Last year I tried to apply straight into a PhD program in public policy with little success. In retrospect I think I should have applied to all MPP programs instead. A few offered automatic consideration for the MPP program, so I ended up at UMD - College Park with a 1/2 grad assistantship.
I certainly dont want to waste a year in student loans, but I'm wondering if it's worth applying to WWS's MPA program this fall, given it's generosity with financial aid.
WWS does not admit transfers, so I would have to take the full two years in addition to the year at Maryland. Supposing I did get into WWS, do you think it'd be worth it to take an extra year? Right now at UMD I am paying about $20k in loans per year. At WWS from what I understand I could get up to a full-tuition plus stipend package. I'd also be forgoing a year of income, probably greater than $20k. Obviously, a lot of this is contingent upon getting in and a package, but I'm just asking hypothetically would you do it?