state_school'12

Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): University of Oregon Previous Degrees and GPAs: Economics, Political Science (3.79 overall, 4.0 Major) GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 162 (90%-tile)/155 (69%-tile/4.5(72%-tile) Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 2 years full-time, Analyst for a small economic consulting firm, 4 years part-time (in school) TA/RA for professor at same firm, summer internship at Department of Commerce. Math/Econ Background: Single- and multivariable calc, elementary linear algebra, elementary real analysis, several stats/econometrics classes, plus all of the usual econ classes. Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): two terms of German and a year of Arabic Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Domestic U.S. policy; education policy, economic policy Long Term Professional Goals: Policy analyst for public sector consulting firm (education research/consulting), work as quasi public-private free agent Schools Applied to & Results: UC Berkelely GSPP ($0), Wisconsin La Follette (tuition waiver), Chicago Harris ($20K), Duke Sanford ($25k + TA), UCLA ($15k), Umich Ford ($10k), CMU Heinz ($24k) Ultimate Decision & Why: UC Berkeley GSPP. My criteria for selecting a school were 1) overall quality, 2) cost, 3)quantitative rigorousness, 4) geographic location. 1) Berkeley won the category of overall quality, based on my conversations and impressions with faculty and current students. The small size (about 70/80 per cohort) combined with the intimate setting (former fraternity house + addition) contribute to a very approachable faculty. The overall flavor of the place is about the highest quality thinking, analysis, and engagement, rather than about who you know and what kind of job you can land in DC. 2) Although I didn't get any aid, GSPP actually turned out to be the best deal for me, even coming from out of state. The school doesn't do a very good job advertising this, but everyone gets in-state tuition for the second year. Unlike UMich. This, combined with the plentiful GSI (teaching, grading, and research) positions means that at a minimum, the second year is basically free (work more than 10 hours/week = a large chunk of tuition is remissed). 3)I was extremely concerned about not selling myself short on the quant front, which made Chicago, Duke, and CMU very appealing, in that order. Each school allows/encourages taking more difficult quant classes from within the school, or in Duke's case, the econ MA program. Although Berkeley has a quant reputation, it only offers one track for quant/econ. After my visit, I was convinced that the quality of the standard quant classes is quite good, and opportunities exist for advanced study from Econ/Ag Econ (although this scenario would require taking the standard PhD track courses, including a summer math camp type course). I'm not convinced that I'll pursue this in the second year, but it's an option. Finally, because everyone takes the same calculus-based econ core, everyone's on the same page in all of the electives. 4) Lastly, my wife and I plan to settle on the west coast, so GSPP wins the regional strength card, and diminishes my willingness to pay a premium for access to east coast opportunities. And on that front, GSPP has made an effort in the past 4-5 years to build the network in DC. Once a year, everyone takes half a week off from classes, and gets a free ticket to travel to DC to network and interview. GSPP has a decent PMF finalist record as well. And, having been around since the 1969, there is a large alumni network across the country. Advice for Future Applicants: In contrast to the often-written advice about how a good SOP can make up for low grades and scores, I felt like my SOP was the weakest part of my applications. Particularly regarding my work/volunteer experience. GSPP's SOP was by far my worst (it was done first), and Umich Ford (last) was my best. So go figure. The hypothesis I have from my experience is that grades and scores are weighted more slightly heavily on admission side of things (i.e. they know you're smart and can do the work), while the qualitative SOP/work experience/passion are weighted on the fellowship award side of things (how badly do you want to come here?). After all, it's pretty easy for a place like Chicago or Michigan to admit you with zero or little funding. It's a smaller risk. They reserve the big bucks for the student that is qualified academically, but will also do the kind of work they most hope their alumni will do. This hypothesis is actually the reverse of what I originally thought. I didn't start freaking out until I got my first notification (Wisconsin). Then it was check Gmail and refresh this forum every five minutes for two months. Tip: Want to know who's probably on the admissions committee? Look to those faculty that are involved with the flyout/visit days. There was overlap at both Duke and GSPP in this area. Offer: To prospective students, feel free to message me with questions about the process, and particularly if you have questions about GSPP. From math camp to core classes, facilities, you name it. I spent a good five years browsing these forums, and never dreamed that I'd get accepted at Berkeley without going into the Peace Corps, or launching an after school mentoring program or something. I'm happy to help the next batch of applicants.

