woolscarves

2nd year student in the MSPPM-DA program but have friends in most of the other programs. I found this forum super helpful when I was looking for schools so happy to answer any questions that people have. I was also lucky enough to get to spend the first 1.5 semesters in the in-person environment, so I can also speak to what the experience will hopefully be like for the class of 2021 when you enter in the fall.

UCSD has a very strong Asian focus too, iirc.

This is the public policy forum, you'll need to look in the physical sciences section. https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/7-physical-sciences/

Mentioning that you spent several months working towards admission to law school wouldn't give public policy grad programs confidence that you are serious about an MPA/MPP, so no, I wouldn't bring it up. Ultimately, I would suggest you spend some time looking at this thread, bearing in mind that it's pre-pandemic with the concerns that GSG said about the competitive application pool: You will see that candidates that are competitive for the top schools (and get substantive scholarships) typically have interesting and relevant experience. You say that you want to attend a "reputable" program, which feels pretty vague. Would you be able to get into Wisconsin which is a solid program in the Midwest? Sure, you have a shot at schools in that range as programs outside the top ~10ish aren't that competitive to get into. Are you likely to get into UChicago Harris or Duke Sanford with any sort of scholarship? Magic 8 Ball says "unlikely".

I'm at the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon in the Public Policy & Management - Data Analytics program. It's a STEM program and has an extremely strong emphasis on quantitative elements. Happy to answer any questions that you might have about it.

Applications will ask about your undergraduate academic record, but there will also be optional places to report classes taken at other accredited institutions. It is voluntary to report this, but if you do they will ask for (at the very least) an unofficial transcript. For example, to bolster my application I took Micro Economics through UCLA's extension program. I reported my grade in that class when I applied along with my undergraduate grades. So no, if you don't do well you don't have to include that in the application.

You'll be in with a good scholarship at Sanford and Price. Definitely in with a decent chance at a good scholarship at Harris and Ford. In at GSPP, maybe a tough chance at scholarship. Decent chance at HKS (scholarships there are a bit hard to predict). You'll also definitely get in to Luskin, but I haven't seen great scholarship packages from them.

Sounds like you have great options, congratulations! I would not go to Michigan unless you can get a significant increase in financial aid. Even at 50% aid, it's still going to be >$50,000 more expensive (in tuition alone; Ann Arbor also has a higher cost of living as well) than the other two which will feel miserable in the long-term. It does seem like a great fit for you, but coming out with that much debt will severely limit the jobs you feel like you can take. I go to Heinz right now (albeit in the Data Analytics track, not DC) and Duke was my second choice after I visited and talked with current students and their head of admissions, so maybe a bit of useful thoughts. I love Heinz and am extremely glad I chose it, but I also would have been thrilled to go to Duke. Here are a couple quick thoughts I have to respond to your concerns/perceptions of the two schools: Consulting placement is almost exactly the same at the two schools. It's right around 30%, so I wouldn't let that make or break your decision either way. The DC track curriculum has at most 1 semester's worth of technical classes more than you would have at any other school. See the curriculum here: https://www.heinz.cmu.edu/heinz-shared/_files/img/student-handbooks/msdc-2019-2020-student-handbook.pdf. You would take R at any policy school worth anything, so don't count that. The Database and IT elective are each only half-semester long, so combined it's only one semester. I love both Pittsburgh and the Durham area. Both have a lot going on, are affordable, and didn't feel pretentious. I got along better with the Duke students, they were less stressed out and seemed to be more relaxed with one another. I think you would have a tough time with your first year at CMU but love your second year. The first year is extremely challenging especially if you come in not thrilled with your choice, the curriculum isn't particularly flexible, and the stress culture of CMU (and by extension, Heinz) is very real. You're right that there are a lot of folks in the DC program with ~0-3 years of work experience who are trying to transition from colleges that don't have DC connections to working there. But, I know people love their second year as they get to work their fellowship, make money, and take more policy-focused classes. The school networks from both are surprisingly good. Duke obviously has a gigantic footprint there (both Sanford and from the school at large), but CMU places well there and the alumni are very active about trying to keep in touch. To summarize my thoughts: Duke seems like a fantastic fit for you, as I think I might've chosen it if I wasn't so focused on the data elements. That being said, I also don't want to end up in DC so that didn't factor into my decision. I don't think you'll hate CMU as much as you think, especially if you think of it as one intense year that's not that fun, followed by a second year that's equally as intense but you're getting to actually live and work in DC. Think about how much you value your experiences now vs. freedom for the future. $60,000 in debt will easily turn into over $100,000 total by the time you've paid it off. That's a significant burden to take on. That being said, going to a school that you think you're going to be miserable at for two years in the prime of your life is ALSO a significant burden. Hope this wasn't too scatterbrained (I just finished two online tests). If there's anything else I can help provide clarity on or anything you want to ask, please let me know and I'm more than happy to help. You've got a lot of great options and I'm excited for you!

