective: 1.- I understand that during the Spring semester, students can opt for the "Spring Consulting Project", have you had this experience? If so how was it? I have the feeling that this hands on experience is limited to the Durham local area/institutions and therefore less reachable for international students. Am I wrong? Would love to know your insight. 2.- Did you have any experience with inter-institutional registration? As I understand MPP students can register at UNC Chapel Hill, NC State University in Raleigh or NC Central University in Durham. I would be interested in a specific class and Chapel Hill in the Econ dept. but I dunno if inter. inst registering is in fact something that students do in the program. 3.- How about classes at Fuqua and Duke Law School? I have heard that you can register some classes there, but is it common? do you have any experience with it? Can you register in other schools besides the Business School and Law school (i.e. Mathematics Dept. or others?) 4.- I would also like to hear if you have any opinion about waiving required courses. The official process states that the "student should consult with the faculty member who teaches the specific course" but have you had any experience in waiving any requirements? Does this "consultation" include any sufficiency tests or similar? Thanks in advance for your input, it is much appreciated. If it is not too much to ask, I would like to hear about your general profile/experiences before joining Duke, if you could share your GRE scores would be amazing (sorry if it is too much to ask but I am freaking out about my scores) what are your areas of interest? what is your general satisfaction with the program? faculty? peers? Thanks a lot! sorry if the questions are too "out there" or they are too lengthy Cheers!
divertan Posted January 15, 2015 Author Posted January 15, 2015 Hello Xperto and chocolatecheesecake! Xperto, checked out your stats on the "Am I competitive.." thread - your work ex looks impressive! Chocolatecheesecake, if I remember correctly, you've been very helpful on these forums with advice and info on Duke and Sanford's MPP programme - so thank you! Just a couple of questions I had re the app process itself - One, my video essay was a little over the 1 minute limit (1:17 to be precise), and I spoke a little fast (but clearly, I've been told) because I couldn't figure out what to edit out from my final "script", and felt like I had to say it all...is this something I should be worried about? Two, though I loved math in high school, and did well at the time, I didn't really have the opportunity to study it in undergrad since I was doing law...is a 156 in Quant (GRE) going to hurt my chances? Alternately, will a 321 on my GRE likely offset a below average CGPA (3.2 on the US scale)? How intensive is the quant coursework at Sanford, and how open are they to admitting applicants with a pre-req deficiency in microecon...I'd be more than happy to make it up before matriculating, of course! Three, how many students in your class are pursuing an MPP/MEM degree at Sanford/Nicholas? Would you happen to know if ALL of them have natural science training and/or undergraduate coursework? I'm very interested in pursuing this dual degree, seeing as I want to do enviro policy in the long run, but just can't seem to tell from the Nicholas website whether I'm even a candidate for the MEM! I realise you're an MPP, but any insights would be great at this point! That's about it for now. Just saw Xperto's latest post on the thread, would be great to hear back from you on those questions too, as and when you have the time! Thanks again!
