MJA87
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Posts posted by MJA87
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Sorry, I don't have any specific advice on places, but living in Carrboro and commuting to Durham is kind of a pain. Unless you REALLY love Carrboro (and I used to live there and I love it), I'd still live in Downtown Durham, which is also really cool. Driving down 54 and 15-501 in rush hour is just brutal.
Thanks a lot, that's exactly the type of local knowledge I was looking for
Any idea on whether it's possible to live in/near downtown Durham with a yard for a dog?
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I'll be attending Duke in the fall and have officially started my search for housing. It will be me, my girlfriend, and our 40 pound dog.
Based on my research, I'd really like to live near downtown Durham or in Carrboro, but I'm having a hard time finding anything online (Craigslist, Padmapper, etc..) that starts in July/August. I'd really like to secure something soon rather than waiting and having to compete with more and more students.
Does anyone have any advice? Thanks for your time.
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Hi MJA87,
This advice may be too late but I personally feel the cost of living you're estimating is a bit much. As a graduate student at Duke you could easily live well below that as long as you're willing to make sacrifices (living with roommates in a group house vs. studio, not going to happy hours every week, finding places to find free food, buying used books, etc.)
The cost of living in places like Durham is very reasonable: Say your rent is $500 a month - for a year's rent that's $6000. During the summer you could sublet the place (save $1500) and depending on the field you want to get into, your summer internship may pay as well. Plus remember the work study job - you could probably make ~$500-$600 a month during the semester. That's more than enough for food.
I guess what I am trying to say is that there really shouldn't be a need to get $20,000 in debt just for living expenses during the school year as long as you're willing to make sacrifices. But then again, graduate school is stressful so maybe you want to live more comfortably.
Thanks for the reply. That's great news, considering I just accepted Duke's offer.
I'm so excited!
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My decision has basically come down to Duke Sanford MPP and UWashington Evans MPA.
Duke gave me $16k fellowship + $4k assistantship (their lowest award from my understanding)
Evans gave me in-state tuition and a $750/month stipend
I want to ultimately work at a large environmental NGO, preferably on the was coast but that's not a deal breaker. WHAT TO DO?!
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Hey folks, I just wanted to run my scenario by you and get some of your thoughts.
It looks like my cost of attendance at Duke Sanford would be about $90,000 ($45k tuition/year - $20k funding/year + ~$20k cost of living/year). That's a terrifying number to me, though I've taken comfort reading about Income Based Repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
Are any of you considering Duke Sanford at a similar cost, or do you think I'm crazy? It's by far my favorite program that I've been admitted to, but unfortunately it's also one of my more expensive options.
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I'll be attending an MPP program, and my main choices come down to those mentioned in the title. My goal is to work in environmental policy at a large NGO.
I'll break down the funding/cost of attending situation below:
- George Washington: $31k/year tuition - $15k/1st year funding + ~$25k/year cost of living = ~97,000 total cost of attendance
- Duke: $45k/year tuition - $20k/year funding + ~$20k/year cost of living = ~$90,000 total cost of attendance
- Carnegie Mellon: $44k/year tuition - $34k/year funding + ~$22.5k/year cost of living = ~$65,000 total cost of attendance
- UTexas: $31k total tuition + ~22.5k/year cost of living = ~$76,000 total cost of attendance
Notes:
- GWU said they may increase my offer, and has mentioned that there is a high chance of getting funding in my second year. Their final cost would likely be lower than what's above.
- UTexas didn't offer me any funding, however their tuition starts out quite low and I'd qualify for in-state tuition in my second year.
- In terms of program preference, I definitely like Duke's program the most, followed by CMU, then GWU, then UTexas.
I'm looking for any input that you all might have. What program would you choose and why? Do my cost of living estimates look reasonable? Thanks for the input!
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Received a funding offer last week for $15k for the first year, and then finally got an acceptance email yesterday. Sorta backwards timing, but exciting nonetheless. Still waiting to hear back from Maryland before I make my decision.
I've been in communication with GWU and they offered me the same award which puts them back in the running.
Does anyone know if Trachtenberg typically offers the same award in the second year? That could be a pretty huge factor in my decision on them.
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I haven't attended any admitted student events, and I might be way off base, but isn't that a little over dressed?
I'd definitely be wearing some slacks and a tucked-in button-down, but not a full suit/jacket (unless it's really cold I guess?).
- .letmeinplz// and Alex604
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That's definitely sound advice. That said, I'd be more than willing to go on the IBR and public service loan forgiveness programs you mentioned. I'm a former federal employee, so working in that type of environment would be the optimal outcome. Also, I'm willing to work in the private sector for consulting firms and whatnot, so I'm flexible in that regard.
With CMU, it's $68,928; with Duke, it's $77,474. I guess I was being a bit broad when I mentioned $80,000 earlier. Still, it never hurts to bring up the worst case scenario as a precaution.
