LadyJuju

The multiple 150K offers at Heller is complete bullsh*t. As a Heller grad, I can tell you that nearly no one who graduates from Heller makes over 70 to 80K their first year out. Heller grads usually have a really hard time finding work, and the work that they do find is usually very low pay. The job titles may sound great, but they are mostly administrative assistant (aka "Program Manager") jobs that do not pay well. I don't want to name names, but if you look past the job titles of the students who the school usually touts as being their all stars, they are usually paid sh*t. They also pad their resumes up with a bunch of BS memberships on boards of directors for BS orgs that usually can't list a single accomplishment except a resume add.

Heller grad here. (Sorry, I always check Grad School Cafe late in the application season.) You've probably already made your decision. I was accepted at better schools but went to Heller. I don't regret the decision because I am debt adverse. However, you may, so I just want to put out there what I think. Heller upsides: Gives lots of scholarship money. Yes, it may be a cash cow for Brandeis, but what they charge students often pales in comparison to what similar grad schools charge. My impression was that an applicant's potential contribution in the classroom meant more than anything when deciding awards. I knew a lot of people there with sizeable awards, which were appreciated. Small school with excellent access to professors and instructors. More conversation about social equity than at other schools, even before the so-called "Great Racial Awakening", mostly because of the Ford Hall protests. Beautiful, well-designed building. Brandeis has had its problems but is a good institution overall. Downsides: Pretentious. Disingenuous. Supposedly cares about black lives, but this a former social work school that rebranded because dealing with racism and poverty locally wasn't prestigious enough. Instruction can be lacking - not always, but sometimes. The last great Heller professor was Robert Reich, who left in the mid 2000s, I believe. No legendary policy professors at present except maybe Altman, but he's health care. Of the ones everyone talks about, Anita Hill rarely teaches - once every three years or so at this point. I feel like they keep her around to pull her out of the closet whenever Brandeis has a race issue. She rubber stamps a commission report and then goes back into hiding. (Before anyone jumps on me, I'm a POC.) Her course content is great but she's not a great instructor. Bob Kuttner is a jacka$$. Not as diverse as advertised. Very, very few students of African American decent. The few black students are usually foreign born or first gen. Many of the white wealthy students are two-faced - woke in the classroom and will degrade you in passing elsewhere. Grad student housing is always an issue in Waltham and other Boston area communities. You could be living in a rat hole with a credit score of 800+. Not particularly quantitative, which is increasingly necessary for public policy jobs. This last point is Heller's major downfall IMO. I agree that Heller's so-called rankings aren't as impressive as in the past but the school has a relatively new dean and he is implementing changes that aren't reflected in the rankings yet. Dear God, don't get me started about the "Social Impact MBA", which I hear was decided by the several students who replied to a Survey Monkey sent by admissions. I mean, does Heller want its MBA students to be unemployed, especially in a few years when the "social impact" trend is over? The director of admissions is wonderful but many of the associates are inexperienced young people, and it often shows.