The biggest reason why where you want to live is important is because which of these schools that you choose to attend heavily impacts where you are most likely to end up. Look at these two pages: UMD: https://spp.umd.edu/career-connections LBJ: https://lbj.utexas.edu/career-outcomes The majority of UMD grads end up working in and around DC, whereas most LBJ grads stay in Texas. The LBJ brand is good in Texas but you will likely struggle if you choose to live elsewhere. Both of these schools are relatively regional (I'm not assessing their quality here, just brand reach), and so you are likely to end up in the geography of the school that you pick. So, for your "ranking over financial aid", the importance of ranking here isn't particularly relevant. Also, your assumption that Maryland isn't as expensive as Austin isn't quite accurate. College Park is an extension of DC and as such can be quite expensive. I would look at actual apartments on Zillow etc. in both locations to check and see how they compare in price for quality.

Where do you want to live and what kind of work do you want to do?

I'm a current student and I've hard a few of my classmates in the Pittsburgh track talk about considering switching (but opting not to go through with it), so I think it's pretty doable. I would e-mail the program director (Gladys Perez Sriprasert) if it's something that you're considering.

Go to Princeton and don't think twice.

Most students live in Shadyside and Squirrel Hill. Shadyside is definitely the "trendiest" place (lots of good bars, restaurants, but also the Pittsburgh Apple store and a Lulu Lemon shop). Squirrel Hill is a bit more local and residential (not as many bars, but lots of good restaurants and cafes, etc). You'll pay a bit of a premium to live in those locations and it can be a bit of a pain to catch the bus to campus since so many CMU students live on these routes. Other good options are places like Oakland and Liberty (or Greenfield, where I live). There are fewer CMU students in these places, but they're really affordable and it's not too hard to get to Shadyside if you're looking to meet up with friends. All in all, I think the housing brochure that you mentioned (located here for others looking to find it) really does a good job of laying it out. Shadyside and Squirrel Hill are probably the most interesting places to live, but you pay the cost (especially if you're not living with a roommate). If you have specific locations or anything that you want feedback on when you start to look, feel free to DM me and I'm happy to give me my thoughts.

Funding was fairly generous for me. I received my funding information in the portal at the same time that I received my admissions decision. While I don't know for sure what the most important factors were, based on fellow students and looking at GradCafe posts from previous years, I would say the factors in order of rough importance are: the number of years of quality work experience that you have GRE score GPA & quality of undergraduate institution So, really not much different from the factors that go into the admissions decision to begin with. Congratulations!!! Hope to see you here in the fall. I attended admitted students weekend in early April and met a couple of friends that I ended up deciding to room with. We started looking for housing in ~mid-May and signed in late May/early June. I'd say you can start looking for a place anytime as long as it's before mid-June. What actually seemed to be the more difficult task was finding roommates (if that's something that you plan on doing). There are plenty of options, but it can take some time to find someone that wants to live in the same area as you, has the same budget, etc. and so getting an earlier start on that is most important IMO.

Good luck everyone! Current PPM-DA student and happy to answer any questions people have as this board was immensely useful to me during the process last year.

Admissions decisions will start to roll out sometime soon and continue through mid-March (or even later for those that submitted past the deadline). The time you get your decision has no bearing on your chances of getting accepted nor financial aid (eg. just because someone posts that they've received a decision and you should cause you any worry at all).

The first batch of admissions results went out on Feb 12 last year (when I was admitted). I do not believe that any results have been sent out yet for this year's cycle yet. I would expect some decisions to be released by the end of February. Please keep in mind I'm not an official source on this (just a current Heinz DA student), so it could vary significantly. Happy to answer any other questions you all have as well.

It can take up to 3 weeks (or maybe even more) to get the video interview link and the amount of time is not correlated whatsoever with your chances of admission.

