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@joyma - Thank you! I was actually really surprised -- I think I got lucky more than anything. My work experience includes a year in Latin America (I taught EFL for 6 months and traveled for 6 months) and then I did (well, I have a few months left) Peace Corps in East Asia. I'm planning on focusing on international economic development and policy analysis. That's why I eventually decided on MSPP. It has a strong quant focus within ID policy. I wish you much, much luck with a good funding offer from both IPED and SIPA! @paladin_av - I actually thought the same thing! When I talked to the IPED admissions dept, they told me most of their students get a decent amount of funding so I was surprised to see on here so many people being WL for funding or outright denied funding, when they got funding offers from other schools that are (sometimes) ranked higher or generally thought of as having a stronger reputation.

Congrats on SIPA! That seems to be an excellent program! Where else did you apply? SIPA didn't give me a dime (oh, except for $4000/yr in work study, haha) so it was between SAIS and MSPP and I am going with MSPP. Their program seems to better align with my interests and they made my decision even easier by offering me a better financial package than SAIS. Keep us posted where you end up!

I'm not going to attend but I too was waitlisted for funding, and even though I already declined, I received an email today stating that funding decisions for those waitlisted for $ would be notified on/before/around April 15. I'm guessing that's when decisions are due for those who received scholarships and fellowships. Hope that helps so you're not just waiting around wondering when you'll find out! Now I realize you posted this on the 20th and might already have the info you need but maybe it will help someone else!

Hi guys - since this thread exists and only one other person responded on the MIDP thread, just wondering if any of you here are planning to attend for the MIDP program, or are all of you for MPP?

I would definitely not recommend taking the test three times, each time only taking one section. I can't imagine that does you any favors but as someone else said, since they pull your best scores from each section, retaking your lowest section once doesn't seem to hurt. Who knows - maybe they see it as dedication? If you're worried about doing it, ask the ad comms of the schools you plan on applying to if they're bothered by a submission of a NS on certain sections of the test for different dates.

Yeah, you select the date or dates of the test scores you want to submit but if you only retook one section, the school will see that score and NS for any sections you skipped. Regarding admissions departments and how they view a NS on certain sections? Maybe some departments view it differently but SAIS, SIPA, MSPP and Fordham didn't seem to care. They all saw that I took the GRE three times and that I received a NS for V and AW on the third time.

I took the GRE three times and did exactly what I mentioned. The first time was during my junior year of undergrad when I took the entire test, and I took it again twice four years later (first time all 3 sections, the second time only the Q section). You have to pay for the entire test but you do NOT have to take the entire test. You "skip" the sections of the test you do not want to take. You take each part within the section of the test you want, ie all 2-3 Q sections OR all 2-3 V sections OR both AW sections, whichever you are trying to improve. For example, if you only want to take retake the Q sections, you "skip" the V and AW sections and it records your V and AW scores as NS (No Score). When you submit your official scores, the schools receive the score you received for the Q sections you took and an NS for the other sections. (Vice versa for Q or AW). That's what I did and it helped me improve the math section from a 152 to 160. You can call ETS and verify but I'm speaking from my own experiences that it is completely true.

Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Public school, not that great Previous Degrees and GPAs: Philosophy major + philosophy minor, cum. 3.29, major 3.5, minor 3.6 GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 159 V, 160 Q, 4.5 AW Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 1 year teaching + travel in Latin America, Peace Corps China Math/Econ Background: None really Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): Intermediate-advanced Spanish, intermediate oral/written Mandarin Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International development Long Term Professional Goals: Analysis/evaluation of development policy Schools Applied to & Results: Columbia SIPA - accepted (no $), Fordham IPED - accepted (waitlisted for $), Georgetown MSPP - accepted ($17.5/year), Johns Hopkins SAIS - accepted ($15k/year) Ultimate Decision & Why: Georgetown was my top choice as their program focuses on development policy as opposed to project development. They provided me a nice scholarship which definitely was encouraging. Advice for Future Applicants: -First and most important, don't be afraid to apply to top tier schools even if your GPA/GRE scores are mediocre. Mine were, at best and I focused my efforts on developing international experience to make up for that. -That being said, you can retake individual portions of the GRE. If you're satisfied with one section but not the other, you can study for a retake just that section; and believe me, it's easier to focus for two hours on one section than retaking the whole test! -Write your personal statements early! I started mine six months before the deadlines and I still felt like I was rushing to make final edits in the weeks and days before I hit submit. -Tailor your statements to each program. Some of my friends applied to similar programs but didn't bother rewriting their statements except for the final paragraph. It showed in their admission results. Schools can tell whether you write each essay for their school and it can often make a difference, or seems to anyway. -With your statement, address any negatives in your application positively. Instead of pointing on my crappy cumulative GPA, I pointed out that I received exceptional marks in my major and minor courses and often in graduate level seminars and those were most indicative of the level of work I am both capable of and determined to complete at XXXX. Most applications allow you to address any extra parts of your application that don't reflect you at your best. Take advantage of it. Good luck! Hope to see some of you this fall!

Just declined my offer to SAIS with a fellowship. Hope that helps out someone on the wait-list for admission and for funding! Good luck guys!

For those of you who received a CUID, where did you find that number? I'm especially curious if you say it's linked to a funding offer because I was under the impression I didn't get any but maybe it's a maze I have to navigate (probably just wishful thinking but maybe)!

I'm in (with no funding, sad). But when I called CU last night, they said decisions would be released this week and next week - yours just might not be updated yet. Congrats to all of those accepted (and with funding!).

I think they count them heavily for fellowships but according to their admin dept, your overall package is more important for admission. Sure thing! Good luck to you!

Congrats! Where else did you apply? You are definitely accepting at JH with another concentration? I'm still thinking but I'm not really interested in general IR/foreign policy fields so I'm probably going to accept somewhere else (GU). Yeah, I hear most people accepted to IDev have many years of experience... and my three years in ID (1 in LatinAm and 2 in East Asia) weren't enough

Were any of you rejected from IDev and still planning on accepting for another concentration?

Still waiting! I called the admissions department on Thursday and they said all applicants can expect to hear back this coming week.