AbSynthetic

Thank you for this input! I have been under a very different assumption; this clears up the expense part. Stay safe!

Phew! THANK YOU SO MUCH for this - it provides a lot of clarity. Being an international student and without much on-ground connections in policy in the US it has been difficult choosing and applying to schools. I have been focusing a lot on ranking than other factors so this helps a LOT! Thanks again! Stay safe!

My interest areas are health and development. Having worked in public affairs consulting prior to this, positions in multilateral organizations / think tanks / consulting are what I'm looking for post graduation. Being an international student, I'm not aware of having much scope in state and federal level jobs. I've never been to Maryland so I don't have an idea of where I'm going to be living but I'm assuming it would not be as expensive as Austin. I mean Austin looked nice before this UMD offer. But I don't really have a preference right now. My sole concern at the moment is whether to choose ranking over financial aid or vice versa.

I got accepted to the MPAff program at LBJ but no funding. I have an issue that is baffling me and would appreciate any and every help that I can get: I've also gotten acceptance at a bunch of other policy schools including Ford but with no funding. However, I've received an offer from School of Public Policy at Uni of Maryland that gives me in-state tuition and a GA position. Till this offer, I've been leaning towards LBJ because I live in Texas and I like Austin. But now I'm confused as to whether I ought to choose LBJ (rank-wise) or UMD (financial aid-wise)! Would be grateful for any word of advice!

This is so excruciating! Be out with it already?