gelatinskeleton

PROGRAM A!!!! For sure. What scares you most about Program A is that it sounds like it will kick your butt a little. That's awesome, because while yes you may have longer night studying in the library, if your goal is to be as good as you possible can be in this field, getting your butt kicked a bit is exactly what you need. It doesn't sound like you are afraid of working hard, but of failing. That means there is something really great on the line. And they wouldn't have let you in if you weren't capable of succeeding. Start giving yourself pep talks, find out what kind of support you need to succeed (friends? family? a dog? ice cream? a few days off the grid after finals?), and build up that confidence!! The best way to get rid of imposter syndrome is to embrace your success, not shoot yourself in the foot by limiting your possibilities.

You have time, take it again. I think you’ll regret not doing it if your results or the funding associated doesn’t turn out the way you wanted it to. It is totally doable to bring it up even just 5 points. While there are always exceptions, that quant score is much lower than average, enough that it will be a red flag. You do not need just a strong application to make up for that score, you need an exceptional one (I’m thinking of the perspective of top 10ish ranked policy schools). Maybe you have that, in which case an improved GRE score can only make it better and make you more competitive for fundng. Time is on your side though!! Good luck.

Also turning down HkS for GSPP....or UT Austin. Agh financial decisions

Hey everyone, has anybody been talking to current students or alumni and have discovered any information about Berkeley that they think would be helpful to share? I have to say, the alumni and students I have talked to are very convincing. They clearly love the program and respect their classmates to the upmost. I have also been assured over and over again that as a US student there are many work-study opportunities I could take on that would reduce the tuition burden. I was even told that they had never heard about somebody who wanted a position not get one.If this is true it definitely changes my calculus, as it makes Berkeley much more affordable.

I am in the same boat regarding full ride at LBJ, which I like, and no funding at GSPP, which I love. Are you attending admitted students day for either?

In for the MPP! So happy and praying for some good funding. Similar to @Damis, I got a bunch of Cs in quantitative courses in the middle of college and was convinced it would be my downfall. It probably was for Princeton, but it all worked out anyway

I don't know too much about Maxwell or Evans, but the upside of American is that being in DC truly is a huge advantage. So many international development orgs are housed there that I am sure you can make it worth your $$$ by getting a relevant internship part-time or over the summer, or at least going out there and meeting a ton of people working in your field. LBJ is a good choice financially (I believe it is cheaper than the others you are mentioning) and while the international dev sphere there might not be huge, it is definitely there, and the faculty seem dedicated and are really generous to students with their time. All the folks I know who went/go to LBJ are focused on international development. From what I remember, Evans is more focused on domestic policy. Since Seattle is expensive and I imagine that Evans is as well without merit aid, I would lean towards crossing that off your list.

If you want more money from school X, you should email them that you love their program but that you got a better offer from school Y (for this to work you actually do need a better offer from school Y, they will ask for proof). Ask them if they are able to increase your scholarship/financial aid package to make your attendance at school X more affordable.

Unpopular opinion but.....I haven't received an email so I think I'm out. Can everyone who was accepted please reject all your other awesome scholarship offers at other schools ASAP so that some of that $$$$$ trickles down please?? But for real congrats folks!

Yay congrats!!!!! Haven't heard either way yet, but this is somehow a lot more bearable to wait for now that I'm currently drawing up flight plans to visit other admitted students days But will still be hitting that refresh button constantly....

I've talked to some current students and this is what they have said about LBJ: Pros Awesome faculty who go out of their way to help students. They are at the top of their field, have great connections, and are a good mix of academic and practitioner backgrounds Austin is interesting and provides a lot of relevant internship and working opportunities, especially at the state capitol. A strong majority of students work while in school full-time and find it manageable. This allows you to gain experience and/or money at the same time without being too overwhelming. Extremely affordable (relative to other schools) Cons Very poor management and administration. The career and alumni services are extremely lacking. These aren't pros or cons depending on what you're interested in: Strong focus on domestic, state, local issues. Social policy (my area of interest) is well represented and prominent on campus. International development and relations in general are also present but less prominent, so you'll have to try harder if this is your area of focus. There are a lot of great on-campus research and projects going on in international dev though. A majority of students have work experience, but maybe around 2-3 years, and it brings in a diverse crew of interest areas and backgrounds. LBJ is especially good for students who have worked a bit, but who want to "break in" to the next level of their career, such as those looking to move their career to DC. They said that even though their focus is international development, which requires a bit more of hustling to make the most of the LBJ connections, they would not have done it any differently considering that the faculty are wonderful, they've had meaningful work and internship experiences at the same time, and they attended with great financial aid offers and little to no debt Very liberal with a stray Republican or two, but not Trump republicans @sally88 @diyadeb hope this is helpful to you all.

This is very helpful! From my limited loan experience, I agree with the 50k assessment. My ideal (besides 0) is <$30,000. Now I just have to keep in mind that I have to budget in tuition plus all the random fees, food, rent, expensive as hell textbooks, flights, transportation, etc and maybe just a little bit of beer money

I’ve also worked closely with amazing Berkeley folks (and to be fair Duke as well), it definitely biased me. But I am also weirdly biased with the LBJ school, a lot of my former professors who I really respect have strong ties there. I guess if I’m biased towards everything it cancels out and just makes me indecisive one of my concerns for both Berkeley and LBJ is that a lot of their career results (I think a majority) seem to be in state. Im not sure where I want to end up but I definitely want flexibility!

If it evens out your experience, I worked in development and knew folks who went to LBJ. They now live abroad working for some really interesting NGOs. However I do think that U Chicago and Berkeley as institutions have more formal ties to India, if this is a priority to you. Also, yes, it seems like the LBJ front office is a bit disorganized.

Yes! I am deciding between LBJ vs Michigan/Sanford/Goldman. There's no way at this point that I can attend the other schools at the current tuition rates they're offering me, especially when I realize that on top of that I'm going to have to afford rent and food and books somehow. But if I successfully negotiate with them, then it will be a tough call! I would be really interested to hear about your thoughts going forward on all of this Are you attending any admitted students days? Just in my personal network of people, which is mostly DC based, I knew a lot of people who went to Duke Sanford. I knew a couple that went to Goldman and a larger handful that went to LBJ. I also have been perusing alumni from those schools on LinkedIn and have found very comprable results re: cool jobs in the East Coast. Actually, the LBJ School grads seemed to have the most interesting jobs to me, although I think they had less work experience going into school than I did. This is obviously very piecemeal and subjective to my experience/people I know/career goals, but it does make me more convinced that any of them would be a good choice.