WhatAmIDoingNow

I would look for programs that have a Master of Public Policy (MPP) and a Master of Development Practice (MDP), where you can share electives depending on which degree you go with. University of Minnesota, Berkley, and Columbia have these, along with many other public affairs schools. As far as financial aid, also be aware that even if you get funding, the cost of living across the US is varied. Contacting the schools to see what type of funding and student work they have is important. I know Minnesota has a great assistant program where students get paid and get tuition waivers. They also have fellowships you can apply for. I assume Columbia is well funded, but NYC is very expensive to live in.

What do you mean by infrastructure policy? Would that be planning? I know there are many Urban Planning programs. I was told by mentors to find the faculty you want to work with and go where they are. If there are specific scholars you are interested in, contact them and ask about their program. It worked for me.

All students in my PhD cohort have masters, some have international masters in types of engineering or public administration, some have masters from US schools. They did not have to have professional masters degrees, but they are using their backgrounds in their policy focus. You really should contact the faculty you are interested in working with to see what their program is biased towards. Some schools are more open than others to diversity of academic backgrounds.

To add, I had to take some condensed courses for my MPA. Some people absolutely loved condensed courses. I personally do not do well with condensed courses. They are fast paced and I felt that I did not have enough time to sit and process new information, or work through concepts I did not pick up immediately. My grades were good, but the course material did not stick once the courses were done. With an entire semester, I have more time for the material to be investigated from different perspectives and applied in different ways.

Do you have financial restrictions? Because those public schools are all over the place. Instate tuition and reciprocity programs are greatly cheaper. A year working in the state you want to attend would save you an incredible amount of money. Just something to think about. If you want Minnesota and Wisconsin, they have reciprocity. If you work in Minnesota or Wisconsin for a year, you would save sooooo much money. https://www.hhh.umn.edu/admissions/financing/estimated_cost.html

After seeing multiple master level cohorts go through my respective program, some cohorts were awesome and the students worked together wonderfully. The program consistently received good feedback on how impressive the students were from internships and employers once they entered the work force. One cohort I saw was completely toxic and very much a bucket of crabs. When they went into the workforce, I heard from their coworkers and supervisors how awful, demanding, and unprepared they were. All from the same terrible cohort. Do not let the cohort ruin your experience and opportunities. If they can't take responsibility for their education, that is not your problem. I would look to the students you trust and succeed together. You are young, toxic peers and coworkers are something you need to learn to deal with. Sometimes you ignore them, sometimes you confront them, sometimes you report them, sometimes you move to a better opportunity.

You can find good deals on the SP3 if you watch the Microsoft Ebay store for refurbished SP3s. They come with the manufacturer's warranty and qualify for the 3 year insurance.

You aren't just saving 10's of thousands... you are saving over $100,000 in principle debt. It costs money to live while in school. If you do well at Ohio and are with a successful advisor, that will get you into a PhD program easily. Without the debt, you have flexibility in where you can go for work or you doctorate.

Rutgers.

It all depends on what you are interested in. If you are interested in city management and planning, then Arizona State University, University of Kansas, and Cleveland State would be top schools. If you want to work in federal policy, you gotta go to a school in Washington, DC. My biggest tip is go somewhere with internship opportunities.

I second Chocolatecheesecake. What would you get out of a PhD, if not going into academia? Especially from a competitive school. You should be fully funded to go back for a PhD, which entails a part-time research and/or teaching assistant position. The program who funds you is investing their time and money in training you. If you want to do research, look at a PhD. If you want the letters, then there are other enrichment options, some of which Chocolatecheesecake mentioned. Also, state schools are highly competitive too. It all depends on the PhD field you want. UChicago is only ranked #23 in public affairs on that US News, far behind many state schools.

Nice, on the shipping. $40 isn't bad, especially if it is a flat rate. The Sultan mattresses are pretty decent and inexpensive. We have had ours for 5 years with no complaints. Ikea also has a 20 or 25 year warranty/return policy.

Ikea is not difficult to assemble, they have great rates on mattresses. I don't think they deliver to Carbondale, so you would need to do a trek to a store. For affordable and decent mattresses, I have found Ikea and Denver Mattress stores have the best bang for your buck. I meant to quote Nibs. Oh well.

You should be able to find a nice one bedroom apartment for $1200, close to campus or in a nice part of town. The two bedroom apartments are ridiculously priced, a 2 bedroom duplex or house would be a better deal. Check Trulia.com.

