Fall 2016 Admissions Cycle

[RCtheSS]

19 hours ago, lbruneetoile said:

Has anyone heard from Minnesota Humphrey re: funding? They said the deadline was the 15th so hopefully that comes today or tomorrow, but my decision pretty much hinges on what (if any) aid I receive from them. Argh, I thought after getting admitted I wouldn't have to wait anymore!

Yep. First we wait 3-4 months for application decisions to drop, then we wait another month to know if we can even afford it.

[lbruneetoile]

20 hours ago, Windmills said:

Nope. I talked to a professor in the school last week who said they would try to make decisions soon but didn't know if they would also send out funding letters the same day or until later. Either way, they're also on spring break this week so I imagine they won't be sent out until next week at the earliest. 

Wtf. That's not a good look for potential students who need to make decisions ASAP.

[CakeTea]

21 hours ago, lbruneetoile said:

Has anyone heard from Minnesota Humphrey re: funding? They said the deadline was the 15th so hopefully that comes today or tomorrow, but my decision pretty much hinges on what (if any) aid I receive from them. Argh, I thought after getting admitted I wouldn't have to wait anymore!

I am in the same boat. Humphrey has an odd decision process: application action, long wait, admission, long wait for funding. this is rather odd given that Humphrey isn't a large programme and still takes its time to make funding decision. One would expect a smoother process. 

[wheretonext]

Anybody still waiting on Maxwell? I know they have rolling admissions, and I turned in my application on the deadline day, but nothing from them yet...

[monocle]

I somehow happened across this in Architecture and planning 

Hope it's helpful to others!

[Windmills]

3 hours ago, lbruneetoile said:

Wtf. That's not a good look for potential students who need to make decisions ASAP.

 

3 hours ago, CakeTea said:

I am in the same boat. Humphrey has an odd decision process: application action, long wait, admission, long wait for funding. this is rather odd given that Humphrey isn't a large programme and still takes its time to make funding decision. One would expect a smoother process. 

I just got my merit based aid email. I imagine you guys should too, if you haven't already.

Edited March 15, 2016 by Windmills

[RCtheSS]

21 minutes ago, Windmills said:

 

I just got my merit based aid email. I imagine you guys should too, if you haven't already.

Glad to hear they stuck to the March 15 date! They're liking sending them out in waves instead of all at once.

[aslabchu]

Nevermind! Got my answer.

Edited March 15, 2016 by aslabchu

[paroisen]

What kinds of awards is Minnesota/Humphrey offering? Can anyone confirm? I am anxiously awaiting the email - hopefully they all come out today! 

Edited March 15, 2016 by paroisen

[wearingsocks]

I got mine today, so I'd imagine they're all going out. I don't know the different kinds of awards that are being offered, but mine was not one of the DOVE/university-wide ones.

[RCtheSS]

I received a HHH Scholarship in recognition of being a PPIA fellow. Minneapolis is now the new headquarters of the national PPIA office as well.

Edited March 15, 2016 by RCtheSS

[kasbah]

@RCtheSS Just wanted to say congrats on all that green in your signature!

[RCtheSS]

Thank you! It hasn't really sank in yet, to be honest. I still need to tell my family the news.

But now it's on to making a decision and figuring out how to finance graduate school.

[paroisen]

Congrats RCtheSS! Do you mind my asking how much the HHH award was for? I received 10k and would like to see how likely it will be to re-evaluate my package given their competitor schools. Thanks!

 

[RCtheSS]

2 minutes ago, paroisen said:

Congrats RCtheSS! Do you mind my asking how much the HHH award was for? I received 10k and would like to see how likely it will be to re-evaluate my package given their competitor schools. Thanks!

• $22,500 over three semesters (since I'm a dual degree applicant)
• Non-resident tuition waiver valued at $8,262 per year
• Combined total of $46,524 over two years

[Windmills]

I got full tuition coverage (I'm a non-resident) through the HHH Scholarship as well and a Graduate Assistantship which includes 47% off health insurance. It sounds like the GRA is my primary source of funding then the HHH scholarship covers the rest of tuition that the GRA doesn't—as opposed to the HHH first covering all of tuition then getting extra money from the GRA.

[CakeTea]

Out of state tuition waiver plus fellowship. Not great, but doable. Minneapolis as a large city has reasonable cost of living compared to my other schools.

[lbruneetoile]

Re: Humphrey, after all that stressing I also got my funding email tonight.

I received the HHH Public Leadership Awards Scholarship and a non-resident tuition waiver, for a full value of $36,524 over two years. Which is pretty much a full ride aka totally mindblowing and thrilling. I now have some pretty tough decisions coming up!

[RCtheSS]

I just spent the last 30 minutes reading old threads on this subforum regarding student loans and debt to earn a MPP/MPA. 

It really helped me solidify my future priorities along with my career goals. I really recommend that folks utilize previous thread discussions while making these tough decisions!

[Windmills]

If anyone is interested, updated rankings for Public Affairs from US News are up.

[RCtheSS]

5 minutes ago, Windmills said:

If anyone is interested, updated rankings for Public Affairs from US News are up.

Oh, these should be good.

[coasts]

51 minutes ago, RCtheSS said:

I just spent the last 30 minutes reading old threads on this subforum regarding student loans and debt to earn a MPP/MPA. 

It really helped me solidify my future priorities along with my career goals. I really recommend that folks utilize previous thread discussions while making these tough decisions!

 any threads you found especially helpful? (I can also go digging myself :)) 

[RCtheSS]

Just now, coasts said:

 any threads you found especially helpful? (I can also go digging myself :)) 

I really went on Google and searched "mpp debt worth it", hahaha. From there you can limit your search to just GradCafe threads. Some are specific to certain programs (no surprise HKS shows up a majority of the time). 

Here are a few that I read through:

 

[coasts]

thanks for the links @RCtheSS! I think it largely confirms my decision to choose among the schools that have given me generous financial offers even if they were not my "dream". PSLF does make it a bit more tempting to go for the dream school, but even so the debt would still hang over me for a decade and influence my decisions. Talking for my older coworkers, many of whom have substantial grad school debt from MPA/MPP programs, has also reinforced my feeling that it's better to choose a low-debt option, and I'm grateful that I have those (I shudder to think about a scenario in which I only had expensive choices.) 

[monocle]

6 hours ago, RCtheSS said:

6 hours ago, Windmills said:

If anyone is interested, updated rankings for Public Affairs from US News are up.

Oh, these should be good.

I think the Public Affairs rankings by US news are some of the worst of all the rankings lol. They only rank MPA programs, and its based on an average score of the perception from academics at other schools.. lol why? it's just a rating system from 1-5? No other data was recorded/considered? And they don't include NPSIA in their considerations.