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SanfordMPPCandidate2018

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  1. Hey y'all! I was in the 2016 admit cycle and I am now almost done with my MPP at Sanford. It's been the best experience of my life. I want to hit on the few things that popped out while skimming your sections above. Duke Sanford is an awesome place with great people and community! I cannot speak to the undergraduate experience, but Sanford MPPs really have their own subculture. The program is a modest size (60 students my year which was unusually small, but closer to 80 for the 2019 class and going forward). The size means you'll know everyone and make strong relationships with your classmates. The faculty are so nice and approachable. They feel like an extension of the family. All my professors and the administrative staff know me personally and we are on a first name basis (no Professor XX nonsense). They treat us like colleagues more than students. I can't drop in on any of them, any day of the week to discuss academic or personal matters. Just talking about it reminds me of how lucky I am. I have even balled my eyes out in a professors office and it wasn't weird. I moved from Michigan, having lived there my whole life and attended Univ. of Michigan for undergrad & my first masters, and I love Durham and NC. I took a job in the DC area, which is where I need to be professionally, but would stay in NC otherwise. Most people fall in love with this place. Great weather, sports, live music/shows at the Durham Performing Arts Center (went to Les Mis AND Phantom in the past three months!), beautiful forests and parks if you like the outdoors, fantastic restaurants, bars and breweries, etc., etc., etc. And compared to big cities, the cost of living is low. I have a 900 square ft single apartment that I live in alone and pay about $900/month including utilities. Others rent houses with lots of roommates and pay half that much. Regarding open houses. I was fortunate not to have any conflicts my year (for schools I considered) and attended them all. It was the single most important part of making my decision. I would have chosen the wrong school if I had not attended all of my open houses. For those with conflicts, try to schedule an alternate visit for one of them. Duke is very accommodating in this (I helped with admissions last year). They cannot re-create the open house experience, but they will try to find a course for you to sit in on, set you up with students for coffee/lunch, and introduce you to staff/faculty. Duke also records most of the Open House sessions and posts them online afterwards for those who cannot attend. Also, if you reach out to an Admissions Ambassador or the the Admissions Director, they will connect you to a current student with similar policy interests who will call you to share their experience and answer your questions. Bottom line is that Duke will bend over backwards to help you make your decision even if you cannot attend open house. All you have to do is contact the right people and ask for it.
  2. You may want to consider Duke Sanford. They offer a National Security concentration within the MPP program, so you get the basic MPP skills (econ, statistical analysis, etc.), but can focus your electives on foreign affairs and security studies. They have some awesome course offerings that I have taken, which are accompanied by a remarkable lecture series. I've been to lectures and dinners with four star generals (Chairman JCS, NORTHCOMM, and SOUTHCOMM commanders), James Clapper, Lisa Monaco, Elliot Abrams, asst. secretaries of state, and more that I can't even remember. In the next four weeks Gen. Dunford, Coni Rice, and Nikki Haley will also be coming. It makes for an excellent in/out of classroom environment. The "American Grand Strategy" program also hosts staff rides. A big group just got back from an almost fully funded trip to France for Spring Break for a 100th anniversary WWI staff ride. Sanford isn't widely on the map as a security program, but I think it will be soon. You can also cross enroll in UNC- Chapel Hill and NC State courses. There are also mulitple terrorism and security research institutes in the Research Triangle and a Duke professor directs an IC-CAE program for the triangle area. If you receive IC-CAE scholar designation (as I have) you receive priority consideration for jobs in the IC. Last week, the ICCAE program took a group of students to DC to visit and tour and handful of the IC agencies like CIA, DIA and NGA. Lastly, a handful of military fellows for the Triangle Institute for Terrorism Studies (TISS) enroll for a non-degree one year program each year at Duke. There are four fellows this year that I have taken multiple classes with. They are all the Lt. Colonel or Colonel level and bring excellent first hand experience to class discussions.
