fallmpp2017

I am so jealous you have the opportunity! I have been applying like crazy without much success. I spoke to many students about the workload as a GSI and all of them said it was manageable. It just depends on your priorities I guess. What is more important to you-- putting your 100% in class and getting everything out of two years in grad school or the additional income?

I only applied to one too! I looked at the core structure and scheduled around PP220, PP210, and PP240. PP260 isn't offered, so I'm thinking maybe I should take PP250 instead OR just chill out and find a class that fits if I get a GSI position.

Look at departmental websites and watch out for emails from Jalilah. If a departmental website does not have any info, email the person on staff that would be in charge of academic appointments. It seems like GSI / reader / GSR positions for incoming students is all dependent on your initiative, so I am trying to make sure I can do everything in my power to get that fee remission / stipend! I do not have an extra 10k lying around!

I am attending! Applying to GSI positions like mad!

I was told I would hear back Thursday / Friday about additional funding. I know there is such a slight chance of getting additional funding, but I am still holding out some hope!

I am a second year corps member with a very similar academic profile (with similarly horrendous quant course background) to you and I was admitted to Duke Sanford, Berkeley GSPP, Carnegie Mellon Heinz (MSPPM-DC), and Georgetown McCourt. I am unfamiliar with UChicago, but you definitely have a strong shot at Carnegie Mellon. I did not apply to the data analytics track, but the DC track, and I still got an 80% fellowship despite my weak quant background. Obviously taking a microeconomics or statistics course before you apply will strengthen your application but with strong SOPs and LORs, you already have a good shot To be honest, I think you are underestimating teaching experience. It is public service after all-- work experience that many public policy schools value.

To folks who attended open house-- what was your general impression? I read one person posting about it on another thread, so I figured I might as well ask here as I did not get to go!

What is so bad about attending a great university for both undergrad and grad? Of course it is not as exciting, but as you said, your experiences as an undergrad in a big state university and as a grad student in a small cohort will most likely differ. I did not go to Cal for undergrad, so obviously I cannot speak to it specifically. But regardless, it's a great choice to have between HKS and GSPP. You'll make a good choice no matter what you choose!

Thank you for your thorough response! Your description of living expenses line up with what I am seeing through research of the area. I am honestly leaning towards Berkeley because I think it would provide me a great pathway to state/city gov't positions and when I want to move on from the bay area to another non-DC city, my experiences and my degree will still carry some weight. I am hoping that I will get a GSI / GSR position right off the bat so that it would at least offset rent, haha.

Great, glad to know I'm not alone haha! Hopefully she responds with something in the near future.

Hm I emailed her a while ago. She probably just skipped my email, HA! Thanks for the info

I emailed Martha and she never responded! Did you email her? I figured my chances are low, but it does not hurt to try!

Did anyone receive their official admission from the graduate division? And/or successfully get a response from Martha Chavez about fellowship negotiation?

It sounds like you have a solid professional and social network built in LA and are not itching to leave. At this point, I would say just go with USC Price. Goldman's name and prestige is obviously so tempting, but I think going to Goldman would only make sense if you would like to move to the bay or maybe even back to DC.

Sociology!

Trust me, the weather is not what is holding me back, haha! Why does living in Bay Area gotta be so expensive?! Otherwise, I would be there in an instant!

Thanks for the info! I am really having a hard time deciding between GSPP and another school, so all your information is coming in real handy!

I'm torn between CMU MSPPM-DC and another program too! So it sounds like academically, NYU is a much better fit and the big draw of CMU is the money. Even if CMU does not offer as many classes in urban management, it does have a strong core of organizational and management science courses that would probably make you a more competitive candidate for jobs in city government in the long run. And for your apprenticeship your second year, you can easily secure one in DC city government which would provide great work experience. Unless NYU comes through with at least some funding, I would say go with CMU. It makes financial sense and you can adapt the curriculum and the apprenticeship to suit your needs. If money is not an issue for you, NYU sounds like it is more aligned with your curricular (urban management) goals and long-term living (living not in DC) goals so if you can, go for it. Good luck!

