CakeTea

What are your areas of interests and goals? Generally speaking, LBJ is more established with larger faculty, more research centers, larger intake and alumni base. Some profs such as Galbraith are known outside Texas. Bush is smaller with fewer electives with MIA/MPP. But you can take electives outside Bush (example: business classes at Mays Business Schools). Strong areas are security and maybe niche such as China certificate (Language plus Trek). I would also think that Austin would offer a better networking environment for internships or jobs with local government and non profits. $7K over 2 yrs is not a huge difference and it depends on yr priority. Bush tends to have good funding. Maybe you can ask LBJ to raise FinAid or even match Bush's offer.

There was another poster here who did the MBA/MA combo. If I recall correctly,U Michigan is well regarded for MA Education and MBA at Ross B-School. I would recommend to apply for the joint MBA/MA at the same time. UVA: MBA/MEd Innovation in Education Refrom Stanford MBA/MEd. The MBA is very selective The MBA has lower acceptance rate and you want to have your funding sorted before enrollment. Most US B-Schools accept GRE, but quant requirement/average for MBA tends to be higher. Good luck.

I don't know about the programs/unis and your profile, but 25% is on the lower side of funding. Write an appeal of FinAid letter Thank person for FinAid, honour to be admitted and program A is your first choice. But you wish to be fiscally responsible as you still have a student loan from BA and are concerned about FinAid. Point out that you have received more $$ at program B and are inclined to accept with all things unchanged. Ask FinAid officer to help and enquire about more funding. The worst outcome is no, adcoms can't withdraw your offer.

Word on the forum is that USC Price is one of the better funded programs with generous scholarships (50% and sometimes even 100%). This was made possible with Mr Price's huge donation. But USC tuition and LA living cost are prohibitive.

It depends on the think tank. A few specialized Economic think tanks may require PhDs. But most think tanks require only MA plus relevant work experience. If you look at large think tanks such as Brookings, most researchers have MA. Heads of departments tend to have PhDs.

Commiseration on the funding news. At least you really have good options in terms of funding and dream school.

You are welcome, Emily. My interests are not so mainstream within MPP. Local Economic Development, Innovation, Policy Analysis

hi emily, congratulations on yr admissions to Hertie. I hope the FinAid works out for you and you can return to Berlin for yr MSc. With regards to yr interests in poverty and welfare, hertie does not have a poverty expert in its faculty. There are some minor Hertie publications on pension finance, health inequality and welfare state, the closest topic to welfare. Hertie's 3 research clusters and 5 research centers do not cover poverty & welfare as core. Incidentally Hertie's narrow focus was my main concern for my interests.

It is new and a 21st Century version of Rhodes Scholars at Oxford. Large endowment from Mr Schwarzman and influential board members from politics, business and academia. Intake from US, Europe and Asia. Very selective and successful applicants need to outline educational and professional goals. I saw some bios and they are impressive. Obviously this program is backed by Tsinghua and Chinese educators. Tsinghua is regarded as the best uni in China and trained many senior politicians. Many undergrads go on to top grad schools in the US and Europe. 1 year Master's taught in English, scholarship covers tuition and stipend. Scholars will have access to network.

I heard that SIPA allows you an FinAid appeal and increase $$. I know Geneva is one of the most expensive cities in Europe and I get sticker price shock in supermarket. Most internships with IOs are UNpaid. Tuition compares well with US programmes.

I would not risk enrollment and count on 2nd year FinAid, chances are small. The only scenario is if you finish top of your class. This sucks that IHEID would not consider a re-evaluation. I think it is less flexible than US programmes. IHEID evaluation is more ticking boxes. I just heard of one US applicant who got full scholarship. Ironic that he did not even enroll as he had other options. There are needy applicants from US and EU with huge student loan debt and they are not covered by the IHEID system.

I heard that most $ are need based too. Some current students told me that this somewhat puts students from Europe and US on a disadvantage as they are not perceived as financially needy. Ditto for students with some years' employment. You may notice that most scholarship recipients are from Africa, Central Asia and Far East. So much about the rumour that IHEID prefers EU and US applicants. It certainly does not show preference in FinAid.

IHEID uses two rankings for scholarship allocation 1) Academic strength of your overall application: GPA, GRE (For MA Econ), LoR, awards 2) Financial needs: How much $ for you to be able to attend IHEID. I think it uses 4 categories from can attend without FinAid to need substantial $ to attend For a strong scholarship application, your profile needs to show high ranking in academic rigour and financial need.

BA Economics with Modern Languages I wonder about non traditional majors. I met a MPP student who did BA philosophy

Funny you mention A Jolie, The London Times has today a photo of her. She gave this week her debut as visiting professor for Humanitarian Work at LSE.

IHEID website Graduate Institute Student Assembly GISA Annual report Among rejected students are some formidable US applicants with strong stats

Can you provide evidence to yr alternative facts? The student body stats may beg to differ as US applicants do not make the largest group.

I know the feeling, it is like working as a waiter and a customer tips you $1 for a $30 meal.

SAIS and Georgetown have established programs in International Relations. The MPP is more recent. I heard that McCourt MPP may have slightly better funding than SAIS MPP. Take it with a pinch of salt: A WWS in her 40s told me that when she went to WWS, it has more analytical training than KSG. Personally, I think some public universities offer excellent MPP degrees and train people for public service on federal and state levels. Attrative for people who wish to stay in state. Goldman, Ford, LBJ, Humphrey

Most adcoms may not check previous work unless it raises red flags (inflated job titles in a junior job post graduation). I heard from a prof that adcoms do not spend too much time. They tick boxes: GPA, GRE, TOEFL, work, awards

IHEID is too niche and provides only postgraduate education. Sussex IDS is one of the oldest development programmes and it has full time MA and executive courses for NGOs. Sussex has a track record in research output and publication in peer reviewed journal whereas Hertie does not.

Normally, the professional referee (work supervisor) would write a letter of recommendation and outline the job title and responsibilities of applicant.

I heard from a current student that Sanford is known for being FinAid generous. He applied to peer schools, got admitted with various funding and Sanford came through for him. Apart from scholarship, there are small fellowships and $ assistance to fund unpaid summer internships.

@emilyf413: I reached out to a current Price student and she does not drive in LA. She lives in Culver City near metro station. She can easily commute to USC. A room in a shared apartment/house is around $870/month.

soon. I think last year, some applicants heard from Heinz in early March.