emilyf413
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Posts posted by emilyf413
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@3dender @ExponentialDecay @rising_star Thank you all! I have in fact decided to take the full ride.
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Hi everyone!
I'm having a really tough time with my grad school decision. Basically, I got a full ride + stipend at UW Madison's La Follette school. I would have no debt whatsoever from grad school including living expenses - they're basically paying me to go to school, and it's apparently very easy to find work so I'd be living pretty well too. My long-term partner is waiting to see whether a full fellowship comes through for him at the same school (different field). He's from Wisconsin so he already has a network there. If he gets it and chooses to go, moving to Wisconsin for grad school would be easy and economical (and I could stay with my partner, which is not a small consideration, although he would also like to live in a big city again at some point). In addition, La Follette has an Institute for Research on Poverty that looks like a great place for me and my policy interests. I went to admitted students' day and really enjoyed talking with all the prospective students and professors I met. Basically, sounds perfect?
Except that I don't really know if I want to live in Wisconsin long-term. I'm a New Yorker and very happy in large cities. In response to my concerns, the Wisconsin folks kept emphasizing that there is a strong network of La Follette grads in DC. I also already have my NYC nonprofit network. NYU gave me a 50% scholarship, which is helpful but obviously not a full ride + stipend. I would probably have to go part-time so I can continue working, which sounds like a much more stressful life. Because it just sounds so much easier to take the Wisconsin money, I'm inclined to that and make my life much less stressful. I'm just concerned that I'll be missing out on opportunities by leaving New York.
Alternatively, I got accepted to Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, which would be a blast but I have no idea how to obtain a loan for the purpose of living in another country... and as someone who speaks mediocre German, it'll be hard to find work... so that is a third option that would entail a lot of inconvenience for the sake of living in a large city/having a great international adventure.
tl;dr: money/ease of life vs. big city/opportunities
Thoughts/experiences regarding these issues? Thank you!
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2 hours ago, coffeewalk said:
@emilyf413 what school are you leaning towards? I also got a full ride to Price and am having trouble justifying the cost of Goldman (I'm in state), thought I relaly want to attend.
@coffeewalk TBH I'm leaning towards Madison because I would have health insurance and rent paid automatically (and that's before finding an assistantship!). Also, my partner is seriously considering Madison for a different program. And Madison just seems a lot more livable than LA. Although I'm coming from NYC, which is a hard place to live in its own way, I really don't know how I'd get around in a city that's not walkable or has great public transport and basically looks like a maze of superhighways. I've heard that you can make do in LA without a car, but it just seems very intimidating. Then again, I've never been...
Also, Madison has a special research center for poverty issues, which is my main focus for grad school. But I'm still not 100% -- Price is more prestigious and I really like their program as well...
Finally, I went to an admitted students' event for Price in New York, and I got a weird vibe. When I talked to some Madison alums about finding jobs outside of the Midwest, they said that it wouldn't be the easiest thing but that it was definitely doable. But when I talked to some Price students, they basically said that if I went to Price I'd have great job prospects on the West Coast but would never find anything outside the coast. Very weird..
I emailed Goldman about funding, but I've decided I'm not going to consider a school unless I get at least 50% tuition.
What have been your thoughts so far?
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1 hour ago, CakeTea said:
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.
Thanks CakeTea! Out of curiosity, what are your interests? The narrow focus is a big concern for me :/
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On 3/7/2017 at 3:01 PM, jph093 said:
Program/Institution: HKS, Goldman, Harris, WWS, Ford, Price, Evans, Sanford, Luskin. Really anything that offers heavier quant option, even better if they have an econ development/finance concentration
Interests: International/domestic economic development
Undergrad Institution: Top 30 USNWR National
Undergraduate Major: B.A Econ
Undergraduate Minor: Portuguese
Undergraduate GPA: 3.66, Last 60 credits around 3.8
Quantitative Courses: Intermed. Micro/Macro (As), Stats for Scientists (A), Intro Econometrics (A), Advanced Econometrics (B+), Calc I (C+)
GRE: Prepping, practice test scores are high (>90th percentile quant,qual), but who knows.
