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At Ford, the MPA is basically the first year of the MPP. You get the same academic/recruiting/social experience, it's just (obviously) one year so you can't take as much time on electives. Everyone's situation is different, but for me, I think it could make sense if you are going to waive out of a lot of the core quantitative classes. If you don't waive out of the building block classes, then you're spending nearly half your program in Calculus, Microeconomics, Statistics and Program Eval. The magic happens after this point when you actually apply these skills to issues you're interested in, and you start combining quantitative and qualitative skills together. Again, without waiving classes, I personally wouldn't feel comfortable doing a 1 year, but others might.

According to Petersons, SIPA's MPA program has an acceptance rate of 50%. I'm not saying anything for or against the quality of SIPA's program, but it's never been my impression that SIPA is among the more selective MPP/MPA programs.

Just wanted to pop in and say congratulations (and apologies again) to those who were made right. I look forward to meeting you at Spring Preview if you can make it, or next Fall in Ann Arbor if you decide to go blue. And we hope you do! For anyone with specific questions about logistics or Ann Arbor, feel free to PM me.

Hey everyone, I agree that it's completely unacceptable for this to have happened. As a student at Ford, I'm embarrassed and apologetic. Please know that the students here who are excited about receiving next year's cohort into the community share your frustration and anger about this mistake. I will let student services know they need to do more to actively address the issue.

Hi everyone! Congrats to the recent admits! I'm currently at Ford and sitting around with a few other Fordies, so we'll try to speak to a few of the thoughts here. 1) Most of us have not heard of Michigan awarding out-of-state tuition waivers as part of a financial aid package. You can't get in-state in your second year if you come out-of-state first year. However, Michigan is extremely generous with funding (both at admission time and once here) -- I can't imagine there is a program with more money up for grabs out there. Almost every class at Ford has a GSI (teaching assistant) position, in addition to tons at UMich in general, and they pay a full tuition waiver + health insurance + a cost of living stipend for the semester in service. We estimate 10-15% of the first year cohort alone has GSI positions this Winter semester. We also estimate that at least 5-10% of the first year cohort is on a full scholarship. There are also research assistant positions and administrative staff positions that pay hourly as well as other university jobs. Other smaller funding considerations may include the fact that the Ford School and the Nonprofit and Public Management Center here at Michigan both help to pay for unpaid summer internships, roughly $2k each for a total of $4k. 2) Domestic policy focus: yes and no. Absolutely, Ford is an incredible place to prepare for a domestic career, but also know that Ford has incredible resources for international-focused students. We have a partnership with the Japanese government where we receive about 15 of their government professionals from various ministries each year. We also have students from Mexico, Turkey, India, Spain, on and on. I can't speak too much to the international stuff as I'm focused on domestic education, but a few specific examples to give: the William Davidson Institute has summer internships around the globe in developing countries that pay a $10k stipend which is pretty awesome for those opportunities. There's also a trip every year to a country we've never been to as a school: next year's is currently planned as Myanmar. We also do a fully funded trip to China every year. Many, MANY, of our faculty, (including our Dean) are interested in international research and developing countries. 3) Multidisciplinary. Yes, yes, and yes. And then yes some more. There's a very small circle of universities that have top programs, faculty, and students in business, law, education, social work, information, natural resources, health, AND public policy. At Michigan, almost all of these schools are on the same block of campus, which makes things easier. I'd estimate 30% of Ford students are dual degree students, over half the profs are dual appointments, and there are lots of cross listed classes and the requirement/option to take classes at other graduate schools. If you are interested in a multidisciplinary experience, Michigan will meet and exceed your expectations by far. This is one of the KEY reasons to come to Michigan. 4) Finally, the most important thing about Ford that you can't get a sense of from one-day tours, message boards, and websites: the community here is second to none. We're family through and through, and love each other to death. We hit the bars, do intramural sports, take road trips, and yes, do econ problem sets until the wee hours (like tonight) and have the best time. If you're looking for a great academic and social experience, you will get it here at Ford: no question. I cannot overemphasize this point enough. You won't know until you come, but this (in my opinion) is the top reason to come to Ford, which is saying something considering the embarrassment of resources we have here. Come to Spring Preview, we'll show you a good time!

An all private sector background will not be a problem. Instead of thinking about your how your past will affect the MPP route, spend more time thinking about how the MPP will affect your future career. What role do you want regarding social and environmental policy? What educational backgrounds do people with that role have? If you're seeing a lot of MPP degrees, you're in good shape.

