traveler06

I went to the open house yesterday for the PhD program. Had a nice day and enjoyed meeting faculty and current students. I've made up my mind to enroll. American subfield.

I will be attending Georgetown University. PhD in American Government and Politics.

WOO! Go Hoyas! I'm from St. Louis.

THIS IS WHERE I'M GOING TO ATTEND: Georgetown Public Policy Institute (GPPI) OTHER SCHOOLS I CONSIDERED: NYU Wagner, LSE, GWU, Hopkins WHY I CHOSE MY NEW SCHOOL: 1. It was the best fit for me. After visiting 8 schools, GPPI was the one that I left thinking "Wow, I want to go here!" I also got a really great feeling from NYU Wagner. However, since I want to work in D.C., the practicality of being in Washington was a big factor. 2. I want to work in American political issues. Therefore, D.C. was the best place over NYC, Baltimore, and London. LSE would have been really cool, but it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to go abroad for school when I want to focus on American issues. Internship opportunities in D.C. are important to me. Also, GPPI has some great study abroad opportunities, so I can still get my international experience. 3. Funding. GPPI really came through for me in making it affordable. 4. The people there. I loved the Open House. I met great prospective students, and I enjoyed the current students and faculty. I think it will be a great atmosphere. 5. I needed to make a decision. There are so many great schools out there. I think I would have enjoyed spending a year at pretty much every place I applied. But, now that I've decided, there's no looking back!

I've decided to attend GPPI too! Uh oh policy_applicant, linden... looks like all us s**t-disturbers are going to be in one place!!

Honestly, they are all good programs. I think what is important to remember is that the fit is immensely important. Students can choose schools based on rankings, but will be miserable if it is not the place where they will thrive and be happy. Happy is important in this decision, because the happier you are, the harder you will work. Don't discount how hard you work because it is your work ethic that you'll need to stand on - a school's name has limited tractability.

Hey all, I was wondering if you had any thoughts or opinions about the London School of Economics MPA Public Policy and Management. It's harder for me to get to know the program since I live in St. Louis. I'm thinking about visiting, but wouldn't have that opportunity until July (which is ok on their timeline). I'm talking with an alumnus on Friday who is in the D.C. area. I'll be really interested to see his thoughts. At this point I'm not sure if I want to go into the work force or pursue my PhD (I would love to work at a think tank someday). LSE seems to have global networking. I'm thinking it will open my eyes to new opportunities. I plan, at this point, to move to D.C. after my program if I'm not going to school in D.C. But, I'm also open to new opportunities that would arise. Any thoughts?

Hey All, As we are all getting close to decision time, I also would like to ask for some input. I applied to way too many schools and have finally narrowed it down from 11 to 4. NYU Wagner - 1/2 tuition scholarship GPPI - no funding, under consideration next week GWU - alternate for fellowship (might be where I go if I end up getting the fellowship) LSE - no funding, decisions on scholarships made in May/June Right now, NYU Wagner was the place that "clicked" with me the best. The faculty and other students were people I felt that I would like to be around for the next 2 years. I also loved GPPI, but if I don't get funding it will be super expensive. I also liked GWU, especially clicked with a professor who is working on higher ed policy, pell grants, college readiness, etc. Also, I think I will eventually end up in Washington, D.C. Should I go there for grad school or experience someplace else and then go? I feel like Wagner has a good alumni base and connections in D.C. Thoughts on that? LSE is the wild card. London would be amazing for two years. I am mostly interested in American politics however. So, I'm not sure about LSE. It would be great to get that international perspective. April 15 is approaching fast!! On that note, I should also get on filing my taxes...

There was a real range at the GPPI open house last Friday. Word to the wise - if it's anything like last week the lounge where they host it was blazing hot. They had trouble with the temperature control. While a friend said she was comfortable, I was so warm that I was nodding off lol.

I also got 50%... The decision is so tough! There are things about each school I like. And then the $$ factor. Grr.

Alright, here goes with some of my impressions of GWU. Overall, I liked it (I've liked pretty much every school except UMD, and I'm going back tomorrow to see if I still feel that way or if it just isn't the place for me). GWU had a pretty well organized day. Many students and faculty participated, which I think is a good sign when they aren't being paid extra to show at things like this. A lot of the faculty have been with GWU for a long time (20+ years), so I would assume they've been very satisfied teaching there. The alumni panel was pretty good. They had four alumni who had graduated in the past 4 years. All of them had pretty neat jobs (OMB, Deloitte, State Dept Foreigh Service, SEC). I got the impression that almost everyone works an internship during the school year because classes for the most part are late afternoon or evening. They really appreciated the hands on experience and networking opportunities. What I liked is that it seems fairly accessible to obtain a research position. I am considering a PhD, and I really want to work with faculty in addition to working on my own projects so that I can get this experience. They have a neat policy journal of student work that provides an opportunity to work with editors and polish up a publishable piece of writing. Several of the faculty are working on higher education policy, which is a big interest of mine. Also good opportunities for health policy. My only concern was that it is a 40 credit program as opposed to most which are 48 credits. I'm hoping its ok to take more than what is required - I have not asked yet. It looks like you can really beef up on the areas you are most interested in. If I go, I'm hoping to take the more advanced PhD options just in case I apply to those programs so that I can transfer in the credits. They also admitted that they are not good with study abroad or international opportunities. If that's something you want, you might have to work harder to get it on your own (although it seems that the career guy is really helpful and would do his best to assist you). At this point in my search, Johns Hopkins, GWU, or LSE seem to be rising to the top. I did like GPPI A LOT, but I cannot justify the amount of debt. JHU is great, but I'm not jazzed about Baltimore. This decision just does not get easy.

I would make sure to feel out their public policy school than just take the generalization about A&M overall. Graduate programs can be markedly different in their approach than the undergraduate programs. Also, while it does seem that many considering policy school are liberal, not everyone in the program should fit that discription. I don't know the environment you are looking for, but differing viewpoints, no matter the source, are still important. I would imagine most people who actually seek out graduate study are less than narrow minded.

I'm going to their open house today for the MPP program. I'll let you know how it goes.

No, you are not. I found the entire event to be very unstructured. The social policy break out session was informative, but I did not get much out of the Open House as a whole. I think I may go back on Monday and try to explore on my own.

I was also at at the JHU Open House yesterday and am VERY impressed with the program. I'm in a big debate right now trying to figure out my favorite U.S. school and then decide whether to go there or bite the bullet and go to LSE. I think an international experience would be really interesting and open my mind to other possibilities that I'm not considering. That being said, when I told the director of IPS about my thinking, she said that she would work very hard to make sure that I had an international experience through an internship if that was important to me. As was mentioned before, they are very invested in the students success. The small cohort is something that is appealing. From my undergraduate experience and also in my work place, I enjoyed the collaborative learning and effort. At IPS, it seems you really can get to know your professors and the other students very well. I am considering continuing on to a PhD, so the research opportunities at IPS also seemed abundant and easy to get involved with. The current students that I met were wonderful! They had such diverse interests and seemed to really be enjoying their experience. They wanted to be clear that they work extremely hard (The Policy Analysis for the Real World kicks off the program and is essentially a capstone in the first semester), but that it is rewarding and they support each other. They've had great internships (mostly in the DC area), and many of them continued summer internship work into their second year. Overall, I'm extremely impressed.