kabutar

Hmm, good point. I'd heard Columbia's enviro policy program isn't regarded that well however, but looking into international policy reputation or offerings is definitely something to think of especially since I'd like to work perhaps on an international level in the future. Thanks for the tip (Of course if anyone has any thoughts on this it would be great!)

Thanks! I do remember reading your post but ended up a bit more confused lol as one of the posters was saying that everyone he works with seemed to be coming out of Nicholas at Duke / SPEA at Indiana. I couldn't tell however whether going to HKS or WWS and taking their enviro specialization would eventually lead to a disadvantage over the even more specialized Indiana/Duke degrees. On that note... how do you think Duke would compare? I tend to think it's sort of the best of both worlds since it has a fairly good name + strong enviro program - am I off base with that?

Hey all, I really need some help here! I'm really trying to sort out which programs to apply to or which I should be looking at. I want to do an MPA/MPP degree with as much of a concentration as possible in environmental policy and affairs and eventually end up working either at a national or international level in policy generation or in a think tank, etc. Here's my dilemma: the top enviro policy rankings are somewhat different from the top public policy rankings. e.g. from the US News rankings: Public Policy: 1 Syracuse University 2 Harvard University 2 Indiana University--Bloomington 4 Princeton University 4 University of Georgia 6 University of California--Berkeley 7 University of Kansas 7 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor 7 University of Southern California 10 Carnegie Mellon University (Heinz) 10 Duke University 10 New York University 10 University of Chicago Environmental Policy & Management: 1 Indiana University--Bloomington 2 Syracuse University 3 Duke University 4 University of California--Berkeley 4 University of Washington 6 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor 7 Harvard University 8 University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill 9 Columbia University 10 Carnegie Mellon University (Heinz) 10 University of Wisconsin--Madison For example Princeton isn't even on the enviro list, but obviously WWS is one of the top in the country, and they do have an enviro certificate (the STEP program)... so when deciding which schools I want to apply to, should I be considering the overall school reputation OR the specialty reputation? If I want a school that gives me great contacts and a great reputation to work at a high level in enviro policy would I get the same experience and quality of education (and alumni, contacts, etc) going to some place like Indiana or Syracuse which are top ranked in enviro but don't necessarily have the same rep as Princeton etc? I guess I'm asking if the university isn't a big name overall, would it still be considered on par with the other big schools for that particular field? Or would going to Princeton give me a reputation that wouldn't necessarily be matched by graduating from a school that's top-ranked for enviro, but is still not Princeton? Also, how well are Indiana and Syracuse really regarded? I was rather surprised to see them ranked at or near the top to be honest - I'd never even expected Indiana U to be anywhere NEAR this list, for example. And yes, I know name isn't everything, etc... but I'd really like to get an indication of how things are viewed. ESPECIALLY since I'm Canadian and would like to come back here or go overseas eventually so am not sure Indiana or Syracuse etc would carry the same recognition that Duke or Princeton would.