Harris 2018

[Ellen123]

Didn't see a thread for Harris 2018, so I thought I would start one since today is the Early Action deadline!

Did anyone else apply Early Action? Chicago is my top choice, so I am crossing my fingers until we hear back in mid-December...

[Prester John]

Applied sometime back. Wanted to focus on hks and WWS. But now looking back, te essays doesn’t seem that good!

Waiting till mid December. Can we expect by Dec 15? And how are the scholarship changes generally?

[Ellen123]

When I visited I think they said the 15th. That being said I think they keep it intentionally vague on the website because, based on old threads on GC, they have had some issues with meeting specific deadlines for results.

 

I don't know about funding - would be interested in any insights people have. I have noticed that on GC some people were able to use higher funding offers from other schools to renegotiate with Harris, although the increases were generally pretty small.

[Policy.Planner.NYC]

Applied Friday!

Awkwardly, I will be in Chicago on 12/15 for reasons unrelated to graduate school... so a reject could definitely sour my trip.  Harris is my top choice, given my interest in urban policy. 

[virgogrl56]

Sent in my application last night! The portal was set to Eastern time, which nearly gave me a heart attack, but now just to anxiously wait for results. I'm happy they have one of the quickest turn around times I've seen for early action

[yoh_rrg]

Excited to see people talking about this! I had my application completed a couple of weeks ago but one of my recommenders waited until 10 p.m. on the due date to submit and I nearly had a conniption...

[Ellen123]

On 11/28/2017 at 6:28 PM, virgogrl56 said:

Sent in my application last night! The portal was set to Eastern time, which nearly gave me a heart attack, but now just to anxiously wait for results. I'm happy they have one of the quickest turn around times I've seen for early action

I can't tell if I like the quick turn around. I think it might be making me more anxious because I went straight from worrying about the app to worrying about the result and didn't have that extra time to cool off. 

[Policy.Planner.NYC]

1 minute ago, Ellen123 said:

I can't tell if I like the quick turn around. I think it might be making me more anxious because I went straight from worrying about the app to worrying about the result and didn't have that extra time to cool off. 

Agreed. Of course the worst (or best - depending on the outcome) is that I will be in Chicago on the 15th. I suppose if I get in, it will be a good chance to check out campus and Hyde Park again over the weekend. 

[virgogrl56]

18 hours ago, Policy.Planner.NYC said:

Agreed. Of course the worst (or best - depending on the outcome) is that I will be in Chicago on the 15th. I suppose if I get in, it will be a good chance to check out campus and Hyde Park again over the weekend. 

I'm also going to be in Chicago on the 15th and may do the same. I was able to do a tour a couple months ago, but it would be nice to check out the area a bit more

[lackey]

Applied EA as well. Hopefully I get a nice birthday/Christmas present.

[Ellen123]

16 hours ago, lackey said:

Applied EA as well. Hopefully I get a nice birthday/Christmas present.

Crossing my fingers for all of us here on GradCafe! The anticipation is killing me. It is going to be a long two or so weeks.

[Policy.Planner.NYC]

Out of curiosity, has anyone heard a confirmed date for decisions? I guess I assumed it would be 12/15 based on what limited info I can find about last year. 

[Ellen123]

58 minutes ago, Policy.Planner.NYC said:

Out of curiosity, has anyone heard a confirmed date for decisions? I guess I assumed it would be 12/15 based on what limited info I can find about last year. 

I haven't seen anything officially in writing. I did hear the 15th verbally from an admissions rep. I feel like it could be anytime around the 15th - maybe a window of a few days on either side. That being said I woke up to an email from Harris this morning and freaked out, but it was just promoting an upcoming webinar. 

[Policy.Planner.NYC]

11 minutes ago, Ellen123 said:

I haven't seen anything officially in writing. I did hear the 15th verbally from an admissions rep. I feel like it could be anytime around the 15th - maybe a window of a few days on either side. That being said I woke up to an email from Harris this morning and freaked out, but it was just promoting an upcoming webinar. 

https://harris.uchicago.edu/admissions/requirements-and-deadlines

Looks like they just changed the deadlines page to place a hard date (12/22/17) for Early Action notification.

[Ellen123]

4 hours ago, Policy.Planner.NYC said:

https://harris.uchicago.edu/admissions/requirements-and-deadlines

Looks like they just changed the deadlines page to place a hard date (12/22/17) for Early Action notification.

Well, that kind of sucks.