Your target list is incredibly optimistic for a 2.9/660 25-year old. 6 of the M7 MBA schools + WWS and HKS? If you're not "this cycle or bust," have at it, otherwise you might want to think about rotating in some schools that aren't as selective. Between the coursework and standardized test score, work on your test score and take the GRE if the majority of your MBA list will let you take it. The GRE math is much easier than the GMAT math, and GRE scores aren't used in compiling MBA rankings which means schools are more likely to let you slide in with a below-average score. Good luck!

If you're strong in quant, a lot of programs will let you waive out of the core classes either by exam or academic credentials. Maybe something to consider.

As an incoming student at Ford, I'll see if I can speak to a few points. The first is that Ford is hands-down a practitioner's program. Case in point, there is no thesis but rather two mandatory integrated policy exercises and one optional applied policy seminar where you work on a live problem. Your policy background will be super attractive as an applicant. Don't worry about non-use of quantitative skills, Ford will train you in everything you need as calc I, stats, and applied microecon are all part of the mandatory curriculum as are one of quant eval or applied econometrics. And the really, really cool thing about our quant classes is that they are fun and APPLIED. Imagine getting to take calc I through a policy lens. Imagine using school finance data in your applied micro classes. Imagine your calc and stats professors being two of the highest rated professors in your program for humor and approachability. If ever there was a program to teach powerful quantitative methods to those without that kind of background, in a policy context, this is it. You mentioned election campaigns, well one of our lecturers, Gerald Hills, is a career campaign strategist who adjuncts at night and teaches a class on it. One of the alums on our board, Jeff Barnes, became the policy director and campaign manager for the gubernatorial run of now-Governor Rick Snyder (I believe that was Jeff's first post-Ford job as well.) Michigan recently redistricted creating a brand new 11th district, and the democratic candidate has campaign internships right now. Doesn't do you any good, but just another example of campaign work available. We have several policymaking classes (obviously haha) that focus on different levels of government. We have policymakers in residence including a career foreign service officer, an ex public policy vice president from General Motors, and a few more I believe, that you can knock on the door of almost anytime. There's also a great push for superb policy writing, so we have a policy writing camp and .5 credit classes taught by writing instructors that will show you how to craft great memos. For hands-on stuff, the first internship opportunity you'll get mailed about post-acceptance is for summer work internships in the Detroit Mayor's office. We routinely place in the Governor's office as well. There are a few opportunities for in-school internships, although it'd be difficult to pull off in year 1 due to scheduling, but Citizens Research Council of Michigan pays interns to do non-partisan policy research on proposed state legislation and issues those papers to decision makers in the state. Regarding funding, I can tell you that if you have a diverse socioeconomic background and some type of elite academic credential (GPA, GRE, etc.) you will be in significant running for a Rackham Merit Fellowship which is full-tuition plus. Lots of RA/TA positions. Professors basically say for RA posts, come to the speaker/lecture series, show an interest in the centers and research, and then ask. "We always have work," according to one professor who I won't name. If you have a conference idea, pitch it to Trey Williams, one of our lead directors, and he'll probably tell you to run with it. Also, the school fully embraces its proximity to Detroit as an incredible place to serve the public good, so there's probably a gold mine of potential work there. Last, Michigan is more than a "solid university." It has 90 programs ranked in the top 10 of their respective fields. The Ford School is tied with Kennedy at #1 in social policy, and ranked #3 in policy analysis according to USN. U of M is the world's 14th best university according to QS World Report (sandwiched between Princeton and Cornell), and by those metrics is the top public university in the country, landing ahead of Berkeley. All in all, yeah, Ford is a great place to do a MPA/MPP for someone who's ready to work!

Michigan Ford has outstanding funding between fellowships and TA/RA positions.

I guess it turns out that Ross GBR and Ford Preview are the same weekend, so I will be attending Ford events on Friday. Hope to see many of you there, I'll try to take a few notes for those who aren't able to make it. If anyone wants to tailgate Saturday for the Spring Football game at the Ross BUS let me know!

lol 1 F is nothing, especially since you have a pretty good overall GPA. I straight dogged it my last semester, racked up 1, maybe 2 Ds, and no As. Not pretty, but still got into Ford, Sanford, and Heinz with funding packages of some kind. Also, I'm no expert on higher education, but that seems like overkill regarding how they punished you. It's one thing to plagiarize, but you submitted your own work. Seems a little stiff to me.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiice! Go Blue!

