Questions and answers....
I've applied to four schools, my stats are above. So far only Duke has gotten back to me, with good news. That said, one thing I am always curious about is why there is such a draw to DC schools. Have DC admits found it easier to get internships there? It seems to me the top MPP/MPA programs are all outside the city, and have career services departments that make up for the distance between the college and the capital. I say this as a person who lived in DC the past two years, and has done two fairly decent internships in the city in his life. I'm applying to four schools all outside the city, and couldn't find a reason to be especially compelled to go to Georgetown (plus, I wanted to be able to devote myself to my studies, and staying near work would have made that hard) so I did not apply.
I say all this becauseit seems with the schools you are looking at the proximity to the capital may not be that big of a deal unless you hate to move during the summer for internships. For international development, I think Columbia has the most well-known program, if that's SIPA you're talking about. I don't know enough offhand about NYU to say much. As for Duke, are you going to the open house/weekend? I went to school just down the road from Durham, and so I am well aware of how strong their program is...and would say that you might be remiss not to consider them heavily as well.