Lisie

Sorry that I did not see this sooner, so I guess this will mostly be for reference. What I can add is that the choice between Brandeis Heller and BC is also largely one of political and social orientation. When someone sees these schools on your resume, they may make certain assumptions about you. Brandeis is viewed as the Bob Jones University of the left, or an Antifa training ground. BC is towards the opposite end of the spectrum - Irish, Catholic, conservative. Keep that in mind when choosing a school that aligns with your plans. If you wanted to work for, say, government, BC is better because it's viewed as more politically neutral and, as an agent of the government, you would need to be. (BC really isn't more politically neutral. It just aligns better with the beliefs of the people who tend to be power brokers.) For academia, I agree with the other poster. Neither program is worth student loan debt though. If you are a minority, you will have an easier time socially at Brandeis although not by much. At BC, you would be dealing with a segment of society that has benefited the most from the white pedestal endowed by racial casting in the U.S. At Brandeis, you would be dealing mostly with affluent Jews who excel at fake wokeness while deeply looking down on anything "of color". Heller hypes its public and social policy programs although they are not very good. The school has lost its best policy scholars and what's left isn't worth going into student loan debt to study with. Anita Hill rarely teaches, even when you can get her in a classroom. Bob Kuttner is resorting to going on Steve Bannon's webcast these days for attention. Heller's not HKS. It's not Princeton, or G'town or GW either. BC doesn't have much of a reputation outside of its region. I don't think Heller is a great school and I went there (for the aid. They can do better than 65%, or at least they can in a good year. I heard that they sent current students emails about the adverse financial effects from COVID.) It's not academically rigorous in the least. It's less of an institution of higher learning and more of a degree factory that is structured to extract profit with its "accelerated dual degree programs". Best wishes for the program you chose!

Where to begin? Heller's SID acceptance rate may be lower than many, including Harvard's MPA which I understand also attracts mostly foreign students. It doesn't mean the Heller SID program is better though because with Harvard, you are buying their reputation. In all honesty, Brandeis' reputation is good. I'll give you that. The university also had a good year in 2017 with two current professors winning Nobel Prizes. It also co-hosted the American Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. But it doesn't have Harvard's reputation, or at least not yet, and when it comes to the all-important job market, Harvard and other schools seem better bets than Brandeis. Also, the OP is looking for a strong quant program. Honestly, an economics program would seem more suitable but the bottom line is that SID is not a strong quant program. It just isn't. Decent school, yes. Strong quant program, no way. About Brandeis' liberalism. Let's put it this way. On my first day at Heller, a university (not Heller) dean gushed in front of a class of new students about how she would be voting for Hillary. Many other universities make efforts towards non-partisanship. Not Brandeis.

Heller student although not SID. I do know many SID students though. Honestly, I never know what Heller means when it says it's one of the top 10 schools of social policy. It's, like, one of perhaps 10 social policy schools in the country. Period. U.S. News has separate categories for public policy, public affairs, social policy, etc. It's such a meaningless distinction. I would say not the best fit for you. The SID program here is very soft academically. It does not require strong quant skills (if any at all). You can add a concentration (most Heller students are dual concentrates) but even the MBA/SID wouldn't give you what you are looking for. The only thing close to the economic/quant focus you are looking for at the masters level is the MPP program and that has a domestic focus. You have to be a really terrible student not to be accepted to the SID program. Instead, the strength of your application packet generally determines your funding. It appears to be a well-funded school, which is why many of the poorer students decide to go here. Most international students I have met in the SID program are funded by NGOs. I don't know what kind of funding the school sets aside for SID. (It can be quite generous for MPP and MBA.) Heller is also very liberal in terms of its politics...for all that is good and bad about it. TBH, my previous employer looked down on Heller as a soft school that is too skewed towards liberal politics to produce balanced candidates for policy jobs; however, they weren't offering any tuition reimbursement, so here I am. MPP and MBA aren't that soft either. The COEX students are generally regarded as amazing people. No one knows what the school's focus is anymore. It used to be social work but it has recently tried to evolve in a policy-slash-social entrepreneurship direction, which brings in a lot of poor fits to the school. You have people here because they want to help, whether it be through direct service or policy, and then the MBAs who disparage them as not having adequate social aspirations. My understanding is you can have crap GRE scores and still be accepted to SID. It and COEX are the school's least competitive programs. Class sizes are generally small. HTH