Esquared

Deloitte's Austin office actively recruit at UT's LBJ School for human capital/strategy & operations positions. The Austin office is primarily engaged in public sector rather than commercial consulting, so it makes sense for them to focus considerable attention on policy students. Candidates can also apply to the D.C. office.

I think I'll hijack this thread to a happier place. Where is the best place to live in Austin (preferably within walking distance to the campus)? Anybody know anymore info about Camp LBJ?

I dislike it, but probably for different reasons. The Ivy League is an athletic conference, not a standard (though they are of course wonderful schools). I prefer to call good schools what they are...good schools. And UT is a good school. Obviously USNews is far from the gospel, but you're talking about an institution with nearly all of its grad programs ranked #20 or higher. Ivy Plus is also kind of a lame moniker.

LBJ was my first choice and I'm planning to attend in the fall. The Public Affairs program seems really solid overall - I get the feeling that I'll come away actually being able to apply learned skills to a career and that's what I want. I like that they have quantitative prerequisites - makes me feel like the program's got a little more weight behind it (although I'm not sure why I feel that way - I think I might be a superficial person). They have a bunch of specialization classes which is really nice. I've looked at the courses and a lot of them seem both interesting and useful. I want (actually need) a degree I can use in a job, but I don't want to be bored for two years either. UT has a great national reputation, but an especially good rep in Texas. In my high school in Houston people didn't get why I went to the University of Chicago instead of UT (to be fair, neither do I at this point). I don't know, it seems like a great program to be a part of. I'm looking forward to it.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/2008/P5500.pdf It's brand new and immediately relevant.

Updated: Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, MPAff, MPA Schools Applied To: UT - Austin, UNC, UCLA, Georgetown Schools Admitted To: UT - Austin (3/6), UCLA (3/6) Schools Rejected From: UNC (2/21 - after interview) Still Waiting: Georgetown Undergraduate institution: University of Chicago Undergraduate GPA: 3.16 Undergraduate Major: History Last 60 hours of undergraduate GPA: 3.45 GRE Quantitative Score: 720 (156) GRE Verbal Score: 640 (162) GRE AW Score: 4.0 (Didn't finish either essay - good way to start a test) Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2 Years of Work Experience: 1.5 - 2 Describe Relevant Work Experience: Worked in the financial development department at the YMCA national offices, mainly working with grants and funding allocation; currently a teacher for a low-income school (Advanced Algebra I and Geometry). Languages: English (native), Spanish (competent) Quant: Took Calculus and statistics in undergrad, but as an American History major that was pretty much it (a bit of Econ too - peer pressure). I think I have pretty strong quantitative skills though and am looking forward to getting back into it. I'll probably take the third Calc sequence over summer. I'd like to continue on to linear algebra, analysis, etc. I like math. Strength of SOP: I don't know, it turned out alright. I just tried to tell the truth about why I wanted to attend the programs. It's important to me that my job means something and challenges me. I have experience in public affairs and have found it rewarding, and I basically outlined these sentiments as clearly and concisely as I could. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): One from my supervisor from a previous position was really exceptional - I'm not sure if it's any different than what adcoms usually see but it was really touching to read on a personal level at least. One from my senior thesis advisor that was probably pretty good. The other from a recent colleague that was probably just OK. Other: Don't really have any interesting hooks, honestly. I like to play soccer?

Any way you could post a few links to these rankings? I've been trying to find others because USNEWS seems a little arbitrary.

Accepted to UCLA MPP by email. No word on funding.

Accepted to UT-Austin (MPAff) with no funding. In-state for me though, so still quite a bargain.

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, MPAff Schools Applied To: UT - Austin, UNC, UCLA, Georgetown Schools Admitted To: UT - Austin Schools Rejected From: UNC (after interview) Still Waiting: UCLA, Georgetown Undergraduate institution: University of Chicago Undergraduate GPA: 3.16 Undergraduate Major: History Last 60 hours of undergraduate GPA: 3.45 GRE Quantitative Score: 720 (156) GRE Verbal Score: 640 (162) GRE AW Score: 4.0 (Didn't finish either essay - good way to start a test) Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2 Years of Work Experience: 1.5 - 2 Describe Relevant Work Experience: Worked in the financial development department at the YMCA national offices, mainly working with grants and funding allocation; currently a teacher for a low-income school, Advanced Algebra I and Geometry. Languages: English (native), Spanish (competent) Quant: Took Calculus and statistics in undergrad, but as an American History major that was pretty much it (some Econ too). I think I have pretty strong quantitative skills though and am looking forward to getting back into it. I'll probably take the third Calc sequence over summer. I'd like to continue on to linear algebra, analysis, etc. I like math. Strength of SOP: I don't know, I just tried to tell the truth about why I wanted to attend the programs. It's important to me that my job means something and challenges me. I have experience in public affairs and have found it rewarding, and I basically outlined these sentiments as clearly and concisely as possible. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): One from my supervisor from a previous position was really exceptional - I'm not sure if it's any different that what adcoms usually see but it was really touching to read on a personal level. One from my senior thesis advisor that was probably pretty good. The other from a recent colleague that was probably just OK. Other: