solareclipse

Hi everyone! I've seen a few "which program should I choose" posts popping up now that acceptances/rejections have come out, so I thought I'd start up a thread to put all of them in one place. I've put mine below in case anyone has any input or advice they'd like to share. Thanks in advance! I’m currently weighing my options between two programs. After receiving acceptances/rejections and beginning to narrow down my offers to my top two, I’ve gotten stuck. I’ve been admitted to the UW-Madison La Follette School of Public Affairs Master of International Public Affairs program (25k/yr) and the Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy Master of International Business program (35k/yr after receiving my aid package). As an overview of my interests/goals, I am interested in focusing on Latin America and the energy sector, particularly as it relates to developing countries and the transition to renewable energy. Careers of interest would include working in consulting (in roles involving the above areas of interest), working in the private sector at utilities or renewable energy companies, or positions in the Department of Energy, for example. Given the intersection between the public and private sectors in the energy sector, I am looking for an interdisciplinary education that gives me a deeper understanding of both sides. Below are the draws and cons of each program. Additionally, while I am interested in Latin America and would ideally be able to do work focusing on the region, I don’t necessarily want to live in Latin America for a large portion of my life, and therefore am willing to do more domestically focused work for at least a portion of my career. Wisconsin - La Follette: Pros: -MIPA program has an international dimension, and provides many of the basic skills I would need to use in future jobs. -Pipeline to consulting firms (Close relationship with Grant Thornton, many grads go directly into public sector consulting roles) -Opportunity to work with the Wisconsin Energy Institute, as well as the Wisconsin School of Business (via Energy Analysis and Policy certificate and Business, Environment, and Sustainability certificate programs). These certificates add more of an interdisciplinary aspect to my degree. -Multiple professors with focus on the transition to renewable energy -Cheapest option. While I did not receive any scholarship aid, my understanding is that many students get graduate assistantships in their second year as well, which would widen the funding gap even further -Lower cost of living in Madison (very livable city as well) -My partner is a UW grad and her family lives outside of Madison, making the move and adjustment to a new city far easier. -State Capitol location grants a lot of hands-on project opportunities. Cons: -Madison is not as large as Boston, and would not have the same quantity/quality of opportunities. -Limited name recognition of the La Follette program outside of the midwest (though I would be interested in living in Chicago, as a mitigating point) -Many classmates focused on social policy and domestic policy. -More limited cohort of MIPA students vs. MPA students -Large portion of graduates work in state governments, meaning a more limited alumni/classmate base going into similar fields with me. Therefore, less networking ability within the La Follette School. Tufts - Fletcher: Pros: -MIB program bridges the public/private sector gap. -Career outcomes of graduates match up well with my career goals -Multiple research centers fitting my interests (Climate Policy Lab, Institute for Business in the Global Context, Center for Emerging Market Enterprise) -More prestigious/well-known program in the field than La Follette. -Multiple professors with focus on the transition to renewable energy -Proximity to Boston -“Fletcher Mafia” - super tight alumni network -Ability to focus on both of my areas of interest (energy/Latin America) -MIB degree ~may~ provide higher earning potential than MIPA. -Hands-on project opportunities in the Boston area Cons: -More expensive tuition -Higher cost of living -Not actually in Boston. Coming from a neighborhood in the middle of San Francisco and seeing friends living in outlying cities come it into the city far less than they had anticipated, this is a worry of mine. - While the Fletcher name is extremely well known within the international affairs community, I am unsure of how well it is known outside of it. (Any clarity there would be helpful) I'm sure I've missed a couple pros/cons, but I've tried to get as many important pieces of information in there as possible. Let me know what you all think!

Hi, yes absolutely, I completely forgot about that part! I focused on Latin America (mostly the Southern Cone) during undergrad, and am looking to continue with that focus in grad school and in my career. The three main areas I'm looking to get into would be internationally-oriented think tanks (Brookings, CFR, CSIS, etc), political risk consulting(Eurasia Group, Control Risks, to name a few), or NGOs focusing on salient issues in Latin America today (Human rights, economic development, etc). There are also some specific concentrations that I found interesting at some of the schools I listed (La Follette's energy analysis certificate is interesting given its possible use related to Latin America's energy development, for example. Other concentrations that were interesting include the regional specializations that most programs have, plus Human rights concentrations, like at SIPA) I'm also considering working towards a dual degree (MPP/JD), as all of the programs I listed above do some form of that, which would allow me to either go deeper into the human rights/rule of law/etc realm or work in a law firm with a significant work in or related to Latin America. Obviously that is still quite broad, and the dual degree idea is not something I'm set on at this moment, but that's partially why I'm posting this now as opposed to waiting until whenever my applications are completed. Could you possibly go into a bit more detail about what leads to a policy/IR grad degree not giving much of a job boost (if any)? That is definitely something for me to keep in mind as I continue thinking about when makes the most sense for me to go to grad school for the best results. Thanks for responding so quickly!

Schools/Programs Applying To: Still thinking about my list as I am leaning towards waiting to apply for admission in the Fall 2022 class instead of the Fall 2021 class. The programs I’m considering are: Georgetown Walsh, GW Elliot, Michigan Ford, UW-Madison La Follette, UT-Austin LBJ, HKS, SIPA, WWS Undergraduate institution: Pretty highly-ranked liberal arts college Undergraduate GPA: 3.7 Undergraduate Major: International Studies, Spanish GRE Quantitative Score: 161 GRE Verbal Score: 168 GRE AW Score: Just took GRE a couple days ago (above scores are from post-test unofficial scores), will get AW when I get official scores in 10-15 days Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): Just graduated, will be 1-2 years by the time I enroll Years of Work Experience: 3-4 (1-2 postgrad years by the time I enroll, 2 from internships during undergrad). 1 year of undergrad work and postgrad years will all be relevant (2-3 years total) Quant/Econ Experience: B+ in Microeconomics, B in Macroeconomics. Took Calc in high school but no other quant experience. Looking into taking an online stats course before applying to try to fill that gap a bit Describe Relevant Work Experience: 1 year working at a boutique political risk consulting firm (started as a research assistant, moved up to research coordinator by the end of my time there) Just started work at a top 25 ranked law firm (research/staff position), would have 1-2 years of experience by the time I plan to enroll Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Haven’t started writing this yet, but I’m confident in my writing abilities and my ability to craft a narrative, especially as I plan to start work on it now even if I don’t apply until Nov/Dec 2021 Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): Hoping these are pretty strong, 1 is International Studies department chair at my college (was also my senior thesis advisor and taught me twice), 1 is my boss/founder of the political risk consulting firm (also a professor at a top 10 IR school), and I’m planning on the final one being my current supervisor. Questions I have: My GPA and GRE are both pretty strong, I believe, but I'm wondering whether my lack of Quant/Econ experience will detract from my application significantly. Also, any thoughts on whether I should wait another year to get extra work experience or just go ahead and apply for Fall 2021? What do y'all think about the list I have so far? Any I should cut or add? I know a lot of the programs I’m applying to are pretty highly ranked as well so any advice or thoughts on that or anything else would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!