xnormajeanx

sorry... I didn't think it was misleading. i'm not asking people to opine on chicago or georgetown but on my complicated situation...

I am choosing between UChicago and GTown for an MPP (focus on social welfare, labor and tax policy). I have visited both schools. Chicago is better-ranked and is generally thought to be more rigorous, and really just a better school in general. On the other hand I enjoyed visiting Georgetown tremendously and feel that I would probably be happier there -- the students seemed happier and more like my type of people, actually. Plus it's in DC. If it were not for the situation I'll describe in the next paragraph, I would most likely pick Georgetown. Now for the complicated part. I have a prior commitment this summer that does not end until mid-September this year, and it requires me to be in Chicago. It's a long story, but basically, both morally and professionally, I cannot get out of this commitment. UChicago classes start late in September, and their coordinators have told me I do not have to go to the math camp and language camps they provide starting in August. Georgetown classes, on the other hand, start in August, with orientation in the middle of August. Because I obviously cannot be in Chicago and DC at once during this four-week overlap between my commitment and Georgetown's classes, it looks like If I choose Georgetown I would have to defer for a year. That sucks. It seems dumb to not go to graduate school and wait a year just because of some four week overlap. What do you think you would do -- would you just go to Chicago since it's a better school anyway? Can you think of any other options? Thanks

All right, my visit to Georgetown has definitely not helped me make a decision at all. I was so sure about Chicago, but then I visited GTown, and after meeting people there I feel like I might be happier going there. If it weren't for the fact that I have a prior commitment until Sept 15, I think I would definitely choose GTown. I'm not sure what to do, because GTown's classes start so early... and I can't leave the Chicago area till mid-September. AHHH That was probably a bit incoherent.

I'm visiting Georgetown tomorrow even though I'm 99% sure I won't be going. (I'm pretty much set on Chicago but I don't want to commit 100% until I visit Gtown too, since they offered me more funding... I can't turn that down without knowing what I'd be giving up.)

McGill used to be in the same league as the Ivies for godsakes. Literally, I mean. (Sports wise) It has way more name recognition than any other school in Canada, in my book.

IMO, Georgetown has name recognition. That is, among "the masses", a good number of people will have heard of Georgetown and consider it "a good school." Mention it, and most people will know what school you're talking about. I don't think that the name is as prestigious in academic circles, at least from discussing with my professors. They seem to see a degree from Georgetown as not as rigorous as other schools. This is a big strike against it in my eyes because I would like to pursue a PhD eventually. Professionally, I don't know what this means. It certainly also depends on what department we're talking about. SFS for example is much more highly regarded than GPPI.

Wow $1200 a month is sort of insane. Subtracting scholarships and savings, it looks like I'll require $45,000 ish to get myself through grad school. (The estimated "expenses" portion of most schools' calculations look really high to me. I feel like I can get by on $15,000 a year, not $20+K) However, I am only taking out about $14,000 in low-interest loans from the Canadian govt (the max allowed for people not studying in Canada); My parents will likely loan me the rest. I am thinking 45K is not bad because many of my friends have nearly that much in loans coming out of undergrad. Thankfully I have no undergrad loans, and actually have some savings.

Just came out! http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandr ... fairs.html

I go to Northwestern. There are plenty of hot girls in the sorority quads. Sure, maybe they're not as hot "on average" as big party schools, but there are still PLENTY of good looking co-eds. Point is, if you're really such a stud, there are girls out there to party with no matter where you go. There are hot girls at Stanford and Harvard. And there are definitely plenty of hot girls at other top schools like UCLA, UNC, UW-Madison, Duke. It's not like you're really going to get around to all of them and run out. On the other hand, it sounds like you only want to ogle.

NASPAA accreditation means nothing! Not even Princeton is 'accredited' -- neither is Columbia, Georgetown, UCLA, Berkeley or Chicago!

Actually, those girls look exactly like the Tridelt, Kappa and Theta girls at my school.

