ca010

Did you decide on UW? I had the same decision between Evans and Duke-Sanford

Is anyone attending?

Yes I am also having trouble with leaving San Francisco for graduate school this fall. The Inner Sunset, Haight and Cole Valley neighborhoods basically surround UCSF and all seem to have a high concentration of UC students walking up the hill at all hours. All 3 are excellent neighborhoods but quite expensive. The outer sunset isn't quite as nice as the inner sunset because the inner sunset is just a little easier access to the rest of the city and has a great collection of cafes and restaurants. Cole Valley is the nicest of the areas right next to UC.

With these varied interests, it sounds like Goldman and Sanford would be the best fits. Both are known (at least on these forums) for their domestic strengths--but both also have strong global policy programs. Both are also cheapest for you (assuming you are a CA resident?). Goldman was also my dream school at the start of this process and I too am a CAL grad. I think part of it was nostalgia but it's a great program and that little brown and white building is so cool, right? I'm leaving the Bay Area for Sanford because of a generous funding offer and the chance to live somewhere new for a few years as I've lived in Northern CA most of my life. I'm a little worried about studying in North Carolina and trying to get a job in the Bay Area, but I'm not 100% set on coming back, so I'm just going to see what happens Best of luck

So you went to the open house? Or somewhere else?

This is an interesting thread. It sounds like you have a difficult choice, but you're deciding between excellent schools. I went to Berkeley as an undergrad (I also considered GSPP) and I took quite a few international-oriented classes as a History major. It seemed like GSPP had very few classes for international policy and since there is no International Affairs department at Berkeley you would piece together classes primarily from the Political Science, IAS (International and Area Studies), some ERG, and other departments. My sense of the IAS department when I was there was that it had some amazing professors but was somewhat disorganized as an interdisciplinary department. The political science and ERG departments are exceptional though, and at an info session that GSPP held in November they said they would be introducing an ERG/MPP dual degree soon if you're interested in energy. I don't think it would require a big effort to make your degree more international. I got the sense that it was the norm to take classes in departments around campus. That probably means visiting a professor at office hours to ask if you can join a graduate level seminar. Berkeley and Stanford are different in a lot of ways, but their graduate departments are top 5 in most areas and to have full access to these classes is really an advantage. Best of luck in your decision.

I wanted to start this topic because I will most likely accept Sanford's offer and would like to know who else will be attending. Also, if anyone who went to the open house today could give a quick run down of what the day was like, what your impressions were, or any pertinent information, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I have the same question, but it's Sanford not Stanford so who you might not get the response you wanted.

Thanks. Yeah they sent out an email in early January that said there was a deadline for an Educational Opportunity Fellowship and I wrote a 1 page essay. It's $1500 stipend and tuition reduction from out-of-state to in-state. Didn't expect to get it, but a pleasant surprise.

I got an email last week that said I got a fellowship that I applied for (EOF) and that funding decisions would be sent out soon.

I agree with Nimesis. I read one or two posts from last year with the same issue. It's too bad because I went into the process hoping Evans would be a school that I could possibly get some funding from and Seattle is a great city. But I'm quite skeptical at this point

Yeah I would second this advice. As a Berkeley undergrad I'm partial to the school but the difference in funding in your situation is too big. I would make an effort to land a GSI or reader position at GSPP before making the decision though.

Unfortunate that they can't just have all admit/rejection notices ready to go and sent out at once. Now I get to think about it all weekend? That's weak.

My two cents: $50 million is a lot for an MPP program, but GSPP seems to me to be a significantly better program at this point and that's not likely to change in the next few years. If the donation turns into big fellowships right away then that's a different story. Berkeley just seems like they have much better graduate programs and since you're a CA resident it's not a huge debt burden.

Fadedindreams Wow. Thanks for the answers. The information is really helpful even though I don't know if I'm in or have any funding. It eases my mind so thanks for the effort.

Fadedindreams thanks for the offer I am curious about assistantships. How common are they? What about for first year students? And how do they generally work? Do they forgive part or all of your tuition? Thanks

My funding was broken down into fellowship and assistantship. I wonder how they determine who gets an assistantship? You got a slightly bigger fellowship but no RA? Interesting. What's nice about a lot of the public universities is that the assistantships or GSI positions often come with a tuition forgiveness (right?). At least that's how I understand it. Too bad that's not the same at Duke with the 35k

Yeah a lot of decisions are out early this year so why not Ford. And they might as well give out a bunch of fellowships while they're at it. I NEED it

I would really like to attend the open house but it's a bit of a stretch coming from CA. I know I would love the school but I would prefer to see what Durham is like before committing.

Thanks mppbluedevil. Thats a lot of good info I just received an admit with a generous financial package (15k fellowship and an assistantship). But the cost is still so high especially considering that most students are entering the public sector. Do most students take on large amounts of debt by graduation? Any sense on what a ballpark figure might be for the average 2 year MPP student? Hi everyone! It's been a few days since I've posted so I want to try and answer all of your questions in this one thread. @Siya210: With regards to admissions dates, the only thing I've heard is that they are aiming to electronically release admissions and funding decisions by mid-March. I do know that their Admitted Students Open House is on March 25th so I would assume results would come out before then. Don't be anxious! Only a few more weeks :-) @understatement: Financial aid packages are GREAT at Sanford, at least in my opinion. I don't have an average award amount statistic for you, but I think they make it a point to give most admitted 2-year MPP students a tuition fellowship (ranging from a couple thousand to partial or close-to-full rides, depending on merit) AND an assistantship (mostly teaching assistantships, some research assistantships and graduate assistantships). I would say that about 90-95% of non-dual degree students have an assistantship that pays you a monthly taxable stipend. If you're a dual degree student, you usually don't get an assistantship because of your courseload in the spring but that also depends on personal circumstance, etc. Financial aid is merit based, so you definitely have the ability to get more based on your qualifications. The nice thing at Duke is it's a small program, so it seems like there's a decent amount of money to go around either for these financial aid packages and even with the summer internship fund (that helps to pay students who choose to take an unpaid internship in the summer). @gavinf: This information only really applies to the MPP program though - I'm not sure how the MIDP program operates with funding since that's a separate program. @Benefactor: Some people do apply to dual degree programs during their first semester here, but I've honestly heard mixed things about whether that's helped their chances or not. I would think that being at Duke first helps expose you to professors you're interested in/classes you're interested in/etc - but I wouldn't put all your eggs in that basket by any means. Duke Law is pretty competitive and I'm sure takes GPA and LSAT scores into consideration just as much as they would if you were applying directly/solely to them. I personally think that applying to both programs at the same time shows your commitment to and strong interest in attending a certain school (as opposed to sort of applying as an "afterthought") but that's just my opinion. We do have a decent number of dual degree students (with JD/MBA/MEM) though. @Robtastic: Congrats on your acceptance! The MIDP program is housed within Sanford but is pretty different from the MPP program. There is some crossover between classes (particularly in the global policy track) and the MIDP students seem to be typically older, with many more years of (mostly abroad) work experience. I'm not to sure about the particulars of the program but I'm sure if you emailed their Admissions Office they'd be able to put you in contact with somebody. Cheers, MPPBlueDevil

Just got an acceptance as well with $$. Even with generous funding and an assistantship it's really difficult to justify taking on $40-50k in loans for a career in the public sector.