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Did you have much economics on your transcript? In my experience, policy programs like to see economics & statistics coursework.

Congratulations Diver! YAY GEORGIA!!!!

The market in Athens has a pretty reasonable cost of living. Most of the apartment complexes are 1-2 miles from campus. You can drive (parking permits are $100+/yr depending which lot you're in) or ride the bus (I've never taken it so I don't know whether it's convenient or not). There are 2 apartment complexes that are very close to campus. I live in one, Baldwin Village, that is a 5+ minute walk to the student center & the library on North Campus. Mostly 1 bdrm ($500+/mo) but few 2 bdrm. 706.354.4261. River Mill is across the street. $50-$75 more/mo for 1 bdrm. Many 2 or 3 bdrm apartments also. Most people either live on the east side or the west side. Campus and downtown are in the middle. Anything that is relatively new construction is probably populated with undergrads. Several of the new complexes in town have resort-style pools, free tanning beds (!), putting greens (!), etc. It's a little crazy. Be aware of this because these places will be noiser. Hope this helps. Athens is a fun town! I'm really going to miss football gamedays in the fall when I'm at Carolina. I guess I'll have to start getting excited about college basketball.

Yay Carolina!!! I finally made my decision (oh my lord the stress!!!!) and accepted yesterday. And I already found an apartment thanks to recommendations in the city guide section!

Can anyone give me any info about the Santa Monica area? I'm visiting there Thursday-Sunday for the first time. I may be going to RAND for my PhD. I have never been to California so I have NO idea about where to live, cost of living (well, I know it's going to way outstrip my stipend that's for sure), what there is to do there besides go to the beach, etc. Thanks!

I second everything petral said, especially about having a car. Akron is a normal smallish midwest city. I grew up in a suburb about 10 minutes from Akron. You can definitely get by on $18,000/yr there if you don't live beyond your means. And yes, definitely look into suburbs if you don't see anything in the city you like. There really isn't too much rush hour craziness around Akron (though like any city I suppose there is some). Akron is only about 40 minutes from downtown Cleveland, so you're not too far from major museums, sporting events, concerts, etc (when you have time/money to go!). As far as Akron itself goes...I'm not too sure. There's a symphony. A zoo. An art museum (I think?). The National Inventors Hall of Fame. The Cleveland Indians' AA baseball team, the Akron Aeros. Um...not sure what else...

Best of luck to you too. Enjoy your visit to UGA. I'm going to be in Santa Monica visiting RAND Thursday-Sunday or else I'd offer to show you around campus. Locura (the person who started this thread) can vouch for my enthusiasm in meeting with prospective students .

Anyone ever lived in the LA area before? I may be going to school in Santa Monica (RAND Corporation has a PhD program) and I'm trying to get a feel for quality of life (I think I will miss having 4 seasons!), cost of living, etc. My internet searches have turned up studios running between about $900-$1300+... any advice on where to live or anything else?

http://www.grad.washington.edu/envision ... tions.html http://www.phd-survey.org/advice/Advice ... %20two.htm I found these to be very helpful in preparing for my visits. Good luck!

Here is my perspective on Athens after living here for 2 years for grad school: it's not that there is nothing to do but go to bars, but Athens is a college town in every sense of the word. If that is going to make your life miserable, UGA is not the school for you. You will run into southern frat boys. Bad things about a college town: loud at night. Drunk drivers after 2am. Etc. Good things about a college town: great live music (Athens in particular is known for this). Low cost of living- cheap food/drinks/etc. Athens does not have "less to do" than any other city its size that is 80 miles from a big city (ATL). There is a great $2 movie theater. The climbing wall at the rec center is fun. There are trails around the lake to go running/take dogs for walks/etc. You are only 1-2 hours from the north Georgia mountains. There are often interesting speakers & cool performances on campus. And let's be honest: when you're in grad school, you don't have lots of time or money to be doing all sorts of fun activities, anyway. Yes, football weekends will be a hassle if you try to go downtown or onto campus on gameday and you're not there for the festivities . But it's just 6 days a year so that is not a big deal. By the way, UGA just passed a new tougher tailgating policy last week. Not super-tough (a la Ohio State), but more restrictive. Athens is a liberal city. The undergrad population at UGA is overwhelmingly conservative. It's quite interesting, actually. Athens is a very poor county so you will definitely see homeless people. But that's in other cities too, of course. And the south to my knowledge usually has more homeless people than the north b/c of the climate. Other than that, Athens is just a normal city. You've got the students. The soccer moms. The kids. The business folks. Etc. I agree w/the poster who liked Copper Creek and the Globe. Definitely great bars where you will encounter a non-undergrad crowd. Most of the bars west of downtown are non-undergrady, too. Like the Manhattan and Lunch Paper (?).

