Hey guys, I have received admissions from several good programs, such as MPA in Columbia SIPA, MPA in Cornell CIPA, MPP in Georgetown U, MPP in USC Price, MPP in UCLA Luskin and MPA in NYU Wagner. I am still waiting for the decision from CMU Heinz MSPPM data analytics track, the director told me that I will be notified within this week, and he told me that the GRE-retaking e-mail sent by them earlier was a mistake and I don't need to retake GRE(does this mean that I will be admitted?).
Here is the queation: which one should I choose? I prefer SIPA and Heinz, but I finally have to choose one. SIPA locates in Manhattan, and there are many job opportunities, but I kind of worrying about the skill set I can obtain there since those traditional MPA program's courses are very general, like politics, economics, international affair or something. MSPPM-DA can provide me a strong ability of data analytics and even Artificial Intelligence, but I guess Pittsburgh is not as convenient as NYC when I want to find a job.
I am working as a consultant in China, and I finished a consulting report for Didi Chuxing(the largest ride-sharing company in China, like Uber in USA). This consulting service I have offered aims at helping Didi Chuxing builds up a Public Information Service Platform with the government to generate advises for urban development, and it will be done in a Public-Private-Partnership framework. During the research, I noticed that massive data(over twenty millions of ride-sharing services every single day) generated by users of Didi has been largely wasted because those data have not been connected with the government's database and other companies who provide urban public services too. Since then, I feel strong passion in sharing and exploring data for common good of our society, and as the result, I believe that MSPPM-DA can give a better skill set to deal with the issue in the future.
My optimal goal is finding a consulting job in USA, what aspect should I focus on? Location, reputation or skill set?
Additionally, I have learned and practiced Python programming in my undergrad, so I am confident that I can fit in Data Analytics track well.
Anybody have some suggestions for me? Any idea will be appreciated.