GradSchoolGrad

I wrote about Fletcher at length before. Obviously, never base your decisions on some random guy on a forum like this, but I think it gives you some interesting insights.

I didn't write it but I'll go with a stab in the dark. A lore I have always heard (never proven by facts or anything beyond pure speculation that I have heard repeated to me) has that Princeton was always a favored University at large for Foreign Service / CIA and etc. since the 1950's. Don't think that is true anymore as the academic environment has significantly changed since then.

Tufts Fletcher is decently unique school. I wrote about it previously

I don’t know. USC or UCLA that well other than that they are great programs. However, since California is its own world of special when it comes to policy, those schools really are great for a California / West Coast network. I heard you can pull off pivoting to East Coast / DC but why walk uphill both ways?

I don't now about UNDP. As for USAID, I mean at the end of the day its about who you can network with to move your application to the top of the pile. That is unless you have amazing credentials + developmental experience. Ultimately that depends on two things. 1. What strings your professors can/will pull for you. 2. What experiential learning you can do to pad your resume (this is where a better branded school gets you access to) All grad programs are cash cows for Universities (think about it, you don't have to worry about student housing + and student life, at least not as much). That being said, SIPA is well known for being impersonal for having massively large classes + poor community (at large). When I was considering SIPA, I was told on the DL that in some classes I might not be able to have desk as they were in the process of moving/construction. You do end up with great career opportunities, stud professors, and amazing NYC experiential learning access + awesome peers. However, all my friends who went to SIPA and enjoyed it had their separate NYC lives on their own. Wagner suffers from a lesser version of this problem as well. A weak community because there are too many NYC distractions. As in ALL of my Wagner friends all comment how they didn't really make any grad school friends and there wasn't any meaningful get togethers.

So this is what I wrote about SIS, which is American's premiere program. It is more devastatingly negative for SPA.

@EC1225

So I haven’t done a deep dive even different credit variants and how they are executed, but I will say that some schools (notably DC area schools) have a soft expectation that you will work part time throughout the semester to pad your resume and therefore structure their program accordingly. Some programs are more administratively academic and often allow options to do internships as credit (since they are through the school more often than not). Yes - GWU is decently more respected that AU. I am not trying to brand focused or mean about it but just what I seen. Seen too many of my friends from AU struggle with the competitive job market.

It’s brand recognition is amazing in the IR and policy space as the school that makes people wonder why you didn’t go to a better one given a similar sticker price (as in before scholarships)

At the end of the day brand recognition only matters if you go to a school with a less than stellar one (like American in DC). Beyond that, it is what you do that matters. Rankings don’t matter for jobs. What skills you learn and experiential learning opportunities do.

So the way McCourt does data is interesting. They base it off of those who self-report and data clean for jobs like mine they don’t want to advertise (I pivoted to a purely technical role... aka would scream not get a job based upon grad school education. What that means is that that the true average is likely lower because of the non report people who can’t get jobs + international students who struggle in the job market. As with you, your career background most likely means you are set, but you won’t really get a pay bump with McCourt MPP beyond check the block unless you drive something on your own.

1. I think you should apply to the entire suit of West Coast schools high repute - USC-Price, UCLA, and UC-Berkeley Goldman (if you can stomach the quantness of the program) on top of UW. At the very least try one of them in the city that most appeals to you. 2. Sign up for Service 2 School (non-profit to help veterans get into grad school) too seek a mentor 3. Think about crafting a story about why you are passionate about policy + proven yourself as a high performer in the USMC and business world. Corporate success further validates military success in showing your ability to transition and manage relationships. 4. Your GPA is lower, but not devastatingly low. I would just go for broke given how you have a pretty good story. As a veteran you are more likely to get matching scholarships to any GI Bill stuff (or just scholarship flat out without GI). 5. I recommend applying for next year's application cycle since it is expected to be much less competitive.

My recommendation is to dual degree in the same University to maximize synergies. Otherwise, it will be as if you are going to school twice (with abbreviated requirements). That is just logistically painful and makes the grad school experience less beneficial (academically, networking, and etc.)