Age: 23, 24 by fall 2018 application deadlines
Years of Work Experience: By time I send in application I will have 1 year as a federal economist for Dept. of Commerce, 4 months internship in House of Reps, 2 months as a staffer on a Presidential campaign, 4 months education research non profit internship, 1 year restaurant experience. Overall 2 w/o the restaurant, 2.5 w/ restaurant (unsure if I should include or not)
Also did half a year (summer + school semester) studying public economics at a Brazilian university
Languages: Native English, advanced Portuguese, intermediate French, intermediate Spanish
LORs: Most likely two bosses and a professor however I haven't contacted them yet
Concerns: I'm young, and funding is an issue. I'm concerned if I apply now, I may sneak by in some admissions, but won't receive any substantive funding. I guess my question is two fold: am I competitive for the schools listed above (obviously HKS Goldman WWS etc. are reaches, but I think I have at least a shot), and if so, would waiting a year and getting an extra year of work experience necessarily equate to more funding? I'm pretty debt averse and I'm pretty unwilling to take out huge amounts of debt for a MPP. Another concern is that C+ in Calculus. I took it first semester freshman year. Is it worth it to retake? I know calc - I've had to use it in my stats classes, but just performed poorly freshman year.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Hey @jph093, I'm almost 24, have less experience than you (I've worked at the same nonprofit for almost 2 years), and I studied sociology in undergrad (arguably less useful for policy schools than econ). Otherwise, I have pretty similar stats to yours, except that the last time I took calculus or anything heavily quantitative was in high school lol. I got in everywhere I applied except HKS (waitlist). That includes Price, La Follette, Wagner, Goldman, Heller, and Trachtenberg. I got a full ride to Price and La Follette (UW Madison), half tuition at Heller, and I'm negotiating with the other schools so I'll likely still get something from at least one of them. I've also heard that it's not too hard to get a graduate student assistant position at Goldman, which covers either 25% or 50% of tuition. So don't underestimate yourself
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Hi everyone! I've been admitted to Hertie, but haven't gotten any financial aid information yet. I spent a semester in Berlin in college and would really love to come back. Also very interested in comparing EU and US. However, my concern is that they won't have enough professors focused on poverty and welfare (my main topic of interest). What do y'all think?
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Does anyone know when this is gonna happen? Harvard is the only school I haven't heard from :/
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I got in! I called and they said they would post financial aid info in about an hour
waiting on tenterhooks.
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I don't know much about CUNY but I've lived in New York for several years. Your best bet for reasonably affordable housing is to live either outside of Manhattan or in one of the less expensive areas in Manhattan, i.e. Washington Heights (though living in Manhattan is generally too busy/crowded for me). I'd recommend researching neighborhoods within your price range because crime stats are not necessarily the most reliable way to determine how safe a neighborhood is (i.e. Times Square has a high crime rate just because it's full of people/tourists)... but NYC is a pretty safe city. Look at what train(s) you'd be taking to class to see what neighborhoods might be good for you. You can definitely find plenty of apartments online through StreetEasy, Naked Apartments, PadMapper, Listings Project, etc. Parking in NYC is mad expensive in Manhattan but I know people who use their cars to drive around the outer boroughs. Best of luck
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In with no funding... lol, guess I'm not going to Berkeley
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@unitstructures You should check the immigration status requirements for each housing program - there are a few programs out there including Section 8, mixed-income buildings, and public housing. I believe you can get any of those with a green card, but I'm not sure about student visa sort of things. Here's a good page to check out: http://www.newdestinyhousing.org/get-help/common-obstacles
And I mean, if you're going to be here awhile, and you find that you're eligible, why not? Best of luck!
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@impatientlywaiting26 nope, that was it
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I actually spoke to someone on the phone last week and they said they'd hopefully be sending out decisions a couple days early
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On 2/18/2017 at 4:27 PM, unitstructures said:
Has anyone here had any experience with subsidized housing? Can students living on stipends qualify? I suppose establishing residency is a given, but I but can't find specific info, even about that. If you can share any thoughts or point me to some links, I'd appreciate it a lot. Thank you.
Hi @unitstructures, my client base at work is folks in poverty and I can say from experience that it is VERY difficult to get subsidized housing. Even New Yorkers are on housing lotteries for years. If you're moving to the city from elsewhere, I honestly would not recommend that as an avenue because you almost definitely won't find housing in time. This goes for public housing (social housing to you Berliners) as well as rent voucher programs.
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@coffeebean13 Thank you, congrats to you as well!
And that's good to know, I'd be happy to live off the metro.
@coffeewalk Do you have any experience with zipcar? I've heard of that as an option for students who want to live off the metro and just drive on occasion.
And right now, I'm weighing a MPL (urban planning) at USC vs. MPP at UW Madison (they gave me a full ride as well as a ~$10,000 yearly stipend). Madison is giving me more money and is one of the best schools for my area of interest, but USC is an amazing school for urban planning and coming from NYC I'm apprehensive about moving to a small city like Madison. Going to some admissions events first to help me decide.