chocolatecheesecake Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Chocolatecheesecake thanks for your kind openness Certainly the waiting can be more pleasant with people so kind like you! I will pick up your offering, it would be interesting to learn about the program from an insight perspective: 1.- I understand that during the Spring semester, students can opt for the "Spring Consulting Project", have you had this experience? If so how was it? I have the feeling that this hands on experience is limited to the Durham local area/institutions and therefore less reachable for international students. Am I wrong? Would love to know your insight. 2.- Did you have any experience with inter-institutional registration? As I understand MPP students can register at UNC Chapel Hill, NC State University in Raleigh or NC Central University in Durham. I would be interested in a specific class and Chapel Hill in the Econ dept. but I dunno if inter. inst registering is in fact something that students do in the program. 3.- How about classes at Fuqua and Duke Law School? I have heard that you can register some classes there, but is it common? do you have any experience with it? Can you register in other schools besides the Business School and Law school (i.e. Mathematics Dept. or others?) 4.- I would also like to hear if you have any opinion about waiving required courses. The official process states that the "student should consult with the faculty member who teaches the specific course" but have you had any experience in waiving any requirements? Does this "consultation" include any sufficiency tests or similar? Thanks in advance for your input, it is much appreciated. If it is not too much to ask, I would like to hear about your general profile/experiences before joining Duke, if you could share your GRE scores would be amazing (sorry if it is too much to ask but I am freaking out about my scores) what are your areas of interest? what is your general satisfaction with the program? faculty? peers? Thanks a lot! sorry if the questions are too "out there" or they are too lengthy Cheers! So many questions! I'm glad you have them, though. I might prod another of my cohort who has been active on Gradcafé too to come back and share his opinions. Here is the link to in which I talk about my profile and experiences. Also in the vein of more threads, here's the featuring some of my own comments and questions when I was applying. =) As I am a first-year MPP, I am just starting the spring consulting project. It is a required core course for all MPP students in their first year, and I can already tell it is going to be an amazing (but crazy) experience. We have read over forty proposals from organizations all over Durham, North Carolina, and even nationally (projects from San Francisco, Baltimore, and other places). Next week, we'll be assigned to a project and a team of 4-5 students to do this consulting project over the course of the next three months. I think it is still highly relevant for international students because some of the projects have international focuses (one is on international adoption policy). It's also primarily meant as an exercise in teamwork, groupwork, and acquiring real-life experiences working for a real client, so you will find it very useful and a great illustrative touchpoint in interviews and other conversations. We're also being presented with a variety of areas like economic development, education, technology, local and state government, environment, welfare policy, and more. I'm confident you would find something to suit your interests and grow as a professional. I don't yet have any experience with cross-registering at Fuqua (the business) and law schools or at other institutions, but I know that quite a few first-year MPPs have signed up for classes at other schools, like law and business and medicine. I also know second-years who are taking courses at NC State. I think the process can be a bit trickier, and you have to take the initiative of figuring out what classes are being offered where and what their policies are. Fuqua also runs on the quarter system where as Sanford is the semester system, and I've heard that the business school saves most of the slots for their own students. Finally, one of my friends got the ethics core requirement waived because he could demonstrate prior coursework in philosophy in the not-too-long-ago undergrad. As far as I know, there aren't any competency exams involved with waiving requirements, but I think it highly depends on your individual experience. For the quantitative classes, you take online assessments before you enter in the fall, and have some latitude to choose regular or advanced microeconomics or statistics classes. The advanced classes are very hard work, but you don't need to take a second semester of that quantitative class in the spring. I've taken the regular two-semester sequence for both quant classes, because I don't have any quant experience in undergrad or otherwise, and I'm pretty happy with my decision. Same with ethics -- the professor we're taking it with now has some fascinating on-the-job experiences with professional ethics, and while it'd be nice to have requirements waived, I also really appreciate the chance to learn what I don't know.
