I am extremely torn between these two schools. I have read endlessly about the pros and cons. I'll break them down into my three major categories affecting my decision making: cost analysis, class size, and my research interests.
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I.)
Outstanding Debt Post-Grad:
DUKE - 74k (not including assistantships)
UCSD - 39k (not including assistantships)
*I showed how I derived my figures, but roughly, DUKE will leave me with twice the debt, give or take a few thousand as a margin of error. Feel free to skip the breakdown, but I left it up in the incident there is some obvious miscalculation I made.
Funding:
DUKE 36k 18k x 2 (both renewable following year)
4k assistantship (also renewable if desired)
UCSD 46k
(*could also look for assistantships, although it’s not advised in the first term, plus I'd have to procure them myself, not guaranteed)
Tuition:
DUKE- tuition - 84k 42k for two years
UCSD- tuition - 45k 30k first year, 15k second year because in-state tuition status can be claimed to exclude 12k out-of-state fees
Prequisites:
DUKE - 0 No prerequisites required
UCSD - 5k Two prequisites required (I'm estimating cost here)
Living:
DUKE - 30k (15k x 2)
UCSD - 36k (18k x 2)
Deriving these figures was a bit awkward because of how they combine food/housing for UCSD. I feel they are plausible enough, but would be my most vulnerable area to miscalculation.
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II.) Class Size:
DUKE undeniably has a super-group cohesion that underlines its MPP program. With a class size over 60, and no more than all 60 of your classmates in one class together/average class size around 30 --it is not difficult to see where this cohesion is derived from. (Comparing the face book page of DUKE to UCSD is unmatched in how quickly people are already acclimating with one another)
UCSD has a class size over 130 for the IRPS program. It is not difficult to surmise in two years 130 people will not make the same level of sincere connection as 60 people.
I come from an undergraduate institution with class sizes similar to UCSD. I had no problem being assertive in order to distinguish myself amongst faculty. Regardless, there is no doubt a larger class size will have some level of adverse effect on the graduate experience.
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III.) Interests:
I had been set on Chinese studies and international economics before my time in Africa. Although the focus still remains, I would look to try to incorporate Africa back into my research interests if possible. I cannot quite say that doing a Chinese track in international economics at UCSD would completely mitigate that possibility. However, a more general Public Policy program like DUKE might allow me more flexibility in not only focusing on one region or thematic specialty.
Additionally, I have technically never been to China. (Only Africa and Japan at this point.) I read a great deal of policy articles, many of which have been about China though. [i add this in because a colleague of mine who has been to China thought it to be risky to delve so heavily into graduate studies into a place I have never been.]
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If I had to shoot out a ranking system:
DUKE UCSD
Cost: B A
Class Size: A B
Interests: A A
Any general thoughts or comments?
If you've made it this far, thank you!