Yeah, sorry guys. I forget HKS has a million programs. It was for MPP.

I prospective student that I know got in today.

Ummm Michigan! I know Harvard is amazing, but IMO getting a full ride at Umich is much more competitive than HKS admission. They want you, and it's a great program. They sent seven people this year; just go into the program with the attitude that you'll be one of the seven. https://www.pmf.opm.gov/FinalistSortBySchool.aspx And don't forgot, Michigan's cohorts are about 100, HKS is significantly larger. So think in terms of PMF/cohort size.

After attending Sanford and Goldman's visit days, I can tell you that both programs reported about 50% employment at graduation, and essentially 100% employment within 6 months. Supposedly the people that didn't get jobs until month 6 were waiting for a particular "good" job, rather than finally taking something after graduation. I tend to believe them. The nice thing about an MPP degree vs MBA or JD is that you can fill a wide variety of roles, from research to communication to management, etc. I don't doubt that I can get a good job out of either program, with the right diligence (applying to 10-15 jobs, for instance).

+1 about MIT's stuff. You may need your own stats book, but it's almost better to google/wiki topics as you cover them. My experience with MIT's open courses is very good, and very intuitive. I mean, they basically select the most elloquent/effective teacher at MIT on the topic. Pretty good recipe for learning. Sounds like you'd be perfect for it. Good luck, and congrats on your PhD acceptance.

With all the normal disclaimers about SOP, etc., I think you'll get in to American, Indiana, Syracuse, Evans, and USC. I think NYU might be a stretch, but not impossible. I can't speak to the others, sorry. Of the five, I think USC has the best funding opportunities, although Maxwell is only a single year, so it's cheaper. If I were you, I'd think hard about retaking the GRE and boosting your verbal score. Obviously you can write/speak, etc. (nice 5.5 AW!), but a 570 is a little on the low side. I don't know, maybe it's fine. Something to think about though. Was your upperclass GPA better than overall? And where do you want to work after you graduate?

Maryland (+1) has a strong enough academic reputation. Stron econ department, and I think Sociology (?). My sense is that of the DC universities, Maryland is the most traditional social science research institution, with lots of labs and centers on urban issues. My guess is that Indiana is indeed stronger for the PhD track, but you should be careful to be sure that as a masters student you can follow a pre-PhD track. That goes for whereever you end up. I'd also take a look at the publishing history/CVs for professors that you find interesting, and compare options that way. Hopefully some of the current-year PhD Applicants can chime in.

Re Harris vs Heinz, Heinz distiguishes itself by having a management approach, and tech component, of the degree. Heinz is also nice because its PhD classes (including Econ/Quant) are listed in the Heinz school, unlike virtually every other program. So, I think it's probabily a lot easier to take as an masters student. Heinz has the DC track, with <20 folks a year, and in general has decently strong connections to DC. I think you'd likely get more out career services at Heinz than Harris in every city besides the Chicago area. Name recognition-wise, Harris wins, for sure. Both are fairly large programs, with cohorts in the 100-150 student range. Harris is on quarters, so you take 6-8 more classes at Harris than semester schools. Heinz might be the same. Heinz might have the edge for those with an international bent... I'm a domestic policy type myself, so I can't speak much there. I think Heinz has more exchange programs (including a campus in southern Australia!). That's all for now. Good luck!

Hey Utkarsh, I suggest that you pose your question in a new topic, so you don't hijack kn2010's thread. Also, include some information about your background, interests, career objectives, and geographic preferences, etc. Makes it easier for us to comment. If you want to contrast/ask questions about CMU Heinz, fire away.

To weigh in on the other side of things, I'm strongly considering attending UC from out of state. I didn't get any funding, but as you've pointed out, GSI positions and the associated tuition waiver cuts costs significantly. That, coupled with in-state tuition the second year actually makes my UC scenario the least expensive (after Wisconsin). And some of my private schools gave me a large amount of funding. So, if you think UCSD's program will be sufficient for your purposes, realize that it may end up $20k-$60k less expensive than your more prestigious dream school, even if that elite school gives you decent funding. I think once you've worked at the WB for a couple of years, the name on your degree will matter a lot less. If you think you can get the job you want coming out of UCSD, coupled with the extra year of seniority you'd have (vs waiting a year) in whatever organization you end up with... Something to consider. Good luck!

