CipherTrigonal89

To put it simply, what are some of the best environmental policy/sustainability programs that you'd all recommend? I recently finished a policy program myself (MPM, Georgetown), and there are some things that I'd still like to learn academically in regards to environmental and energy policy. I'm willing to put this on the backburner for now, but in the event that I decide to go back to school again, what are some options that I should look into if/when I decide to apply? One caveat though: I'm not willing to do another public policy program (strictly speaking) again because I've already done that. Beyond that, anything's fair game and I'm open to new suggestions. Thanks in advance.

So here's the situation. I apologize if something like this has already been answered elsewhere, or if I'm posting in the wrong forum, but I figure that I'd like to get this feedback rather directly. I'm strongly considering the MPP program at the McCourt School at Georgetown, as it'll allow me to work while I'm attending. And specifically, I'd like to specialize in something pertaining to environmental/energy policy, or failing that, something Sustainability-related. By way of background, I already have a degree/certificate in Sustainability from UCLA, so I already have some academic training/experience in both fields. The kicker here though is that I'm not getting any financial aid or scholarships otherwise from Georgetown at the moment, so if I choose to go, I'd be on my own. However, I do have enough savings lined up, and my parents are willing to help me to some extent to pay for tuition and keep my student loans to a minimum, so attending Georgetown isn't totally out of the picture just yet. That's also where working while attending the program factors in: by staying in my full-time job, I can at least defray expenses to some degree. So I guess that for the purposes of this question, you can divide it into two parts. For those of you who have either attended McCourt and/or have experience in environmental/energy policy: Does Georgetown have good enough career services/connections so that I can reasonably find a good job after graduation? More generally, I understand that with the renewable energy sector, it's on track and already becoming the fastest growing source of energy production in the US, but does this also translate into lucrative job opportunities for public policy graduates with specializations in those fields? Specifically, in that sense, I'm looking into working on cap-and-trade programs and other climate change mitigation/adaptation programs in the public sector, and if we're about the private sector, I'd be interested in working for consulting firms. I can imagine that with climate change being as serious an issue as it is now, state and local governments would be quite willing to step up their efforts in dealing with climate change and consulting firms would be all the more willing to advise them on how to do so, respectively; this would hopefully translate into more jobs. Are these estimates at all realistic and/or plausible? Since I'd be paying out of my own pocket to attend McCourt, and because loan forgiveness programs aren't what they appear to be at all, I just need to know, in short, whether this kind of investment would be worth the cost. If I do end up specializing in environmental/energy policy, is there a good chance that I can find a decent-paying job that can help me minimize any possible student loans as much as possible? And to be clear, it's not just about the career opportunities for me here; I do in fact enjoy studying those fields given my experience at UCLA studying them. Any constructive criticism, feedback, and responses would be greatly appreciated. Good luck!

Okay so here's my situation. It's a little heavy, so I'd appreciate honest feedback about this. Coming from: 8 years of paralegal experience in various fields (all of them litigation). And as of this past spring, I also just finished an online certificate program in sustainability studies, so I'm looking to pivot to environmental/energy policy. Deciding between: CUNY Baruch's MPA program ($1000/year) vs. Georgetown's MPM program ($0). In both of these programs I would still be working part-time in my current job (our firm has an office in DC so it would be a simple matter of transferring to the DC office in the case of Georgetown) and going to school part-time. Other factors: For me, it's a complicated situation and I now wish I had spoken up about this sooner because I've been internally debating this for weeks on end. There are basically two options under consideration: For Baruch, I'd be paying in-state tuition and overall my tuition costs would be about a third of Georgetown's. I'd basically be graduating with no debt if I used my own savings to cover the difference; I'd still have more than half left over (at this point) when I finish that program. For Georgetown, even though I have no funding at this point, if I were to defer admissions for another year and continue working, I would be able to cover most (around three quarters or so) of the tuition costs with my savings by that point, if not nearly all of it (with some financial assistance from my parents). However, when the dust settles, I'd basically have far less in savings (putting it mildly). Again, because I'd also be working part-time in DC, my job could cover rent and living expenses while attending the program. How I'm leaning: I'm also really, really torn about this. On the one hand, I realize that Georgetown has a better alumni and career network, a more rigorous program, and almost certainly a higher starting salary for graduates compared to Baruch (I also get the feeling that their professional networks and job recruiting prospects are more localized in the NYC area compared to GT too).. On the other hand, with Baruch I'd basically have no student whatsoever, and one really doesn't have to look very far to see why this would be quite a boon. And while I could hypothetically cover the cost for Georgetown with my own savings and some financial assistance, I also don't think that this is a decision that one should make lightly whatsoever when one's savings are taken into account. So I guess my question here is: does a school's brand name really matter that much in public policy in the grand scheme of things? Is it really worth it to attend an elite program at the cost of virtually all my savings at this point (and then some), or attend a state program at the cost of a likely smaller career network, development, etc. and yet not have to worry about finances or debt long-term? I know that for law and business school, rankings matter a great deal and can often be a game changer. Here, however, I'm not so sure. If pedigree really does make a tangible and non-trivial difference, then I would be more inclined to pick Georgetown. If not, then I'm going with Baruch. Either option would be fine by me one way or another. Alternatively, is it possible or advisable to defer one or perhaps both programs for another year if I still need more time to decide? I'm unsure if deferment still constitutes (more or less) a binding contract to attend in a year, but either way even I have serious qualms about this and I'm not even sure if this would be permissible. Thanks in advance!

