juanlisa

This. I worked in a graduate admissions office for the last two years. When the school waived the GRE requirement this spring, having no GRE meant you would get the average scholarship with the rest of your admission stats. I would recommend checking the average GRE scores for each program and submitting to the school if you exceed that.

I know newly admitted students and applicants email sometimes about switching programs under normal circumstances. Email Heinz Admissions (hnzadmit@andrew.cmu.edu) if you haven't already and tell them your situation.

I don't know much about Harris's healthcare policy coursework/if it exists, but that comment was mostly referring to the fact that Heinz does have specific degree programs for Health Care Policy and Health Care Analytics and plenty of quality coursework in that field.

Of course! I can only provide my perspective, but I'll answer as much as I can.

Second year Heinz MSPPM-DA student here. I applied to MS-CAPP and was admitted to MPP, but actually preferred MSPPM-DA to MS-CAPP while I was filling out my applications. I'm hoping other people will weigh in, but I'm happy to provide my perspective, which has evolved since I made my admission decision. Harris is probably more balanced in terms of having quality policy and analysis classes. If you're interested in analytics but also want strong coursework in a policy area other than healthcare, Harris may be a better option for you. Additionally, Harris's coursework seems much more suited towards academic/policy research. In my personal experience, Heinz's statistics/econometrics coursework is suitable for a career in analytics, but if you're hoping to bolster your academic background to work in policy research, Harris may be your best option. That being said, I personally got the impression they were somewhat elitist, which was not suitable for me as I was embarking on a drastic career change. That being said, I'm very happy with Heinz. While Heinz does not excel at policy, if you want to learn analytics you can definitely do that here. MSPPM-DA students can take courses in information systems within Heinz, and many of my peers have also taken courses in the School of Computer Science for more advanced topics in machine learning. The first year of PPM-DA is very structured and has A LOT of core curriculum to get everyone on roughly the same page with policy, analytics, and professional skills. The curriculum for the second year, however, has been almost entirely self-selected, so I've been able to take courses ranging from data science to program evaluation to decision analytics. There's a lot of flexibility in the MSPPM-DA program to make it very easy to tailor your courses to your interests.

I can only speak about Heinz, but if you're concerned about your quant background, apply anyway. For what its worth, your GRE scores are in the average range for MSPPM. Additionally, students with so-so math backgrounds can be admitted conditional on completing a Quantitative Skills Summer Program before classes start.

Considering Georgetown's hefty tuition, I'd say it will almost definitely be worth the time and effort to have other offers to leverage. Since you likely have most of your materials ready from applying to Georgetown and some programs have no application fee, it seems you have little to lose and a good amount to gain.

I'm actually a first year MSPPM-DA. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the point you're making, but I want to clarify that while Heinz does have certificate programs, MSPPM-DA isn't one of them. If anyone does have specific questions about MSPPM-DA, I'm happy to answer them.

@Airninja I understand your anxiety to get final decisions, but I don't really have any great insight. When I submitted my Harris application I knew it had shortcomings, and when I was waitlisted I wrote a motivational statement to fill in the gaps. Every application is different, and for me it was that I didn't explain my career change enough; most applicants don't have that problem. I would caution against adding even more materials now because it may take some time for them to be processed, especially since it seems you've made a lot of updates already. Unfortunately, my best advice at this point is to wait, and figure out what you'll do about McCourt's offer if you still haven't heard back from Harris.

@Airninja I submitted an additional essay using the Waitlist Form about three weeks before I heard anything. I got an email last week that my application status had changed, and two days after that my financial aid letter was posted.

@Adhi a current student told me 2 or 3 people transferred in. It came up at admitted students weekend, though, that some tracks are pretty tough to change once the program starts because the first semester course requirements are too different. If being able to shift tracks would change your decision, I'd recommend reaching out directly to Heinz to see if it's likely/feasible.

@elizabethrs They hadn't posted my letter yet; I'm actually eligible for $20k/year. It would still be more expensive than Heinz, and its MSPPM-DA vs. MPP. Unless my Heinz visit goes badly, pretty sure I'm headed to Pittsburgh. But I'm keeping Harris in my back pocket until I know for sure.

I know that Heinz's MSPPM-Data Analytics program is STEM-designated; I'm pretty sure the regular MSPPM track is not. I honestly don't know about Harris. @byc123456 are you looking for a more quant-heavy degree like the Heinz Data Analytics track and Harris's MS-CAPP? Maybe figure out if transferring into a more quant-heavy program within the school is an option. I heard from a current Heinz Data Analytics student that a few members of the DA cohort did that. Also, it sounds like asking both schools about the international job prospects could be really important for you. Heinz has an internship requirement, but maybe ask Harris how many students actually do an internship between first and second year?

I applied for MS-CAPP, and was just admitted to MPP yesterday. There's no aid letter yet; should I assume that there's no funding? Or did an aid letter come later for some applicants?

Not the original poster, but this is now my problem, too. I was accepted off the waitlist into Harris MPP last night (I applied for MS-CAPP), but no funding info yet. My top choice has been Heinz's Data Analytics track with 80% of tuition covered, so Harris is making me question things a little. For someone with analyst ambitions, can Harris's MPP possibly compare with Heinz's MSPPM-DA?