Wait, so you don't have a job now? Or you don't have a job lined up for the next year? You could also withdraw your offer from USCD after April 15th, once you've spoken with the other departments. You'll probably lose your deposit though. I just checked out SAIS' page on preparation, and noted this: "M.A. students must be able to thrive in a rigorous academic environment, which includes substantial quantitative course work. This capacity can be evidenced in several ways: an undergraduate academic record that shows success in quantitative courses such as macroeconomics, microeconomics, calculus, statistics and/or econometrics; a strong quantitative GRE or GMAT score; and/or full-time work experience with significant and demonstrable quantitative responsibilities." Maybe think about retaking the GRE. Your verbal score is quite strong, but you might want to raise your quant score. Most schools seem to average about 700, and if you're making up for deficient GPA or math/econ grades, a stronger quant score could be the ticket. I assume you explained the 3.2 in your SOP, hard classes, better upper division GPA, etc. Re experience, I don't know very much about the IR world, but it strikes me that it's pretty hard for a BA-level person to get significant IR experience. It seems to me that you have decent experience, especially once you finish Americorps, along with the rest of your experience. Is Columbia your dream school? Harvard? It seems like you stand a very good chance of getting in to SAIS next year with a bit of work on your profile, considering your waitlist.

One thing I suggest you do is call up GW, SIPA and SAIS, and ask them why you were rejected/waitlisted, and how you could improve your profile. Sometimes departments are happy to advise. And if the case is they felt you are too young/inexperienced, then an extra year of work might be all that you need. Plus you'd know to really drill down on that aspect of your profile in your statement of purpose. I think the main reason why more people don't reapply for MPP/MPA/IR degrees is that most of us our in our mid/late 20s, and at the point when we really need to get our careers moving. In other disicplines, like PhD econ applicants, it's much more common for people to reapply. The majority apply senior year or the year after, and aren't holding up careers or families by waiting.

MYRNST, you nailed it.

Personally, I'd take CIPA's offer and never look back. And I don't see a compelling reason why you shouldn't, either. I almost applied to CIPA, I think it's a program that gets better by the year, especially if you are willing to make its flexibility work for you. Take hard classes, connect with professors, network with your classmates... You'll be in good shape for a fine career. Good luck!

Lame! The website hasn't changed... Let's hope it's right. http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/studentloans.jsp

Here's the 'Beta' version of my loan spreadsheet. I think it has some good features. It calculates deferment options, and the interest accumulation while in deferment, along with other features that you'd expect. You can compare up to ten programs. I recommend copying and pasting (values) from the results of each school analysis (i.e. the green cells in the Dashboard tab) into a separate tab or workbook. Sorry if all of the colors are confusing, I got a little carried away. It uses a pivot table and a lot of referencing, so I hope that everything translates when you download it. Don't use it in Google Docs, it won't work. I'm still refining it, so shoot me suggestions/bugs. I think the next step is to factor in up to $8500 in subsidized stafford loans we might be table to take out, and to build in undergraduate loans into the monthly payment and monthly take-home pay figures. Link: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B476rg_hUjpiUHhwSGg0bi1Ubk9Xa2RKcmhuZkZEdw

TypeA, you included your name in the letter the second time it was mentioned. FYI.

Yeah, but the interest accrues while you're in school on Stafford Unsubsidized and Grad Plus loans.

Thanks for sharing your work you guys. Are you planning on deferring payments while in school? I put together my repayment schedules, and forgot about that. Doh!

Hey rwest, I just rsvp'd for the Duke open house. And I'll be at the Berkeley open house as well. Hope to see you there.

Right now it's between Duke and Berkeley for me. Chicago is too expensive.

Yeah, I admit don't know very much about IR Masters. What sort of work do you want to do after graduation?

... this forum. Seriously, you guys came out of the woodwork! Did IR/SIPA type programs notify later, or what? And of course, congrats and good luck!

Yeah, without GSI positions, tuition and fees are rough. You're also likely to earn some money during the summer internship, for what its worth. But if you won't consider a GSI gig, I'm not sure Goldman is going to be a good deal for you. Or were you calculating a worse-case scenario?