TypeA

Going to leave this link here for you guys. "GSI" (Graduate Student Instructor) is our way of saying "TA." Application requirements vary across departments, but everything with open applications is here. Fair warning: it's not common for people to receive GSI positions their first term. I want to say only two or three people in our cohort did. However, second-term/second-year it becomes much more common. Hope to meet some of you at the visitation weekend! http://umjobs.org/graduate_student/

My cohort (current first-years) is about 100 students. The second-years is a little larger -- more people took their Ford offers than they predicted, so I think they have about 120 students, but that's considered anomalous. It's not really possible to predict for certain, but I'd hedge somewhere in that range is likely.

Hey all, I'm another current Ford student (dual with the School of Public Health, but started at Ford this past fall). Just wanted to enthusiastically second everything Method said.

I, too, spent a lot of time considering deferral if my financials didn't work out. I set a maximum grad school debt I was comfortable with ($40-50,000) and decided that I was going to defer unless I could make that happen. I was fortunate, and my worst-case scenario (ie: applying all of my savings, no assistantships, and little/no income) falls squarely in the middle of that range. One thing you didn't mention above is whether you know how you'd use your year off. Do you have a job you would continue working in, or something else you know you'd be doing? If you can use that extra year to further bolster your profile (and save money!), then I think it's a pretty solid, rational choice. Just make sure you know GWU's deferral policy inside and out, and you'll want to verify that re-application for the fellowships is permitted. I would email someone to confirm so you have it in writing, just in case anyone were to question it in the future. Best of luck with your decision!

Try the Government Affairs forum: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/11-government-affairs/

I had just taken the GRE and was scouring this site and others to make sure I didn't want to take it again--I would have had to study for the new version practically from scratch. Thank goodness I was satisfied with my scores. I was also ruminating on my SOP, but I don't think I actually started putting pen to paper (hands to keyboard?) until late August. Now I'm plotting how to furnish/design my apartment, which I'll be moving into in a month.

Are you working part-time at your same position? I'm keeping my current job part-time once school starts, and am fortunate in how my employer decided to tackle the transition: I'm having my "effort reduced to half-time" instead of being changed to an hourly-wage employee. This means--at least, where I work--that I get to keep my benefits. Any chance your employer could be persuaded to do something similar?

Streaming the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Pursuing a joint degree isn't something you should do based on the motivation "two degrees look better than one." If a dual/joint degree suits your needs, it's an option worth investigating. Knowing that I want to work in health care policy, I looked at degrees from both the schools public policy and public health at the university I'll be attending. I want the quantitative rigor (quantitative program evaluation, econometrics, analysis using various programs) I would get from the policy program, but decided I wanted more immersion in health care courses than a two-year MPP could provide. The program in health management and policy at the school of public health offers courses that appeal to me on this level--but the MPH is very structured, and with that alone I'm unable to take all of the "policy analysis" classes I'd set my sights on. The MPP/MPH is a perfect marriage of curricula for me. Importantly, I was also able to work it out financially. Can you describe why the MPP/IDEV combination is suited to your goals? I'm not familiar with international development programs, so I don't know how much overlap already exists--but I do know that people get MPPs with intentions of going into international development. Would the two degrees be redundant? If so, there's no reason to pay for a third year. As far as whether joint-degrees get "watered down," I can only speak to what I'm doing (two degrees in three years instead of four). The MPP/MPH does have some overlap, so I'll be able to waive certain courses: econ, statistics, program evaluation, politics of public/health policy... I'm not certain of the specifics, but it'll probably be 4-6 classes--the equivalent of a full semester or more. Had I gone the MPP-only route, I likely would have taken 3-4 electives within the school of public health anyways. So no, I don't feel that I'm diluting my degrees at all. I suppose someone who's combining less-related degrees (like the JD/MBA you mentioned) might feel differently.

I've been working out on-and-off for the past few months, but I really want to commit to 4-5 solid days a week of working out at my gym for the rest of the summer. I usually do 30-50 minutes of cardio, almost always a combination of elliptical, rowing machine, and treadmill (speedy uphill walking--I loathe running). I follow that with 20-30 minutes of strength training, and then stretches. I'd like to drop one more clothing size by September, but I'd be content just being a "fitter" version of my current size. My latest attempt to clean up my diet has been making tzatziki to use as a veggie dip for snacking. If you use Greek yogurt for the whole base (instead of including sour cream, like some recipes do), it's quite healthy. I've also recently become addicted to Clif bars, which I like before or after a workout. And summertime means grilled veggies, of course.

Coming from a different work background doesn't have to be a weakness--a professor told me that my "atypical" academic background (major in neuroscience) could set me apart from the political science/economics/etc majors as long as I could work it into a coherent narrative. So, think about how your work experience has shaped the way you approach problem-solving (as a property manager?) and your ability to distill large amounts of (esoteric?) information into accessible summaries (this is akin to policy briefs; I imagine your work as a writer and legal assistant could fit here). I second the suggestion to consider retaking the GRE, since I also get the impression that aid offers are somewhat formulaic. The rest of your profile and plan looks pretty solid to me.

No experience with social work, but I'm from the area. What about Ypsilanti? Michigan in general has terrible public transit, but the AATA buses pretty much all have Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti routes, and it's a high-need area.

For the public schools, you may want to look into state residency requirements. If moving and working for a year or two is feasible for you, I know at UMich the in-state cost of tuition is close to half that of out-of-state... $22k/yr instead of ~$40k/yr. Buut I believe the policy in MI is that you have to be working full-time for two years before you can achieve residency (I think it has stricter requirements than most). I'm not familiar with the other schools/states.

