Why I chose UGA:
1. I got a fully-funded RA-ship through the Graduate School. These are hard to come by b/c you have to be nominated by your dept & then compete w/students across the university. I think at UGA ~20% of MPAs have TA or RAships...give or take. Almost all are departmental, not through the GS.
2. I wanted to have the flexibility to move to a suburb one day & not have to live in a big city (even though that's where I think I want to be). MPA = broader degree = useful at L, St, F gov't or non-profit. MPP is more specialized.
3. At UGA, if you get on the ball and meet the professors, it is not tough to stand out as a top notch policy student b/c less than half the students are really into policy. That means that you have more opportunities than, say, at a UChicago where there are, what, 200 per MPP class or something crazy like that?!
I chose Chicago over Minn, & UGA over Syracuse. Then the RA/$ really chose UGA for me...plus I visited here in March and fell in love w/the idea of getting out of the midwest (I'm from Ohio).
Good things about UGA:
1. Weather...city...cost of living...etc.
2. Fantastic faculty. REALLY approachable. Fabulously well-published (though that mostly applies to PA fields like personnel & organization theory).
3. The MPA courses are not very challenging. I'm not saying that you don't learn a lot in them, just that they're not overly difficult. This has frustrated me. But from what I hear, that is also the case at Syracuse. And that means you can challenge yourself by putting your time into harder classes. The MPA methods sequence is no tougher than what I had in undergrad as a PA major. I think this is the biggest weakness of the UGA program. So, I am taking the doctoral econometrics sequence. This is as good if not better than what you'd get at UChicago. And this is totally doable if you start w/the statistics course spring of your 1st year that the 1st year PhD students take & then take their econometrics courses your 2nd year.
4. The UGA program is getting better & better. Currently tied for #3 (Syracuse is 1, Harvard is 2, tied w/Indiana for #3) overall in public affairs. UGA's program 3 years ago was very PA based. Now there are several policy faculty members, plus a health economist starting Fall 06. That means your degree (and my degree!) will just look better & better in coming years.
5. The program has several things you can focus in: public policy analysis, health policy (new), budgeting/finance, personnel, etc. But some of the electives are not offered very often (this is actually true of many graduate programs). The public policy concentration is the easiest to fulfill in terms of having choices of electives. That said, it is also the most rigorous (in my opinion). Definitely not too challenging- but enough so that it's interesting and you stay busy. BTW, don't limit yourself to taking only 3 classes/semester like they suggest. Unless you are working full-time somewhere, take 4. You will learn more and have time to take classes outside of the department/school.
Bad things about UGA:
1. It can be tough to get out of the MPA core requirements if they are too easy for you. So, what you need to do is 1. be (appropriately) assertive. And 2. get to know a faculty member well and have him/her go to bat for you with the Graduate Coordinator if the situation arises. If you go to UGA and you have taken intermediate microeconomics in undergrad, make sure you get into Policy Analysis I your first semester. Don't let them put you in the econ seminar that is a core requirement.
2. The MPA classes are clearly not policy. So, they may not interest you. They don't really interest me. But, I've made it work, and I think I'm better off for having a broader background.
Regarding the philosophical underpinnings of policy, our Policy II class is all about equity. We read Rawls, Sen, Nozick, etc. Honestly it was probably my favorite class ever b/c I am an econ person so the whole "equity matters just as much as efficiency" thing was a new perspective for me. I am not sure about advocacy...I don't know that any schools have coursework in that, per se. I think policy analysis & quantitative techniques are the fundamentals of advocacy, though.
Bottom line: UGA's program is smaller than UChicago. You will be able to take 4+ policy electives [you are required to take a minimum of 6 electives- mine have all been policy, econ, & econometrics]. If you work your way into the econometrics sequence that the doctoral students take (PADP 8120, 8130, 8140), you will be VERY tech-ed up when you graduate and able to compete against any MPP. Plus, you'll have all the benefits of an MPA.
The number one reason I've loved UGA is because of the professor I've been an RA for. He is the professor that teaches Policy I & II as well as the 8130 course (which is linear regression). He's absolutely fantastic. Also, I've loved living in Athens in general. Academics should be your first reason to pick a school, and perhaps finances second- but location/quality of life/etc are all important. And Georgia is a great place to be. If you end up coming to UGA, I will give you tips on how to get the most you can out of this program. I got some of my best advice from a guy I met during my visit to UGA in March 2004. He was a 1st year at the time, and he had also turned down UChicago for UGA.
My final piece of advice: GO VISIT. At least your top 2 choices, if not more. Whatever $/time it takes, it will really be worth it. I thought Syracuse was my #1 choice until I visited. Nothing in particular, it just didn't feel right.
This is the longest post ever, but I wanted to give you lots of information b/c I was really stressed out choosing btw MPA/MPP. And I'm kind of in your shoes, also- I'm currently having a tough time choosing where to go for a Ph.D. 2 acceptances so far, still waiting to hear from a bunch more...
Good luck!
