Mpadreamer

I am in a similar situation as you. Do you want to discuss offline? I will PM you.

That was helpful, thanks so much for chiming in!

Hi all, Long-time lurker here, would love to get some advice from you all since I am going crazy towards the deadlines. About me: coming from Asia, worked in an MNC for over 5 years in business roles, strong in marketing management and strategy with some experience in sustainability, advocacy and investment; My interests lie in philanthropy, impact investment and international development. Would like to work in foundations/ impact investing or international organizations like the UN driving public-private partnerships after the MPA degree, ideally in the US or Europe Choosing between: LSE, NYU Wagner, Columbia SIPA. None provided funding. I personally prefer SIPA and Wagner since I love their curriculums plus I really want to live in NYC. SIPA is of course a tier higher and more internationally oriented, but it’s also crazy expensive. Unless they come back with some money, I might go for Wagner (~30k difference, can anyone confirm?) since paying so much for a public sector degree doesn't make sense to me and also because Wagner offered me an assistantship (good opportunity but doesn’t help much with tuition). And I already have solid work experience (in the private sector), perhaps I could still manage without the Ivy League brand? However, I can’t shake off the fact that Wagner does not have a strong reputation outside the US. I would love to stay and work in NYC but this is extremely hard as a foreigner. Am I being irresponsible to pay tons of money just for the sake of living in NYC and learning what I love? Then there is LSE, a top-notch in the field with great reputation globally and promising career outcome. It’s also 45k cheaper than Wagner considering the lower living expenses in London. Problem is that I don't find their curriculum very interesting and I don’t prefer quant heavy/ theoretical nature nor the UK teaching style. I already have a quant background and would like to work on other skills instead in grad school. I have also lived briefly in Europe before so moving to London is not particularly exciting compared to the US. There is still the hope of getting a scholarship from the government of my home country but I won't find out until the summer. Any thoughts will be highly appreciated!