EspressoDoble

June 3: HKS confirmed this afternoon that they are 100% online for Fall 2020 Spring 2021 decisions will be made later in the year No tuition reduction (fml) CPT is optional for MPP and MPA students, so international students are not eligible for internship in Summer 2021 (as they haven't physically studied on campus for the prior 9 months) CPT is mandatory for MPA-ID students, so they are required to have internship in Summer 2021. Other schools - what is the news?

Incoming HKS student here, and I want to speak only to the HKS aspect of what you've written. if it helps, I've got roughly 10 to 15 years of experience (depending on what you count), and so while I was eligible for the MCMPA, I still went for the MPA. The MPA-ID and the MPP have much younger cohorts, a very quantitative curriculum, and one that doesn't offer much flexibility, as compared to the MPA that has 90% electives, roughly speaking, though the cohort is still in their late 20s. In contrast, the MC-MPA has students who are much older, and the curriculum is not quantitative at all. Given all of this, here are three issues to think about: 1. Are you comfortable studying alongside people in their early 20s? Do you think you will learn much from them? Are you looking for a job where you are producing analyses, or do you want one where you are using those analyses to make decisions? IMO, companies would prefer to hire younger kids with little experience to produce analyses, so you might have a tougher time getting into these firms. 2. What are your professional strengths? Do you already have some leadership and people management skills in place? If you are established in your career, perhaps you should consider the MC-MPA for the opportunity to network with well-placed people, and to find a job through them. 3. HEC offers a valuable and reputed brand. That said, if you want another brand on your resume, and you also want a quantitative curriculum, and you don't care about the network (because you want to get into a very specific and small entity, then you might be better off with the WWS one-year MPA. The best part is that it is fully-funded, so that allows you to go work in a developing world context right after graduation, instead of worrying about loans to repay after HKS.

Ooh, I've been to grad school before. There are always some that you don't want to be in a group project with. Ouch. At my (now former) job, there were sacred cows that you couldn't talk about. At the same time, as the only data person, if I didn't speak up about these things, then I couldn't do my job well. The only way out was to be the occasional court fool, and to say the truth but in an irreverent manner because people can swallow difficult facts that way. Maybe I'll have to be an court fool at grad school too ? What you're saying about Oxbridge - I've heard the same thing from an LSE alum who also attended Columbia. She said that she could be more direct and outspoken there, whereas it was frowned upon in Columbia. My guess is that it's a cultural thing, that in the US, there is a greater need for safe spaces and to protect other's feelings, especially in a field like policy (whereas that might not be as true in schools of law or business). On a side-note, I've noticed that ex-consultants (esp MBB) tend to be well-practiced at both flexing and at excessive jargon. Low-hanging fruit, directionally correct, boiling the ocean, and a recent addition, cadence. All said, five years after grad school, if you still have 2-3 good friends, then I think you've done well. Most people don't have that.

Wow, everything you have said is very insightful. Thank you for sharing that. You know - I completely get this part. I'm on the online forums (for admitted students) of three schools and the self-important introductions are killing me here. I suspect there are people who genuinely care about ground-level work and making an impact, but those souls are probably getting drowned out by the louder ones. Every introduction reads like the person has mastered three dead languages, plays four instruments, and has started a successful non-profit in the Amazonian jungles that employs 200 people, all by the age of 10. Really, y'all never had any failures in life? On a side-note, I wouldn't have expected that from Fletcher, if only because they aren't a Ivy like WWS and HKS (and also because I have a soft-spot for that underdog). You went to Georgetown. I presume/hope you were able to find a few people that you genuinely connected with?

Ah, this was confusing - I've heard of SIPA folks (and others) being unhappy with the bureaucracy at World Bank. Is that what you're referring to? Also, why do you never want to see them again? Because they weren't good-enough intellectually at class, or because they were too arrogant and big-headed (to use a Malcolm Gladwell term)?

Ouch, no email for me yet. Guessing I'm not getting anything more ? Have you accepted the offer already? I'm guessing only those who have accepted their offers are getting additional money - does that sound right to you?

This late in the process, they are almost definitely using rolling evaluations and not waiting till the end (lest you accept at another school that admits you earlier).

@Karam2022 and @tacos95, I think you're looking at the wrong financial metrics. Instead of looking at the % of tuition covered, you should be looking at the total expense for the two years vs average salary earned in the first three years post-degree from that school. For each school, if the difference between these two numbers is just $20k to $30k or so, then the schools are comparable, and you have to consider other factors. But if there is a massive difference, then your choice is much easier. All this assumes that you will continue in the same city (or at least, within the US), for three years after graduation. If not, then you have to consider (a) whether the school has a brand and network in your target industry, and your target country, and (b) whether it will give you the kind of life you want to experience for two years. For example, financial considerations aside, two years are Yale (academic-professional focus, smaller class size) are going to be wildly different from two years at SIPA (active city life, massive classes). Where do you think you will thrive most?

Just in: Fletcher has extended their enrollment decision deadline by roughly 10 days, to April 1.

At HKS, this is true of the MPP and the MPA-ID, but definitely not for the MPA2, which is 100% flexible (or perhaps, 90% flexible). Right? Gosh, I hope I'm right here ?

All of your response is helpful and well-thought out, but I wanted to talk about this part specifically. My expectation is that this hit to the economy is going to be deep but short - that by the end of this year (or if we need to wait for a vaccine, by early 2021), things should start moving upwards. So when we graduate in mid-2022, things should have bounced back. Yes, this does mean that Fall 2020 classes might be online (which is very, very annoying), but apart from that, I think I can live starting school right now. You know - this is absolutely true. If HKS is online, then everyone else is gonna be online too!

Yeah, I've been told about Prodigy Finance (not sure if they are located in London). Most likely, I'm taking a loan through them though I am strongly tempted to defer my admittance by one year, and save up more money over this time. All said, you are right - these are two valuable years of my life, and I want to make the best of this decision. That said, I expect the economy to take a massive hit now and then start on an upward trend sometime between late this year (optimistic projection, if social distancing really helps) or mid 2021 (pessimistic, if only a vaccine can help us). So by the time we graduate in 2022, things should have bounced back. In fact, Ben Bernanke mentioned that he believed all the economic damage of this pandemic is front-loaded, and the US will experience it during Q1 and Q2 of this year. Also, check this out: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-social-distancing-over-back-to-normal/608752/ All that said, I am tempted to defer by one year, if only because HKS has given me $0 in funding. Still on the fence about this.

Would you take HKS even if the Fall 2020 semester was all online? What if Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 were both online? My fear is that the entire academic year will be online, and since my priority is to network and engage with people (and not be a technical specialist), it may not be worth it for me to join HKS right now. So if possible, maybe I should defer for one year. Where do you stand on this?

Wow, talk about being tone deaf. Glad NYU alumni are speaking up against her.

I noticed that you're getting 80k from SAIS over two years, and nothing from HKS.... Yeah, in your case, SAIS definitely sounds like a good option.