woodscommaelle

I know that my heart is in policy, but my undergrad is in econ. I'm down to deciding between an MS Econ program and the MPP at Georgetown. I know normally these wouldn't be comparable, but I have a full ride/stipend at the econ program and the net cost is literally $17 for me to go to school+ live for two years. I got a full ride for undergrad and my parents are willing to give me the money they would have spent, so I'd go about $13k into debt if I went to Gtown. I'm usually a very logical and risk-averse person and the recent downturn of the economy makes me feel physically ill -guilty, even- to think of putting that much money into an education, but I just can't seem to shake the MPP opportunity. There's no good reason on paper that I shouldn't pick the econ program, there's a slight chance I could still leverage it into policy work and it's a spectacular department, even if extremely narrow career-focus wise and smack in the middle of a cornfield. Someone please either make me hate Georgetown or tell me how much of an idiot I'd be.

Not going to lie y'all, I'm stressed. I'm committed to policy work in the intersections of food systems/production agriculture/trade, which seems to be a pretty rare focus for higher-caliber schools. I'll be graduating with an BS in May, and threw in some MPP programs when applying for grad school. I have fully funded/stipend offers from MS Ag Econ programs with some narrow policy exposure, but was thrown a complete curveball when I also received offers from the two policy schools I applied to, Duke Sanford and Georgetown McCourt. I'm fairly new to the whole MPA/MPP world and was heavily counting on in-person engagement to gauge the fit and utility of each program. The cancelling of school visits has greatly exacerbated my stress and confusion about making a decision. To people that are in similar situations (or have been through the decision process already), are there any recommendations you have for additional ways to gain information or make a decision about a school besides the predictable contacting students/LinkedIn-stalking if I'm not able to visit in person? I'd gratefully welcome any and all advice!

just got the mpp email!

I just got a call! I'm straight out of undergrad so honestly, I'm floored. Wow!

I will finish my undergrad program in May and I'm honestly looking at potentially making a complete education volte face (sorry mom and dad). I'm really interested in the distribution of our most limited resources intersecting with the fact that everybody's gotta eat, but also really interested in policy- I kind of shoved that aside when it came time to choose my undergrad in fear that I wouldn't be able to hack it. Now, a career in policy seems to play to my strengths a little more and I'm a lot more excited about where it could take me, though I know that's not everything. I was not seriously considering applying to grad school and was semi-content to be chained to an excel sheet of soybean prices somewhere deep in corn country for the rest of my life until I took my GRE two weeks ago and talked to some people. I'm really late to the game in applying to graduate schools and I would love any perspectives on a) if I wanted to pursue an MPP, what schools would I have a shot at? I have no frame of reference at all, but if I'm going to do this, I want to do it right! b) is this a good idea/any advice? If I go to grad school, it will be directly out of undergrad. Program Applying To: MPP/Equivalent Schools Applying To: No idea, please help! I'm applying for a few MS agricultural economics programs (would want to focus on policy, but I still think that would be very narrow in terms of career prospects), but honestly I'm not sure how competitive I am for them either Undergraduate institution: T1 flagship state schoolUndergraduate GPA: 3.85Undergraduate Major: Agricultural EconomicsGRE Quantitative Score: 162GRE Verbal Score: 167 GRE AW Score: 4.5Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 0Years of Work Experience: 0Describe Relevant Work Experience: very involved internship with a congressional committee (adored DC!), internship with a state government agency (involving federal grant programs, development, and agricultural policy), Director of Development for school's high-profile, student-run policy lecture series (responsible for obtaining $60k contributory funding goal, multiple policy symposia, had the Secretary of State for our major program this year. We've brought heads of state/Presidents/Cabinet members in the past, so it's pretty high caliber and I had exposure to a lot of different policy topics), represented school at higher education advocacy day at state legislature, finalist in a solution-pitch competition, and a handful of less-applicable other activities.Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I think I have a relatively unique perspective and background to offer and that could be a strong point in my favor. I plan on talking about my experience relating nonpartisan policy issues to a 60k+ student body and learning from them, how my experience with resource distribution directly aligns with public policy as a whole, and how I've been quantitatively analyzing the effects of policies but I want to learn about the human factors too.Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): One absolutely glowing from my internship supervisor, a policy professional. One from my quantitative analysis prof who has been a big proponent of my attending grad school so I think fairly strong letter, and one from a prof that doesn't necessarily relate to public policy but knows the enthusiasm I put into my work.Other: Didn't study for the GRE at all-planning to retake!