Duke (Sanford) acceptances going out tomorrow

[stilesg57]

A little bird told me...

Decisions have been made and they go out tomorrow. Open House for admitted students is on Friday, March 26th. Good luck everybody!

[le_neocon]

Are you sure about this. This will be my first admit/reject, then. For some reason, my heart and head tell me I won't get in..Sigh

[stilesg57]

Yes.

Decisions are finished and admission, conditional admission, and waitlisted letters will be available online tomorrow by the afternoon. Financial aid info and a welcome letter will follow in the next couple days. Rejections will come out later

It's a tough field, but good luck!

[mppgal55]

Yes.

Decisions are finished and admission, conditional admission, and waitlisted letters will be available online tomorrow by the afternoon. Financial aid info and a welcome letter will follow in the next couple days. Rejections will come out later

It's a tough field, but good luck!

The admissions people at Duke on Friday told me that we would find out today... Is that wrong, then? I've been anxious all night over it!

I saw that you posted elsewhere that this year applicants with no work experience were ruled out altogether. I don't have any post-grad work experience (I graduate in May), but I do have 6 government internships...do you think I have a chance?

[stilesg57]

The admissions people at Duke on Friday told me that we would find out today... Is that wrong, then? I've been anxious all night over it!

I saw that you posted elsewhere that this year applicants with no work experience were ruled out altogether. I don't have any post-grad work experience (I graduate in May), but I do have 6 government internships...do you think I have a chance?

I just met with Admissions and they said they've got all the decisions made but they're sending them out tomorrow. I dunno - maybe they'll send them out today. Try to relax I guess

I can't say because I haven't seen your application, but there was a definite effort to get exclusively experienced students. My class has just three or four direct-from-undergrad students, whereas the 2nd year class is nearly half straight from college. That is definitely the direction the program is going, and with so many more applicants they can do it. 6 government internships is really legit though, so don't count yourself out!

Best of luck!

[sashmpp]

just curious...is there a reason that rejections go out later?

[stilesg57]

I have no idea - sorry!

[fadeindreams]

just curious...is there a reason that rejections go out later?

Probably because they want to send them on Friday right before closing time. Ostensibly this would allow angry students to calm down over the weekend.

That or they would like to keep all of their options open. So long as they don't pass out a rejection they can always reach out later!

Well, that or they are pressed for time and they need to get acceptances out as early as possible in order to compete with other schools for their preferred candidates. They figure that the rejections can afford to wait.

[coaks]

Any info on the number of applicants this year? Was volume up or down from past cycles?

Anyone hear if Sanford was considering increasing the size of their MPP cohort to admit a few more good degree candidates into the program?

(I know the chances are no one reading these boards has any clue about this. But just curious. )

[stilesg57]

Any info on the number of applicants this year? Was volume up or down from past cycles?

Anyone hear if Sanford was considering increasing the size of their MPP cohort to admit a few more good degree candidates into the program?

(I know the chances are no one reading these boards has any clue about this. But just curious. )

Luckily I do have a bit of info on this

Applicants are up significantly from last year, which was itself a record year. We got somewhere north of 500 applications (I'm not sure of the exact number) and have 159 acceptances and waitlisted admits. About a 30% acceptance rate, which isn't prohibitive by any means if you ask me.

We are increasing the target size of the cohort to reflect a strong applicant pool and the growth of Sanford from an Institute to a School. The target for my year was 50-55 and we got 49; the target this year is 55-60 and they're planning to use the waitlist (new this year) to ensure we get that much.

Just think, if you get in and decide to come here you can be exactly where I am a year from now: in a study room in Rubenstein Hall at midnight with several hours more work to go and a full day of classes starting at 8:30am tomorrow

[coaks]

Luckily I do have a bit of info on this

Applicants are up significantly from last year, which was itself a record year. We got somewhere north of 500 applications (I'm not sure of the exact number) and have 159 acceptances and waitlisted admits. About a 30% acceptance rate, which isn't prohibitive by any means if you ask me.

We are increasing the target size of the cohort to reflect a strong applicant pool and the growth of Sanford from an Institute to a School. The target for my year was 50-55 and we got 49; the target this year is 55-60 and they're planning to use the waitlist (new this year) to ensure we get that much.