Diver, I got into Johns Hopkins (#1 School of Public Health) and UNC (#2 SPH) as well as Emory (~#10) for PhD in health policy. Also I got into RAND (a huge think tank in Santa Monica that has one of the best policy analysis programs in the US). I had funding offers at all schools. I am now choosing between UNC and RAND. I am positive that being at UGA got me these offers because here I have been an RA (very good experience for PhD applications), and I have taken 4 PhD courses (econ math in the Econ Dept, micro theory independent study, and 2 statistics classes in the PhD program in the PA department). FYI the UGA PhD econ program is not all that great (low ranked and plus they don't even use the standard textbook by Mas-Colell for their micro theory class). I also applied to econ programs. I was not very successful, and in all honesty, I did not expect to be successful given my profile. Here is what I have learned about econ PhD admissions: Ad coms do not care if you have a master's degree. Ad coms do not care if you have relevant experience. Ad coms do not care if you blow the verbal or writing section on the GRE. Ad coms require 780-800 on math GRE if you want to get into any top 30 program. Ad coms require MANY math courses. Math courses are much more impt than econ courses as long as you've had intermediate micro & macro theory. Ad coms like to see research experience & publications. Ad coms like to see LOR from famous economists. Ad coms do not care about LOR from anyone who is not a PhD economist. Econ PhD admissions (and PhD admissions in general) are VERY random. That's why you apply to many places and hope that a few work out. All in all an MPA will not really help you get into an econ PhD program. An MA in math would. Or maybe an MA in econ at a good school where you got lots of math. There are some good threads here on econ PhD stuff: http://www.urch.com/forums/graduate-admissions/ An MPA will be VERY helpful when it comes to PhD in PA, and also probably helpful for poli sci. If you go to UGA and you intend to apply to PhD programs after you graduate (in any field!), take the PhD methods sequence starting in spring of your first year (8120/8130/8140). You will learn regular statistics, linear regression, and non-linear regression. It's challenging but not overly so. If you did a PhD in econ, definitely 5 years. PhD in PA would probably only be 4 years. PhD in poli sci I am not sure. 4-5 I imagine. With regard to financial aid, there is money available at most schools if you are qualified. Apply to lots of places b/c PhD acceptances are very random. You may be qualified but if your research interests don't match those of professors at a particular school, you won't be accepted. For example on a whim I wrote about long-term care insurance in my health policy admissions essay and a professor on the Ad Com noticed & called me up because one of her big areas of research is long-term care. Also, save up money (my 13 apps + postage fees + GRE cost etc totaled about $1500). And get to know professors well so you will have terrific LOR and so they will give you feedback on your personal statement.

Hey Diver, I'm an MPA student at UGA. I would contact both the IR and PA folks directly to find out about doing both an MPA & MA. I know that some of my friends who are doing the policy specialization have had IR/IA classes count as policy electives for the MPA degree. I don't know how much flexibility there is with this, though. If you're thinking about doing a PhD after the MPA, you can take the PhD methods sequence in the Public Admin/Policy department. I'm in it now, and I'm entering a PhD program in either health policy/econ or policy analysis in August. The doctoral methods sequence at UGA is more or less on par with top PhD programs across the country in PA/policy. Good luck w/your decision. All the schools you've gotten into are fantastic.

