Your admissions decision primer

It’s decision time, readers! It’s a momentous point in the year for all of our applicants as well as us in the Office of Admissions. There’s always a sense of accomplishment, and a somewhat exhausted exhalation, at the release of decisions on our end. Also an understanding that a new phase of even more important work is just beginning as we help our newly-admitted students determine whether Fletcher is the right fit for them. More than all of that, though, we feel a great sense of gratitude to all of our applicants for the time and effort you’ve expended to complete and submit your applications to us. We know it’s a complex task that places a variety of simultaneous demands on you, compounded by all the pandemic-related challenges of the past year. Regardless of the decision any individual receives, we hope all of you are aware that we consider it an absolute pleasure and privilege to read your applications.

Let’s discuss some of those decisions a bit. The majority of applicants will receive a straightforward admission or denial, and the path forward for these folks should be pretty clear. To those receiving disappointing news, I’ll encourage you to familiarize yourself with our reapplication procedure, and note that a great many successful Fletcher alumni were not admitted upon their first application.

Some of you will receive a more nuanced decision. A conditional admission might offer you a space in the class contingent upon additional preparation, likely around English-language comprehension or quantitative analysis, two areas critical to success at Fletcher. A few of you applying to the new 18-month Master of Global Affairs (MGA) degree might receive an offer of admission to the two-year MALD instead, and fair enough if that comes as a surprise. The Admissions Committee strongly encourages MGA applicants to have a minimum of two years of full-time professional experience, and some otherwise-strong candidates who don’t meet that threshold will be offered a spot in the MALD class.

Still others of you will be offered a spot on the waitlist. Waitlisted candidates have many of the attributes to be successful at Fletcher, but typically have a minor shortcoming or two in their profile in comparison to the strongest candidates in the pool. Our ability to extend offers of admission to waitlisted candidates depends upon the availability of seats in the class after the April 20 response deadline for admitted candidates. In most years we’re able to offer admission to at least a handful of waitlisted applicants. You’ll need to confirm or decline an offer of a spot on the waitlist, and from that point there’s an unavoidable bit of waiting involved. It’s a lot like being on standby for a flight, except in our case you’re welcome to submit additional materials, such as an updated resume, supplemental recommendation letter, or additional statement of interest for the Admissions Committee to consider when reviewing the waitlist.

As always, you can feel free to be in touch with our office at any point with questions, and we’ll be looking forward to working with many of you in the coming month as you weigh your options. Our thanks once again to all our applicants!