Hi all,
So, I'm trying to decide between public policy and planning programs. I'm interested in community revitalization and (domestic) regional economic development.
I've been offered a full-tuition scholarship + graduate stipend to University of Illinois at Chicago to study planning, $10k a semester (a little over half tuition) to Carnegie Mellon - Heinz to study policy, and $8k a semester (a little less than half) to NYU Wagner to study planning.
My concern is - UIC is the least amount of debt, but not a big-name school (though ranked in planning). NYU is well-regarded, but borrowing for tuition plus borrowing to live in New York seems insane. (Disclosure: my significant other is going to NYU on a full ride this fall, which does sway me toward NYU.) CMU seems to hit the sweet spot between a big name program and a manageable amount of debt.
Also, I was accepted into a joint J.D./M.S. program between CMU and Pitt - I'm still trying to decide if it's worth the money for what I want to do, but it's a possibility if I stay here.
What do you guys think I should do?
accepted: CMU, NYU, UIC, Columbia GSAPP, Pitt GSPIA
