Sandmole

First, I just want to say congratulations to everyone forbeing accepted to both GWU and Georgetown—not an easy accomplishment. As someone faced with the same dilemma a yearago, I know how tough the choice can be. I realize I’m posting this quite late, but the semester has been crazyup to this point, but maybe it will help any last minute decision-makers. The good news, and something I wish someonewould have pointed out to me back then, is that there is no bad decision to bemade here. It’s like choosing betweenchocolate and vanilla ice cream: you win no matter what. That said, you’ve got to choose one...and that’s hard. I guess I can articulate some of the reasonsI eventually chose GW over GPPI. 1. Flexibility: GW’s program is much more flexible,and you can tailor the degree to suit your needs. If you want to focus on quantitative skills,you can. If you’re more interested inmanagement and leadership, knock yourself out. The breadth of courses offered at GW are really ridiculous 2. Community: The cohorts are strong and tight-knit, and the faculty are accessibleand friendly. I really appreciate downto earth, authentic interactions with people and I really felt that whenlooking at GW and that has been nothing but affirmed since being here. 3. Hands-on approach. This is probably the biggest factor forme. As several of you mentioned earlier,GPPI’s thesis didn’t really appeal to me either. I really loved the econometrics focus, andit’s something I really want exposure to personally, but the program feltdistanced and isolated from the happenings around them. DC is an amazing place with so much going onand so much to take advantage of. Obviously, both programs encourage theirstudents to work or intern (about 90% of GW students intern or work throughouttheir time here, usually part time), but GW offer numerous opportunities towork with actual clients on real-life projects. This aspect is more salient in the capstone course, where you work ingroups of 3-5 for a client and address a real-world policy or management problemthat they need help with. It’s veryengaging and super interesting. Consequently, it requires a lot of work, but it’s work with tangibleresults to be able to show your future employers. There are also other classes that enable youto work with clients and apply the classroom skills to the real world. I’m currently enrolled in a programevaluation class, and my group is working with National Fish and WildlifeFoundation to assess one of their keystone initiatives. Our results will be presented to their boardof directors, who will use our recommendations to determine a direction for theinitiative. Pretty cool stuff. 4. PMF. Similar to you, Dani, PMF was a big draw for me. I really hope to wind up in the government afterthe program, and I’m really interested in the PMF. We have high placement in the PMF program formany reasons, not the least of which is the incredible talent of the studentbody. Another huge factor is PaulBinkley, the career services director at the Trachtenberg School. He really is incredible in just about everyway, and the PMF preparation is top notch. The difficulty with PMF is that the application process constantlychanges, but Paul takes interested students and puts them through the ringer inpreparation for it. Going to GU’s accepted student day, I remember being charmedand entertained by the session with EJ and being equally impressed by ProfessorFerrera’s accomplishments. I’d be lyingif I said I wasn’t also a little off put by their emphasis on brand; which, asfar as I can tell, doesn’t seem to matter much—employers fervently recruit fromboth schools. I’d wager it’s because forthose positions for which an MPP or an MPA are relevant, the mystique aroundwhich the Georgetown brand has been built is overshadowed by the very real needfor people who can function effectively in their job and employ the skillsthey’ve acquired. That isn’t meant to bea slight against GPPI; it’s a fantastic program that does what it does well,but I think the widespread deference afforded to Georgetown as an institutiondoesn’t add much to your employment prospects (certainly nothing extra in theDC area, from what I can tell). I thinkthis is simply because we’re learning a lot of the same things, and themarginal differences are minor or major, mostly depending upon what theindividual chooses to focus on. Outside the DC area, GPPI’s name probably carries a bitmore. That is something I considered asa Seattleite likely to return home at some point, but the realization hit oneday during my deliberation process that several years out of my graduate schoolprogram what’s going to matter most is my work experience and the tangible skillsI can point to, rather than the institution from which I obtained mydegree. Of course, had I chosen GPPI, I’d probably be raving to youright now about its virtues, too. I’msure there are people on the board who can. My point isn’t to try and sway you a particular direction as much as itis to provide perspective. As someonewho I wrestled and writhed with indecision last spring, I know how much it cansuck. But take heart knowing that nomatter what happens and no matter which school you decide is best for you, infive months you’ll have chosen well, and you’ll have no regrets. Chocolate or vanilla.

So I recently chose to attend GPPI after visiting their open house the other weekend and really being impressed by the program. While I really like what I saw and think it would be good for me (I'm interested in environmental and energy policy, which they admittedly aren't stellar at, but are in the process of building a strong team for it), they've been incredibly slow getting back to me about any sort of funding, both need and merit-based. With the gigantic price tag of the institution, I've been incredibly anxious to hear from them. To make matters more complicated, I was just contacted late last week by GWU saying I'm eligible for 80% tuition covered plus a $16,000 stipend for a working 20 hours a week for the first year of the program. That would leave me with next to no debt coming out of school compared with Georgetown's potential $120k of debt, which is enough for me to consider rescinding my enrollment at GPPI and go with GWU instead. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend GWU's open house last month, so I'm curious what sorts of impressions people had of it, particularly those of you who also attended GPPI's. I'm wondering if there is a truly substantive difference at the end of the day between the programs. I really think the cohort and connections you can make at the school are vitally important, which I saw at GPPI (along with it's quantitative rigor, which, for better or worse, has incredible applicability), but have no idea about for GWU. I told myself at the beginning of the process that money wouldn't play heavily into my decision; the school you like should be the one you attend, and you can worry about repayment later, but the current disparity in aid packages is too much to ignore. Again, I'm interested in environmental and energy policy with a strong desire to enter the federal government and/or politics. I'm hoping to tackle as many internships as I can while in the D.C., which puts a slight damper on the GWU offer given that my first year would basically be working for them, but still, it's A LOT of money. Any thoughts as to what I should? Thanks!