chocolatecheesecake Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Hello Xperto and chocolatecheesecake! Xperto, checked out your stats on the "Am I competitive.." thread - your work ex looks impressive! Chocolatecheesecake, if I remember correctly, you've been very helpful on these forums with advice and info on Duke and Sanford's MPP programme - so thank you! Just a couple of questions I had re the app process itself - One, my video essay was a little over the 1 minute limit (1:17 to be precise), and I spoke a little fast (but clearly, I've been told) because I couldn't figure out what to edit out from my final "script", and felt like I had to say it all...is this something I should be worried about? Two, though I loved math in high school, and did well at the time, I didn't really have the opportunity to study it in undergrad since I was doing law...is a 156 in Quant (GRE) going to hurt my chances? Alternately, will a 321 on my GRE likely offset a below average CGPA (3.2 on the US scale)? How intensive is the quant coursework at Sanford, and how open are they to admitting applicants with a pre-req deficiency in microecon...I'd be more than happy to make it up before matriculating, of course! Three, how many students in your class are pursuing an MPP/MEM degree at Sanford/Nicholas? Would you happen to know if ALL of them have natural science training and/or undergraduate coursework? I'm very interested in pursuing this dual degree, seeing as I want to do enviro policy in the long run, but just can't seem to tell from the Nicholas website whether I'm even a candidate for the MEM! I realise you're an MPP, but any insights would be great at this point! That's about it for now. Just saw Xperto's latest post on the thread, would be great to hear back from you on those questions too, as and when you have the time! Thanks again! So your video shouldn't really be a problem. They won't count it against you in any significant way, I'm sure. It's not like you submitted a 2 minute video! I would not worry about it. =) I think a 156 in quant is still pretty decent. That's about what I got in my GRE, and I almost had no quantitative work in undergrad (only one statistics course five years ago). They are now requiring (starting with my class) people who don't have enough experience to take either an introductory microeconomics and/or statistics course. Any credit-bearing course at any university which will issue a transcript for your work will be satisfactory, I believe. (No Coursera or MOOC, sorry.) And those will be enormously useful, I reassure you. I took intro to microconomics last April-June before I began school, and boy did I need it. As I mentioned in the reply above, I'm taking the regular microeconomics and statistics classes, and they have been reasonably hard. Last semester was definitely a bit of work, and this semester is even more challenging, but in a very good way. Sunny Ladd, a nationally renowned economist and education policy professor, is teaching our microeconomics class, and Manoj Mahonan, a health policy professor, is teaching our stats course. We're really learning to apply the quantitative concepts to policy-making and policy evaluation now, which is fun and interesting but man, I am spending a lot of time on reading and taking notes. Multivariable regression can be really complex! (I may be procrastinating on that work right now...). I don't believe any of my classmates in the first year are dual-degree candidates at the Nicholas School, but quite a few of them have environmental policy interests, and I know one is taking a climate change economics course at the Nicholas School right now. Not really knowing what the exact requirements are for the MEM, I would still say that you can make a strong case for being a good candidate if you have the motivation and the story to back it up. Many people make the mistake of thinking they won't be competitive for public policy school because they don't have any policy work experience, but the point of going to a professional school like Sanford or Nicholas is to gain the credentials and experience necessary to break into the field. If you were working in that field already, a professional degree may not even make sense. I would contact their admissions office and try to speak with some current Nicholas students. Hopefully they will be as helpful as Sanford's when I was applying!
divertan Posted January 16, 2015 Author Posted January 16, 2015 I think a 156 in quant is still pretty decent. That's about what I got in my GRE, and I almost had no quantitative work in undergrad (only one statistics course five years ago). They are now requiring (starting with my class) people who don't have enough experience to take either an introductory microeconomics and/or statistics course. Any credit-bearing course at any university which will issue a transcript for your work will be satisfactory, I believe. (No Coursera or MOOC, sorry.) And those will be enormously useful, I reassure you. I took intro to microconomics last April-June before I began school, and boy did I need it. As I mentioned in the reply above, I'm taking the regular microeconomics and statistics classes, and they have been reasonably hard. Last semester was definitely a bit of work, and this semester is even more challenging, but in a very good way. Sunny Ladd, a nationally renowned economist and education policy professor, is teaching our microeconomics class, and Manoj Mahonan, a health policy professor, is teaching our stats course. We're really learning to apply the quantitative concepts to policy-making and policy evaluation now, which is fun and interesting but man, I am spending a lot of time on reading and taking notes. Multivariable regression can be really complex! (I may be procrastinating on that work right now...). Loved the comprehensive-ness (?) of your responses, especially the depth in re my questions on quant stats/coursework...very reassuring, I must say! Thanks again, chocolatecheesecake! chocolatecheesecake 1
popopop Posted February 19, 2015 Posted February 19, 2015 Are we supposed to submit our FAFSA before hearing about admissions decisions, or after? I can't tell from the site whether or not they take your FAFSA into account when extending your offer (i.e. for aid). Xperto 1
chocolatecheesecake Posted February 20, 2015 Posted February 20, 2015 You should definitely apply for FAFSA as soon as you can, and send the results to all the schools you're considering attending, whether you've received admission or not. I don't know for sure, but I do think they take your FAFSA into consideration.