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I got a full ride to Price for urban planning so I'm seriously considering it now. I just realllllly don't want to drive! Does anyone know how feasible it is to be there without a car? Also concerned about cost of living and finding a way to support myself. If anyone knows any current students or knows more about life on campus, that would be awesome.
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Can anyone give me some more up-to-date info on living in Los Angeles without a car? Currently considering a grad program at USC and I hate driving!
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Nope I've been waiting on tenterhooks for Price and haven't heard anything. Guess they are late for everyone this year.
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I got accepted but this was in my letter: " The applications for University Fellowships and Graduate Assistantships have been reviewed and I regret to inform you that we are not able to offer you an award." Nothing about merit scholarships.
I'm really nervous that this doesn't mean I'll get anything and that means I can't attend. I got my first admissions letter earlier this week and got a full ride to UW Madison, so I'm also pretty bummed that this doesn't seem to have translated to Trachtenberg at all...
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Hi all,
I've been turning in my applications pretty close to the due date. This is because I was under the impression that for MPP programs it's not really rolling admissions/application date doesn't really matter much as long as it's before the due date. But now I'm seeing that some people on here have already received some decisions because they applied earlier.
Do you think my application date matters? Thank you!
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Hi all,
I was very excited when I got the idea of asking one of my clients to write a recommendation letter (I assist people facing legal issues with food stamps and public assistance). When I spoke to a previous professor, however, she immediately cautioned against that because she advised me to get two academic letters of recommendation to demonstrate my abilities in an academic setting. She said that I should just ask my supervisor to quote the client in her letter of recommendation. What do y'all think of this?
Thank you!
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On 10/10/2016 at 8:56 PM, hopeful88 said:
Ok...I'll give it a try.
1. Sounds like you're interested in domestic policy, so I wouldn't worry so much about lack of fluency in another language (especially since you speak passable Spanish).
2. Quant score looks pretty solid to me. Maybe not as strong as your language scores, but those are stellar. Generally you want to hit 75th percentile or above for quant, which you've certainly done.
3. This is where you may run into problems. You are (relatively) fresh out of undergrad, sounds like you're making headway advancing in your current job. Why grad school, and why now? You will have to craft a really compelling narrative in your essays to address this point. It doesn't come across clearly from anything you've written here. You should also be aware that lack of work experience will reduce your chance of getting funding, and weaken your position on the job market post-graduation (you'll be competing with folks who have the same degree, and more experience). However, these obstacles are not insurmountable if now is really the right time for you to go back to school.
4. I wouldn't worry about this too much, especially since you have a solid quant score and strong undergrad GPA (I'm assuming you took some statistics/quant oriented courses in undergrad). You may want to consider enrolling in an online microeconomics course, which you can include in your applications so that the admissions committee knows that you are developing your experience in this subject area. It would also orient you to the concepts you'll need to know in your methods courses.
Good luck!
Thank you!
The narrative I'm trying to craft is that I want the practical skills to advocate for policy changes, which I didn't get from any previous or current experiences - i.e. the economics and politics around crafting policy. I'll make sure to place particular emphasis on this. Thank you for the extremely useful advice!
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Just gotta say how much I appreciate seeing this post
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Hi all,
TBH, I posted before but no one responded to me - sadness! - so I'm just gonna try posting again. I would very much appreciate any responses
Program: MPP
Schools Applying To: Still deciding, but so far I like Berkeley, NYU, Wisconsin, Harvard, George Washington. Looking at schools that are good for studying concentrated poverty and neighborhood effects.
Undergrad Institution: NYU
Undergraduate GPA: 3.93
Undergraduate Major: SociologyGRE: 169 verbal (99th percentile), 161 quant (79th percentile), 5.5 analytical (98th percentile)
Years of Work Experience: 1 year, 4 months as of now.
Languages: English. Speak passable Spanish, German, and Hebrew for basic conversations, but I'm not fluent so I wouldn't count it (except Spanish maybe).
Work Experience: Since graduating I've been working as a legal advocate for people having issues with their food stamps and public assistance. Currently in a leadership role - sort of - I'm the most experienced advocate at the organization right now so I do all the tough stuff.
Other Things: Wrote a senior thesis that I'm pretty proud of. Also got a departmental award for sociology.
Questions/Concerns:- Not fluent in any other language
- My math score on the GRE
- Not enough work experience?
- Lack of economics experience
Thank you in advance for any advice!
Madison, WI
in City Guide
Posted
Hey Madison residents! Moving over the summer for grad school. What bank do y'all use?