Thinking about applying to Harris? Our Round 2 deadline is January 22. The Student Recruitment and Global Outreach team would like to share seven video tips for completing a successful application!

We are pleased to announce we are hosting a special Health Policy Living Room series for admitted students interested in health policy.  These sessions will be hosted by Ellen Cohen, Executive Director of the Center for Health and Social Sciences. Admitted students are welcome to register for these sessions at the registration links below. Series recordings will also be made available after the sessions.

We are excited to be hosting meet and greet sessions for admitted students with current students from our Harris Ambassadors program January 25–29. These sessions will be a great opportunity for newly admitted Harris students to ask questions, learn firsthand about the Harris student experience, and connect with current students as well as other admits.

Incoming students at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy represent 49 countries, as well as various cultural backgrounds, languages, and experiences. International students applying to graduate school in the US may have many questions about our application process, and our admissions team is here to help. Director of International Partnerships and Executive Education Shilin Liu, MPP’17, shares some tips for international students applying to Harris.

Our team is aware of the many unique challenges everyone is facing in this current environment. So, for the 2021 admission cycle, Harris is offering a test-optional admission process for all applicants—domestic and international. The policy is open to students who do not wish to share their scores and to students who are unable to take the GRE or GMAT.

We frequently receive this question from eager students searching for opportunities to strengthen their application, as well as those who are concerned about specific aspects of their application. Read more to hear our thoughts on these questions!

2020 brought new challenges for all of us. But throughout the year, the Harris community showed impressive resilience and a sustained passion for social impact. Watch our 2020 Year in Review video and read our top highlights of the past year. Please note, Harris will be closed December 23, 2020—January 3, 2021, and your Admissions team will have limited access to email during that time. There may be a delay in response time until Monday, January 4. Happy Holidays!

The Evening Master’s Program (EMP) application is open for the Spring and Fall Quarters! We sat down with Devon Reber Drehmer, Director of Student Recruitment and Operations, to answer questions and share tips on how students can get started on their EMP application. When should an applicant apply?

Our PhD deadline is January 6, 2021. While our office is closed from December 24-January 3, we wanted to provide a roundup of resources you may find helpful. Please see below for more information, and know that our team will be back to assist students on Monday, January 4, 2021. Happy New Year!

To help the first-year Chinese Harristas better prepare for their summer internship applications, the Career Development Office (CDO) and the Harris China Working Group jointly organized a weeklong series of internship panels in late October in which second-year Chinese students shared their internship experiences in the fields of strategic consulting, financial services, and the internet industry. During the panels, students not only learned about the internship application process and timeline, but also dove into deep conversations with panelists regarding career paths and professional development.

From climate change to COVID-19, Harris research is informing both national and international policy. We rounded up recent news articles featuring contributions from Harris faculty and staff.

Ana Camila Vasquez, MPP Class of 2022 and Pearson Fellow, writes about her experience attending the 2020 Pearson Global Forum.

Short-term programs at the University of Chicago, like the Harris Credential Programs, are an investment in your academic and professional career. The programs provide skills you can apply immediately, a global network of peers, and strengthen your resume for your next opportunity. Following are some tips to help you understand the financial planning needed for this investment in your future.

UChicago Harris is intentional in ensuring students in all programs, whether conducted virtually or in-person, have a rich community experience. In this post, we share four essential pillars of the Harris community experience using the example of the Data and Policy Summer Scholar (DPSS) program.

One of the most common topics applicants ask us about are the letters of recommendation. These letters are an important part of your application and provide the committee with helpful information and insight into your ability to be successful at Harris Public Policy. In this post, Director of Student Recruitment Devon Reber Drehmer answers some of our most frequently asked questions. We hope these answers will be helpful to you as you are completing your application before the Early Action deadline on October 27!

Our admissions team tries our best to answer your questions as thoroughly as possible—on the phone, online, and especially on our blog. With regularly updated information, the admissions blog is a great resource for anyone looking to learn more about Harris. We’ve gathered our top five posts from the fall to help you as you complete your application for the next deadline.

Applicants frequently request more information on the application rounds and the benefits of one deadline over the other. If you are interested in our full-time degree programs, we recommend applying by the earliest deadline possible. Read about the benefits of applying early.

Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama and Senior Distinguished Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School, delivered the keynote address for our Diversity Days 2020 programming. She discussed her background and trajectory into her role, the unique challenges she faced, and advised students to listen to “the quiet voice that lives within all of us” to choose which path their careers will take. Watch the interview and other Diversity Day highlights.

Now that we’ve sent messages, made calls, and released decisions, we want to share a message to show how impressed we were with our applications from Early Action. We reached out to some of our staff readers anonymously and asked them to share what impressed them about this group of applicants.

Established in 2015, The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts promotes discussion, understanding, and resolution of global conflicts through research, education and engagement with the global policy community. As part of the education component of its mission, The Pearson Institute annually awards Fellowships to a select group of distinguished MPP students. Read more...