ricebuddy

The funding decision at HKS was just released, and it put me in my worst dilemma. I received $0 from HKS. Honestly, I never expected a zero financial assistance, since the worst package I received from other schools (SAIS, Fletcher, Gtown MSFS, Goldman, etc) is 20K fellowship.... So now my decision is between Kennedy School MPAID + 140K debt after two years, vs this MIT program called "Technology and Policy" which is a free ride + a decent living stipend. I doubt whether anybody here ever heard of this MIT TPP program. I only applied because one of my friends gave up Princeton WWS for this program (she was very sure of her interest in technology policy). It is a new, interesting, non-traditional program. Well, to this day, I still have a lot of doubt whether such non-traditionalness is too risky for a professional master program. Essentially, everybody in TPP is fully funded, because in addition to taking classes, you are expected to work as an RA in a lab doing semi-research semi-policy work. A typical weekly schedule is 20 hours on courses plus 20 hours in your lab. It sounds weird to be in a lab for a policy program, but it actually makes sense considering the majority of TPP students are interested in energy/transportation/aerospace policy, and most of these policies are really vested in the scientific research in the labs. The Kennedy School MPA/ID program has always been my first choice, because I am very interested in doing development work and also have good preparation for all the economics/mathematics that program requires. Because of my current job, I took a class within the MPAID program last year as a part-time student, and loved it! Loved its students, its professors, and all the opportunities offered at HKS. With that said, I am also quite interested in technology policies, but I am very unsure whether committing myself to a lab from Day 1 will be too restricting for my future career path. It will be a much easier choice if the price tags are not so drastically different. I don't know whether I can make rational decisions now, because I keep thinking about the loan amount. Now I start to think of all the positive aspects of MIT: many TPP kids still take classes at HKS (and also Harvard Law School) for free; MIT's name still carries a lot weight even though TPP's reputation is not as loud as HKS or WWS..... I am so worried if I keep thinking about $, I will eventually talk myself into MIT without carefully comparing other aspects of the two programs. I am an international student. Given the exchange rate, 140K debt feels like ridiculously high. I was lucky enough to attend a prestigious US college only because it offered a full financial aid package. For my past two years, I worked in the US government with 45K per year, thus did not save at all. I am very sure I want to keep working in the public sector after grad school, and probably also work abroad in poor developing countries, which means even lower pay checks... I don't know how I can pay back 140K debt ever... Advice? Any input will be very appreciated!