Mppirgradschool

An advantage that Jackson has, is that other graduate schools within Yale (Yale SOM, Yale Law School), view it as a true equal. You'll have great chances to network, cross-register and develop your skills as needed. At HKS, other graduate programs at Harvard (HBS, Harvard Law School), look down, albeit slightly, at HKS because not everyone in it views it as a true equal, since it is easier to get into -- and many of its students are eager to break into the same fields as HBS grads, like management consulting. I also think that some incoming HKS students compute the potential of using HBS OCR when accepting their offer heavily, which may create a rift between them and HBS students.

Incredible offers, both are excellent! I think this will ultimately go down to fit and deferral policy flexibility... I will hit each point (based on your interests): 1) Yale might have a slight edge, as it has a stronger academic focus. You'll know how accessible Belfer, and other research centers, are to students for publication purposes, but the people that I know involved with them are all fellows/outside researchers. 2) Jackson only has about 30 people per class, 8X smaller than the MPP at HKS, so I'll give it the nod here as well, just based on numbers. At HKS, you will also be competing for access to professors and fellows with more senior students in the MPA/ID, MPA and MC/MPA programs. 3) HKS wins here, based on its longevity and size. Jackson benefits from being integrated with the greater Yale ecosystem, both network and name-brand recognition-wise, though. 4) Community feel is based on preference, but as you prefer smaller, tight-knit environments, I'd give Yale the advantage (in your case). Both great options, and you can't go wrong. One thing to definitely consider is the deferral policy for each in the case of classes going online, this should be one of the most important components in your decision-making process since funding is equal (if not the most important).

You're definitely not alone in this decision (the correct one), as many of you have rejected offers from stingy programs in favor of those with funding. This is exemplified by HKS having to create a second waitlist due to low yield rates. As you mention, the likely recession and possibility of online classes makes the choice that much easier.

You definitely made the right choice... Congrats on SAIS IDEV, as it's an incredible program!

If the school you are enrolling at allows you to defer in the case of online classes (while keeping your scholarship), I would 100% recommend that you do. Personally, if the school doesn't allow you to defer if courses are online, I would either enroll at another school with a more lenient deferment policy (if you have multiple admits) or reapply another year. The reason you go to graduate school is to, upon graduation, be in a better spot than you were prior to enrolling. Much of that hinges upon you getting an excellent summer internship between years 1 and 2 of your program. It's very hard to do this when you aren't on campus, as you miss out on so many connections/OCR/informational interviews etc. This is what you ultimately pay for, the networking, and you would be forgoing the main perks of the program by enrolling if courses are taught via Zoom.

Second this, MBB also places its alums into elite non-profit orgs/foundations such as the Gates and Clinton Foundations, in strategy and operations roles. Gates Foundation pays exceptionally well, btw. I know people at MBB that have also done interesting work with city governments, advising them on a variety of issues spanning from how to improve city traffic congestion to how to reduce deficits.

Other people may have more insight into this, but these are my 2 cents. The people with JDs that I have worked with typically have a General Counsel type role in the organization and look over the policy minutiae/nitty gritty specifics. When drafting policies/implementing projects, I go to them as a final approver to ensure we are complying. I am guessing you will have a similar experience at MBB. I can imagine that the strength of the JD, when referring to public sector prospects, lies in its ability to get you an AUSA/ADA role in the Justice Dept/State Govt, this typically leads to a successful domestic public sector career (although many branch out to private sector eventually). I know that the JD is not considered a prerequisite degree for the YPP program at WB, so unsure that it will benefit you particularly .

Sounds like the MPA/ID at either HKS or WWS would be a great fit, based on your future goals. Makes me hesitant to recommend you get a JD, as it's a huge commitment -- both timewise and moneywise. WWS would allow you to go debt free, while HKS would require you to work an extra 2-3 years at your MBB firm upon graduation for it to be subsidized. This is also contingent upon MBB agreeing to subsidize a non-MBA degree, you'll have more insight into that than me if it's common practice in the U.S.

Your future MBB WE and GPA make you competitive. It sounds like you took the GRE a while back, so you may need to retake and aim to get 163+ on the Quant section, given how MPA/ID and WWS MPA both prioritize an 80%+ Quant section score. Personally, I'm not a fan of getting degrees just for the sake of getting degrees. If you are interested in a JD/MPA, I would seriously think about the MPA component, as JDs can get the same jobs as MPAs -- but not vice versa. Do you really need the MPA degree? Princeton is fully funded so that would be the only option I'd even consider in your situation, as you'll also have insane law school debt. Regarding Princeton WWS, you have to ask yourself if you think you need the extra degree and don't mind forgoing 18 months of big-law salary, which could equate to $300,000 in potential earnings.

Hands down the correct decision, good luck in your future endeavors!

Haha yeah my Mason Fellow recommendation was intended for @spnfiim ! Sorry for the confusion, was echoing your advice...

