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estrauss

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  • Application Season
    2013 Spring

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  1. Hey everyone, and congrats on getting into Harris! I'm actually leaving U Chicago this year (i.e. in a couple of months), as is my roommate, and we are looking for someone to take over our lease in July. It's a nice two-bedroom owned by MAC Properties, which is pretty big/reputable management company in Hyde Park, on Woodlawn and 54th. Location-wise, that is pretty much unbeatable - safe, near campus, and one to two blocks from coffee, groceries, the 55 bus line, and Jimmy's (the only real bar in Hyde Park). The rent is $1,044 total; the details would be worked out with MAC, but you'd take the last month of our lease (July) plus the period of your new lease, which you would negotiate with MAC. If you'd like to move in early, my roommate and I will be gone by mid-June, so we could probably work something out there. Also... it's warm, which is important given polar vortexes and all. PM me if you're interested, and I can answer any questions you might have.
  2. Hey everyone, I'm actually leaving U Chicago this year (i.e. in a couple of months), as is my roommate, and we are looking for someone to take over our lease in July. It's a nice two-bedroom owned by MAC Properties, which is pretty big/reputable management company in Hyde Park, on Woodlawn and 54th. Location-wise, that is pretty much unbeatable - safe, near campus, and one to two blocks from coffee, groceries, the 55 bus line, and Jimmy's (the only real bar in Hyde Park). The rent is $1,044 total; the details would be worked out with MAC, but you'd take the last month of our lease (July) plus the period of your new lease, which you would negotiate with MAC. If you'd like to move in early, my roommate and I will be gone by mid-June, so we could probably work something out there. Also... it's warm, which is important given polar vortexes and all. PM me if you're interested, and I can answer any questions you might have.
  3. Hey everyone, I'm actually leaving U Chicago this year (i.e. in a couple of months), as is my roommate, and we are looking for someone to take over our lease in July. It's a nice two-bedroom owned by MAC Properties, on Woodlawn and 54th. Location-wise, that is pretty much unbeatable - safe, near campus, and one to two blocks from coffee, groceries, the 55 bus line, and Jimmy's (the only real bar in Hyde Park). The rent is $1,044 total; the details would be worked out with MAC, but you'd take the last month of our lease (July) plus the period of your new lease, which you would negotiate with MAC. If you'd like to move in early, my roommate and I will be gone by mid-June, so we could probably work something out there. Also... it's warm, which is important given polar vortexes and all. PM me if you're interested, and I can answer any questions you might have.
  4. Hey katieh, I also think that's a tough decision, but I've decided that I can't really justify it, given my other options. Ultimately, I think you have to decide for yourself based on your career and life goals, realistic salary expectations, and your tolerance for debt. I am very debt averse, and I know I probably won't be making much more than $100k a year ever (at least in adjusted dollars), let alone in my first few years after graduation, so I've decided not to attend Harris or Harvard, as they're just too expensive, especially given that I have more reasonably-priced options.
  5. Hey dizzle and others, I'm also in a very similar boat - hopefully we can all work this out. Having lived and worked on both coasts, my impression is that if you want to live in California, there is no better school on heaven or earth than UC Berkeley, and that includes Harvard. People love Berkeley grads, especially in the Bay Area. Everywhere else, reputation-wise, I think Harvard has a pretty serious edge. If I wanted to work on the federal level or internationally, I would definitely choose Harvard. I'm more interested in state and local work though, and I've got a lot of roots in California already, so that makes it a little more appealing for me. On the price tag, I think it depends on your personal preference. If you're just trying to make as much money as you possibly can or get a hold on the "keys to power," then... well, I think you've applied to the wrong programs. Otherwise, I think $80,000 worth of debt, while not desirable, is probably acceptable if it's going to help you achieve your career goals (keeping in mind that this debt might come up in background checks for federal government jobs). The rule of thumb is not to take out more than you'll make in your first year, and $80,000 lands right on that line. As far as the classroom aspect goes, I don't have anything to offer save conjecture, but I think chocolatecheesecake may have hit the nail on the head, and would add only that all those classmates and globe-trotting professors at Harvard might turn into a really, really nice professional network one day. What do other people think? Are you guys leaning one way or another? I also got a really nice offer from Carnegie Mellon, so I'm considering them as well...
