skim28

Coming from: NYC Deciding between: CMU Heinz - half tuition Duke Sanford - Half tuition UChicago Harris - Half tuition Other factors: So for me, pricing is relatively the same. I may be eligible for additional funding for CMU Heinz and UChicago since I just submitted a scholarship reconsideration form for both schools. So pricing isn't what matters to me but rather the programs themselves. So more about me is that I am interested in studying economic policy, political economy, and monetary policy. So I definitely want to do more econ and finance-heavy classes. Eventually, I want to work at the Federal Reserve. Maybe even get a PhD in economics, although a bit in the air about that but definitely want that as a possible option in the future. UChicago Harris: UChicago was initially where I wanted to go but as I've done more digging, I'm questioning if that's the best choice for me. I hear a lot of horror stories on the Internet about how hard the core curriculum is. I am drawn to it because it has a strong quantitative focus. Also, I hear that students feel like they don't receive a lot of attention from career services and struggle with the overall culture at Harris. This fuels my overall fear that the class sizes are too big at Harris with having about 1000+ students and if that deters from the experience. I hear that core curriculum classes are filled with hundreds of students. However, a pro is that UChicago does offer a lot of policy areas, and a few of them perfectly align with my own interests. Duke Sanford: I like how small Duke's program is. I like that the class sizes are less than a hundred each. I also appreciate that they have a semester abroad to study at Hertie in Germany which is something that interests me. But the program has only six concentrations at Duke that don't completely align with my own interests. I'm not sure how quantitatively heavy the program is itself as well which I feel is essential if I possibly want to get an econ PhD. CMU Heinz: With CMU Heinz, unsure how much the name carries itself in comparison to UChicago Harris and Duke Sanford. Right now, I'm going for the MPPSM program. However, I talked to admissions and was given the chance to apply for the DC track. So I might switch over. CMU Heinz is definitely more quant focus and tech focus. However, I do feel like UChicago could provide a similarly strong quant focus. Similar to Duke, it seems like the concentrations they offer don't perfectly align with my interests so it does feel like I might be compromising. How I'm leaning: I'm leaning more toward UChicago and Duke. I feel like both are great programs. Although, I'm stuck on whether I should be concerned about the overall experience. For UChicago, I know that there are so many resources I could utilize to work towards an econ PhD and be able to work at the Fed. However, I'm not sure if those resources are overcrowded considering the class size. I'm not sure if Duke could provide the strong econ coursework that I need. Does anything have any insight into the difficulty of working at the Fed with an MPP? Or how hard is it to get an Econ PhD if you get an MPP degree?