In my experience (I'm a 2nd year MPA student at UGA), most students live 1-3 miles from campus. There are 2 apartment complexes that are right next to campus, each is less than a 10 minute walk from the student center in the middle of campus and also from downtown which is at the north end of campus: Baldwin Village Apartments & River Mill. Baldwin Village is mostly 1 bdrm apts & almost all grad/law students. Rent runs $500-$520 a month I think, doesn't include electric, cable, or phone. In August 2004 when I looked into River Mill it was about $50/month more than Baldwin Village. That complex has a lot more undergrads & is a lot bigger. Otherwise, many students live on both the east side and west side of campus. There are many apt. complexes that are mostly undergrad- they tend to have free tanning beds, free printer in the office, workout room, large pools, etc. The bare bones ones will be quieter and cheaper. I have never ridden the bus in Athens b/c I live in Baldwin Village, so I don't know how convenient the routes are. Grad students can get parking passes but must do it on time- I think in June? Not sure. Check the UGA Parking Services website in a couple of months. Parking will run you anywhere from maybe $150-$300/year depending what lot you are in. Other things: Yes, there are a few grad student type bars. Actually, most bars are fine any night until about 11pm when the under-21s come out w/their fakes. The Globe on Lumpkin St. is a nice, chill bar that attracts a non-undergrad crowd. Football is sweet, especially the home games. I went to GA/FL in Jacksonville in Oct 04. I wouldn't do it again (lots of drinking/very little sleeping), but it was a really fun trip and a fantastic experience. The Graduate Student Association does a decent job keeping grad students informed about activities and campus issues that matter to grad students. You have to sign up for the listserv, it's not automatic. You'll hear about that at the Graduate School orientation in August.

I think that ideally, you try to balance $ and prestige. If you can't do that (i.e. your choice is pay full-freight at a great program or go for free to a lower-ranked one), you have to consider your career goals & try to figure out how much having a degree from a top program would help you. Also, see how closely ranked the 2 programs are. For ex. I would not pay to go to Syracuse MPA when I could go to a good but not top-tier school for free. But perhaps I would've paid for SU over going to a low rated school. Some people have no problem taking on debt & more power to them. Another thing to consider: would you rather be a "superstar" at a mid- or lower-ranked school, or just a "face in the crowd" at a top-rated school. If you are paying full-tuition at a top-rated school, you will probably start out as just a face in the crowd (especially if it is a big program). This means that you may not get all the networking opportunities that your prestigous school is supposed to offer to you and that may in turn impact your ability to pay off the loans quickly. This is more or less how my decision calculus broke down 2 years ago for MPA/MPP: Quality of education/prestige Finances Chance to do research Coursework (i.e. how much policy would I get) Location Good luck to all in deciding. I'm sure wherever y'all end up will be a good fit for you. No program is perfect!

I say err on the side of caution. I would send a personal email (doesn't have to be long, just a paragraph) to every professor you had individual relatively significant contact with (i.e. more than just a handshake and a "we hope you come here next year). It will save much potential embarassment down the road when you run into people at conferences, not to mention bad feelings about you when you are on the job market. Don't make it seem like you were for sure going to work with them, just say something like "Thank you for expressing your willingness to consider taking new students and for responding to my inquiry during the application process. I just wanted to let you know that I have decided to go in another direction for my graduate education. etc...". If my experience is common, you may get emails back asking you where you are going in the fall. My rule: I give the dept. decision by phone if they personally notified me by phone. Then follow up email to everyone else I'd talked to for more than 2 minutes or whatever. If I got a letter accepting me with no personal contact, I send an email to the PhD program director. It's not fun to do but the sooner you turn them down, they will appreciate it. Don't drag things out if you're definitely not going there.

So life in Cary is no good because it's suburbia... anyone know anything about living in Carrborro? I'm just looking for a reasonably-priced 1 bdr that's not too far from campus (preferably the south part where all the health sciences are)...

IMHO you should always offer to draft a LOR for your recommender because they are doing a favor for you (US or international). Then they can make changes as they see fit, or just say no thanks I'll go ahead and write it. I did this and ended up writing 2 LOR (I had 5 total). One word of caution: the 2 LOR I wrote had similar wording in some parts. Then neither recommender changed the letter much b/c each was pleased with it. So then I had to make some adjustments so it wasn't obvious that the same person had written both letters.

Nomad, I don't know anything about the USC program, but as someone who went straight through from undergrad to MPA I would suggest doing a two year program if you don't have a significant amount of work experience yet, all else equal. I had done 3 internships in undergrad (federal, local, non-profit). I feel that the 2 year program at UGA (and my guess is that 2 years anywhere) gave me flexibility in coursework, I had a great internship last summer, I had more time to figure out where I wanted to go/what I wanted to do after graduation, more time to make connections & network, etc. Hurrying onto the job market is not always a good thing. Though, of course, finances may be something to consider as well. But if you've got tuition remission at both places, I say look hard at the 2 year program, especially given all the good things klf has said about it. My guess is that after you visit USC on the 7th, having already visited SU, you will just "know" which school you belong at. Biding your time by giving two deposits is probably not a good option, not the least b/c the field of PA/city management is not all that big & putting down 2 deposits is seen as being very bad form so to speak. Better to not burn any bridges before your career even starts. Good luck- it's great to have a choice like that!

