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jlbeans

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  1. Hi all, I know I am very, very late to the game but I would love some advice on what my next steps should be. To be quite honest, applying to grad school for me was a crapshoot that I hadn't even fully figured out before I applied, in part due to work reasons. I was in a tough spot due to work where I don't think I adequately prepared for my apps, or even had some serious conversations with people about what I wanted out of a school, all I looked at was the US News and World Report and if I could afford the program. For a little bit of context, I am a current hill staffer (who is trying to pay for grad school on this Federal gov salary) looking to move up/try different fields after having spent my entire post-undergrad career on the hill. I've basically maxed out how much more I can move up in my office and want to learn more skills that would make me a competitive candidate in other fields. I chose to apply to only MPP programs because so many people told me working on the hill was essentially a MPA. Not sure how true that is. My focus is health policy, and I've been lucky enough to do some really exciting work in this space, something I hope to continue doing after getting my MPP. I'm not opposed to returning to DC or even the hill. I would love to work on Senate HELP or HHS, but I am also interested in the private sector, including lobbying in the healthcare industry, Deloitte, BCG and other private firms. Again, not sure if these firms even have what I am looking for. That being said, the schools which I got into I don't think are completely conducive to what I am looking for, I think. I was debating between UCLA Luskin and UC Berkeley Goldman, having applied to these schools because I qualify for in-state tuition and cannot afford most of the programs out in DC. I didn't receive any funding from either of them. From what I hear, both of these schools are pretty focused on California politics, something I'm not interested in doing. I was pretty on the fence about Luskin, because of how good their public health program (MPH, though) is and how many opportunities LA would have for health policy. Having grown up in the Bay Area, I am also not interested in moving back there or living there ever again, so that was one thing stopping me from full on charging towards Goldman. Also not a quant person so that made me very nervous. I got rejected from Harvard, in part I think because I wasn't prepared enough on my apps, but after learning more about the HKS program, I think it would be the one I am most interested in, in part due to how well-rounded the cohort is. I also think they would be the best for the health field, since Boston is basically the epicenter of the healthcare industry. Thus, I am debating if I should defer Goldman to try and apply for HKS again next year, having been far more prepared and aware of what I am interested in. Would I have a harder time getting in because I am a repeat rejected applicant? Are there any other schools anyone would recommend I look at for public health? Apologies, if that is a lot to ask, but its really hard to find that much information out there. Lastly, I do want to add that I also applied to some schools in the UK, primarily LSE and KCL (MSc in policy and management). I would definitely go to LSE if I got in and to be quite honest, I like the UK schools more because of how quick the program is. Not sure how good it is for job searching, but I figured it would get me back in the job market fast enough and probably able to compete with graduates from HKS. Does anyone have any recommendations on what my next steps should be?
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