Just think, if you get in and decide to come here you can be exactly where I am a year from now: in a study room in Rubenstein Hall at midnight with several hours more work to go and a full day of classes starting at 8:30am tomorrow

All of that is great to hear (except your predicament this evening). Thanks for the fantastic info. Judging by what you said, I'm assuming that they'll be a significant number of waitlisted candidates but I'm crossing my fingers!

[le_neocon]

Well an eventual 55 out of 500 odd applicants is quite competitive..Do you know what the representation is for international students. I tend to think that the sanford school has a lower representation of international students.

[coaks]

Well an eventual 55 out of 500 odd applicants is quite competitive..Do you know what the representation is for international students. I tend to think that the sanford school has a lower representation of international students.

On the bright side, it doesn't only matter how many Sanford is aiming for; it also matters how many the school admits vs. how many it waitlists. If they admit 150 and only 55 chose to attend, the admitted students aren't at a disadvantage just because the yield's so low. But if they're only admitting 75 and waitlisting 75 and they end up getting all 55 from the initial admited candidates, then that would be entirely different. In that case, it would seem to make it one of the most selective MPP programs this year, from the little I know about acceptance rates at the top programs.

[coaks]

Double posted.

Edited February 23, 2010 by coakleym

[Diverchica]

Hey Stiles,

Any idea of the number of apps vs the number accepted for the Nicholas masters programs this year?

Just curious!

[abelincoln]

My wife got accepted to Duke today around 3pm.

[coaks]

My wife got accepted to Duke today around 3pm.

Congrats to your S.O.! No news for me. I suppose it's a no, then.

[le_neocon]

There are quite a few acceptances, around 7 on the results board. I haven't got mine though.

[mppgal55]

The people in the ad office said that everyone, rejects too, will hear by next Monday.

I'm assuming if we haven't heard today it is a no? This will be my first rejection, kind of really depressing.

[stilesg57]

Do you know what the representation is for international students. I tend to think that the sanford school has a lower representation of international students.

Phew, there must be a ton of international students at other schools then. Maybe if you compare to the business school where like 40% are international students. My class has 12 international students for 49 people - is that unusually small? I don't know, I didn't really take that into account when I was looking at schools so I don't remember any comparative numbers.

Also, Sanford has the MIDP program, which is about the same size as the MPP but the numbers are reversed. It's virtually all international students save for a dozen or so Americans. On top of that, we have 30 Chinese gov't officials visiting for classes every year. It feels pretty international as a program.

[stilesg57]

Hey Stiles,

Any idea of the number of apps vs the number accepted for the Nicholas masters programs this year?

Just curious!

Hey Diver Gal

Sorry, I don't know anything about Nick's numbers, other than their minor debacle last year (and that everyone's app numbers are up). I'm working with a Nick dual degree tomorrow morning on an outside consulting project, I'll ask her and see if she knows anything.

Edited February 24, 2010 by stilesg57

[JBrodsky]

Hey Stiles,

Any idea of the number of apps vs the number accepted for the Nicholas masters programs this year?

Just curious!

I'm curious too; one of my best friends (an international student) got accepted for an MEM a couple of weeks ago. :-) Perhaps you'll see him in the fall.

[leftmost]

Congrats all those who have gotten through!! I haven't heard back yet but am keeping my fingers crossed. Btw have any international students gotten through? I'm just wondering cause i'm international myself.

[Bastille]

Well, it appears that I am in, as well. Which certainly made me crack a pretty big smile.

But I do have a few concerns. First, non of the policy centers (http://sanford.duke.edu/centers/) seem to be at all geared toward the MPP students. Many other schools (Wagner, Ford, for example) actively encourage their grad students to get involved in the policy centers. This seemed like a great way to get a little extra-curricular experience, as well as hone in on career interests.

Second, I flicked through a number of the recent articles, and it all appears, well... rather uber-lefty. A recent intern of Ted Kennedy featured, for example (http://sanford.duke....cy_nr012810.php), and an op-ed that made me want yell at the prof for ignorance of the basics of the international job market (http://www.post-gaze...1033820-109.stm).

Anyone have similar feelings?

This is, admittedly, a pretty basic skimming. And there's a lot about the program that I really like about the curriculum, from what I see in the student manual.

[hoby]

Is there anyone who can confirm that if we have not received an email yet that means a rejection? possibly because rejections come out later, does anyone know how much later?