Trulia.com and padmapper.com are helpful too. Usually universities have grad student listservs and/or messageboards for selling books and furniture, finding roommates, and getting general questions answered.

"government affairs" is broad. International relations, MPA, MPP, Nonprofit management, national security studies, a bunch of other ones floating around. If government workers will be there, suit. If faculty and other academics, blazer.

This really depends on the program and the city.

From what others have shared: Zillow.com Trulia.com PadMapper.com (aggregates Cragslist adds by location and filters by your preferences and what the advertisement describes. There is also an app) http://www.cogs.umn....ate_finder.html (you fill out a form and it connects you to open rooms, potential roommates, and potential landlords. Like a dating service, but for graduate student housing). From my own searches, I am finding that rent prices go houses<duplexes<townhouses<apartments. This is completely backwards from everywhere else I have lived. When considering cost of space, houses<<duplex<townhouse<<<apartment. A colleague also told me that she has found success in using AirBNB and VRBO.com for furnished lodging. She said that she used the service to contact owners and negotiated long-term lodging.

How important it is to ask multiple professors about different schools and POIs before contacting schools and POIs. Getting inside scoops on how other programs and professors are perceived is important. Also, rankings matter as far as the program should be on the ranking list to show it is recognized. But 16th, 7th, and 2nd rankings do not mean you will do better going to the 2nd ranked if 16th ranked is doing the most innovative work in your area of interest. Or if within the last two years the top faculty at 2nd ranked all left for 15th ranked and brought their best academic progeny with them.

You can google the towing capacity of your make, model, and year. Uhaul has the empty weight of their trailers on their website. The largest trailer is 1920lbs. I would also check out the elevation changes and any mountain passes you may have to cross. High elevation can take a toll on your care, if it isn't set up for high elevation performance and you have added weight.

I was told that SSD are also more durable and hold up to drops and jolts better than HDD. If you want the laptop to last, SDD is the better option. This article is pretty straight forward on the differences between SSD and HDD: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404258,00.asp

It really depends on what you want to keep. I know people who just flew to their destination with bags of important items and bought everything they needed at Ikea, paying the flat delivery rate ($89). My spouse and I have a lot of things we have accumulated and want to keep, along with a dog and two vehicles. We will need at least one vehicle so we plan to have me load up my car, he load up his truck and rent a trailer. We keep what fits and drive across country. We will sell one of our vehicles once we get there if we discover we do not need one. Having them gives us flexibility on where we live as we get established.

Great point. I made the mistake of buying a non-business line Dell laptop during undergrad and it was a terrible mistake, lasted a week past the 1 year warranty expiration. At work we have business line Dell laptops and desk tops that have held up for 5+ years. I have a business line Lenovo laptop and absolutely love it, a little more expensive but the machine can take a physical beating and can do some heavy stats lifting. Also, I have found that business line computers come with longer warranties. ASUS is a decent brand, but make sure you check out the specks for what SeanDDavies recommended and model reviews. Some models are excellent and some are not good. This is what my IT department recommended that I look for when I was shopping for a laptop: Yes. Here’s the things I’m very specific to look for though: Screen resolution: · Please try to avoid 1366x768 screens (which you’ll find on the cheaper options). You just can’t fit enough information on that screen resolution for real work. · 1600x900 should be the minimum chosen for these, with 1920x1080 possible if the user wants it and the price works out (typically found on the larger T/W540). Hard Drive type: · SSD vs. HDD (Solid state drive vs. “spinning disk” drive). · SSD if you can afford it and the user is OK with the smaller size of 128, 180, or 256GB commonly available. There’s really very few users who need more than any of these sizes. Processor: · Stick with i5 for typical users, i7 if the user will be doing heavier statistics work or graphics work. Here’s one laptop that might be just right: http://www.cdwg.com/shop/products/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T440-i5-4300U-180GB-SSD-8GB-14in-Win-7-Pro/3181263.aspx i5, 180GB SSD, 1600x900 screen – only $1,171. Warranties: · Most of these will come with a 3-year mail-in warranty. I prefer to buy an on-site warranty, and typically with accidental damage coverage as well: o For “T440 20B6” and “T440s 20AQ” laptops: Search for this part number and add it to the order for 3-year, on-site, w/accidental coverage: 5PS0A22983 Hope that helps

It helps to know the program you are going into and what purposes you will be using the laptop/tablet for (ex: papers, statistical analysis, graphic design).

If those schools can provide you the job that's pay justifies the debt, it could be worth it. Plus, you probably will be able to get some form of part time work and/or paid internships and cut the estimated debt by a conservative $15,000.