Admissions Blog

Spring decisions for MIA/MPA/MPA-DP have been released; and an application tips post roundup

By EMILY TAO
Posted Nov 20 2020

Decisions for the MIA/MPA/MPA-DP Spring term applicants released yesterday, and while we've been meeting and chatting with many of you over the last few months, this makes it truly feel like the grad school journey has started! for many people. A big congratulations goes out to our newly admitted "J-termers" (because they started in January, get it?). Advantages of starting in the Spring term are plentiful, including an extra summer to do whatever you'd like, perhaps an extra internship or job opportunity. You can read more about it here.

For the rest of our applicants, I'm rounding up a couple of posts that you may find helpful in this phase of the application. I'm basing this off of this Blog's data of most viewed pages, and where you might be along this unofficial SIPA student's application timeline:

  • First, a reminder that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, GRE/GMAT scores will not be required for the SIPA application this year (as in, if you are applying to start in Spring / Fall 2021). You will have to request a waiver, and instructions to do so is in the application. If you will be requesting the test score waiver, please remember that you should ensure your application shows you are competent and capable in the areas the test covers, like analytical writing and quantitative skills. One way to do that is through your letter of recommendations. Which, speaking of...
  • Make sure you reach out to your recommenders early.
  • We have many posts about the Personal Essay, and this What We Look For post is the most popular lately.
  • I'm seeing a lot of interest in Video Essay posts. This year might be interesting considering we have all spent so much more time on live on video. Remember - the video essay is the last piece of the application. You can basically only access it once you've submitted everything else, so make sure you don't forget to complete it. The video answer length is now 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Next week will be a little slower in the U.S. due to the Thanksgiving holidays. If you have some free time to work on your application, I hope the above posts are helpful. If you want advice on something you can't find, let me know what you'd like to read about here.