vegeta

Regarding Salaries: HKS MPP- The 90k figure is for MPPs in the private sector, which sounds about right for a Harvard grad at a consulting firm. However, only a small % of MPPs actually go into private work. Further, a Harvard MBA at the same firm would prob be looking at 125k+. HKS MPA- These students have way more experience than MPPs. Many are probably going back to gov't work as a GS14 or GS15 which puts them around the 98-120k range. Considering this pool of MPA/ID includes ppl in the private sector, who have anywhere from 5-10 years experience PLUS a Harvard degree means the massive salary they command raises the average. SAIS- Great name, great students but it's still tough economy. The 60k salary they report seems low but since a large portion of these students were previously doing jobs that pay almost nothing (e.g. Peace Corp) they still are experiencing around a 60% salary boost which is pretty good.

If you are in federal consulting, then expect coming in at a higher level or jumping to a better company. The pay difference between the degrees is massive, assuming you go to a top 25 MBA program (95-110k + a signing bonus vs. 65-70k at a good MPP program). If you are not in the federal consulting business but want to get into it, a dual degree would certainly help but you can prob get by just one of either. The hard part of the MPP is getting into a job with real policy work (assuming then you don't want federal consulting). While many people go to think tanks and NGOs, you will need to make sure that your school places people at the types of Agencies where you want to work (Labor, DoD, State etc.) if you want federal work over thinktanks. However, its important to note that going into the private sector, federal consulting aside, with an MPP is hard. If you have 6 years of WE by the time you apply, you should be a sitting pretty for many MPPs if not MPAs. That said, this is a #s game so a respectable GRE is important.

Dinged! Alas, not meant to be. That said, I did get into a different Ivy MBA last month so its been a good 2012 so far. I imagine the pedigree of accepted Jackson students is pretty impressive since so many of us on here got dinged. Congrats to everyone who made the cut, and I hope the rest get good news from other schools soon!

Regarding SAIS- I'm currently getting my certification in IDev from SAIS (part-time) and can say that the MA students are very sharp. Their backgrounds are anywhere from 2-6 years of very solid Int'l NGO work but few are from Ivy or super top schools. Obviously there are a lot of international students as well but they tend to be older. From my experience, I'd make sure you're TOFL is pretty good because the readings are challenging for most Americans, so for those with less than perfect English, its clear that they struggle a bit in some classes. My only constructive advice is discuss your post-grad plans with a lot of detail in your essays. Each school wants to make sure that their grads are employed soon after graduation and having a clear plan for that is essential. As for your "chances", we're all on the board to hear a success story of someone like us but will probably not find it. As for the top schools, if they wanted, their entire class could be 800s across the board but obviously that is not the case. Don't be discouraged by the boards, most people are happy to share their experience but few of us really know what it takes to get in. Apply to enough safety schools to ensure you're in somewhere and you'll be fine. -Long time reader, first post

Good to see some other bulldog hopefuls (god willing!). Hope the LORs are working out for you, I too am having a bit of trouble with #3 so that might be common. I'll have 4 years of post undergrad WE, 3 of which are in a managerial role at an international Fortune 50 company. That said, my undergrad GPA, albiet from a top 30 school, is an atrocious 2.6. My GREs are decent (650,680,5.5) so we'll see how the #s game plays out. I haven't been on the boards for a while because reading them is fairly depressing (people with >3.7 GPAs freaking out etc.). Best advice is to keep on working and make contingency plans for worst case scenario. With a bit of luck, and maybe a clerical error, we'll all be in New Haven in 9 months!

Sorry, decided to delete post, wrong forum!