First, I want to congratulate everyone on their grad school admissions! The wait is over! But, now comes the difficult part: making a decision.
Though I've narrowed my choices down to Berkeley Goldman and HKS, I'm having a difficult time picking one over the other.
Without going into too much detail... I find both schools' faculty and curriculum to be great fits for my particular interests in social and urban policy. I think Berkeley has Harvard beat location wise, but being on the east coast would also mean being closer to family. Harvard obviously has the edge over Berkeley when it comes to overall prestige. But as great as the Harvard brand is, I'm terrified at the prospect of taking a +80k loan for the program. From my basic understanding, the financial cost of the Goldman MPP can be more manageable: the tuition is lower than HKS, out-of-state students can qualify for in-state tuition their second year, and a GSI/research position can help take a chunk out of costs.
I was wondering if there are any applicants on Grad Cafe that are facing a similar dilemma. I would love to hear your thoughts on making a decision between these two great schools. Current HKS or Goldman students, I'd love to hear your opinions as well!
Again, good luck everyone with your decisions!