I wanted to seek your input: I'm not sure what the best option is between the two:
Syracuse MPA Georgetown MPP
#1 #16
$55k $94k
No money awarded. No money decision yet.
Well-established. Relatively new change.
1 Year 2 Year but can attempt double JD or PhD in 3-4 years.
Syracuse DC
Cheap cost of living. Center of everything politics/policy related.
Quickly back to work/life. More opportunities for work/internship /assistantships in DC.
Strong alumni network. Stronger alumni network in NV where I live and want to return to.
Prestige within civil service and public admins particularly back East. General and perceived prestige in all sectors everywhere.
More flexible and focus on state and local finance. More rigid on the quantitative skills I want to develop.
My goal is flexibility of the degree and employability after graduation. I currently am in Government and Public Affairs and want to continue in that area for the foreseeable future and ultimately want to become a VP of Gov. Affairs for a private firm or start my own consutling company.
Conversely, I want to teach policy and political science courses at a Community College and ultimately a reasearch university further down the road and perhaps get into higher education leadership.
Either route depends on numerous factors: job availability and opportunity, money, personal decisions at the time so I want to be able to apply my experiences and education to different sectors.
I am pursuing an MPP or an MPA with an emphasis on the former because I want to develop the qantitative skills necessary to be able to do rigorous research in academia or for the private sector, depending upon which opportunities present themselves. Moreover, everyone in Gov. Affairs is a lawyer yet there is always a need for people who understand the economics but not enough people who possess those skills where I live.
I've asked a number of employers their gut reaction of whom they would pick all other things being equal and they've all said Georgetown except when I talk up Syracuse's rankings, program and history, than they say if they had been aware of those than they probably would pick Syracuse.
I appreciate any and all input, advice or experiences you might have to share?