sneakyred

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/4/15/kennedy-percent-school-number/ From the article: "Over the past two years, the number of applications to the Kennedy School’s Master in Public Policy Program has increased by 34 percent...The number of applicants to the MPP program increased by 5 percent this year, boasting a total of 1,729 applicants. From this pool, 345 students were admitted."

I'm in a very fortunate position as far as admissions go this year, but now I'm having a hard time justifying to myself the cost. I'm interested in development economics research with a multi-lateral agency after graduation, and I'm well-aware that my salary would be modest. I've been accepted to HKS and SAIS with partial funding, but these amounts would still leave me with close to 100k in loans. Stanford IPS apparently provides wonderful aid opportunities (in the form of assistantships) during the second year, although I didn't receive any first year funding from the program. On the other hand, I could go to Cornell's CIPA with minimal debt. I'm interested in getting the best quant training as possible, but the HKS and SAIS networks are tempting. In addition, many of the economists whose work I admire in development economics are in Boston at HKS or MIT. So....what would you decide?

A pittance for me as well. Does anyone know if there are second-year fellowships and how many of such there are?

ouch, so cruel indeed!

I'm always up for challenging classes, and particularly excited for the chance to take classes from the Econ school. How hard is it to actually work this in? I have an Econ undergrad background, so I want to boost my quant skills. I'm curious, were any of the required classes duds? Also, would any of the lurkers like to weigh in as well?

Hi all, I've just heard back from CIPA and received a generous fellowship offer (like others on this board have previously reported). I've yet to hear back from other schools, but I'd love to hear from those that received offers last year about how you decided where to eventually go. I doubt many schools (besides the elusive WWS) would come close to CIPA's offer, so how did you eventually choose? Did you turn down CIPA in the end because of location, newness of the program, etc., or follow the money to CIPA? Either way, do you have any regrets? I only have good impressions about CIPA so far (besides perhaps the location). I'm drawn to the flexibility it offers in coursework and the opportunity to tailor my degree by taking courses from other departments and schools. Thanks in advance for your input!