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Thanks a lot! That's good to hear - and good point about the upsides to bigger classes and schools. With all of these schools I think students can make of the experience what they want out of it. SIPA will be amazing, good luck!

Hello! Would you be able to explain what you saw about SIPA's culture/fit during your open house that made you pause? And did they say how big classes typically get? I didn't get to go to their open house, and while I'm pretty sure I'm leaning away from SIPA, courses & professors do look fantastic and I'm having some last-min doubts before acceptance deadlines...

Since I was originally award a fellowship, I emailed back the fellowship contact, but I'm sure contacting financial aid would work too. Great! Can't wait to hear thoughts on the weekend.

I did manage to get more funding from LBJ this past week, and they responded fairly quickly, which was nice. I used a more competitive funding offer from another school and asked if they could help close the gap. You may as well ask, and ask soon - good luck! I don't have much knowledge of UCLA, sorry. Would be interested in hearing your thoughts from your visit to LBJ!

Thanks a ton for your input! That's helpful - you've kind of confirmed my thinking, and good to know students are getting internships across the country. I'm getting more and more excited about LBJ.

Congrats to all for your offers! Still thinking here, especially as I live overseas and won't be able to attend any Admitted Students' Days...and I second @lost in translation's question about the importance of location, which is the biggest thing I'm struggling with. Deciding Between: Evans ($0): A bit surprised I wasn't offered any scholarship funding (aside from Work/Study, which is minimal). Even if I negotiate I feel like funding would be minimal. However, I'm from Seattle originally and am hoping to be there/in the Northwest area after grad school...for that reason, Evans was always particularly attractive. I know they speak highly of their connections with the city and I'm wondering how much of a difference this really makes career-wise. LBJ ($$): Offered a good fellowship and added another 17k on top after negotiating. Seems the teaching is great and focused on grad students, and Austin as a city is looking increasingly attractive. However, if I want to move back to Seattle, would a degree from Evans just make more sense despite the funding differences? SIPA ($): Offered around 25k & certainly its global brand recognition is tempting. I think there's a healthy debate to be had about the importance of name brand schools, but overall the program & city is just so expensive I'm not sure it's justifiable. Also need to think about my partner's ability to get a job in NY, which is difficult moving from abroad. Leaning towards: LBJ - it's hard to pass up their funding offer. If anyone had thoughts on the significance of location/regional reach of a program that would be great!