juanlisa

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.
 
 
 
 

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.
 
 
 
 

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.

@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.

This was me last year! I was about 90% sure I was going to do the CMU DA track, then visited both programs the same weekend - Sanford Friday, CMU Saturday (the logistics were not simple but I made it work). I got a really good vibe from Sanford and a less good vibe from CMU in terms of personal fit. That sent me back to 50/50 and I ultimately went with Sanford and what I felt would be the better experience for me, rather than the more impressive toolkit. It was definitely a trade off though, and I think both options would have been great in different ways. The main thing that stood out to me at Sanford was the close-knit feel - small class size, but maybe more importantly you really get to know the faculty, staff, career counselors, administration, IT folks, etc... it really feels like a family of people who care about you and will be there to help you succeed in grad school and for the rest of your life, and a lot of that came through when I visited. I also realized I wasn't even sure I wanted to do the kind of super quant-heavy work the DA track would set me up for, and so I wanted a curriculum that would give me some flexibility to explore.
A year later, I'm happy with my choice, especially on those 70 degree days in February! I'd recommend trying to make it to both admitted students days if at all possible, or if you don't come to Duke then, finding another time to visit Sanford - admissions is great about setting you up with classes to attend and students to meet with. And feel free to message me if you want to chat further!

@3eyes I applied for a Masters. And to be frank I think it's pretty weird to follow around everyone who has mentioned applying to American asking them to decline their offer, as you seem to be doing. This is a big decision for me and I'll take the time I need to make sure I'm making the right one. 

Program Applied To: (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP/MPA, MS-CAPP, MS DSPP, MSPPM-DA
Schools Applied To: Wagner, Humphrey (UMN), McCourt MS DSPP, Heinz Data Analytics, Harris MS-CAPP
Schools Admitted To: Humphrey ($$), Wagner, Heinz($$), McCourt ($)
Waitlisted: Harris MS-CAPP
Undergraduate institution:  top 20 private liberal arts
Undergraduate GPA:  3.53                                                                                                                                                                                
Undergraduate Majors:  Economics & Theatre 
GRE Quantitative Score:  163
GRE Verbal Score:  165
GRE AW Score:  5
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable):  5
Years of Work Experience:  2 years directly relevant; 4 years after undergrad spent working as a technical theatre supervisor
Describe Relevant Work Experience: Schools Admitted To: Currently serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA working in data visualization. Did a gap year of AmeriCorps NCCC service following first year of undergrad.
Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc):  Since I'm going through a career change, this was my biggest source of anxiety. I spent a lot of time conceptualizing my narrative in a cohesive, yet honest way. For me, it was much easier to nail the longer SOPs because I had time and space to tell my story. My working theory on why I got into Heinz with considerable funding and was waitlisted at Harris was because Heinz had a 1000 word essay and Harris had 300 word prompts. 
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc):  Exactly what they needed to be with my unorthodox experience. One academic, my AmeriCorps supervisor, and my former theatre supervisor. I mostly went ignored in undergrad, but had a Writing for Economics professor who I knew would remember me. My AmeriCorps supervisor is a HKS alum and executive director for a large non-profit. My theatre supervisor worked with me for four years, hired me on staff after a year-long internship, and can attest to my leadership skills, technical ability, and work ethic.
Other: I definitely felt like applying for MPP programs, especially the quant-heavy ones, was a serious gamble because of my lack of directly relevant experience (other than two years of AmeriCorps service). My Harris application definitely suffered for not talking about technical theatre enough. With my successful applications, I made a strong case for how theatre lead me to this point by making me realize I wanted work that was more analytical, more meaningful, and had more potential for long-term growth.
Worth mentioning for the people nervous about proving quantitative ability: I had a C+ in undergrad calculus and a B- in Econometrics (I'm a recovering over-scheduler) that worried me a lot. I took Calc II and Linear Algebra at a community college last summer and got As in both, which I think along with my GRE scores and current data-related job proved I would be up for the quantitative-heavy MSPPM-DA and MS-DSPP programs. 

Checked the website, and MS-DSPP decisions are up! 

Accepted with $12k/year in funding.

Me too! Seeing all the notifications for MPP has been slowly killing me.