. Agree with everything said here, it’s a lot of debt and employment in the development field/public sector will be greatly affected for the coming years. This is obviously true for the private sector as well. If it isn’t too late and given your lengthy work experience, you might want to look at applying as a Mason Fellow to the MC/MPA once things improve. It costs almost half as much as the MPA/ID and you would be able to minimize debt more effectively with external fellowships

From my understanding, SAIS and SIPA have recently improved their financial aid packages considerably, increasIng the quantity and quality of scholarships given to admitted students. HKS is gifted with donations that are typically restricted, which means they are to be used for whatever project/end the donor intends (start a research center, endow a professor, fund a new building etc.). Donors rarely ask to fund the financial aid “pot” because they lose their chance to brand their name on something (i.e. Wexner, Belfer). The school as a whole has become very stingy as a result, and relies on the highly coveted but incredibly competitive CPL fellowships as main sources of internal scholarships. One can argue that graduate schools in general are cash cows, but despite law and business schools’ prohibitive costs, the expected salaries upon graduation are ~$150,000 + (this recession may change that a bit). Policy/IR schools on the other-hand are asking you to pay $160,000 for a job that pays a little over $50,000 (considering this recession). Given this fact about policy schools, the stingier the school, the more of a cash cow it is. Paying that full price (of policy schools) for that meager result is absolutely nuts, btw.

Having worked abroad, people view Harvard as a purely academic, theoretical place with bookish individuals. They view Columbia as having a more cosmopolitan, pragmatic student body. Nothing wrong with each, people just gravitate towards one or the other based on their preferences. Important to note that all public policy/IR programs are cash cows to a certain degree, as HKS is also notorious for being stingy with funding, as almost all scholarship money comes from CPL full rides.

If their class is full/almost full, you’ll hear after the 30th. If the class has a lot of space, they might tell you before that date, as you all have to pay deposits elsewhere and they would be asking you to break them (i.e. the melt rate). You all seem to have some incredible offers with great funding elsewhere, so there is zero upside/benefit that derives from accepting a potential waitlist offer, with zero funding, while also having to break a deposit from a funded offer/fully funded offer — and HKS knows that. This is why you might hear an answer in the coming days (if there is indeed a lot of space)...

Second this, it’s an easy decision and Harris is an excellent brand and arguably offers the strongest training out of any public policy program. This will help differentiate you when competing for jobs in the midst of a recession.

Hindsight is 2020, as it wasn’t confirmed that NIV/F1 processing wasn’t being touched until last night. Still much uncertainty on this topic moving forward. Take care.

Ordinarily I would say yes, but this just adds to the many variables admitted students are facing, most of which have to decide where to go in the next week. Many people are making life-changing decisions without anything close to a semblance of the “full picture”. I would be very apprehensive to take out some loans to go to a school with so many question marks in the air, including if they won’t go back to processing visas/resuming normal travel in the coming months.

Looks like an executive order to halt travel to U.S. will be enacted soon, with no end date proposed, similar to the one arbitrarily enacted against some Muslim countries in Jan. 2017. This would be a more permanent measure than the current visa processing hiatus at consulates around the world. It could seriously upend international student enrollment, and hinder the overall graduate school experience that benefits immensely from diverse, global views and voices. If you haven’t deferred yet, definitely recommend doing so if possible. https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2020/04/21/trump-does-it-an-executive-order-to-suspend-immigration/#1c182efdc6be

Hands-down go to SAIS... Offer is great (80k scholarship from SAIS is very impressive), it’s an IR powerhouse and DC, along with NY, is the diplomatic/think tank/journalism capital of the US. Boston is a harder city to pivot into IR from, as it’s a bit far from the nuclei of international affairs.

Based on current conditions (Covid-19, recession, travel restrictions, possible remote learning in the fall/possibly entire year), I would assume that students are going to accept their fully funded/well funded offers vs. schools that offer no $, as this is the smart, logical thing to do. Full funding is something that WWS guarantees, making it the ideal program, which makes me hesitant to think that the waitlist will be leveraged. It is possible that the last aspect, remote learning, may push people to defer for a year, but this depends on the leniency of WWS’ deferral policy. You may have more insight than me on this. Good luck! I hope it works out for you and you get the call! WWS is a dream school that’ll give you inside track at tons of unique, meaningful public sector jobs.

Completely agree! By rule of thumb, take any school admittance with an offer below ~$40k a year of funding as a rejection. Everyone makes the same upon graduation. I work with people that have attended a variety of these programs and our consensus is unanimous, follow the funding, network and you’ll be in a great spot at UT.

The advantage that SIPA has over other schools in this respect, is that it grants students higher levels of flexibility to complete core courses. It does not have the rigid first year core curriculum sequence of some its peer institutions. It also has a “J Term”, a small cohort of students that start in the Spring term each year. They already seem to have a system in place for students entering in the Spring so I am guessing it’ll be easier to adapt to this uncertainty.

Good catch! But yes, I think the fundamental issues remain intact (i.e. costs are prohibitive/high levels of debt with low ROI, outcomes less than ideal during a Recession, difficulty to network properly, possibility of remote learning etc.) and this pandemic may very well change how higher-education operates moving forward. Congrats on your acceptances!

This is true, although I would argue that SIPA may attract more of the “children of world leaders/well off international people” demographics because of NY’s draw as a world-class city and Columbia’s brand strength internationally.