younglions

My statement is based only on what people have said about Trachtenberg on these forums compared to what I know about Elliott. You must remember, that unlike at a school like SIPA, Trachtenberg and Elliott are in two completely different schools/colleges. Trachtenberg is part of the Columbian College while Elliott is a stand alone program. It's like comparing the Johns Hopkins MPP program to SAIS, just to a lesser degree of severity. Elliott has always been considered firmly second tier, just beneath the big 4 + princeton and harvard, while there are a good 10-12 public affairs school that are arguably higher regarded than GW (harvard, princeton, chicago, berkeley, duke, georgetown, cmu, u texas, syracuse, ucla, nyu, etc... In fact I bet admitted students from schools like USC, UNC, Wisconsin, Maryland-College Park have better "stats' than GW, but probably aren't doing as much during their 2-year program.) I think one of the big differences between the two schools is that most Elliott students are dedicated, full-time students. Many have internships, but they are not full-time 40 hour a weekers. In comparison, Trachtenberg students are often pursuing their educations as an avocation. They work 40-hours a week and dedicate their left over energy to their studies. Only 55% of Trachtenberg MPP students are full-time. Many Trachtenbergers use their degrees as instruments for career advancement (often within their current organizations), and not necessarily as an opportunity to sincerely pursue education for two-years. There is nothing wrong with this, but if you're looking to be a full-timer, you might get tired of having your classmates consider their studies of secondary or even tertiary importance. On the other hand, such a large percentage of part-timers means that there will be more people in your class able to offer real world perspectives. Also, according to Petersons, Trachtenberg accepts 64% of applicants while Elliott accepts 41%.

slothrop - yes, they have 100s of scholarships and fellowships but almost all aren't decision-shapers when you have great offers from elsewhere. Fletcher is the same way. I received their Board of Overseers scholarship, which they reserve for their "best" applicants, but it is worth almost $10,000 per year less than my next smallest offer. There just isn't much money when it comes to IR schools. That's what makes your American offer so great. Edit: I'm 98% set on WWS. I've already determined which apartment complex I want to live in, nearest IKEA locations (Elizabeth, NJ) to load up on cheap furniture, and UHAUL rental locations and rates from Princeton to Elizabeth roundtrip (IKEA run). I've even gone so far as to figure out what furniture I'm going to buy based on the dimensions and floor plan of my desired apartment. I've also started systemically declining offers from some other schools. Once I've 100% made up my mind, I'm going to replace the time I've spent on this forum with a calculus textbook in order to start preparing for next year. The only way I don't end up at Princeton is if Harvard gives me an enormous funding package (not going to happen) or I'm selected as the winner of JKC scholarship. Seeing as they announce in May and we must decide in April, I'm pretty sure I'll be in Princeton come August.

To follow up on my previous post on the paucity of funding available for the MSFS, here's some info from the website: "Entering Class First year scholarships are distributed to those students viewed as "exceptional" based on the characteristics evaluated for admission. * Similar support for the second year of study is not guaranteed. * Typically, 10-15% of the entering class receives a merit scholarship, normally covering no more than one-half tuition."

slothrop - I agree with leica. As for your hypothetical example, I would have to seriously consider MSFS or SAIS over SIS if they gave me full tuition. However, with those two schools, the chances of that happening are minuscule. Both have very little money to pass around, and both have some amazing candidates from all over the world. (Not saying that we're not amazing candidates, just that the probability is low.)

Really, people in IR regard SIPA as the better school, but only marginally so. For IR, there is no better place than D.C., and Elliott is held in high regard everywhere. Some people here have been saying some less-than-laudatory things about GW's public affairs/public policy program, but the Elliott school is a completely different story. Congratulations on your great offer.

To me the answer is obvious: Elliott.

impatiens - yes I agree. I forgot to include another positive with SAIS. Since they demand all students to fulfill the economics requirements, they can make incorporate the "economic worldview" into all of their classes.

Hey congratulations on the acceptance! SFS is a great school in a great location. Did your acceptance letter include any info about funding? Or are they making you wait?

At USAID, SAIS seemed to be the most represented school.

I've heard time and time again that SAIS's economics preparation is overrated. The required economics courses are at the same level of rigor that most economics majors experience during their 4-year degrees. SAIS is only known for economics because it requires all students to take more econ courses than some of the other IR programs. However, many others offer the same courses, just don't require them. For those who aren't well versed in economics, and want to be forced into taking those courses, SAIS is a great option. Otherwise, it just represents less choice. (*Note: there are some IR programs that don't offer that many econ-courses... this "less choice" statement doesn't apply to SAIS relative to them.) Don't get me wrong, SAIS is firmly a top-4 pure IR program (along with SIPA, Fletcher, and SFS)... but if you studied economics in undergrad, prepare to be disappointed if the only reason you choose SAIS is their econ-focus. In the end, I didn't apply to SAIS because it's expensive, and doesn't seem to offer many of its students decision-shaping funding. On the other hand, SAIS alumni network is quite strong. Taking out extra loans might be worth it.

I'm almost positive Cornell07 got that info from a website authored by a public policy professor in which he discusses the requirements of various public policy schools. Let me find it....... okay here it is: http://www.fandm.edu/x9195.xml Also, I was wrong with my time prediction. Hopefully the same won't be true with my day prediction.

Yes, i received the message--however, it wasn't in the form of a PM. You sent it to my (our) e-mail address(es). Thanks for the insight!

Stephen - can you please copy me on that PM? Like others have said, I appreciate your willingness to discuss the Harris School.

So applikant posted his MPA-ID decision at 2:48 Harvard time yesterday. What's the over/under on when MPP applicants will hear? I'm going to be optimistic and say decisions will start rolling out today at 1:57. I have no reason for believing this, it's just a hunch. I also think that funding decisions won't be available until the last week in March. Also, how many people from these boards will post an acceptance? I'm going to say 7. What do you think? over? under? Will any Cinderellas make it to the big dance?

I guess we shall see. I know that according to the results page, those admitted were notified by e-mail in 2006 and 2008. Not enough info from 2007, but evidently it was post.

edit: oops wrong thread... how did that happen

I think admits get an email.

applikant - that is incredible news! I love the MPA-ID program, but feared I didn't have the math preparation (linear algebra, etc.) to be accepted, so I applied for the MPP. I'm doubtful that MPP decisions will be released today. The Crimson article that has been discussed on these forums specifically mentioned a 34% increase in MPP applications, but not MPA-ID applications. I'm sure MPA-ID experienced an increase, but not as big as MPP. If some of us do hear news later today, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Sorry, forgot to include that a quite a few people who deferred last year will be entering this year. I don't have the document right now, but it's somewhere between 10-13.

85/846

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.... This simple sentence sums up in entirety my view on this subject.

No I haven't decided yet. Whenever I receive my admissions packet from Princeton (I'm terrified of it getting lost in international mail), I'll probably decline my offers to CMU and Fletcher. Both are great schools, and both offered generous scholarships, but they just can't compete financially with Chicago or Princeton. Good luck... I'm sure you'll hear tomorrow.

To add, I must say I am impressed with the Director of Admissions at Chicago. Although I probably would have sent out an e-mail to all applicants notifying that decisions would be a few days after the announced date, she's obviously working hard to get decisions out as soon as she can. I think she just needs some more bodies around the office to get work done.

By email, after midnight Eastern US time.

In at Chicago. Full tuition (35.1k) plus 10k stipend.