I attended Heller. Do you have specific questions? I don't know anything about the program at Ford but 100K in out-of-pocket costs is entirely too much for an MPP. If you need to take out loans, you will be miserable after graduation with 100K in debt and your future will be almost wholly determined by the need to repay the loans instead of mission. Best advice - don't do it! You will have a better quality of life pursuing jobs on the career ladder you want with just your bachelors degree, if it came to that. Did you happen to go to Goucher for undergrad? A recent Heller grad attended the Peace Studies program there. Heller is a good fit for someone who wants to work for an environmental or social justice organization; however, it's the best fit for people who want to work for nonprofits and it's generally a terrible choice for people who want to work for government IMO. Brandeis has strong neo-liberal associations and government should be nonpartisan. Also, government work tends to be frowned upon at Heller like it's beneath its students. That said, Heller does appear to have ties with the DOL and EPA - the latter is mostly re: a unit that "negotiates" with Native American tribes for land and mineral rights. (How the job aligns with the Heller mission is beyond me, but if you met the students who took it, they seemed privileged and phony.) Great paying job but it's the EPA. The current dean of the school previously worked for DOL. Heller's MPP program is meh IMO. The faculty are mostly people who sound like they would be good to study with although good instructors at Heller are unfortunately few and far between at this point. Stuart Altman is a fantastic professor, especially if you are interested in healthcare. I didn't take any classes with Robert Kuttner, so I can't say how he is, but he is still teaching there. Anita Hill rarely teaches and isn't the best lecturer or class facilitator. Much of the time I got the feeling that she was BSing and unprepared in class although the class readings and assignments are worthwhile. Tannenwald is an awful lecturer but very knowledgeable regarding taxation. Overall, the privileged students are buying masters degrees and many of the scholarship folks are there to balance the admittedly loose curves. When considering Brandeis, please consider what your living arrangements would be. If you are white, you will have an easier time but the university offers little to no assistance with graduate student housing. Unless you have nice parents or a trust fund, you will be sharing a house or apartment with a lot of other people. The whiter you are, the more likely the conditions will be decent. If you don't bring a car, you will probably be living close to campus, and some of the neighborhoods near the university are marginally safe at best. Affordable rental housing within a 50-mile radius of Boston is highly competitive. A decent studio apartment in Waltham now goes for about 2K a month, which is not affordable for most students. Also, if you are a person of color, google "Brandeis Ford Hall 2015" and "Brandeis racism" to get a sense of what you are stepping into. There aren't enough American students of color at Heller and those in attendance can be treated poorly. I witnessed students racially harassed in classes. I will say that the school and college administrators at least listen to student feedback regarding race relations on campus. The conversation was constantly happening at Brandeis, whereas more things were happening but people were pretty silent at my undergrad institution. HTH

Yes, I attended Heller. I haven't read all of your threads but if you got into Georgetown with decent funding, would go there instead. In short, Heller is small with a facial commitment to "social justice". (Google "Ford Hall 2015". I hear that other than installing deans dedicated to diversity, the effects are fading, particularly among the students.) Not the best public policy school and most people who are competitive for other programs choose Heller because of funding. The MPP students are generally razor sharp verbally but are not quants by any stretch of the imagination. Of the public policy students and faculty, the school is also pretty deficient re: understanding the actual workings of political systems and the Heller view remains a very ivory tower view despite appearances. The school touts the research institutes but the typical MPP class will be led by an ivory tower professor or instructor. Heller classes run almost exclusively during the day, which, if we are being honest, maintains a very fake elitism. Programs that run during the evening attract people of color and working people (horror! although left unsaid due to our "commitment to social justice".) You would have to be in commuting distance of Waltham, which is going through a bit of a housing crisis. Expect terrible housing options and housemates or a one-hour plus commute to school. MPP at Heller is an easy graduate degree, especially for people with money. Go if they offer decent funding but I would pass otherwise. McCourt has more committed scholars IMO. Let me know if you have specific questions.

The Heller School at Brandeis is one of the top rated social policy schools. They have a concentration in children, youth, and families. See here: http://heller.brandeis.edu/mpp/concentrations/child-youth-family-policy.html Heller tends to be generous with funding. I don't know how they would handle your lack of experience but do well on the GRE, write an excellent personal statement highlighting your passion and commitment to social justice, CYF, etc. Can't hurt to try.

My MBA/MPP experience is from the Heller School at Brandeis, which I have graduated from. The MBA degree was added to the Heller School's roster of programs because students from the other programs, particularly the MPPs, often have a difficult time finding work after graduation. I'm unsure if that is as true for the MPPs from all schools or just Heller. These days, there are plenty of Heller students who choose the MBA program over the MPP or SID because of employment options. The MBAs generally get work and they are generally fairly decent jobs. (Unless they are silver spoon babies who just like to float. Brandeis is still a bit elitist and you see this sometimes.) Heller is a small school but it can be very generous with aid. I'd rather have a degree from there and zero debt than an MPP or MPA from HKS (but I know people will fight me on that decision). Always visit before committing though. Heller isn't for everyone.