  6. You don't need a car, but it can be nice to have one. I didn't have one when I lived there; I did use a motorcycle for some trips, but that was largely recreational. As far as Berkeley proper goes, you really don't need one, but if you want to venture very far afield you'll want one. That said, I would be wary of anyone trying to rent you a parking spot in the East Bay. There's plenty of street parking in most parts of Oakland and Berkeley, especially for motorcycles, which can park pretty much anywhere short of the sidewalk. Parking in San Francisco is an utter and total nightmare, but that shouldn't be a concern unless you're trying to live there and commute for classes, which, well... you'd need a hell of a stipend. If you're open to roommates, then there are all kinds of options for your living situation, but don't underestimate the amount of time it can take to find a place.
  7. CityofSand and gwualamouthful: "prime" places to live depend on what you're looking for. I lived in the East Bay from 2011-2013, and you can find pretty much any kind of housing you're looking for, although none of it is cheap, and some of it is aggressively not cheap. I can tell you more if you let me know what you're interested in - the only general advice I'd give is to consider North Oakland. It's less commercial than Berkeley, less undergrad-y, and there aren't panhandlers on every corner. It's a little bit further away, but both Berkeley and Oakland are highly bikeable, and you could take BART all three or four days that it rains. If I take Cal's offer, I'd certainly want to move back to Oakland. As far as the math review goes, I'd guess you'd want to dust off your calculus, and definitely your stats, but I don't know. I recently took a class at Chicago's Harris School and felt better prepared than some of the MPPs there, and I was an English major in undergrad...
  8. Hi everyone, and congratulations to everyone who got in. Out of curiosity, how are you guys planning on paying for this? It's an awfully big price tag for no-funding (I'm in the same boat), and having recently lived in the Bay Area, I know the cost of living is no joke. Are people planning on taking out massive loans?
  9. This is a nice thread. I'm afraid I don't know enough about the programs to respond intelligently to others, but I'd appreciate any thoughts on my competitiveness. My info is below: Programs: MPP/MPA (interests are in urban policy and municipal finance) Potential Schools: Woodrow Wilson, HKS, Berkeley Goldman, Chicago Harris, and Carnegie Mellon Admissions Season: For Fall 2014 Undergraduate institution: Top liberal arts school (rankings are such a waste of time, but school is grouped with Swarthmore, Pomona, Middlebury, etcetera) Undergraduate Major: English, Anthropology Undergraduate GPA: 3.67 GRE: V: 170 / Q: 163 / AW: ? Years Out of Undergraduate: 2-3 Years of Work Experience: 2 Describe Relevant Work Experience: 1.5 years as a legal assistant at a government-focused law firm; worked with lots of municipalities, counties, and public agencies on labor issue (negotiations, pension stuff, etcetera) 7 months at the same place as a compensation consultant; lots of stats Other Stuff: Have coursework in stats and am good with Stata, but didn't take calculus in college, only in high school; very little econ coursework, although I know the material Volunteered with tutoring organizations and job training organizations for past several years (6+, all through college and since) Wrote for the university paper as an undergrad and as a talk show host for a politics talk show on the undergrad news station, for what that's worth. Letters: 1 from former supervisor, founding partner at the law firm, should be very strong 1 from former anthropology professor, should be pretty strong 1 from former client, executive director of a public agency, should be very strong Questions: What are your impressions of my chances? Obviously I know how to do math, although I was hoping my GRE score would be higher, and the public sector work is there, as is some volunteer experience (I could have done more, but I have other interests, too). My concern is that I didn't take econ or calc in college. If it isn't obvious, I thought I was bound for law-school, but had a change of heart. Any thoughts would be great, and thank you very much.
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