Meridion, I have been living by myself at UGA and will probably just continue that. I do virtually all of my studying/research at home so I'm big on having the place to myself. Perhaps you can email someone in the PA dept at UNC after Apr 15 to get contact info for incoming first year students & see if any are looking for roommates? From what I've been looking at, seems like normal 1 bdr places go for $600-$750 in/around Chapel Hill. 2 bdrs are probably only a couple hundred more. I did hear from students in the health policy dept that I should plan to ride the bus to campus b/c traffic is a mess & parking permits are expensive, so you may want to keep proximity to a bus stop in mind when selecting an apt.

Meridion, congratulations!! I too will (probably) be at Carolina come fall. I have them going to the Elite 8 in all of my brackets so they better not fail me before I even get there...haha. Keep your options open, though! You never know if UGA or another school might come through with funding in the next few weeks!

Congrats on the Harris acceptance! If my memory serves me correctly, that is approx the amt of funding they offered to me. No, I did not visit. I tried more than once to arrange a visit and got nothing but the run-around. Mind you, I wasn't expecting a red carpet treatment. But they wouldn't even set up any meetings for me with current students or professors. I am not a shy person, but people are busy and I was not going to presume that they would have 30+ minutes to spend with me without any sort of advanced notice! Anyway, what you mentioned was exactly the impression I got: you are one of a huge number of students and it's next to impossible to differentiate yourself. I met someone whose cousin went there & that was also the impression she got from her cousin. That said, perhaps there is a Chicago MPP student or alum that might happen on this message and give a firsthand perspective which would be more valuable than what I can offer based on my limited interaction with them. With regard to the city of Chicago, I LOVE it. I spent a summer there interning at a non-profit downtown in the loop and just had a fantastic summer. UChicago isn't in the prettiest (or safest) area, but all in all it is a terrific, young city. But, DC is also fabulous!! I would suggest visiting Chicago and also Georgetown if you have not done so yet. Hopefully you will be able to make a more definitive decision after that. $20,000 is a lot of money but in the grad scheme of things if that's the only financial difference between Chicago & GPPI, it may not be a deal-breaker... good luck!

Yes, congrats Meridion! I also have found that GREs are not a huge thing for master's programs which, in my opinion, is a good thing. Enjoy the margarita(s)! I have good memories of nights that I got long-waited master's and PhD acceptances...and in some cases, the memories get a little fuzzy toward the end Good luck making your decision. Having to choose is a great problem to have. Visit, visit, visit!!!

Well I will have to disagree w/Locura here. I think UGA is both admin & policy now. If you want nothing but policy classes, go for Michigan, Berkeley, Chicago, etc. But if you do a policy specialization at UGA you'll get a minimum of 4 policy courses and there is enough room in your schedule to select up to 7-8 policy courses depending how many courses you take- which, if I am correct, is as much if not more than you'd get at SU (b/c of the compact nature of their program).

locura check your PM

Well as much as I've enjoyed being at UGA, I will caution y'all that I think these rankings are a bit more relevant for PhD than for MPA study. They are calculated by surveying professors in the field. So, if a department publishes a lot, it is bound to have a higher ranking than a department that does not have a lot of good people publishing in top journals. Of course, a professor who publishes a lot is bound to bring that knowledge/experience/enthusiasm into the classroom. I think one of the most important things to do when considering a school is find out what electives are offered in your field of study. Do NOT just rely on the formal list of courses. Courses are notoriously hard to get approved through university administration so departments (not just PA, but lots of graduate departments) will have courses on the books that are rarely (if ever) taught. So ask what you will be able to take in your field of specialization, that may make a difference in your decision. One more thing to consider is what kind of final requirement a program has: capstone course, internship, practicum, comprehensive exams, thesis (rare in MPA), or something else. Also, find out how active your school is in keeping in contact w/alums. This is how you may find internships/jobs! If the program ignores its alums, that is a bad sign.