pesar

I respectfully disagree with Minnesotan. I applied to McGill (I'm from the US) and told a lot of people. Everyone knows of it as "that great school in Canada." Most people I know think of it as top-ranked. My brother likes to call it the Harvard of Canada. I live in Washington, D.C. and everyone knows it. Now, I got accepted and am going to Montreal next week to visit, but I have to be honest. I am having a hard time choosing it over a couple of my U.S. choices because of the branding. It is branded really well in Canada, known in the U.S. and stop. Top-ranked U.S. schools' branding just extends further. Someone said to me, "If you see yourself working in Canada, go there." I think that says something. Also, depends on your program. Which program by the way?

I recently left Berkeley with an undergrad education. It was the best time of my life! I miss it all the time...you will love Berkeley...there is no other place like it. Congratulations!

Thank you FChow....consensus seems to be building. A thorough discernment process usually leads us to the right answer. Thanks for your contribution.

Hi Lady, To answer your question, I am down to three choices. 1) KSG, the MPA/ID 2) Fletcher MALD and 3) McGill MA Econ/MA Dev Studies. I want to say Harvard is my top choice, but I am still hesitant. I never thought one day I might be considering turning down an offer to go to Harvard. Who imagines that? But, I am not sure. McGill is almost half the cost and it's in a beautiful city in a beautiful country and has a fine reputation. I wish I could shed light for you, but I am in a bit of darkness feeling my way through the next three weeks of decision making. I am going to visit all three schools. I am hoping being there physically with help put the pieces in place. You and I seem to be in a similar situation looking at an extra $60,000 or so to get what comes with Harvard....whatever that may be. Nevertheless, we have some great choices...good luck!

First, congratulations! You have some tough decisions to make as do I. (I got accepted into KSG and if I decide to take the offer, I will accrue more debt there than anywhere else.) My calculations tell me that you are looking at over $100K in debt from KSG and only living expenses for American. That's a big difference for someone going into public service. Depending on what kind of work you want to do, you may be able to match the KSG connections by being in DC. I live in DC now and you can really make a lot of connections even if you aren't anywhere near academia. I certainly could never advise you on deferment, but you are right about Princeton being "mad competitive." I applied to 6 schools and one of them turned me down....Princeton. They have like a 12% acceptance rate. Whatever you decide, you will be in a wonderful place. Congratulations.

Hi, Thank you so much for your reply. I did visit Fletcher last fall and came away with the same thing everyone says....the people are REALLY nice. That's something I shouldn't ignore. There really is something special about the people that I haven't yet felt at Harvard when I visited there as well. The debt is about the same. I am going to go to visit both next week. I guess if you are going to take on a whole bunch of debt, then this important visit is worth it. I'll start looking more closely at the courses...and you are right, there is a LOT more flexibility in the Fletcher program. Thanks again and good luck getting off that waitlist!

Hi, I need advice! I am shuffling the cards of where to go to school this fall 24/7. Here are the programs I have been accepted to: Fletcher School at Tufts, MALD (accrue $60000 debt) Harvard, Kennedy School, MPA/ID (accure $70000 debt) McGill University, MA ECon/MA Development Studies (accrue $10000 debt) Oxford, MSc Economics for Development (acrrue $0 debt), only one year program Me: I have a BA in Development Studies from a top-tier US university. I'm interested in developing my quant skills further to do program and policy analysis and evaluation. While I want a very strong applied economics training, I do NOT (repeat: do not!) want to work for the World Bank or other IFIs. I am interested in working for A) Global Development NGOs or Corporate Philanthropy Organizations like Google or C) UNDP/UNICEF, WFP. I love the economic rigor of the MPA/ID, but am concerned that it is going to be math hell for an entire year for this Development Studies person. I am also concerned that it is the right program for my career goals. No one can deny the brand name effect. For Fletcher, is it going to feed my enough quant? What is its reputation in development circles as a subset of IR? For McGill, can anyone shed any light on the quality of its econ department? It's reputation in development circles? And Oxford, my biggest concern is...how can I possibly get the education of 2 years in North America in 7 months of instruction there? Is it applied enough? Any advice would be very helpful. I have to make my decisions in less than 4 weeks! I posted my expected debt because that is part of my calculus in this decision-making progress! Thanks!

Hi, I need advice! I am shuffling the cards of where to go to school this fall 24/7. Here are the programs I have been accepted to: Fletcher School at Tufts, MALD (accrue $60000 debt) Harvard, Kennedy School, MPA/ID (accure $70000 debt) McGill University, MA ECon/MA Development Studies (accrue $10000 debt) Oxford, MSc Economics for Development (acrrue $0 debt), only one year program Me: I have a BA in Development Studies from a top-tier US university. I'm interested in developing my quant skills further to do program and policy analysis and evaluation. While I want a very strong applied economics training, I do NOT (repeat: do not!) want to work for the World Bank or other IFIs. I am interested in working for A) Global Development NGOs or Corporate Philanthropy Organizations like Google or C) UNDP/UNICEF, WFP. I love the economic rigor of the MPA/ID, but am concerned that it is going to be math hell for an entire year for this Development Studies person. I am also concerned that it is the right program for my career goals. No one can deny the brand name effect. For Fletcher, is it going to feed my enough quant? What is its reputation in development circles as a subset of IR? For McGill, can anyone shed any light on the quality of its econ department? It's reputation in development circles? And Oxford, my biggest concern is...how can I possibly get the education of 2 years in North America in 7 months of instruction there? Is it applied enough? Any advice would be very helpful. I have to make my decisions in less than 4 weeks! I posted my expected debt because that is part of my calculus in this decision-making progress! Thanks!