Hi Milky, Very sorry for the late reply. I do not stop by often. If I were interested in using data science in public policy work and had a choice between Carnegie Mellon with 50% aid and Heller with 75%, I'd choose Carnegie Mellon. Heller does not have data science tracks within any of its programs (yet). You could possibly supplement a Heller program with data analytics coursework from Brandeis' International Business School and other divisions within the university. I know two students from an MBA cohort who did this in addition to internships and who are working in data science jobs. Heller's MPP program is not quantitatively rigorous and just requires statistics through regression. If you did the MBA/MPP dual program, your course schedules would be too loaded with accounting, finance, and management courses in addition to the MPP courses for much customization. It's a packed 2.5 year program that does not accommodate much additional coursework. In terms of reputation, Brandeis has an excellent one but it is a relatively small school - a good one, but small. Carnegie Mellon is a much larger institution that also has an excellent reputation. People generally come to Brandeis' MPP program because of an interest in social policy and/or the work of the school's top academics - Kuttner, Hill, Doonan, Prottas, etc. It's a refreshing focus during these dark times (at least in the U.S.) but Brandeis' MPP is more for the liberal arts folks who want to dissert endlessly on inequality and social injustice. If we are being very frank, many of them are privileged kids who don't add much to the conversation other than perfect grammar and good GRE scores. The school is constantly looking for more informed voices who can handle the coursework. Given what you want to do, I think you made the right choice if you chose Carnegie Mellon.

Sorry I did not see this sooner. I currently attend Heller. What do you want to do when you graduate? I am also on a full scholarship. For me, student loan debt is something to be avoided at all costs but this is different for everyone and requires consideration of what your plans are. After the 2008 financial crisis, I watched a lot of my friends become unable to pay off their loans. Also, I think that debt causes people to make career decisions that are contrary to their beliefs, what they are studying, or that they otherwise wouldn't. Have you visited Heller? If you are able to travel here to do so, the school will allow you to visit and sit in on classes to help with your decision. Contact the program coordinator for help with setting it up (I think for MPP it is Norma Demattos. Her email address is on the Heller website. She is very responsive.) I don't know much about the program at Syracuse but NYU Wagner is a good school. It's really expensive though as is the cost of living in NYC. It could be worth it in the sense that you would be in NYC and have the additional resources that the city provides in terms of jobs and culture. Heller is just outside of Boston, which is also a good for certain fields of employment. Again, a lot depends on what you want to do. NYU is obviously huge and urban. Brandeis is smaller and suburban. You're not a cog in a huge machine here. People here tend to have good relationships with each other, the professors, and staff. It really depends on what is important to you but I strongly recommend visiting every school you are considering before the spring semester is over.

Current student. Guessing the other poster meant competitiveness among current students? The SID program at Heller is by far the most competitive program admissions-wise that the Heller School offers. If you do not believe me, look it up in Petersons guide. It gets many more applications than most of the school's other programs (combined, probably) and, because of that, the acceptance rate for the SID program is the lowest of all Heller programs. That doesn't mean the SID program is better or that the other Heller programs are not. Just like with Kennedy, the Heller SID program attracts mostly foreign students who are looking to get at least some time in the U.S. at an elite school. Other than COEX, the other Heller programs are not targeted towards foreign students and face stiff domestic competition from the Boston area's many many schools, many of which do not carry the baggage of Brandeis' "politics" (Aside: Why Brandeis gets associations with ultraliberalism is beyond me. WTH does this really mean - a liberal school? Talk to some of the ritzy undergrads if you want to know how "liberal" Brandeis really is. It's like any other expensive private school IMO.) The other schools also more centrally located in Boston/Cambridge for the most part. (Unsure why anyone wouldn't want to live in Waltham. It has a crusty area but is a nice town for the most part. Beautiful along the Weston border. The Brandeis campus, with its mid-century architecture, is arguably the most beautiful of the Boston area schools.) I would go further in saying that the SID program's strength is the work component. Students spend pretty much their entire second year working for an employer in a position relevant to their studies. Boston's not NYC but it's a far cry from the sticks like Syracuse. There are a ton of high level international organizations here. Oxfam's U.S. headquarters is here. Obviously JPAL. Boston/Cambridge is also a major technology startup city. Plenty of places to get experience in more quantitative aspects of international relief work. Brandeis is an excellent school. There aren't any easy programs at Heller or elsewhere within the school. Suggest reaching out to Professors Sampath, Godoy, or Assan to get more serious answers to your questions about what the program can do to help you towards your goals http://heller.brandeis.edu/sustainable-international-development/faculty/index.html