XYZMan

Look at MIT DUSP's Master of City planning program and the faculty affiliated with the Housing, Community, and Economic Development group.

Fletcher strikes me as higher up the food chain than GWU. I have a couple friends at Fletcher and they love it and have access to a lot of amazing internships and jobs. The students and faculty are amazing. Also, don't underestimate the value of being able to interact with MIT, HLS, HBS, and the rest of the Boston community. DC may be the policy epicenter, but in terms of the cutting edge, Boston is where it's at. Far more top-level programs there. Looking at your signature -- I see Fletcher, SAIS, and MSFS all accepted you -- I would put those in the same echelon (the top one) -- and Fletcher was kind enough to give you money. Duke is basically in the middle of nowhere. You're not going to have access to a larger dynamic community like you would in Boston. And as for GWU, from interacting with various people at the program I will say that my sense is that it's not on the same level as Fletcher. I could be wrong on this.

I know people who attend and they have had a great experience. I think you will find the small class size to your advantage. You'll be able to have more meaningful connections to professors/your recommenders than you would at a place with 200 students. Check out their World Fellows program. That is a major advantage on the networking side of things. I would also bet on the fact that Jackon's worldwide reputation will be going up and up over the years. I wouldn't worry about the name of the degree.

I would go with Fletcher. Their network is stronger.

For those interested in international development who will be applying next year, I would like to recommend that you check out the Master's of Urban Planning degree at Harvard's GSD and the Master's of City Planning degree at MIT's DUSP. Don't be turned off by the names of the degrees. Both are excellently suited for both international development policy makers and implementers. MIT's degree even has a International Development Group specialization. And even though Harvard's does not have a named specialization, it offers comprehensive coursework in the field. And in addition to having everything you might get out of an MPP, MPA, or IR degree, they also have components not found in those programs, most notably, emphasis on the physical/built aspect of international development. These programs don't get much attention among public policy/IR applicants. It might be helpful to think outside of the box regarding graduate degrees in this area. I will be attending one of these programs in the fall.

Is this a joke?