usdenick

I'm hoping to get some sort of job or internship since it seems like you can complete the required classes by going two days a week, which would leave time for an internship or work. I've actually heard that the career office is good about helping students obtain jobs while in school, so I'm thinking about getting a full-time job after my first year or semester since many of the classes can be completed in the evening. I'll be focusing on management or finance and am hoping to get work or an internship in a hospital or health system. On-campus work would be cool, too. Housing will be a headache, for sure. I have some friends, so I'm hoping to crash with them starting in August and then find a place by Sept. 1... Not looking forward to that search! I'm hoping to stay somewhere in the city myself... preferably the east side of Manhattan or queens or brooklyn...

Yup! I'm very excited. I am doing the Health Policy and Management concentration. You?

I got very lucky in that I was offered a generous scholarship to my first-choice school. I realize that this is very rare, but I also worked for several years in low-paying, high-prestige jobs and I think that helped my application (in addition to solid undergrad grades and good statements and rec letters). If I hadn't gotten a scholarship, I don't know that I would still be attending my first-choice school. It's in an expensive area of the country and you do have to take into consideration the cost of living and the extra debt you might incur in these really expensive cities like DC or New York. In addition to considering deferring or going to a lower-ranked school that might give you more aid, I think there are two other strategies for advancing your career. One is finding programs that offer evening classes so that you can work during the day to at least cover your living costs and perhaps a portion of your tuition. Some non-profits even offer tuition remission programs and if you get a job at the university you want to attend you can often get nearly all your tuition covered. The other strategy that people are not discussing here is completely skipping grad school. I know this might be VERY difficult in some career fields such as IR, but there are some high-caliber jobs that can be gotten without a grad degree (some research assistant positions, jobs on capitol hill, some more administrative positions at well-known organizations) that you can potentially parlay into getting a better job down the road or could boost a future grad school application. I know this strategy may not be right for everyone, but I personally feel there is this gospel that grad school is always the right choice for everyone, and I think it's healthy to question that in certain situations. There are people who go far in life without a grad degree. Not saying it's easy, but I respect those people a lot and I don't think they're any less smart than people who get the grad degree. In fact, I've talked to several people who tell me "you don't really learn anything in grad school, it's just about checking a box and/or networking," which is such a discouraging way to look at an education! The other thing that I would recommend to people who have not already done it is to actually calculate out your cost of living in the future and the impact of a large loan payment on that. Finaid.org has a good calculator that allows you to estimate how much your monthly payment might be upon graduation. If your loan payment is $500, that is an additional $6,000 per year. That may be worth it, but you must remember that the $6,000 is after-tax money, so it's probably more like an additional ~8K that you have to earn each year in order to pay that. I think it might be easier for people that have been in the workforce and have received different level paychecks to understand the impact of different monthly payments on their income.

I agree with most everything that Prestomanifesto says, but I actually do think that some work experience can help you in the admissions process. The trick is getting relevant work experience. You may have to work for a year or two, network, and do your due dilligence before you can land that "impressive" job that will be relevant to your degree goals and potentially help you in the admissions process. That having been said, it's completely true that some schools don't give funding at all (no matter how long you have worked), but some schools that give lots of funding (WWS, for example) pretty much require work experience. And, if you have terrible GRE and GPA stats you may not qualify even if you have good work experience. I think that taking out a lot of loans and dedicating two more years to school is not a decision that should be taken lightly, so I think it's good you're being deliberate in your decision making. I think one additional benefit of working for a little while is that it will give you additional time to research the various options (career paths, degrees, etc) that are out there by researching and talking to professionals. You may find that there's another interesting career path that works better for you, and you'll likely be better prepared to enter the job market after you graduate if you do already have some work experience on your resume.

I'm so glad someone posted about this because it's been on my mind a lot as well. I'm in a position where I have a good job and could probably still move up one or two rungs on the ladder (maybe even further) without a grad degree. I always thought that grad school was a no-brainer, but I honestly wished I had thought more about the option of not going before I applied. I think that in some career fields, you can work your way up without a grad degree, but it's harder and probably takes longer. In the end, I'm hoping that an MPA will give me more flexibility to apply to different jobs and not have to rely on being promoted based on my performance at a current company alone. That having been said, I think that it's really important to think about the financial aspects of this decision. If you have a good job and there is an opportunity for continued salary growth, maybe it doesn't make sense to go into a ton of debt for grad school. However, if you're just a few years out of undergrad and can go for a reasonable amount of debt, it may be worth it so that not having a grad degree won't hold you back in the future.

I am interested in Urban Governance and really like the idea of getting an Master of Urban Planning because it seems that as an Urban Planner you really have the ability to shape the geographic form of a city. Lately I've been thinking about getting an MPA instead of an MUP, however, because it seems that the degree is more flexible. Especially in this bad job market it seems like having a broader degree would be more helpful for landing a job in an urban government. What do you see as the relative merits of each degree in terms of career/work options? I would appreciate your input. Thanks!