canesfan2011

When I was at the open house student panel, all of the students (about 7 or 8) were from different concentrations but seemed to know each other and have inside jokes and a couple seemed to hang out together outside of school. They told us that it was a mix- some people were older or worked full time and came to class and went home, but a lot of them made an effort to get to know each other and form a community. So I think it's really a mix of both!

Hi guys, Just wanted to let you know that I was just offered and accepted the assistantship. My mother pointed out to me that I'm only 21 and don't need to work a 70 hour a week job my first year of grad school! I think this is going to be a good decision. Thanks for the input!

I'll be attending Trachtenberg at GW in the fall. To answer your questions- yes, the lobbying firms are in the area I plan on studying and no, I don't plan on going into PhD work. I've already registered for fall courses and will be taking all night courses so I can work full time. I have about 3 years of work experience in internships (Senate, White House, House, campaign). I have the opportunity to get an interest free loan so I would still be able to attend with just the half award, so as I'm thinking through this the jobs seem more and more appealing! This is a great dilemma to have, but still frustrating!

I just got word that there is a large possibility I will be offered a full assistantship that would pretty much make my MPA degree free. Full tuition for the first year + $16,000 stipend and 13 out of 20 credits of tuition for the second year with no stipend. (However, regardless of my acceptance of the assistantship I get the first year of tuition free.) The only thing causing me to hesitate is that I interviewed at two very big, well-known lobbying firms on Friday on my trip up to DC that have the possibility of $35-45k salaries and my interviews went fantastically. If I were to take the assistantship I would be working ten hours as a research assistant and ten hours in the alumni office. These two firms have huge networking potential as well... So do I take the one year free tuition and the great but very demanding job or the free master's degree and poverty level stipend? I CAN'T DECIDE!!!!! (For context I plan on going into public affairs/communication and have no interest in research or academic work). Please give me some insight!

(Almost) Same decision here, except I'm in for GWU's MPA rather than MPP. I'm going to GW b/c their program is much more flexible and less rigid. Also because of the cost, but because I don't want to do strictly policy analysis work, the HUGE quantitative/theory focus at GU just wasn't my thing. I also feel like GWU with their capstone exercise puts more emphasis on work experience/real world application. And I also heard from an unaffiliated third party that GU is in a state of transition and doing away with their tracks, so the transitional nature of the program made me skeptical... obviously I'm biased now b/c I loved the open house weekend at GW so much!!! And I'm sure anyone who's worked in DC will tell you no one really cares where you get your master's from as long as you stay within DC. If you go outside, I think that's the only situation where GU would have the advantage for name brand.

Honestly now that I've been thinking about it for a few days, I don't know if anything less than a full ride would even tempt me. I applied for a program other than the MPP at AU but still within SPA so that also made a difference. AU has a great program and I loved it when I went to visit, but I just loved GW more. It has the name value and the program is bigger so there's more of a network. Also I think the MPA degree I'd be getting holds more weight than the other one while still letting me incorporate things from the other program that I want. Just my two cents!

Just got back from accepted students day and I've made up my mind (barring a huge funding package from AU) that I'll be at GW next year!!!

Still no packet or funding offers for me either... UGHHHH!!!

Whew! I feel a lot better! I would just like to know about my financial aid status before I head up to the open house. Anyone else going?

Anyone not get their packet/financial aid offers yet? I know Bethany said they were "in the mail" but I just wanted to know if I was one of few or one of many!

I also JUST got my snail mail packet even though I was admitted Feb. 14... no info about financial aid at all... anyone else? Without aid looks like I'll be heading to GW!

I'm rejected too! Can't say I'm shocked... 21 year olds are not high on their want list! Honestly I'm pretty happy ending up in DC. 8)

I'm also second guessing myself because even though I'm minoring in economics I took all the upper level econ classes last semester and had to submit my transcript to them before final grades came out so it looks like I only took two econ classes... thankfully I had one of those econ professors write me a recommendation, so that could help it. I've got a feeling about hearing something today or tomorrow! But I've also only slept 3 of the last 48 hours and could just be hoping for a self-fulfilling prophecy... YAY DELIRIUM.

I wouldn't worry about it... I applied on Nov. 26 with stats way above the means and didn't hear back until last week... still haven't heard about financial aid.

I got my acceptance email on Feb. 14 and still haven't received my packet! It's been 3 weeks... I assume financial aid decisions are the culprit, but I wasn't asked to apply for scholarships, so it's need-based. Anyone else been waiting a ridiculously long time for their packet???