Berkeley Goldman 2016 MPP

[SDtoMPP]

5 minutes ago, TheLastHurrah said:

Is it possible that they are only reaching out to in-state students at the moment?

 

 

No, I saw someone earlier in the thread say they were out of state. However, looking through last year's post they sent out acceptances without funding or small funding first, then the big ones, then rejections, and finally wait lists. 

[murray]

rejected a couple minutes ago

[sfe510]

 Just got my rejection too. Kinda expected it and ok with it because I have some other great options. Good luck to everyone still waiting!

[lbruneetoile]

Well, I got waitlisted. A little disappointed but that's better than I expected so I'm still pleased. I have other good options and I have to let the other schools know by April 15th, whereas Berkeley won't let me know if I'm in until May and that's before I know anything about funding either. Alas alack.

[obrien_blue]

I don't have anything from Berkeley, yet. I've now got half funding at Michigan; I just found out I didn't move on to the final round for fellowship at NYU (though I'm presumably in and up for merit-based fellowships); and now, Berkeley, you at playing with my emotions! I'm in a fragile place! And waiting on HKS. I need to be sedated. 

 

Congrats to to those of you in/with funding! Amazing achievement!

[obrien_blue]

...and I'm an idiot. Mine was in a spam folder?! So check that if you're not seeing yours, guys. I was accepted! No money  Probably for the best; I am a lawyer, and I want to practice some while in school; I would have to take another bar for CA, so money was necessary. Good luck, y'all! Congrats, fellow admits! 

[greyvetiver]

14 hours ago, Stars88 said:

Do the GSIs cover tuition and health completely? If so, would I just need to pay room and board?

 

I went to Cal for undergrad, and I can also assure you that being a GSI can indeed cover most of your tuitions.

[wmkx]

I was waitlisted. Congratulations to you all!

[RufusMiddleton]

Congrats to everyone admitted!

I'm on the waitlist. Would anyone care to speculate on the odds of making it off the waitlist after May 1st? Searching the results section from previous years I saw one post about a waitlist admission.

Thanks!

[mfmpp]

What does working as a GSI actually entail?  I'm under the impression that it means being fully responsible for leading an undergraduate course (e.g,. lecturing, grading)

[ryetrack]

Is anyone else still waiting to hear back?

[SDtoMPP]

9 minutes ago, ryetrack said:

Is anyone else still waiting to hear back?

Check your spam/promotions/etc. folders in your email. That's where mine went. I thought all decisions went out at once, but I could be wrong.

[chocolatecheesecake]

On 3/11/2016 at 10:15 PM, mfmpp said:

What does working as a GSI actually entail?  I'm under the impression that it means being fully responsible for leading an undergraduate course (e.g,. lecturing, grading)

Hopefully someone who attends Berkeley will actually respond, but I can tell you that it's definitely NOT being fully responsible for leading an undergraduate course - lecturing AND grading and running everything. When I visited, I spoke to several people about their experiences as a GSI. I told them about my interest in social policy, and they indicated that there was an undergraduate course called Wealth and Poverty or something similar that typically had twenty sections of undergraduates. As a GSI, you would take on either one or possibly two of those sections and do discussion section, probably grade, and help out the professor with other things. Many students seemed to start GSI work in their very first semester at Berkeley, and seemed pretty chill with it. You can learn more online since Berkeley actually has a GSI center: http://gsi.berkeley.edu/

[greyvetiver]

6 hours ago, chocolatecheesecake said:

Hopefully someone who attends Berkeley will actually respond, but I can tell you that it's definitely NOT being fully responsible for leading an undergraduate course - lecturing AND grading and running everything. When I visited, I spoke to several people about their experiences as a GSI. I told them about my interest in social policy, and they indicated that there was an undergraduate course called Wealth and Poverty or something similar that typically had twenty sections of undergraduates. As a GSI, you would take on either one or possibly two of those sections and do discussion section, probably grade, and help out the professor with other things. Many students seemed to start GSI work in their very first semester at Berkeley, and seemed pretty chill with it. You can learn more online since Berkeley actually has a GSI center: http://gsi.berkeley.edu/

I took a few classes at the Goldman School as an undergraduate. And for most of the classes, GSIs were only responsible for grading papers and exams. They sometimes held office hours when midterms/finals were approaching but I don't think they had to do any lectures/discussion sessions at all.