[virgogrl56]

6 hours ago, Policy.Planner.NYC said:

https://harris.uchicago.edu/admissions/requirements-and-deadlines

Looks like they just changed the deadlines page to place a hard date (12/22/17) for Early Action notification.

I think, like many other schools, the 22nd is their last day before they close for the holidays. I've seen/heard of other programs use that as a deadline because it limits the angry phone calls from rejected applicants (according to friends who have worked in admissions). Guess it will just be more waiting

[Policy.Planner.NYC]

4 minutes ago, virgogrl56 said:

I think, like many other schools, the 22nd is their last day before they close for the holidays. I've seen/heard of other programs use that as a deadline because it limits the angry phone calls from rejected applicants (according to friends who have worked in admissions). Guess it will just be more waiting

Waiting another week is frustrating, but choosing 12/22 certainly makes sense from their perspective.

[Policy.Planner.NYC]

Out of curiosity, did anyone else get a fee waiver to Harris? I was discussing my app with an admissions staffer over email and she eventually offered me what seemed to be a merit-based fee waiver - which I gladly accepted!

 took the LSAT and was at one time considering law school and it seemed like common practice in that world, but I have never seen any evidence of fee waivers for MPP programs other than the need-based ones you can apply for. 

[frankfurtercardozo]

Any idea about funding opportunities for the MPP at Harris?

[virgogrl56]

Does anyone know how they notified applicants of decisions in the past? 

[lackey]

57 minutes ago, virgogrl56 said:

Does anyone know how they notified applicants of decisions in the past? 

I heard they call accepted ones, maybe email too?

[virgogrl56]

32 minutes ago, lackey said:

I heard they call accepted ones, maybe email too?

Do you think those they don't accept or defer just get emails, then?

[yoh_rrg]

On 12/7/2017 at 6:14 AM, Policy.Planner.NYC said:

Out of curiosity, did anyone else get a fee waiver to Harris? I was discussing my app with an admissions staffer over email and she eventually offered me what seemed to be a merit-based fee waiver - which I gladly accepted!

 took the LSAT and was at one time considering law school and it seemed like common practice in that world, but I have never seen any evidence of fee waivers for MPP programs other than the need-based ones you can apply for. 

I only applied to schools where I was provided fee waivers. Not that this limited me-- almost every school has a long list of programs or affiliations they like to see for which they will provide fee waivers (for example, if you were a Truman scholar, Fulbright, AmeriCorps, etc.). I actually think it's rather common, so maybe it's something you should pursue if you still have other upcoming applications to submit! Schools seem to love having as many applicants as they can get to boost their numbers, so I think they're pretty eager to make it as easy to apply as possible.

[lackey]

10 hours ago, yoh_rrg said:

I only applied to schools where I was provided fee waivers. Not that this limited me-- almost every school has a long list of programs or affiliations they like to see for which they will provide fee waivers (for example, if you were a Truman scholar, Fulbright, AmeriCorps, etc.). I actually think it's rather common, so maybe it's something you should pursue if you still have other upcoming applications to submit! Schools seem to love having as many applicants as they can get to boost their numbers, so I think they're pretty eager to make it as easy to apply as possible.

I just wrote to them saying I was an MPP applicant, and they sent me a form link. I think I got mine due to financial need. Fair warning: some schools (SIPA, SAIS, Duke), do not have need based waivers. Others (HKS, Harris) you need to write to admissions and maybe wait a few/days weeks for approval depending on when you apply. Not every school that has need-based waivers will advertise it on the website. 

Edited December 10, 2017 by lackey
Clarification

[Policy.Planner.NYC]

2 hours ago, lackey said:

I just wrote to them saying I was an MPP applicant, and they sent me a form link. I think I got mine due to financial need. Fair warning: some schools (SIPA, SAIS, Duke), do not have need based waivers. Others (HKS, Harris) you need to write to admissions and maybe wait a few/days weeks for approval depending on when you apply. Not every school that has need-based waivers will advertise it on the website. 

Interesting. I definitely don't qualify for anything need-based. I didn't ask at Harris, the admissions staffer just offered to waive my fee without prompting. Do you think other schools might offer a non-need-based fee waiver upon request? 

Did anyone else get a holiday card from the admissions office at Harris? I got one in the mail the other day and the small size of the envelope freaked me out a bit (assuming it was a reject letter, of course) until I opened it and saw what was inside. Ultimately, I thought it was a pretty strange gesture.