happycamper

I agree NebBronco. Duke has made a solid pitch. I've been impressed by how personal the admitted student process has been. We have tons of access and have had questions answered promptly. Not quite the same with Michigan (maybe a difference between big and small policy schools). I'm looking forward to Michigan's Spring Preview too, but I'm also leaning pretty heavily Duke's way.

Sanford vs. Ford Senator vs The only president never to be elected to office. I'm deciding between the two and would be curious to hear thoughts. Below is a very general breakdown of the two that can maybe start conversation: DUKE Small program- 55-60 admits each year Practical training Geneva summer program Strengths in global policy and social policy Relatively new health policy program, but growing Excellent career services dept. Durham nice in some regards, not nice in other regards (though I think its more on the nice end) MICHIGAN Larger program- approx. 100 admits a year Strong quantitative training Various internship opportunities Big alumni network (especially in DC) More focus areas (options in Econ and Politics) Unsure about career services (not that its bad, just dont know) Ann Arbor. I hear its nice but no hiding the cold temps I visited Duke last week and will visit Michigan this week, which is why I have a bit more info about Duke. Let me know. Thanks.

Vinnievega - The people I have met in the Foreign Service or currently in training are far from vipers. Really good, interesting people actually. The officers with experience speak highly about it. Granted I am not in the FS but I thought I'd add that. More to the forum's theme, if foreign service is your calling, any of the four schools SAIS, Fletcher, HKS and SIPA will be excellent training. You just need to pass the pesky oral exam.

I attended the Duke MPP Open House and came away quite impressed (though they could have done something about the rain, haha). Here are a few things I took away from the trip: -Smaller program size is more of an asset than liability. I felt the personal attention from staff and profs and camaraderie between fellow students will outweigh any potential issues of a small alumni network. It was also stressed that the alumni network, although relatively small, is very active - which leads to my next point... -Career services appears outstanding (along with the friendly admissions office). The CS staff seems very competent and interested in each student. The alumni panel assembled for the career panel was very impressive. -Curriculum stresses practicality over theory. The spring consulting project (first year) aligns you with an actual organization and seems to provide great experience for the two other major projects: summer internship (Geneva Program is popular) and master's project (who most current MPPers rated positively). -There were on-going questions about the quantitative nature of the program (especially compared to Ford or Harris) which they seem to remedy by providing two options for your Econ and Stats courses: standard courses (not too calc heavy) or advanced options (more calc heavy). However, I don't think they were overly concerned with a renowned Quant reputation and more concerned with focused skills in your area of interest. Take it how you like. -I am interested in the Global Policy concentration and Environmental Policy option (dual degree at Nicholas School) and came away excited about both possibilities. And Durham seems like a pretty nice place to spend a few grad years while living on the cheap. Just thought I'd add that. -Many students were deciding between Sanford, Ford, Harris and GPPI - with the other policy schools sprinkled in there. I think the smaller program size is really something to consider...for better or worse. I'm not going to the Ford Open House next weekend, but I would love to hear from those who are going to both Durham and Ann Arbor. -I might have drank too much of the Kool-Aid but I hope this helps.