@mfmpp Hey! Thank you for answering so many of our questions. I have another one for you: for an incoming first year student, is it easy to find a 50% GSI position? Or are they mostly 25%? Thanks in advance!

Where do you want to work post-grad? LBJ is a great school, but it probably carries more weight in the south / midwest. If you want to be in DC or similar coastal hubs, Heinz would probably be better bang for your buck. But then again, Austin probably totally beats Pittsburgh in terms of culture / city life, so if that is important to you for the next two years, it is definitely an important consideration. Plus, I know you said you are afraid of it's quantitative focus at Heinz (and I am too as a person from a social sciences background) but it probably will do you good in terms of becoming a competitive candidate for nonprofit / gov't jobs. My gut reaction says Heinz with the great offer that you have, but LBJ sounds like a fantastic option too. Good luck!

Look at the upsides of having evening classes at GW. You could feasibly get a paid internship / job during the day, further building your network during your graduate school years. Though I totally feel you on building a strong community with your peers, I feel like all three of these DC schools are more about getting experience in DC (through internships) so that you can get your foot in the door for your post-grad job.

So I am now choosing between Goldman and Heinz (MSPPM-DC) and I am having a lot of trouble deciding. Here are my thoughts, but I would love any advice or thoughts on the matter. I am striving to work in domestic social policy and I am originally from the Northeast. I have worked in DC in previous years and I honestly thought that would be where I ended up. But now, I have no idea! In short, Goldman seems to be a riskier venture with great possible payoffs and Heinz seems to be the safe, logical choice. Goldman clearly has great brand value, especially on the west coast. Furthermore, it would be a great opportunity to move out to California and see what it is all about (as someone who has grown up and lived in the Northeast for most of her life). The Bay seems like a great place to live-- great weather, fun city life, etc. Academically, it seems aligned with what I want to do-- plenty of social policy electives with a strong core of quantitative analysis courses. It seems like it would be fairly easy to graduate from Goldman to a policy job in the Bay, though competition is obviously fierce. My biggest fear is that it is so darn expensive to live in Berkeley. I will be working as a GSI/GSR most likely, but even then, it is going to cost an arm and a leg to stay above water out there. I did not get any additional fellowship, so total cost of the program (tuition and fees only) minus my Americorps funding equals to be around $22k. Heinz seems to be a safer choice largely because of the affordability (I got an 80% scholarship) and job prospects in DC. Because I would be working the second year in an apprenticeship, it seems it would be pretty easy to get a job in DC right afterwards. Academically, it seems to be more business oriented (I've heard the term soft MBA thrown around) which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I definitely am not interested in going into consulting. Because I am in the DC track, I basically do not have electives, but in turn, I get great hands-on experience the second year in DC as well as a strong quantitative analysis background through the core classes. Pittsburgh is dirt cheap and having lived in DC, it still seems less expensive than the Bay. Tuition-wise, it is cheaper than Berkeley as well. The total cost of the program (tuition and fees only) minus my Americorps funding equals to be around $8k. Do I go with the safe and more predictable choice, Heinz? Or do I take a risk and go out to the west coast at Goldman?

Coming from a domestic / social policy perspective, I feel like its HKS / WWS is at another level then Goldman / Ford / McCourt / Harris / Sanford. But to be honest, best is so contextual. I am coming from the perspective of someone who wants to work in domestic social policy in Washington DC. International, development, and economic policy work elsewhere might prioritize other programs like SIPA, Fletcher, SAIS.

I am going to try to ask for more funding as well. From the new admit packet, it does look like Martha is the one to email about fellowship funds. I highly doubt I will get anything, but does not hurt to try, right?

Right, I am not misled at all-- it's highly unlikely that I will get off the wait list. They accepted 97 people this year. If 68% accepts their offer, that is around ~66 people. Since they want 70 people in the class, that means they *might* be accepting 4 people off the wait list. If the yield rate is even higher, it might be 0. Trying to forget that I am even on the wait list at this point and moving on!