fadeindreams

U-M is 40 minutes from Detroit. If you're interested in urban policy, particularly as it applies to revitalization or equity issues, Detroit may very well be the best big city to be near. Detroit has ample opportunities for the dedicated volunteer. U-M is also a mere 4 hours from Chicago. If I were in your position, I would take the full offer from Ford. You'll have plenty of opportunity to ply your skills in an urban setting, if you so choose. I'm biased as a current Ford student, but I can't possibly think of a good enough reason why it'd be worth going into debt to go to Harris over Ford. I'd have an easier time defending the opposite. I wish you luck in making the right choice for you. Grad school should be about personal fit. For me, I have no doubt that U-M was the best choice I could have made.

Depends on what hotel you'll be staying in. Most of the hotels are not within walking distance of campus. The bus system, the Ride (www.theride.org), is great. You'd have to pay for the bus system while here for spring preview, but it is free for students with a M-Card (U-M student ID).

I've had okay experience with https://www.metroairporttaxi.org/ though they are $50 plus tip. Otherwise, I'd actually recommend hitting up Priceline for a rental car. I doubt it'd be much more expensive than $100 (round trip using Metro Airport Taxi) and you could use it to explore Ann Arbor.

I would recommend also telling them what you have told us. Namely that they aren't transparent enough with their enrollment deadline. Suggest that they amend their admissions materials to better aid students.

I'm a second year Ford School student. I will try to revisit this thread to answer any questions that y'all have about the Ford School, the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor. Please don't PM me because I never check those messages and am very bad about replying to them. Besides, it's best if you ask your question in public, barring something super private, so that everyone can learn from the answer. I believe all GSI and GSSA positions include a tuition waiver, stipend and health insurance (I don't know enough about the GSRA positions, though I imagine the individual listings would tell you). The stipend amount varies based on the FTE. I have a .5 FTE position, meaning 20 hours of work a week, for which I am paid roughly $2150 a month pre-tax. Sweet deal. Well, except the whole working 20 hours a week thing...I believe .5 is the highest FTE. Most GSI positions seem to be around .2 to .3. 1. Yeah, though a few individuals in the first year class will invariably obtain GSI positions for their second term (primarily for classes that they took and did well in). Not too many though, so don't rely on it. I'd say 4 or 5. 2. They all say that, though the reality can be different. For example, if you are fluent in a language (RPCV perhaps?) then you might be able to obtain a GSI position teaching that language. I don't think, however, that you should presume that you'd be competitive in any of the social sciences departments, as they have their own Ph.D. students. I'd encourage you to also look for GSRA (Graduate Student Research Assistant) and GSSA (Graduate Student Staff Assistant) positions. Though GSRA positions tend to be more accepting of Ph.D. candidates and GSSA positions are rare. I get the feeling that the Bohnett Fellows are all Michigan residents. It's clearly a very strong preference.

Evans vs IPS? What's the level of funding for Evans? If it's full, that's a no brainer. If it's not full, then I'd have to know what you are looking to study (international? domestic? social policy? education policy? what?). I don't think you can go wrong with Evans though. Last fall it came down to Evans vs. Ford for me and the reason I ended up at Ford was primarily funding.

Does the school you're attending have a College of Education? If so, go ask one of the advisors. It's worth trying.

It's somewhat competitive. It's only open to Ford School students and priority is given to second year students (you can only do it once, because the school pays for everything).

U-M has an excellent reputation outside of the Ford School. U-M is generally and consistently regarded as a top 25 university in the world when it comes to rankings (though those are obviously not without fault). This means that the programs that would be considered cognates to policy, such as political science, economics, sociology, public health, international relations, etc, are all well regarded. I wouldn't worry about U-M's reputation one bit. Before coming to Michigan I would have personally ranked the three you mentioned UChicago, U-M and then Georgetown. Then again, no doubt they are close. There are sufficient international courses for students, like myself, interested in international policy. A former ambassador teaches courses regularly, for example, that students universally recommend as among the best they take at the Ford School. On top of that you have the International Economic Development Program that travels every spring break to a developing country to engage in substantive policy work (last year it was Grenada, next year it's Colombia). Lastly, you have access to the expansive and high quality offerings across campus. While I don't like US News and World Report's methodology, I encourage you to check out their rankings of other programs you'd be interested taking electives from, be it sociology, education, public health or whatever. You'll find they are all highly ranked. Keep in mind that you can take a full 12 credits outside of the Ford School. Let me know if you have any further questions.

I think your analysis of Ford is pretty much spot on. I'm not going to go out of my way to add anything to what you've said, however, I'd like to reiterate that I'm available if anyone has any questions. Feel free to PM me if it's private, but it's best if the question is added to the thread. I have the thread set to alert me when anyone replies (hence me being on the forum right now). As a current student I am 100% certain that I made the right choice for my own interests, both professional and academic. My perception of peer institutions and their relative prestige has really changed a year into the program. I feel like I've accumulated sufficient personal experience and anecdotes from others to say that if you're looking for a top tier policy school with excellent career outcomes then you should go to one of 5 or 6 schools: HKS, Berkeley, Ford, Harris and two others that would change relative to your career aspirations. It's mainly my personal opinion, sure, but it's also informed by comments made to me by a wide array of people, including a couple of really high profile individuals in high profile positions, that have told me as much. Take it as you will. Management and administration school relative rankings would obviously be different. Anyway, feel free to prod me with questions.

Yep. You'll want to clarify your goals more before going into graduate school. Hell, I had five years of experience and I still find my career goals more than a little murky.

TOEFL scores are good for 2 years max, period. This is because ETS will not send TOEFL scores to schools if the scores are more than two years old. ETS considers those scores expired.

You're kidding, right? Come on. I don't know why I'm even bothering replying to this thread... By the way, I have a friend who graduated recently from SAIS Bologna. It took him 11 months to find a job. I guess you could always apply for forbearance while you wait for employment. The AU degree is imminently more flexible than what you would get from SAIS. (Not to say SAIS is a bad school, because clearly it is not). I guess I'll say what I assume you're fishing for: "Congratulations on getting fully funded by AU."

Your aid information on Wolverine Access is maintained by Financial Aid, not the Ford School. The information you currently see is simply based on your FAFSA and residency status. It says nothing about your aid status. In fact, even if you are awarded aid it will likely take a while until it is reflected on Wolverine Access. As an example, I secured my assistantship in June and it didn't have any effect on my financial aid summary until August. Two notes: Rackham posted four Graduate Student Staff Assistant (GSSA) positions today. You can view them at rackham.umich.edu/jobs/. Most, if not all, have applications due on the 31st of March.We'll be calling admitted students next Tuesday night from the Ford School. By we I mean current students. Look out.

Well, funding will come from multiple sources. Both the Ford School and the Rackham Graduate School have funding. My understanding of the amounts is that the bigger awards, such as full fellowships, are awarded through Rackham and that the Ford school has to nominate admits for those awards. The smaller awards, on the other hand, are likely mostly from some sort of Ford School fellowship fund. I have no idea what sort of range to expect from the smaller awards... In either case, you'll know next week. No, it's $18,000 per semester for tuition. Estimated Cost of Attendance is listed as around $27,000 a semester. The COA is how they determine your aid eligibility when it comes to loans, etc. The registrar would be the source of all information regarding residency requirements. My understanding is that you are not able to get residency in your second year. That said, I stopped caring after I got an assistantship. If you want an unequivocal answer then I suggest you call the registrar and ask.