I feel like something of an odd duck around this board for being domestically focused, so I can't really provide much advice regarding experience. That said, I wouldn't rule out UMich Ford if I were you (full disclosure: undergrad alum, matriculating next year). The university as a whole has been putting a lot of effort recently into expanding their global focus, and I'd estimate that about a third of the prospectives at the Ford admitted students day had international interests. With your particular interests, the opportunity to take classes at Ross (the business school) might also be great. And--not insignificantly--assuming you maintain MI residency, in-state tuition could be a terrific boon.

If you're interested in a PhD and a career in research/academia in the realm of health policy, you may want to look into a MS degree through a school of public health (rather than another professional degree). I believe a number of universities offer MS degrees in "health services research," which would give you a research methods/analysis foundation. I'm just speculating here, but it might be easier to find funding opportunities (fellowships, assistantships, etc) in a research-oriented program than in a professional degree program.

Heh, I'm headed to a school about 45 minutes from where I currently work. It's an easy enough commute, and I can do some of my work remotely, so I'm actually staying on in a half-time capacity to defray cost-of-living expenses. I'll look for a more relevant position for next year (fingers crossed for something with tuition remission), but it's nice to be assured that I'll have some kind of income during my first year, modest as it'll be. Also, experience with research regulation/IRB coordination seems pretty saleable in academia, so I don't see keeping my current position as being to my detriment.

Ha, fair enough, although I imagine your motivations also include a desire to do research and/or teach--not exclusively real-world avoidance (which is what this article seemed to insinuate, at least to me). I suppose I'm speaking from the perspective of having haunted the Government Affairs/Public Health forums, with far fewer people interested in academic careers long-term.

Man, this article misses the mark on so many levels. I've never gotten vibes from this forum that people are trying to avoid the "workaday world"... quite the contrary, we seem to love discussing our various motivations (almost ad nauseam). Also, focusing so heavily on the results survey is inane.

Are you Michigan resident, or were you offered in-state tuition? In-state tuition for Ford is about $22k/year, but about $40k/yr for out-of-state/international students (though they sometimes offer in-state tuition as part of a funding package). Just want to make sure you aren't looking at incorrect numbers. Tuition info for the university can be found here.

I'm living south of main campus, a 15-20 minute walk down State from the Union (across from the Fieldhouse/Schembechler). I've spoken to a few grad students at Ford about the area, and they say it's grad-student friendly--the undergrads put more priority on location, so they tend not to seek housing that far out. The North Commuter does pick up along some of S. State Street (coming in off of Hoover), which would get you to North quite easily. I'm not super familiar with Kerrytown, so I can't speak to buses in that area. If you don't want to live on North, I think you'll have better luck with prices on south campus than in Kerrytown, but I'm afraid I'm not much help in terms of locating housing... I didn't actually find my apartment; I'm joining a lease on a 2br that a friend signed without having a roommate.

I'm not familiar with many places on North, but I did know someone who lived in Willowtree. I didn't think his apartment was in poor condition--it's nothing special, but was decently upkept, there's abundant parking, etc. Maybe my standards were lower as an undergrad, but I don't think I'd be opposed to living there now except for the location (my classes will be on Central). If I recall, there was a fire in the apartment complex last summer, maybe that's contributed to the reputation? I haven't been to the complex since then. But for what it's worth, there seemed to be a few families living in the apartments, and it was definitely a calm, quiet environment--but then, all of North Campus is; my engineering friends see deer with relative frequency.

Previous Schools: University of Michigan (undergraduate); Wayne State University (non-degree graduate coursework). Previous Degrees and GPAs: B.S. in Brain, Behavior, and Cognitive Science, with minors in Political Science and History (3.35); graduate coursework in public health (4.0). GRE Scores (V/Q/AW): 710/720/6.0 Previous Work Experience: Part-time in a biomedical lab for two years, full-time (two summers) and part-time (two semesters) in an autism clinic, and have been working full-time in clinical research regulation since graduation (spring 2011). Math/Econ Background: Calc 1 (A-) and Stats (B+) in undergrad. Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Health/health care policy (domestic) Schools Applied to & Results: UMich Ford (Accepted), UMich School of Public Health (Accepted). I only applied to UMich because it’s hard to beat in-state tuition, they offered the dual MPP/MPH and really seem to enable/encourage interdisciplinary study. Also, if I choose to stay in the state for professional pursuits, Michigan actually probably holds more weight as a brand than more “elite” programs. Ultimate Decision & Why: Well, there wasn’t much to decide, ha. Once I sussed out some financial considerations, I emailed with a few current students pursuing the same dual degree. They advised that I start at Ford, so start at Ford I will! Advice for Future Applicants: I don’t think we can stress the importance of creating a coherent narrative through your SOP/Personal Statement enough. I’m relatively green out of undergrad, my background is somewhat nontraditional for the field, and my GPA was less than stellar. However, I think I was able to explain how a more science-oriented background would be an asset and illustrate how my academics/work experience had contributed to the evolution of my goals. I think MYRNIST’s post does a really excellent job of detailing how to approach your essays.

My friends call me A, because my real first name is long and doesn't lend itself readily to nicknames. Yes, that does get as confusing as it sounds (I basically look up anytime someone says "hey" now). As for the personality-type reference... who on this forum isn't a Type A?

When I check "My Content," it says There is no information to show. Dunno if it's just me.

I'm pretty sure OregonGal is right. IIRC, it was part of the debt ceiling bill that was passed, and takes effect in July... just in time for us, naturally.