beefmaster

The so-called job offer sounds shady, fake and/or tentative at best. If however it is legit I'd say this is a no-brainer for Georgetown.

Probably still worth it. Ideally it tops out as an 11 or better after a couple years. I would still be skeptical of any hand shake government job offer until you're in the seat, even a 7.

My only dream is to get a funding offer that does not result in financial punishment for the next decade+

http://sites.tufts.edu/fletcheradmissions/2016/12/29/lets-get-real-about-the-deadline/

I don't usually weigh in on threads (long time lurker!) But I have to say that I do not agree with this statement at all and I am struggling to understand what your factual basis is. In fact this is certainly not my experience at all. Could you please clarify?

I am in a similar situation to you and I get it. I also work for a similar organisation (and within the same region, hello!) and I completely understand the desire to break into a more "normal" routine. Like you I have tried for the past couple of years to break out of the region we are in and work on something a bit more longer term development and less humanitarian / emergency in other contexts and have found it extremely challenging. As such I am looking forward to taking 2 years out starting in 2017 to get some perspective on the past 5 years and work out a next move. Remember you will be in a great position while in school to do numerous consultancies should your schedule allow. Also there are the summers, where short term consultancy posts could seriously offset the cost of tuition (as I am sure you know!). 
Anyway, good luck. I know all too well the challenging situation in and I wish you luck as you attempt to find that much coveted piece of normality that many of us are scrambling to find. 
-B

You listed "international relief organisations"....for this sector it does not matter at all where you went to school.

In order to pay off $100k of student loans in 10 years, you would need to pay $1,100 per month.  In order for that to be "affordable" based on the standard of paying no more than 10% of your monthly income (that's what the income-based repayment plans for federal loans is based on), you would need an income of $150,000, excluding contributions to retirement and health insurance premiums.  
Given entry-level public sector salaries, a common approach is to enroll in an income-based repayment plan.  On a $60k income, your payment would be around $352 per month. Bear in mind the calculation for income-based payments is based on your AGI, which excludes retirement contributions and health insurance premiums.  Therefore the income-based payment will probably be a bit lower.  Based on current interest rates, $100k in loans will accrue $487 in interest every month.  So your income-based payments will not even cover the interest that accrues each month.
What does this mean in practice?  If you do income-based repayment, you can keep doing that until your loans get forgiven in 10 (through public service loan forgiveness, which may very well be eliminated or changed by Congress) or 20 or 25 years (assuming you're paying under IBR or PAYE).  However, unless you get forgiveness through public service loan forgiveness, the amount forgiven is likely to be considered taxable income.  An extra $100k in income (or more, if you've let your balance increase over time) is a big tax hit.  Plus of course there is the stress to consider.
Also bear in mind that the salaries out of HKS are as much a function of who goes to HKS as they are a function of what HKS does for its students.  In other words, if you are someone straight out of college who got into HKS, the odds of getting a federal government job that pays $65k are pretty low.  You're much more likely to start out as a GS-9 making $53k (assuming you are in DC).  Your salary will certainly grow (if you're lucky, you could get up to a GS13 in as little as three years, and that currently equates to a $92k salary), but so will your expenses/desire for savings if you're trying to save for retirement, buy a house, etc.  
Don't get me wrong, I have heard great things about HKS (apparently their career services is amazing), Fletcher and similar schools.  That said, I have seen my former classmates from Syracuse go on to jobs with sought-after employers such as the UN (I was offered one), the World Bank, and McKinsey.  You can go on to have a great career out of most reputable MPP programs, though I think a place like HKS might do a bit more hand-holding along the way.  Think carefully about taking on a massive load of debt for the sake of a prestigious name on your resume, in order to work in a field where your salary will likely top out at around $200k at the most, unless you decide to go for the private sector, in which case why not just get an MBA?

Please help me guys!! I am really confused with my choice between HKS (without funding) and SIPA ( half tuition covered). HKS has been my dream since childhood, however SIPA offers me a generous funding. I have very limited knowledge of SIPA and for that matter, how it compares to HKS when it comes to job perspectives in Asia (esp Singapore- I am not from Singapore) where I plan to secure a job. I am an international student with a limited experience in the U.S and in desperate need of advice. I might also defer my admission from HKS until next year in case my plan for a loan becomes unsuccessful. I am also worried if it would be a legitimate reason for a deferral.  
My choice of program is 2 year MPAs for both schools and I am set and stone on specializing in international finance/East Asia studies. 
 
Please help me on deciding which school! Thank you so much

I applied to one.  Perfect fit, wife's hometown.  Accepted, solid funding.

Go with the Peace Corps, grad school isn't going anywhere. Take a few years to get some full time experience, work out your career goals, and of course earn some cash to pay for school. I applied right out of undergrad and I am VERY happy I didn't up any of the offers I received. A few years relevant work experience has allowed me to clearly define my career goals and what I want to get out of grad school. Anyway, just my opinion / experience, good luck whatever you decide. 

Hey forum members, how do I report this member? The person has been downvoting all of my previous posts even though he had no interaction with them, and I'd like to get the troll banned.

May I suggest reading all the novels you can get your hands on? Certainly what I plan on doing before having 2 years of materials to read for my graduate degree

Go with the Peace Corps, grad school isn't going anywhere. Take a few years to get some full time experience, work out your career goals, and of course earn some cash to pay for school. I applied right out of undergrad and I am VERY happy I didn't up any of the offers I received. A few years relevant work experience has allowed me to clearly define my career goals and what I want to get out of grad school. Anyway, just my opinion / experience, good luck whatever you decide. 

Dont go to HKS unless you have a scholarship or some sort of funding. Its not worth the degree to get into substantial debt as it will not give you what you're looking for. I've spoken to many HKS grads who said that their degree had little impact on their career progression or earnings. Work experience is the most important factor. Plus, the HKS holds little value outside the US.

With additional studying, I think I could improve my score a couple of points in each section.  However, I'm working full-time and hoping to find some substantive volunteer work soon, so my time is somewhat limited.  My goal is to get into a top MPP program and to hopefully receive some funding.  How would improving my score a couple of points in each section affect my chances of admission and my chances of receiving funding?  Also, would I realistically have to wait a couple of years to get into a top MPP program with my following profile?
To help you better understand my profile, I have a 3.7 GPA from a small liberal arts college.  I interned at a state Senator's office the summer after my sophomore year and was a campaign manager for a state Senate campaign the summer after my junior year.  After graduating in the spring, I am now working at a non-profit in the area of child welfare and will be the lead for running statewide programs in 2 states.  I should have very strong LORs.
Thanks for your help!

I doubt it's possible with that profile at a good program, and I wouldn't recommend going to a program that would offer a full ride with that profile.

Very difficult to give an answer without knowing your employment aspirations, nationality, or where you want to ultimately live and work. Georgetown is generally regarded as being far superior to LSE, especially when it comes to work placement. Georgetown's MSFS program is widely considered the best in the world for those looking to enter the policy world in international affairs; LSE, while also well regarded, may suffer from a perception of admitting too many semi-employable students and offering subpar career services. 
 
If you are smart enough to be offered a full ride at both locations (I find the claim a bit suspect), I think you should do fine with whichever choice you make and should base it on where you truly want to live and study.  

It's probably possible, but I don't know if it would be useful to have the same degree from two different institutions. Having that on your resume would probably raise more questions than anything.
 
Also, in the future could you please make your thread titles a little more descriptive or specific? A forum full of titles like "Stupid question, but..." and "Just a quick question" isn't helpful to anyone.

Mine said "In your first and second years, you will receive $ 8,000 to be applied toward tuition in Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016 and Spring 2017."
 
So I guess that means 4 x $8,000 = $32,000 over 2 years? 

I think you are misinterpreting it. It is saying your total is $8,000 and that will be divided up over 4 semesters. So $4,000 per academic year. Or I could be wrong because whoever wrote these admissions letters is an idiot.

Wow, I bet you're fun at parties...

I'm 24. Finished undergrad at 21. I'm always jealous of older candidates because they've done more but I seem to have gotten into some good schools. Quality not quantity, I guess. 

Hi everyone,
 
I got acceptance email from Hertie for MPP 2015 just yesterday but no news about the funding yet. Keeping fingers crossed.
 
Regards,
 
Abhishek

I agree with everything chocolatecheesecake said, especially about the internships and school extracurriculars compared to full-time work experience. It's absolutely a good thing to have those internships and extracurriculars (especially being the president of your SGA), but don't expect them to be counted as real world, full time experience.
 
I'm not saying you won't get into any schools because of your sub-par numbers and lack of experience. If you look at the results for even some of the top schools, you'll see there are outliers in every class. If I had to venture a guess, I think your results will look something like this:
 
Georgetown, GW, U Mich, UCLA less than 50% shot, USC less than 50% shot, U Penn, Cornell less than 50% shot, Northwestern no idea, possible admit?, UVA, possibly 50/50?, Duke, UNC possibly 50/50?, Brown not sure, but probably less than 50% chance, Syracuse less than 50% shot, and American less than 50% shot
 
With that said, it is my hope for you that you're able to come back to this post and not only prove me wrong, but brag about how you got into Michigan with funding or something similar. I'm just being as realistic as I can.