That makes a lot more sense! Short answer is that sure, it can make sense. Some things to consider: - do you want to work outside the US? It sounds like you do, which is good because LSE and SciencesPo will carry a lot more weight internationally than they do in the United States - does this actually help you achieve your goals that you couldn’t without going to these programs? Having studied what you did in undergrad you may still be competitive to get the kinds of jobs that you want without having to go to grad school - how long is the program relative to doing one of them individually and how does this affect your cost/benefit analysis? IE, if it’s going to add a year of schooling and you really want to go into development, then you may want to opt to do only LSE program because it can get you the job that you want without having to pay an additional year of tuition + forgoing another year of income You’ve got some time to work, start to solidify your goals, and figure out whether grad school (and this dual program in particular) is the best path to reach them.

You don't need four masters degrees. The two that you're going to get are plenty. If you want to work in an NGO or a governmental position, go get a job doing that. You'll be infinitely better off getting additional work experience and making money than you will spending the time and tuition money for the LSE/SciencesPo program when you already have the education that you have. Same with a PhD. If you want a PhD, then apply to PhD programs.

You'll be fine. No need to take a quant course. I might add in Duke Sanford or CMU Heinz to give you another good school that you can be confident you'll get excellent funding at (the one you already have being LBJ, where you should get full tuition+), but it's not a necessity given your profile. I'm a little confused by the difference between "skills gained, how it relates" and "relevant parts of my work/internship experience" so it's hard for me to give a good answer here. You absolutely should talk about how your background and skills will enable you to succeed at grad school and in your career beyond, but you seem to know that. If you can clarify what you mean, then maybe we can provide better feedback.

That's a good question, because I've heard positive things about ND. I know it's somewhat desirable because it's Notre Dame and I *think* there's full tuition (or close) for every student that goes there. Not confident on that, so you'd probably want to ask students that are currently there if you can find any. And the dual JD thing is a whole other question. When thinking about that, you need to consider whether you actually want to be a lawyer or not. And if do want to be a lawyer, what will the MA/MS/MPP really add to your ability to get the kind of career that you want? And then you need to consider whether that's worth the probable $100k+ in debt and lost income for the additional year+ of school.

Wait and get at least 1-2 years experience. You'll get significantly more funding and will know for sure whether grad school is the path to what you want to do. Right now you'll get in to a lot of these places (only potentially difficult ones would be Harris and Ford), but will get minimal aid relative to what you could get later on. LBJ at Texas and UW-Madison generally give out pretty good aid and have good reputations, so if you end up being really set on going this year, you can apply to them and see what aid you end up with. But again, you're going to get more aid, have a better experience, and be more competitive for good jobs post-graduation if you get a couple years of work first (plus you can save a bit of cash).

These aren't specific to LBJ in particular, but will give you the kind of information that you're looking for. Takes a bit of time, but if you look over them in aggregate you should get a good sense of where you might stack up. In general LBJ is known as one of the most generous schools. It is not uncommon for students to receive full tuition + more there if they are strong candidates. 2019 - https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/115158-2019-results/ 2018 - https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/101374-2018-results/?page=1 2017 - https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/84894-2017-results-thread/

Glad you liked it! I've always enjoyed reading MBB public sector projects that come out, they're fascinating stuff. Completely understand the desire to spend more time at home with a child on the way. The discussion is just focused then on whether the decision of an MPA is actually beneficial vs the alternative. If you look at it along the lines of the three elements that you identified (credentials, network, and knowledge), none of these are superior to what you would get by transitioning straight into a top-tier public sector job (and that's not even counting in the lost income + any school expenditures). Think about it in comparison to your MBA. Do you think you benefited more in the network and knowledge space more than you did in your first two years at your firm? Obviously the credential helps, but you've still got that MBA (assuming from M7 or the like) and the MBB name on your resume. WWS or HKS don't really add anything to your credentials. You'll learn more by actually working on projects for the Gates Foundation or something as well as meeting actual stakeholders in your areas of interest. We're not trying to say that an MPA would ruin you or anything, just that it seems to add very little in your scenario and costs two years of your life. If you really want to do it, go for it. You'd likely be an extremely strong candidate at HKS and WWS, but if I was in your position, I would at least put out feelers for jobs in your area & region of interest and see who bites. If you find the kind of job you want that provides you with time to spend with your family, then that's your answer.