Begonia

Thank you all for giving me useful suggestions! The large number of NPOs focused on Asia is certainly appeals me. I already knew the shooting in southern california, but I don't think it counts a lot in my final decision. It seems hard to give up CMU, while the location is really a concern to me.

Dear bella， Thank you so much for your suggestions! Location is really a great advantage of UMD. I guess it's much easier to find quality internship/job there than in LA or Pittsburgh.

Hello all! I'm an international student applying for MPA/MPP program 2012 fall. I'm admitted by following programs: GPPI(with no funding) USC(half tuition) CMU(16k/y) maryland(33k/y). I will choose the concentration of nonprofit and also have strong interest in education issues. I hope to work for IO or foundations in future. Since financial aid is also a big issue to me, I'm currently not considering GPPI( well it's so hard to do so) USC MPA: Decent program considering the ranking( but I don't know why it is not mentioned much in this forum) Strong alumni( I heard USC does really well in this aspect) Location: although LA is a big city, maybe east coast is a better place to study MPP/MPA? CMU MSPPM: Rigorous curriculum: I believe CMU provides the most practical skills among these programs. It's actually a soft MBA program. But I don't know whether it's good thing. I've talked with several of its current students, and it seems that most of them are pursuing career in finance or consulting. Location: location is concern to me. I guess there are comparatively fewer NGOs or IOs in Pittsburg. Thus it might be difficult to find internship. Reputation: It looks like Heinz enjoys very good reputation in this forum, perhaps also in US? Maryland MPP: Scholarship: I have to admit that the scholarship is really a great temptation to me. It almost covers the tuition. Location: College park is in the DC beltway, best location to study policy I guess. Reputation: Maryland is not as prestigious in my country as other universities, I don't know whether it's same in US. Another concern: Maryland is going to start a new MPA program which enrolled the applicants who are not able to be admitted by MPP program, and mainly for international students. