Harvard's Kennedy School Forum

Alf14997 · Post by **Alf14997** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:17 pm

I was looking around for some information on admissions statistics for students at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. I stumbled across this Autoadmit thread:

--LinkRemoved--

Now I know autoadmit is a wasteland nine times out of ten, but this is not the first thread I have found with posters claiming that the Kennedy School is very easy to gain acceptance to and further that the student-body is a bunch of untalented, unintellegent prestige-whores.

Does anyone know whether there is any truth to this? How hard is it to get into KSG?

M20009 · Post by **M20009** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:19 pm

Not hard. I got in for crying out loud.

joonbug · Post by **joonbug** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:22 pm

Really, M?

va1983 · Post by **va1983** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:27 pm

I dated a guy who finished the MA program there in 2007.

I wasn't all that impressed with him and from what he told me, the course load wasn't that rigorous.

He went to Howard University undergrad and majored in Finance.

joonbug · Post by **joonbug** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:33 pm

It sounds fancy though.

va1983 · Post by **va1983** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:34 pm

joonbug wrote:It sounds fancy though.

...and looks great on a resume.

That guy is a diplomat with the State Department and is leaving for China in two weeks.

lawdog · Post by **lawdog** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:59 pm

Yeah, if you have a resume with Harvard on it recruiters are beating down your door. Thats a great program, wish I had known about it 2 years ago.

JustDude · Post by **JustDude** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:04 pm

va1983 wrote:I dated a guy who finished the MA program there in 2007.

I wasn't all that impressed with him and from what he told me, the course load wasn't that rigorous.

He went to Howard University undergrad and majored in Finance.

Let me guess... He was black??

va1983 · Post by **va1983** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:05 pm

JustDude wrote:
va1983 wrote:I dated a guy who finished the MA program there in 2007.

I wasn't all that impressed with him and from what he told me, the course load wasn't that rigorous.

He went to Howard University undergrad and majored in Finance.
Let me guess... He was black??

No. He was Korean.

joonbug · Post by **joonbug** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:09 pm

va1983 wrote:
JustDude wrote:
va1983 wrote:I dated a guy who finished the MA program there in 2007.

I wasn't all that impressed with him and from what he told me, the course load wasn't that rigorous.

He went to Howard University undergrad and majored in Finance.
Let me guess... He was black??
No. He was Korean.

I'm not surprised.

JustDude · Post by **JustDude** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:12 pm

va1983 wrote:
JustDude wrote:
va1983 wrote:I dated a guy who finished the MA program there in 2007.

I wasn't all that impressed with him and from what he told me, the course load wasn't that rigorous.

He went to Howard University undergrad and majored in Finance.
Let me guess... He was black??
No. He was Korean.

Just like you are Japanese???

va1983 · Post by **va1983** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:14 pm

JustDude wrote:
Just like you are Japanese???

Exactly. He was a very dark Korean man.

Alf14997 · Post by **Alf14997** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:40 pm

Wow... Thanks for the insight?

Does anyone have anything substantive to contribute?

Stanford4Me · Post by **Stanford4Me** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:42 pm

Alf14997 wrote:Wow... Thanks for the insight?

Does anyone have anything substantive to contribute?

You won't get substantive advice in the lounge, unless you're asking about dating or sex.

underdawg · Post by **underdawg** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:56 pm

Stanford4Me wrote:
Alf14997 wrote:Wow... Thanks for the insight?

Does anyone have anything substantive to contribute?
You won't get substantive advice in the lounge, unless you're asking about dating or sex.

lolz, "substantive"...

I've heard the Kennedy School is easy to get into as well, but what the hell do I know?

va1983 · Post by **va1983** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 8:05 pm

Stanford4Me wrote:
Alf14997 wrote:Wow... Thanks for the insight?

Does anyone have anything substantive to contribute?
You won't get substantive advice in the lounge, unless you're asking about dating or sex.

TITCR. The guy that I know had a 3.8 GPA. I don't know how he did on the GRE.

Uzu · Post by **Uzu** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 8:16 pm

Stanford4Me wrote:
Alf14997 wrote:Wow... Thanks for the insight?

Does anyone have anything substantive to contribute?
You won't get substantive advice in the lounge, unless you're asking about dating or sex.

Don't try to tell Alf about the lounge.

Hiya, Alf!

bgc · Post by **bgc** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 9:14 pm

Alf14997 wrote:Does anyone know whether there is any truth to this? How hard is it to get into KSG?

I don't know about this thread but I am sure KSG is not easy for a policy school. They've got a great product with some unique opportunities. Their MPA/ID program is a good example.

I've been considering a JD/MPP and one thing I've been told is that it is VERY unusual for a JD student to not be accepted for an MPP/MPA program. The folks I've spoken to say that law and policy schools are going after the same student population and policy schools often have trouble competing. I think that would be especially true of HLS/KSG. A school such as IU Bloomington which has a very good but not top law school combined with the #2 policy school (tied with KSG) might have more parity on applicants.

Alf14997 · Post by **Alf14997** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:18 pm

Don't try to tell Alf about the lounge.

God damn right. Check a brother's post count before telling him how it is. From now on I am just gonna get a tear tattooed under my eye for each post I make. Maybe then I will get some respect.

Leave to Uz to tell it like it is. Hope you've been well man.

EmmyD · Post by **EmmyD** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 11:04 pm

The KSG is not that hard to get into.

Didn't Bill O'Reilly go there?

breanne2011 · Post by **breanne2011** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 11:24 pm

M20009 wrote:Not hard. I got in for crying out loud.

Peace Corps Fellowship?

Bauer24 · Post by **Bauer24** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 11:33 pm

I am one who personally cannot stand watching The O'Reilly Factor.

http://deephousepage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164877

However, according to this, Bill O'Reilly got a 1585 on the SATs!! (I also saw this in Time Magazine a few years ago- I am just too lazy to find the actual source right now).
If this is true, O'Reilly had some strong credentials for Kennedy School, especially since I think when he took the test.. getting a 1585 was very difficult since there wasn't as nice of a curve on the test.

One comment that bothers me a little bit in this forum- it is poor logic.

"It (SAT score)has no correlation to one's ability to succeed nor does it adhere to any intellectual competence whatsoever.

Case-in-point: Former NY Governor PIMP DADDY extraordinaire rude bwoy Eliot Spitzer scored a perfect on his SATs that got him into Princeton U, and scored a perfect 180 on his LSAT, which got him into HLS. And we all know how that worked out for him!"

Sure Elliot Spitzer basically took a huge dump on his political career this year, but that doesn't mean he is an idiot. He might be one but the Spitzer Scandal isn't enough proof for one to say that Elliot Spitzer is an idiot.

Sorry for digressing a little bit, lol.

mcds · Post by **mcds** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 1:54 am

Mitt Romney also got a 1600 was valedictorian at BYU and graduated Top 5% at HLS and HBS.

But that doesn't mean he wasn't dumb to try to act the re-incarnation of Ronald Reagan.

Scores don't measure the overall common sense of an individual, but they do show something - these people are smart.

the_assassin · Post by **the_assassin** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 2:19 am

A good friend of mine is attending KSG this fall and they asked him to attend. I believe this is the case for most. I also believe that most are very successful within their field. My friend is a Young Global Leader who attended the World Economic Forum a few months ago, has an MBA from Oxford, made an independent film that was selected for the Sundance Film Festival and a bunch of other crazy shit. He is also really smart. I am crashing at his place for the LSAT on Monday and will gather as much informtion that I can on KSG.

M20009 · Post by **M20009** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 9:41 am

breanne2011 wrote:
M20009 wrote:Not hard. I got in for crying out loud.
Peace Corps Fellowship?

I don't think the Peace Corps has fellowship opportunities with Harvard.

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