sosh

http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/careers/data.php

Didn't mean to come off as arrogant. Here's what you said that I took issue with:

You appear to be quite certain of your conclusions, yet you offer zero quantitative and little qualitative proof supporting any of your claims. No stats... no appeals to authority... not even a citation of the inherently flawed U.S. News ranks. No firsthand description, no specific evidence. Just sweeping statements. To the OP -- in my opinion the schools you list are very similar. I've never been to UGA or UMD. I will say that speaking to friends and others who went to UMD, not a lot differentiates them. I can say that LBJ has been a pleasant experience thus far. In the end, I think you should make your decision based on what feels right to you, either by speaking with faculty, current students, trusted mentors, etc., all while keeping in account the money factor. I strongly encourage you to give more weight to the school with the most money (in your case, obviously, UGA.) A full ride plus a stipend can make up for a LOT.

I've got no idea. Again, afraid I'm not much help... I'm not taking and IR/international affairs perspective. You might want to call up the admissions coordinator and ask for a student's contact info... they seem to be cool like that. If you visit campus, you'll be able to talk to as many as you want

(MPAff.) Strengths: 1) Incredible alumni network -- LBJ'ers are in virtually every federal agency, lots of privates, non-profits, etc. If you want to work in Texas every second person seems to be an alum. Also, there's a great alumni coordinator at the school, and for the most part alums are very willing to meet/network/give advice. 2) Lots of flexibility -- the specialization areas aren't rigid and declaring a specialization isn't required. Also, you can take grad-level classes at almost every other academic department at UT, including law (some classes reserve a certain number of seats only for LBJ students). 3) Very (very) collegial atmosphere... lots of social events. 4) Lots of quant courses available, only a couple required. 5) Automatic stipends available for unpaid summer internships. 6) The vast majority of the faculty are full-time, permanent, which means they're available most of the week to meet -- I have a quant professor this semester who regularly meets with students during specially scheduled office hours on Sundays. 7) The research centers are pretty varied... all hire RA's. Weaknesses: 1) The dean of LBJ, James Steinberg, left this fall to be deputy secretary of state... the school is in the middle of a dean search. 2) The building is in the process of being completely gutted and renovated -- scheduled completion Jan. 2010, but until then things are kind of fragmented. 3) There's not a lot of automatic advising... the grad advisor is great but you have to go to him to plan things out. 4) There's not a lot of flexibility the first year for electives. That's all I got right now... this list certainly isn't exhaustive and doesn't really apply to the MGPS program.

Don't mean to do more bad than good... I was referring to MPAff. Don't know nothing about MGPS.

LBJ is close to notifying the second wave, I think. Visit/open house days set for March 30, April 6 and April 13.

There will be demand for a while. The current job openings are not a product of stimulus spending, but instead the thousands of baby boomers starting to retire. If you were to graduate in 2020, then you might have a problem.

Third week of February. I think they started sending out acceptances around Feb. 20 and I heard the 26th. They might be behind this year.

It's been great so far. The academic side of the program is good -- I'm MPAff focusing on urban/state affairs but we have a lot of freedom in terms of a concentration in that we're not required to choose one (I'm taking a course from the MGPS program this semester). Haven't had a bad instructor yet and had a couple great ones. IIRC, something like 90%+ of our faculty are full time, permanent. The best part has to be the cohesiveness of the students. Everyone's very friendly and most people hang out outside of school. I hear the alumni network is quite expansive but haven't taken the time to contact anyone. For negatives, I'd say the remodeling of our building is a major pain right now. They're gutting it and it should be really nice when done by spring '10 but starting to get annoying. One of my reservations was being away from D.C. but that hasn't really been an issue so far. Let me know if you got anything else.

I can't imagine going to a private MPP/MPAff program with no substantial funding. I just finished my first semester at LBJ and and am very thankful of the public school tuition, not to mention the in-state rate. And the U.S. News rankings are completely bogus. For example, KSG isn't on there (because they're not part of NASPAA), and there is no quantitative methodology behind it. The best gauge of a program is their placement rate, where students typically intern, work/research opportunities and quality career services office.

The answer is simple. Public universities' primary mission is to serve qualified students in their state. They all receive a large amount of funding directly and indirectly from taxpayers. Thus, you as an international student are much more likely to be paying full tuition because you lie outside the institution's target group. Private universities don't care who you are (in most cases) because their mission usually is not region specific and their tuition and fees typically are much higher. It's the same reason why I'd be paying more money compared to the locals if I went to school in the UK or Japan.

I think you have a good shot if your essay is well-focused regarding how you want to use your degree.

I think there will be a glut of new grad school apps, including at policy schools. It will be from the horrible economy, not Obama winning though.

Twip, I wouldn't worry about that F. Admissions people will be looking for evidence you can succeed in whatever program you end up going for... a poor grade in a grad electrical engineering class isn't likely to stand out as a warning sign, especially if it was a few years ago.