In both of these cases, I'm perfectly willing live more frugally and spend as little on living expenses as possible (which is where most of the variable costs factor in). So optimistically, the figures I provided for loans could end up being even lower in the end. We'll see.
The $80k figure was really a worst-case scenario, rough estimate that I came up with. That figure, as well as the revised ones provided above, was indeed based on the loans I'd owe after you factor in financial aid. Personally, I have around $22k in savings now, but since I'm planning to pay off my undergraduate loans before I start grad school, it's realistically going to be around $3k-4k. And after visiting Duke this past weekend, I pretty much agree with you re: living expenses in Durham; it does seem like the type of city where the cost of living isn't high at all.
And re: Duke's career services and networking, I also can't disagree with your argument. I'm sure CMU's career network has a similar reputation. I guess what I'm ultimately trying to figure out is whether or not my going to either one of these schools would drastically (emphasis and bolding are mine) increase my chances of getting a decent-paying job after graduation than compared to going to SUNY Albany, since I know that they also place alumni in prestigious agencies/firms/non-profits (but probably to a lesser degree). Moreover, it probably does not have as strong a national/international reputation as the others, even though it's decently-ranked within USN & WR; it's most well-known within NY State. Again, I'm not trying to disparage any school here, but the deciding factor would have to be whether my chances of getting a decent-paying job to offset loans after graduation increase considerably by going to certain schools.
I'm in a remarkably similar situation to yours, including the schools i'm looking at (CMU and Duke) and debt amounts I'm considering from them. I'm currently leaning towards Duke (and a little more debt), but I don't know that I have very good reasons for leaning that way.
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Is this on top of undergraduate loans? Or would this be your only student loan debt?
This would be my only debt period.
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After reading this thread I feel bad about the debt-load I was considering
After accounting for funding, Sanford and Heinz would still cost me ~$89k and ~$79k respectively (assuming I can't work/get an assistantship, and assuming my cost of living will be ~$20k a year in Durham and Pittsburgh).
I guess if I want to go I'll have to suck it up and rely on IBR and public service loan forgiveness. I just hope I'm not making a devastating mistake.
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Has anyone requested a reward review and asked for a larger scholarship award? I submitted mine about 10 business days ago and was really hoping to hear back by now.
I'd really like to make my final decision and can't until I hear back from Heinz on whether they'd consider increasing my award.
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Berkeley Goldman and HKS are obviously amazing schools but, depending on the numbers, I'd probably be leaning towards Wagner. It too is a very good school in a huge job market, where you already have an extensive network, AND it's your cheapest option.
Like I said, the numbers make a difference. If HKS is your dream school and it's ~$20,000 more than Wagner, I'd say go HKS, but if the difference in cost is much much more, I'd definitely take Wagner. Great education from an impressive school, in a world-class city where you already have a professional network, for much less debt? That's an easy choice as far as I'm concerned.
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Can anyone speak to the availability of assistnatnship positions or other work available to grad students at LBJ?
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Does anyone know about the availability of assistantships for Price MPP students? Are they common and fairly easy to get, super competitive and rare, or what?
Thanks for any info.
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I had a quick question for any current Heinz students (or anyone else in the know):
Does anyone know about the availability of assistantships in the MSPPM program? Heinz is in my final two or three choices and I'm trying to separate them. Assistantship positions may prove to be the difference maker.
Thanks for any information.
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I didn't receive any funding either. It's between the LBJ and Evans School for me. LBJ is still considerably cheaper for me being in-state. Though it would be so nice to live in Seattle for a couple years.
Did you receive any funding from Evans? I didn't get funding from either and I'm still trying to decide where to go.
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Same here; no funding
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I received an email with funding information - waiver of out-of-state portion plus a fellowship, I'll take it!
Congratulations! Which program is that for?
Did you just now get the email our was it earlier (during business hours)?
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Looks like someone just upoaded an acceptance for the MGPS.
I'm guessing that was you jxmp?
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Currently 27 and I was beginning to feel like it was now or never for grad school (for me, I know it's different strokes for different folks). Though I feel old, I think I'll probably be a year or two older than the average student at most programs, so I take some comfort in that.
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I'm feeling nervous. I might have to go for a run! Either way I'll be celebrating the end of the waiting game tonight at some SXSW events!
As a native Austinite, anyone who gets in and decides LBJ is for them can feel free to ask me questions about the city!
I've had a hard time figuring out what the cost of living is like in Austin. For example, what can I expect to pay in rent for somewhere in a decent part of town, maybe walkable to downtown?
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I was notified via email, and funding info was included in the letter. Mueva, I don't know if it makes any difference, but I'm on the West Coast.
Do you mind if I ask how much funding you were offered?
Stupid question, but... :)
in Government Affairs Forum
Posted
It's probably possible, but I don't know if it would be useful to have the same degree from two different institutions. Having that on your resume would probably raise more questions than anything.
Also, in the future could you please make your thread titles a little more descriptive or specific? A forum full of titles like "Stupid question, but..." and "Just a quick question" isn't helpful to anyone.