There usually are never timelines for Waitlists. I know of people being offered admissions off of the waitlist a month or so out from orientation.

The AVERAGE SALARY for Georgetown MPP grads with jobs coming out off graduation last time they published (about 2015 - they no longer publish since it is lower than that of Georgetown undergrad salary) was $55K. Add some inflation and do the math.

I went from from K-12 Ed to Higher Ed to Career Technical Education to Technology Industry Workforce (the last 2 is traditionally under labor policy). The deal is this --> academically, Education folks don't get along with Labor folks. Labor is broadly speaking about butts in jobs and Education is more about equity in experience and placement. Granted a lot is changing these days, the legacy lines still matter (especially given how your professors will likely come from those lines). Not completely relevant, but I had labor policy academic mentor tell me how she went to an ed conference and got the dirty eyeball from all the ed policy folks who branded her the heartless labor policy person. Yes, even though Ed Policy is tied directly to labor policy and TN is the home of a lot of Workforce development innovation, broadly speaking it makes more sense to go to a broader policy school to play where you want to play. As for changing - as long as you can tell a coherent story about the skills you have and positive development/leadership experiences or brands, then it is fine. I got away with it because I have 8 years of work experience + picked up some amazing branded internships (Major tech companies, major research institutes, and etc.). However, I knew others who pivoted in school really easily by highlighting skills. Like I said, a vast majority of my friends pivoted in school. I would say about 1/3rd still had no idea what policy areas they cared about at graduation (yes if you asked them, they would say 5, but not really narrow it down), so you are ahead of the curve in some ways.

I would try to leverage it with Chicago - but don't expect too much. Georgetown is a fine choice, if you are okay with going it alone to pursue your career interests because as I mentioned previously, it isn't a community that values career.

Not sure your angle with tech policy, but no school has really figured out policy, With Chicago Harris, you'll at least have an awesome institutional and peer support that McCourt doesn't provide. McCourt might be in DC, but you would be going it alone. In the world gone digital, location matters less now.

Yes, I know it has policy track, but here is the deal - the core curriculum across these programs are pretty much all the same. No matter where you go, you'll be essentially learning the same thing first semester. Whaat makes a difference for the grad school experience is: a. what type of experiences, relationships, and exposure that you have. Yes, I see there is public affairs track, but overall the you are part of the MS Data Science program training to be a data scientist - period. Sure, you can take a few classes here and there, but you won't be living and breathing policy and having policy conversations on the regular. From what I can see, it isn't a joint program (show me if I'm wrong), but just like most grad programs, you have formal structures to take advantage of opportunities in other schools within the University - basically a glorified super guest. You can't say that is getting the experience. That is like saying you are part of your best friends family after staying for dinner and some sleepovers. Ultimately, you aren't getting the best policy exposure. More tangibly, you won't be dealing day in and day out with policy oriented data sets. You can easily have a consumer goods data set a have to crack that egg (since there are lots of tracks). Tracks may influence what electives you take, but your core courses are generally shared. b. What brand do you carry (okay this only matters to get your first job after grad school + alumni connections, but generally matters less later) Bottom line, American is an okay (arguably below University of Maryland), but not great brand in DC. Its decently strong for undergrad and IR, but everything else - meh. I'm also really confused why you are considering American after having a terrific option with the Heinz School, which has a the credibility, amazing experience, and etc.

That isn't a policy program, its a data science masters. Its harder to get into policy world without policy connections (it is a clique community) and it would be harder for you to get a policy approach concept to things. So if your goal is to go into policy land, I don't recommend you do it. If your goal is to become any random data scientist, as long as you have funding, sure.

I had this dilemma and I'm so glad I didn't choose Peabody MPP, because I eventually shifted my policy interests 3 times before I got to where I am now. I would say half the people I started policy school with interested in Education shifted to other areas of policy once they realize how messy the Education Policy landscape is (too many fingers grabbing at the cookie jar and not enough cookies) + they don't have the best workplace environments. If you have any inclination that you might want to do an Education Adjacent Policy Area, or try things different than Education, non-Peabody is the way to go.