[SDtoMPP]

They seem to have resources for teaching a discussion section on their website, so I would guess that at least some of the GSI jobs involve leading a discussion section, although never an entire course. Kind of excited about that prospect as I am a teacher currently!

[NekoAtsume]

As greyvetiver has said, GSI positions are not that intense - you are definitely not going to be lecturing. GSI's lead 1 hours "sections" during the week with a group of 20ish undergrads who are taking a course. It is usually simply a space to discuss content and guide the undergraduates. You also are expected to attend the actual class lectures. GSIs at Berkeley, in my experience, would also grade papers and hold office hours once a week to help students with their projects in a course.

I would guess with meetings with faculty, sections and preparing for sections, attending the lectures, grading, and office hours, a typical time commitment would be 6 hours/wk with no grading and 8-10 when grading comes up (that might be vary HUGELY depending on the course demands and length of papers)? This is just an educated guess from my experience there as an undergraduate.

[ryetrack]

On 3/10/2016 at 5:23 PM, SDtoMPP said:

Check your spam/promotions/etc. folders in your email. That's where mine went. I thought all decisions went out at once, but I could be wrong.

Thanks SD. You were right. Have you received your official offer of admissions from the Graduate Division with a link to the Statement of Intent to Register (SIR)?

[SDtoMPP]

1 hour ago, ryetrack said:

Thanks SD. You were right. Have you received your official offer of admissions from the Graduate Division with a link to the Statement of Intent to Register (SIR)?

 

I have not yet received that.

[NekoAtsume]

Hey all! Hope to see some of you at the Berkeley Admit Day. Wanted to offer up my help if anyone has questions about traveling to the Berkeley area since I went there for undergrad. Will help with what I can!

[SDtoMPP]

Anyone received their official notification or their financial aid/loan information (not fellowships)?

[ryetrack]

1 hour ago, SDtoMPP said:

Anyone received their official notification or their financial aid/loan information (not fellowships)?

Nope. I think we have to submit or official Statement of Intent to Register before we receive that info.

[kooyah]

Hi there new Golden Cubbies , Cubbies to be, and Bears to grow into!

 

I'm a current 1st year student that found these boards quite useful last year in my decision making and just learning abut what I signed up for [hint: your life WILL change, for the better, and GSPP commands attention from Silicon Valley when it comes to job/internship search] Anyway, I'm have a full scholarship from GSPP,  held a 50% (half time) GSI position last semester, and know how GSPP runs for the most part from the student side. I'm also a CA resident, born raised in San Diego, born and educated in northern California. 

 

So, ask me ANYTHING! (*almost*)

I'll be seeing some of you at admit today! I just woke up, so I'll be late to class...

Edited April 4, 2016 by kooyah

[SDtoMPP]

I turned in my SIR to GSPP today! 

[kooyah]

 

Congrats! See you in the fall! Exciting times. MAKE  SURE to take Sarah Anzia's Politics course in the Fall. I saved it especially for election year because she is a young professor on fire! And because it's part of our restricted electives requirement and it's easily  the best option of the 3 we're required to take 2 of. 

Welcome, Golden Bear! 

[NekoAtsume]

On 4/5/2016 at 5:56 PM, kooyah said:

 

Congrats! See you in the fall! Exciting times. MAKE  SURE to take Sarah Anzia's Politics course in the Fall. I saved it especially for election year because she is a young professor on fire! And because it's part of our restricted electives requirement and it's easily  the best option of the 3 we're required to take 2 of. 

Welcome, Golden Bear! 

Hi Kooyah - thank you for your offers of help! I'm looking at course listings and have a question about the core electives - what are the elective options that we are required to take 2 of? I can't seem to find a clear listing of what is and is not required.