Having lived in Nashville, I disagree. Vandy girls are exactly the same in attractiveness as every other top25 college girl, only more likely to go to church and vote for Bush. Anyway, I find this thread kind of repulsive. If you're such a stud, you can get a girl no matter where you are. You don't have to put down female doctoral students. You're not limited to doctoral students anyway -- there are grad students getting MAs, MBAs, etc. And not all female law students are Hillary Clinton. Maybe you never ventured out of the fratboy scene at Vandy, but in the real world people meet each other frequently at coffee shops, bars, concerts, hell even grocery stores and the library. HTFH.

i'm not a KSG student or anything, but from everything i've heard, the only "advantage" is that Harvard sends a huge number of people into the private sector.

do you really believe policy analysis/research is not going to be tedious much of the time? compiling data sets? running mathematical models? from being a research assistant for a prof doing policy research, i know this stuff is DAMN tedious much of the time!

Flight to DC is only $189 on April 11th! That's when I'm going. Plus I'm only staying for a day. I'm also choosing the cheapest hotel ever.

Hi Jayhovah (again)! Did you get a call from a GSPP student yesterday? I spoke to one and she said as soon as you get to campus, if you want a TAship, within the first week you WILL get one. with a TAship, you get tuition remission and a small stipend. If I were a CA resident I would absolutely choose GSPP.

Columbia might be a gold standard for its MIA program but not for MPA.

I'd say Toronto's more expensive than Chicago but not as expensive as NY.

i'm not in econ, so take that into consideration, but i AM canadian. I'd pick Waterloo. Although it's not a highly ranked school for econ, the school as a whole is regarded much better...

I just talked to a GSPP student on the phone. I didn't know about this tuition remission thing in exchange for being a TA or RA. That is really great, and is making me consider Berkeley a bit more because it will be cheaper than Chicago and probably similar in cost to Georgetown for me... My professors are encouraging me to choose Chicago, however.

why will you have to leave the US after NYU?

I'm not sure if this is as true for MPP as MA. MPP people generally do go into government or nonprofits and if they go into the private sector it is at least half the time for public sector consulting, not for business/banking etc, although it happens (at Harvard more than others, probably.) At Princeton for example very very few people go into the private sector afterward. Gtown's MSFS program is ranked highly but GPPI is not as much. and Gtown as a whole is not as well regarded as Chicago, but is still a great "brand" in the policy world. So those of us who have been accepted there will have to consider what that means. And btw for MPP/MPA Berkeley is not just a good school, it's ranked #1 by USNews, whatever that means. And although SAIS is a bit snooty it's not that well regarded either, it seems.

That said, ICF visits Georgetown and the Ivies but not Harris or GSPP. http://www.icfi.com/Careers/reQuery.asp click on ICF on campus

I just meant job/internship postings. Go here: http://careers.deloitte.com/opportuniti ... nternships You might have to search "MPP" Basically, they seem to have many reserved spots for KSG and Harris students. Only one for American U, Georgetown, several for Pitt. Of course they have general open ones for people from any school, but it seems more like you'll get a spot coming from KSG or Harris. Someone tell me if I am totally wrong about this.

Private sector is a big deal for me because I am not a US citizen. If you go on a consulting firm like Deloitte's recruiting page for example, they have special internship postings for Harris school and GSPP but not for GPPI. I've found this with a few other firms. So that's sort of my concern about GPPI -- I won't get the support/on campus recruiting I need to go into consulting. That's not really my first choice -- I'd rather work for a think tank like the Urban Institute, New America Foundation, etc. but I have some concerns about how willing they are to take non-US citizens. (Ugh at not being a citizen.) Erin: I don't think you should worry about not being prepared for Harris. That's what math camp is for. They recommend that you brush up on econ and calc before you go, and you should probably do that if you want to go there, but I wouldn't be scared. They know what they're doing with these acceptances! They must have confidence in you. I feel like having a strong quant background makes you more employable no matter where you go. I think GPPI's classes sound more interesting... but will they really be as helpful? Then again... will I be miserable crunching numbers 24/7? When I visited Harris the students there said one disadvantage is they didn't seem to step back and look at the whole picture as much as schools like Georgetown, because they spend all the time doing calculations. I'm a bit worried about that... As for left leaning vs right... I actually heard that Gtown was pretty conservative? I don't know! As someone who was raised very liberal and has gotten more conservative even during undergrad (is that normal?) I actually don't really mind one way or the other, as long as dissent is tolerate, which I'm sure it would be at any of these schools.