strawberrian

Well that’s where it feels like it could be shady, I have an offer letter from the other school and it mentions the fellowship and simply says $x amount to be divided amongst the semesters BUT that one is a 1 year program so it’s just one amount for 3 semesters. That is where my hesitation comes in, would it be okay to ask the school I’m interested in to match that fellowship amount per year. Feels like a weird grey area.

I have been offered a Dean's Award for the program I'm 99% sure I'll attend and it covers about 75% of tuition, making it fairly affordable overall. I am wondering if it's reasonable to ask for more if they've already offered me a significant amount in the form of an award. The one piece of "leverage" I have is that another program offered me a little bit more in terms of dollar amount but as a one time fellowship, so over the span of 2 years it's not as good of an offer. Is that dishonest to use that piece of information to ask the program I want to go to for more? I hope that made sense, just curious about general etiquette as I will definitely be attending this program and don't want to start on the wrong foot! Thanks!

Has anyone not heard a decision about MPP? I had trouble submitting my transcripts and still haven’t heard anything or had anything posted on the portal, wondering if I should assume it’s a rejection? Not sure if they’ve sent out rejections yet either.

Hi all, I'm lucky enough to have been accepted into a few great environmental policy programs, with funding, and now have the fortunate difficulty of choosing. I have been accepted at SIPA for their MPA in Environmental Science and Policy, American University's MA in Global Environmental Policy, and George Washington University's MA in Environmental Resource Policy. Obviously SIPA is by far the most expensive, but I have received funding from all schools that make SIPA only about $8,000 more. It is also a 1 year program, so while I may not be able to work as much during the program, the idea is I would be working full-time 1 year sooner than any other program. I would be be taking out loans to cover whatever the fellowship doesn't for all the programs, so I'm wondering if the extra cost of SIPA is worth the prestige of the Columbia name/network opportunities, or if paying less and being able to work part-time for two years is a better financial decision. Not sure if anyone has insight or experience with this! Thanks!