I’ll try to keep things short because I know you’re busy finalizing your application for admission. (Hint, hint.)
Anyone who wants to be considered for Fall admission to the two year MIA/MPA/MPA-DP program has until this evening to submit their completed application. When I say completed, I mean absolutely everything on the checklist. Every recommendation letter, essay response, transcript, and test score. If any part of your application is missing it will be considered ineligible for review as part of the fellowship round. If that happens you’re still eligible to apply for admission (without fellowship consideration), and you’ll have an extra month to get your materials together.
If you don’t know what you’re missing, take a look at your Status Page for a little help. You’ve also been getting weekly or biweekly emails detailing what’s missing, so there shouldn’t be any confusion on what’s needed. (The last missing materials email went out on Dec. 26.)
When you submit your application you’ll receive three messages: One message confirming you paid your deposit (an auto-response from the system and another within 24 hours from us after you’ve paid it); one message confirming you’ve submitted your application within 24 hours; and a third message within two to four weeks confirming your application is complete. As long as you receive the submitted email, you’re golden — we’ll consider you under tonight’s deadline. The completed email just means we’ve physically reviewed all of your materials by hand and that it’s good to move on to the Admissions Committee. Some of you may be missing something minor and won’t receive this email right away. In that case, we’ll contact you directly to update your application, and you may or may not still be considered under the appropriate deadline (it’s at the discretion of the Admissions Committee). For example, if you made an honest mistake and uploaded your personal statement twice and your policy essay as an additional document or a transcript, we’ll fix the error and will still consider you for the round. But if you upload a blank document in place of your required score report because you failed to take an exam (which is required), then that could be considered a fraudulent action.
(Still confused on the difference between submitted and completed? Read this.)
I don’t want to stress anyone out, but just be aware of what you’re doing in your application. Take advantage of the Review tab in your application and preview your application proof prior to submission. What you see is what Admissions Committee sees when they review your app, so there shouldn’t be any surprises regarding what you’ve submitted to us.
So how late can you submit your app today? Well, for all of you who love to teeter on the edge of procrastination and sheer luck, you have until 11:59 p.m. EST (UTC-5) tonight to hit that submit button. I recommend you turn in everything earlier in the day in case you run into any technical glitches. Why? Well, unfortunately our helpline closes at 5:00 p.m., so if you run into any issues afterward you’re on your own.