popopop Posted February 20, 2015 Posted February 20, 2015 You should definitely apply for FAFSA as soon as you can, and send the results to all the schools you're considering attending, whether you've received admission or not. I don't know for sure, but I do think they take your FAFSA into consideration. Thank you!
divertan Posted February 26, 2015 Author Posted February 26, 2015 Hi!! Has anyone heard ANYTHING from Sanford yet?! It's my top choice and the waiting is KILLING me, but I'm too afraid to write in and ask them anything given that they said decisions would be released in early March... March is now just THREE days away and I'm going craaaaazy! Will be dying a thousand deaths every day from Sunday onwards...early March should mean we'll know in the first two weeks right...right?!
ajak568 Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 divertan, I'm in the same boat! No news yet, I'm just waiting for early March to roll around. It's not too far away! I feel ya though. The closer March gets, the more anxious I get to hear some news. Best of luck to you and everyone else applying to Sanford! We'll know soon enough, and I hope it's good news. Aja
dudeinspace Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 divertan and ajak, It was only till 2 days ago that i started to freak out with what Early March meant. I hadnt realize that next week is the first week of march... Anyway, today im going to start running at night because my anxiety is keeping me awake. Good luck to everybody!!
wmrva Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 I'm in the same boat. For what it's worth, someone in admissions said back in January that March 5th was their target date to release decisions. Who knows whether or not they will be able to hit that date.
Xperto Posted February 27, 2015 Posted February 27, 2015 (edited) Hello everyone! Over here another Duke hopeful sharing the anxiety for the MPP admissions results. Trying to take away the anxiety I was checking the views for my optional essay video through Youtube Stats, and I got 3 views from NC. I am assuming all of these come from the Ad Comm. I am wondering if this is a good or a bad sign (only people with the link can actually see the video based on the settings that I have imposed, therefore I only have my views and these 3 views from NC) Has anyone else submitted a video or a presentation as an optional essay? Have you had more views than these? Less? Thanks in advance for sharing! Good luck to you all! Cheers!!! Edited February 27, 2015 by Xperto
buckHD Posted February 27, 2015 Posted February 27, 2015 I also submitted a video and mine hasn't been viewed at all outside of the times I watched it myself.
brmoran Posted February 27, 2015 Posted February 27, 2015 One view from North Carolina for me...looks like it was from the past week. Don't really think there is much to be gleaned from the number of views.
dudeinspace Posted February 27, 2015 Posted February 27, 2015 @Xperto I got 17 views... I guess 3-5 might be mine. On a video for NYU, I have 5 views. As brmoran said, I don't think much can be said about the number of views the video has. I'm not even sure that the video is really that relevant to your overall application but I could be wrong of course.
dudeinspace Posted February 27, 2015 Posted February 27, 2015 I just got an email saying that a decision was available on the application website. I was admitted with 16k funding!! GOOD LUCK to everybody!! Poli92 1
MJA87 Posted February 27, 2015 Posted February 27, 2015 I just got an email saying that a decision was available on the application website. I was admitted with 16k funding!! GOOD LUCK to everybody!! Same email here. $4k assistantship and $16k funding! It's still fairly expensive over all, but I'm still very excited that I got in. Poli92 1
nelmse Posted February 27, 2015 Posted February 27, 2015 Same email here. $4k assistantship and $16k funding! It's still fairly expensive over all, but I'm still very excited that I got in. Looks like they have a theme-- accepted with 16k + 4k assistantship
divertan Posted February 28, 2015 Author Posted February 28, 2015 AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!! 16K funding as well!!!!! Let's see what this translates to given I'm a dual degree applicant but still...AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Poli92 1
Xperto Posted February 28, 2015 Posted February 28, 2015 Hello everyone Accepted to the MPP via website with $$ around two hours ago Congrats to all who got in Good luck too everyone else Cheers!
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now