  3. Hey y'all! I was in the 2016 admissions cycle and was considering Ford, Sanford, and a low-ranked school. I decided to go with Duke Sanford, but I got my undergraduate degree and first Masters from Michigan and am quite familiar with the Ford school, having friends who attended both the undergraduate and graduate programs. Ultimately, Duke was the best fit for me and provided me with a better financial package. I also wanted a new experience after already attending Michigan twice and living in the State my whole life. However....I am "true blue through and through" as the saying goes, and you'll only hear praise about Michigan from me. I attended the open house, which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Attend ALL the open houses you can make time for/afford. It was critical in making my decision. I 100% would have chosen the wrong school if I had not attended the open houses. Also, do not just read the promotional materials that schools send you with pretty pictures and graphics - read the course offerings. I read the complete course offerings for each school under consideration and realized that the classes I was most interested in taking were only offered at Duke. This resulted in me concentrating in a policy field that wasn't offered at any of my other admitted options and has shaped my career trajectory and job opportunities. Don't forget to do this! With regards to Michigan and funding options after year one...this refers to the opportunity to work as a Graduate Student Instructor or "GSI" as they call it. Essentially, it's the equivalent of of TA at most other schools, although it may have more responsibility than the typical TA, based on my experience. I worked as a GSI at Michigan in 2011-2012 and as a Duke TA this year. At Michigan, the benefits are profoundly better. Depending on which course you assist with and the amount of expected work hours, you will receive anywhere from a partial to a full tuition waiver PLUS a living stipend. Remember, though, that the level of funding depends on which course you are assigned to teach. In 2011/12, I taught courses for which I was the sole instructor (as in no professor just me lecturing), so I received a full tuition waiver and about a $5K living stipend per semester. The next year, the position for that same course was remodeled so that GSI's were no longer the sole instructor (professors taught class and GSI led optional discussions). Due to the significant decrease in responsibility and expected hours, the tuition waiver was cut 75%. Also, GSI positions at Michigan are very competitive! You ARE NOT gauranteed a position and need to be prepared for the possibility that your funding will be exactly the same year 1 and year 2. If this is a gamble you cannot afford to take, then do not bank on getting a GSI job. At Duke, domestic students are gauranteed TA positions (or RA/GA positions) for two of four semesters. However, you get no tuition waiver and everyone gets the same $4K living stipend. However, my TA positions at Duke have been significantly less demanding. I grade papers, hold office hours, and handle administration for the professor. I do not have to teach and prepare lectures like I did at Michigan. I hope this information is helpful for any new Blue Devils or Wolverines out there! Both are great schools. My overall recommendations for making your decision are consider (1) personal fit (both academically and personally in the program and the city), (2) Evaluate financial offerings and how much risk/debt you can/are willing to accept, and (3) review course offerings and program requirements to understand how your curriculum with vary depending on the program you choose. Good luck!
  4. I 100% agree with woolscarves. I was considering 3 programs during the 2016 admissions cycle. Two were ranked in the top ten and one was so far down that I don't even remember its ranking. I ended up going with Duke Sanford over the other two. Ford was the other ranked program I considered. For me it came down to three things (1) personal fit, which is very important, (2) financial package, and (3) course/academic opportunities and essentially whether I thought the program would "get me where I want to go" as woolscarves said. After attending all 3 open houses, it was clear that Duke was the best personal fit. Having dealt with serious anxiety and depression issues in undergrad, I weighed this very heavily. I needed to know I would be a healthy person and a good student. Second, was financial. Duke offered me the 2nd best financial aid package, but it was close enough to my top offer that I felt considerations (1) and (3) made the slightly higher financial burden worthwhile, and I have not regretted that decision once. Third, was course offerings. I strongly recommend reading the course guides for each program you are accepted to/considering. This also clarified things for me a lot, especially when there were similarities in the "fit" category. The policy courses that most interested me at Sanford were not available at the other two schools I was considering, including Ford. So even though Michigan was ranked a little higher at the time, it would not have been able to provide me with the education I wanted/needed, and I would not have the same job opportunities that I do now. Best of luck!
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