Totally agree, it's an insanely demanding schedule! But I guess someone out there might need to do it to make ends meet. Scary! There's an also an unpaid internship opportunity that is 16-20 hours a week. I might go for it in my last year once my schedule's a lot more flexible.

I know some of you are still figuring out funding, so I wanted to post a fellowship opportunity I discovered at CRCMich.org, which is Citizens Research Council of Michigan. It's a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy analysis group that focuses on state and local government in Michigan. The fellowship requires a 30-hour work week in one of their offices, the closest of which is Livonia, MI (about 30 minutes away from campus). It pays up to $25k/year in tuition and $17k/year in stipend. Here's the fellowship app: http://www.crcmich.org/information/fellowship.pdf Apps are apparently due by March 31, which is in TWO DAYS, and it requires official transcripts. Not sure if you can get a mini-extension, or email/fax/overnight, but this is a pretty hefty fellowship with a serious opportunity to get experience.

After talking with a bunch of MBA/MPP students, the consensus is that it's better to start in the MPP program. I've decided to follow the advice given, so I'll see everyone this Fall!

Good luck!!!

Woohoo! Go Blue!!! I'll PM you in a bit here with my info, I'm sure we'll run into each other at school.

You're a fool. Haha, no seriously, congratulations on the fantastic offer. I have a few thoughts. First, it's rare to see students dump on their own school, but over the year, I seem to have stumbled upon several posts from current Harris students who say not to go there; you might want to search for some of those candid posts, positive or negative. Second, you mentioned an interdisciplinary approach. Michigan's Nonprofit and Public Management Center brings together students from Ross, Ford, and SSW. If you look at the student advisory board, you'll see it's a total mix from the three schools. Michigan takes interdisciplinary to another level, that's why there's an insane amount of dual degree options, and even student-initiated dual degrees. What about a dual with a masters in urban planning with a focus on housing, community and economic development? Or something else? Third, one of the first post-admit emails we get is for the Bohnett Fellowship at the Detroit Mayor's office, and here you're interested in local/state government? Fourth, you're not going to have any trouble placing into Chicago from UMich. I'm totally biased since I have the same offer on the table (which I took immediately), and want to study education policy and local and state government. As 12WardP said, this is the school to do it. I wouldn't turn my offer down for any other school on the planet. For you to think about turning down a monster package from Ford for no offer in hand from Harris, I do actually think that's completely bonkers!! Come to Ford!

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP/MBA Schools Applied To: Ford, Heinz, Sanford Schools Admitted To: Ford, Heinz, Sanford Schools Rejected From: School Attending: Ford Undergraduate institution: Big 12 Undergraduate GPA: 3.22 Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): unsure, but also hold a recent masters in accounting with 4.0 GPA for trending purposes Undergraduate Major: Management Information Systems GRE Quantitative Score: 169 (98%) GRE Verbal Score: 167 (98%) GRE AW Score: 4.5 (72%) Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 11 Years of Work Experience: 11, but I'm 31 years old which I think is young(er) for this much experience Describe Relevant Work Experience: 100% private sector; transferable skills in technology, management, and innovation. Social sector leadership: founded an K-12 urban education community service program that serves 200 minority children now. Languages: Spanish - intermediate reading/writing Quant: As in calculus, finance, statistics, microeconomics Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): very strong sop detailing interest in the impact of technology and business in K-12 education Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): very strong academic recommendations from an assistant dean and Harvard MBA teaching at a top 30 business school Other:

Thank you guys, congratulations again to both of you. I'm super excited to meet everyone and hopefully count you as friends and contacts for life! I won't be making the MPP admit weekend, but will be in town for the MBA one. I think I'm starting at the business school, but will try to pop my head into some student life activities at Ford.

So..... I'm totally blown away right now. My funding email was stuck in spam of all places. I received a full tuition + fees scholarship + $18k/year stipend for two years. It was already official, but I now owe the rest of my life to the University of Michigan. I have full rides on both the MBA and MPP side, and I would have attended with $0 from either. I gotta sit down and find a beer.

Hmmmm, I still have no email for fin aid. My decision link has been posted to the website, but no email for that either. I'm thinking that I'm in the same boat as you though, TypeA.

Oh, I want to claim it, but it's not mine!