margota

Avoid debt at any cost. I work in DC. A prestigious degree is not the ticket to success that you expect. Most of the important people I meet do not have prestigious degrees: they served in the army or Peace Corps, or worked for a campaign. Later in their career they earned a master's from some random school. 
Does a great degree help? Sure. But find a way to get it for an affordable price, or don't bother. It's better to spend a year or two working and improving your application than committing yourself to decades of debt because you think it'll get you somewhere. I have friends who are drowning in debt. It really negatively affects their quality of life, and limits their career choices. Don't do it. 
edit: to answer the question about how to make this happen. I only applied to schools that I knew I could afford (state schools), or which had a reputation for generous funding, or which would allow me to go to school part time while working. Between those I was able to cobble together some good options that would mean graduating without debt.

Avoid debt at any cost. I work in DC. A prestigious degree is not the ticket to success that you expect. Most of the important people I meet do not have prestigious degrees: they served in the army or Peace Corps, or worked for a campaign. Later in their career they earned a master's from some random school. 
Does a great degree help? Sure. But find a way to get it for an affordable price, or don't bother. It's better to spend a year or two working and improving your application than committing yourself to decades of debt because you think it'll get you somewhere. I have friends who are drowning in debt. It really negatively affects their quality of life, and limits their career choices. Don't do it. 
edit: to answer the question about how to make this happen. I only applied to schools that I knew I could afford (state schools), or which had a reputation for generous funding, or which would allow me to go to school part time while working. Between those I was able to cobble together some good options that would mean graduating without debt.

Avoid debt at any cost. I work in DC. A prestigious degree is not the ticket to success that you expect. Most of the important people I meet do not have prestigious degrees: they served in the army or Peace Corps, or worked for a campaign. Later in their career they earned a master's from some random school. 
Does a great degree help? Sure. But find a way to get it for an affordable price, or don't bother. It's better to spend a year or two working and improving your application than committing yourself to decades of debt because you think it'll get you somewhere. I have friends who are drowning in debt. It really negatively affects their quality of life, and limits their career choices. Don't do it. 
edit: to answer the question about how to make this happen. I only applied to schools that I knew I could afford (state schools), or which had a reputation for generous funding, or which would allow me to go to school part time while working. Between those I was able to cobble together some good options that would mean graduating without debt.

I think it's shades of grey and am not sure anyone really disagrees here. Know before you go, do your due diligence, have a plan, etc.
My basic point is that full-freight tuition prices at elite public affairs grad schools - and the level of financial aid given out - is inconsistent with expected career earnings and job stability, much like how many have viewed law schools since 2008. My other point is that there's more than one way to skin a cat and that an elite master's degree is not the most sure-fire way to break into the field.  
One of those more 'surefire' ways of breaking into international and public affairs types of jobs is by being a veteran.  
When I talk about veteran's preference I am, of course, speaking about US federal government jobs and about federal government contracting in which there is an explicit preference. Being a veteran is also a traditional background for top-tier consulting and investment banking and given how business works in DC is a great background for any number of other private sector jobs, much like how being a former staffer on the hill is a great background for being a lobbyist. 

I'm from the US and don't work for the World Bank, so this is not personal bitterness. I'm just repeating what friends have said after a beer or three.
Perhaps I've gotten a bit carried away, but I think it doesn't hurt to counter the narrative a lot of these schools push that signing away your life to Navient is no big deal because you're going to be changing the future of the world with your prestigious and deeply meaningful multilateral job. I came out of SAIS with a relatively low level of debt and on the whole think it was worth it - I would not have my current job or salary without it. But I don't think I'd feel the same if i had 120k in debt, and could never in good faith tell someone to pay sticker unless he/she's independently wealthy.

I turned that stress/anxiety/sadness into curiosity/relief/joy.

I've found that people from CA have a tougher time moving out than most of the rest of the states. My experience with the socal mentality has been that it's almost as if the world ends at Las Vegas and then there's a huge jump to New York and nothing in between.
 
Your mental map of the world will open up, a lot. And things are done differently - very differently. CA is, for all intents and purposes, a nanny state compared to most of the US. There are few warning labels that you'll get cancer and there's not gas pump shrouds so you don't inhale the fumes either.
 
I liken it to how when people from the US travel abroad and then note at a tourist attraction how "dangerous" things are with no fences, barriers, etc.. at a cliff. You can just up and fall out of the leaning tower of piza for example. CA is even more bubble wrapped than the rest of the US, so keep that in mind.
 
As for coping - aside from being sure not to use spray paint indoors because when purchased outside of CA it contains much harsher chemicals - I think you just need to be open to new experiences. The culture will be a bit.. different..

Avoid debt at any cost. I work in DC. A prestigious degree is not the ticket to success that you expect. Most of the important people I meet do not have prestigious degrees: they served in the army or Peace Corps, or worked for a campaign. Later in their career they earned a master's from some random school. 
Does a great degree help? Sure. But find a way to get it for an affordable price, or don't bother. It's better to spend a year or two working and improving your application than committing yourself to decades of debt because you think it'll get you somewhere. I have friends who are drowning in debt. It really negatively affects their quality of life, and limits their career choices. Don't do it. 
edit: to answer the question about how to make this happen. I only applied to schools that I knew I could afford (state schools), or which had a reputation for generous funding, or which would allow me to go to school part time while working. Between those I was able to cobble together some good options that would mean graduating without debt.

Avoid debt at any cost. I work in DC. A prestigious degree is not the ticket to success that you expect. Most of the important people I meet do not have prestigious degrees: they served in the army or Peace Corps, or worked for a campaign. Later in their career they earned a master's from some random school. 
Does a great degree help? Sure. But find a way to get it for an affordable price, or don't bother. It's better to spend a year or two working and improving your application than committing yourself to decades of debt because you think it'll get you somewhere. I have friends who are drowning in debt. It really negatively affects their quality of life, and limits their career choices. Don't do it. 
edit: to answer the question about how to make this happen. I only applied to schools that I knew I could afford (state schools), or which had a reputation for generous funding, or which would allow me to go to school part time while working. Between those I was able to cobble together some good options that would mean graduating without debt.

Avoid debt at any cost. I work in DC. A prestigious degree is not the ticket to success that you expect. Most of the important people I meet do not have prestigious degrees: they served in the army or Peace Corps, or worked for a campaign. Later in their career they earned a master's from some random school. 
Does a great degree help? Sure. But find a way to get it for an affordable price, or don't bother. It's better to spend a year or two working and improving your application than committing yourself to decades of debt because you think it'll get you somewhere. I have friends who are drowning in debt. It really negatively affects their quality of life, and limits their career choices. Don't do it. 
edit: to answer the question about how to make this happen. I only applied to schools that I knew I could afford (state schools), or which had a reputation for generous funding, or which would allow me to go to school part time while working. Between those I was able to cobble together some good options that would mean graduating without debt.

Avoid debt at any cost. I work in DC. A prestigious degree is not the ticket to success that you expect. Most of the important people I meet do not have prestigious degrees: they served in the army or Peace Corps, or worked for a campaign. Later in their career they earned a master's from some random school. 
Does a great degree help? Sure. But find a way to get it for an affordable price, or don't bother. It's better to spend a year or two working and improving your application than committing yourself to decades of debt because you think it'll get you somewhere. I have friends who are drowning in debt. It really negatively affects their quality of life, and limits their career choices. Don't do it. 
edit: to answer the question about how to make this happen. I only applied to schools that I knew I could afford (state schools), or which had a reputation for generous funding, or which would allow me to go to school part time while working. Between those I was able to cobble together some good options that would mean graduating without debt.