bambool

I understand. Thank you sooo much!!

Thank you sooo much!! This is really helpful. I was wondering if you know about UCLA's MaSS program. It seems better for pursuing a PhD, but it is a 9-month program without graduate dissertation and it has only research method courses. Do you think it would be a good choice in my circumstances? Thank you very much!!

About me: I'm an international student and I plan to pursue a phd afterwards, not for academic devotion just for a better degree (I know this is bad but plz don't judge me as I'm not sure if I can stay in US, and a doctorate degree would be helpful for a decent position back in my home country). My field of interest is more about public policy and government. Here's something I know about the two program: McCourt MPP Pros: 1. I like the orientation and the courses; 2. It has a dissertation option which would be good for phd application; 3. McCourt is famous for research in public policy(right?) with good faculty; 4.DC Cons: 1. The overall ranking of Georgetown is not good, not sure if this would be bad in some way; 2. The program setting is far from research-oriented, the admission office have no information about previous students' further education placements when asked SP2 MSSP+DA Pros: 1. Upenn's title is very good; 2. 10% of students went on to pursue phd and the admission office have some information about previous students' phd placements Cons: 1. No dissertation; 2. I am less interested in social policy. I realize both programs are not research-oriented, but this is the best I could get. So basically I want to know if this two programs and schools differ much in its academic atmosphere, and if so which one is better. Also, the things listed above may be wrong as I currently know little about US education and career environment... So Please help me! Any information would be extremely helpful!(;_;)