I was thinking about applying this past cycle for policy programs, specifically in environmental policy where I have some background, but Trump's election sort of put the kibosh on that, at least for now. Admittedly, my initial decision to go ahead with applying was partially predicated on a Hillary Clinton victory, since she had quite a kick-ass plan in terms of fighting climate change and adopting clean energy. A Trump victory, however, is obviously bad for environmental policy, even leaving aside the fact that he thinks climate change is a Chinese-manufactured hoax. The fact that he's instituted a federal hiring freeze, looks to put the EPA's budget on the chopping block, and rolled back protections against student loan debt just makes things even worse. Having said all that, the situation with state and local governments leaves some room for hope and action. While the federal government may way roll back environmental protections and anti-climate change efforts, there's nothing stopping states, cities, and even private corporations from picking up the tab, even if that wouldn't be as effective without Washington's participation. California's already set up to do that sort of independent thing, so it's not unreasonable for other states to follow suit. And that's certainly going to involve more hiring to meets these goals, which would mean more work for policy analysts in that field. So the way I see it, there are potentially four options for me going forward: Apply this year for Fall 2018 and take a chance that either Trump's anti-environmentalism gets tempered enough or that state/local governments expand their own environmental policies and hiring to fill the gap. This also runs the risk of going to school and no longer having Obama-era student loan protections, thus putting me in potentially worse financial shape down the line. Apply this year, but instead of aiming for top-tier programs like Georgetown and Cornell (which I intended to apply to), go for lesser-ranked but still good programs like SUNY Albany and CUNY Baruch. That way, even if the political situation re: environmental policy doesn't improve, I won't have incurred as much debt and risk as I would've had I gone to a more expensive school. Wait another 3-4 years before I apply for real, although this is actually the least attractive option for me since I've been planning a very long time for this and I'm just a naturally impatient person. Still apply for this year but instead choose to forego environmental policy at least for now; instead I would focus on a more general policy field applicable to multiple industries so that I could still find gainful employment after graduation even if it's not at the EPA or whatnot. I know that I'm probably oversimplifying and overlooking a lot of things here, and it's still too early to tell how things will play out, but pragmatically speaking these look like reasonable assumptions to me. If I could get your feedback about these options, it would be much appreciated, thanks. And of course, here's my academic and professional background per this forum: GPA: 3.47, BA in English from a UC.GRE: Verbal score 162, Math score 162, AW score 6.0 Work experience: 5 years paralegal work substantial experience in environmental litigation/policy, another 2 years of paralegal work this time in-house for a hedge fund. Program: MPA, MAYBE an MPP. Age: 28 Quant coursework: Microeconomics and Statistics, at both the undergrad at graduate level

I've got a unique situation that I'll explain below. But before we get started with that: GPA: 3.47, BA in English from a UC. GRE: Verbal score 162, Math score 162, AW score 6.0 Work experience: 5 years paralegal work substantial experience in environmental litigation/policy, another 2 years of paralegal work this time in-house for a hedge fund. Program: MPA, MAYBE an MPP. Age: 27 Quant coursework: Microeconomics and Statistics, at both the undergrad at graduate level. Desired Policy concentration field: either environmental or global policy, possibly both concurrently. Here's the real kicker. I actually DID start an MPP program about 2 years earlier (let's just say it's a top-10 program; certainly Harvard-level), but I was dismissed after just my first semester because of poor performance. I didn't fail anything outright and even got credit for these classes, but my aggregate GPA wasn't good enough to pass muster (Bs and Cs, basically). What happened was essentially a combination between having difficulties adjusting back to school after a 5-year gap (the first paralegal gig) and long-term burnout (I kept up a rigorous study regimen for 3 years before matriculating; you eventually hit diminishing returns if you keep this up without any real resting period). Since then however, I've done well at my current hedge-fund paralegal job to get at least 2 LORs, and I'm still on good terms with one of my old MPP Professors, so that's another LOR. Most importantly, I've taken for-credit graduate courses in the same subjects that did me in 2 years ago and aced them this time, so hopefully that'll at least show some growth and improvement to the admissions committees. That being said, my school choices are: HKS (MPP), Cornell (MPA), Georgetown (MPM), SUNY Albany (MPA), SIPA (MPA), USC (MPA), UVA(MPP) I know that many of these choices might seem prosaic given my previous SNAFU, but I'm still willing to try and give it my all. What are my chances in light of all this? Thanks.