urbanrenewalprogram

OregonGal and rebmaLS Thank you for your response and insight. It's definitely very much appreciated. Your insight into the PSLF perhaps goes to the crux of my point: you become restricted in your career either way. I am trying to get into a career in private sector regulation and I envision my career straddling both the private and public sectors. I am definitely in the younger part of my career (I am 25 currently) so I honestly do not know where exactly I'd want to go right after graduation. I'm hoping to find my niche when I actually get to HKS and start meeting folks. I've always had the World Bank YPP on the back of my mind but that is very competitive (though a significant number of MPA/ID alum end up there) and is mostly a pipe dream. In addition, I've worked a decent amount in my home country and definitely want to head back there eventually, perhaps for a few years. Although my salary there would put me in a high income bracket by the standards there, it would be close to peanuts in USD terms. Given my lack of a specific career vision at the moment, it is scary to think that I may be restricted in my choices coming out of HKS. I will definitely be applying for external sources my second year (and perhaps the fact that I am enrolled at HKS will help put a "name" to an application) so there's always that possibility. I'd just like to keep my options open, which is why I am so nervous about these loans. For the IBR -- if you pay more than the minimum amount, are there any penalties? It would be nice to have the IBR payment amount as a "worst-case scenario" and then attempt to pay it off sooner than the program stipulates if you are able to tighten your belt each month. From what I understand it turns the loan into a 25 year loan, correct? I feel kind of embarrassed -- admitted to my dream program but yet complaining about the pseudo-difficulty of having to choose between public/non-profit v. private career after graduating. First world problems.

I'm also in a similar boat. I thankfully got into the programs i applied to (HKS MPA/ID, SAIS IDEV, and SIPA Iforgetwhat) and am pretty much settled on the MPA/ID program. It's been a dream for the last 3 years and there's a very good fit between my interests and the program. The debt, however, is not so attractive. Despite SAIS offering me a 20k fellowship plus 20k in Stafford loans, HKS offered me nada. I applied to two fellowships and wasn't selected for either one. Right now my options are to take on $120k of debt through the federal government, or to defer for a year, get feedback on my fellowship applications, and then reapply to the same fellowships plus a few more that I could not apply to this past round. Although the latter option sounds okay in principle, there are a few caveats: I hate my current job. If I leave to switch to something else (this is still difficult given the economy!), the salary has to be similar enough so I can, at the very least, save some money (ideally $30k) and not feel like I made a mistake taking a year off just barely surviving and not putting money away for graduate school. The most obvious drawback is that there is no guarantee that I will get any of the fellowships the next time around. If i take on the debt then my job options out of HKS are obviously limited. I'll have to go the private sector route (probably strategy consulting, thankfully that is possible with the MPA/ID) for several years to pay off the loans. I am not sure if I would feel okay finishing a degree focused on international development and then turning around and arguably doing more harm than good working for one of the strategy consulting behemoths. If I have to I have to, but it's not something I am excited about. Thankfully though I don't have any undergrad debt. Any tips?? Would love some of this forum's insight!!

I'm not getting any "accept awards" tab.. nor anything about any amounts at all in MYFAID. anyone else having this issue? edit: I guess that means no aid at all... Kind of surprised to be honest. Not even a loan?

I don't know to be honest. I just asked in case someone had an interview.

Anyone apply to the mossavar-rahmani CBG fellowship? Any interviews yet?

I'm also deciding between the two (and was funded by a sizable fellowship at SAIS too.. hoping HKS helps out a bit). I feel like if you ever considered following the econ PhD route but were unsure whether 6 years of beating the crap out of a dead horse (ie. your dissertation) was right for you, then the MPA/ID program is perfect. You're incredibly well trained when it comes to the technical aspects and, obviously since it is the Kennedy School, the qualitative aspects are excellent, bar none. I've heard of MPA/ID grads competing with PhDs when it comes to some of the positions at Bretton Woods institutions. From what I understand they just have a lot of tools to work with rather than being incredibly good with one tool (ie. whatever your PhD dissertation topic would involve). So if you were ever an econ dork but hated the fact that you needed to dedicate 6 years of your life to a PhD to get any work done, then MPA/ID is for you. I may be a little biased as I haven't yet visited SAIS, but I did get a chance to visit the MPA/ID program and was floored by both the classes and the students. I feel that the program has a clear vision ('train technically well-equipped dev't leaders') versus IDEV which, at least to me, didn't seem to have an overarching approach. I don't think that NOT having a structured approach is a bad thing -- I just prefer knowing that I am going to come out with strong fundamental technical skills. Will you be at MPA/ID admit day? Maybe we'll meet!

That's odd. It wasn't appearing this morning. Seems to be working now. So much info to sift through! Thanks!

For those who are in, are you able to access the new admit tab in SPARKS? I don't have that tab and I'm wondering if I should contact some folks at HKS or if others are also having the same problem.

Sorry I should've clarified. I didn't apply for the DP program, just the MPA.

Got into SIPA wow. seriously don't know what to think. I didn't think i was competitive at all but got into 3 of the 3 schools I applied to... Shaking at the moment. Good luck to all and thank you!

Got into HKS MPA/ID and SAIS IDEV. Waiting to hear from SIPA but I'm pretty settled on HKS

Got in to MA program with IDEV focus! HKS and SAIS in one day! woo i need a breather.

I just got into the MPA/ID!!!

I think what you're look for is the MPA/ID program at HKS. PhD level math/econ courses are the norm for the first year. Check out this great blog post about MPA v. MPA/ID v. Econ PhD by a MPA/ID alum who ended up doing his econ PhD at Berkeley: http://chrisblattman.com/2008/03/01/which-is-for-you-mpa-mpaid-or-phd/

Works fine for me as of 11:09 AM PST. Nothing to report.