I am so happy to have got accepted from two great programs, MPP of Chicago Harris and MPA of Columbia SIPA. Although both schools would offer me a great opportunity to study methods of public policy analysis in the field of social policy, I lean on Chicago Harris because of its academic reputation, affordable living expense, and edged program focusing on quant.
When it comes to prestige, Columbia's ivy brand is attractive to Asian like me. I read a paper which insists SIPA is a top tier program along with HKS and WWS in MPP/MPA schools in the United States. Although the paper was published by SIPA, it works well to make me nervous about my decision.
Is it ridiculous to choose Chicago Harris over Columbia SIPA?