So lets be clear, there MS-DSPP the track, which is awesome (granted its collaboration limits) and there is McCourt/the school. For all intents and purposes, your MS-DSPP cohort of 20 to 30 something will collectivize and bond over data science stuff. Think of this like function. However, at the end of the day, you'll probably have to pick one a policy area (if you choose to stay within policy) that you actually care about and presumably want to get a job from (or at least know enough to sell that you know something in the area). Within the DSPP cohort, if you choose one of the super popular policy areas like Education or Gender issues, there will probably be 3-5 others like you. If you choose something less popular like Transportation, you might be alone. Dr. Bailey and the rest of the the professors are terrific and can definitely give career advice and guidance + your cohort might organize some social stuff. HOWEVER, the main career and social functions are via the school. This is where the organization and structure for social and career support come from. Career: With Career Services, they work their butt off, but they are severely understaffed. You have 3 people for the ENTIRE SCHOOL (for all programs). 1 executive to run things, 1 event hosted, and 1 career coach. That career coach has to deal with all 250+ people across full time/part time (don't forget the alumni that they promise to serve as well) and etc. As you can imagine, that person is stretched thin and altogether career services doesn't have the capacity to really help you, as much as they try (and they try - first in the door and last out the door (sometimes as late as 7PM). In many grad programs, you mitigate this by starting a peer career coach system, but McCourt doesn't do that. Also, McCourt in general has a bit of anti-career culture where its taboo you talk about career stuff because you don't want to make other people feel bad Social: McCourt's social activities consist of 3 things a. Clubs - these are generally based off policy area. Most clubs, you can join as a member. However, to really be involved or mean anything, you have to apply to be a club leader or Officer and most clubs have about 10 positions or so. However, it is based upon application and whoo the previous year's leadership likes that gets allotted a position. For example, in regards to the Education Club. I am a higher education person with years of experience in the area, but since the leadership board the I was applying to were all K-12 education people, I was of little interest to them (and they told me as such). b. Social Events - there are some cultural social events (pot luck dinners) and silent auctions, but they don't invest in team building and bonding. Most programs have a cohort system whereby you are a split into teams/families/cohorts (whatever you want to call it) to have level of social cohesion. McCourt got away with that ages ago because people conducted sit in protests about not getting into the cohort they wanted (another story in it of itself). There is a really cool Christmas party though... c. Culture... - this is the most shocking, the McCourt culture is basically the policy wonk version of high school. You are seen as cool if you are associated with people that do niche things that sound cool for the time being. We had a person who came from a human rights non-profit. People formed a posse around her and wanted to be seen around her to get the halo effect. She was indeed a nice person and very real, but didn't exactly do anything meaningful to make the school better with her social capital. What is utterly uncool is talking about career stuff (which is not the norm for most grad schools) or about actually policy innovation and making an impact (if it doesn't sound cool). Just like high school football players reading their press clippings, the McCourt social all stars love it when they see their name in the McCourt magazine, instagram, or website. The shock hits many right before graduation / summer internship season that they are comparably less competitive for jobs because they haven't focused enough about career.

MIDP is a rather unique program. What do you want to know? The short of it is that it still under there McCourt School, so you have many of the issues/stregnths in MPP. However, it is a separate program run by a Dr. Wiebe, and he is proud of making a small cohort (12 to 20ish) of people to train in IDEV program evaluation.

Search McCourt MPP, and you'll see the forum I which I have highlighted McCourt at length.

Either way, it would be very difficult for you to stay in the US. With MIDP you may get a edge (a very small edge) because the reality is data analytics/science is what is in short supply in the US and you learn more of that data stuff at MIDP. However, the technical stuff you learn, you could easy get in a coding boot camp and a library book... or alternative classes via electives. MIDP does a really good job teaching you to apply those skills to program evaluation in a development context (which is what makes it unique) That being said, I do think GHD is a better program experience, in large part because it is under SFS and not McCourt. SFS is simply a more robust and prestigious program. I have enjoyed working with everyone in GHD way more than anyone in MIDP. This is because GHD actually treats their students as professionals and encourage them to be ambitious and try things. With MIDP, they are basically grooming you to work in program evaluation (analytical side). GHD you have much broader career prospects.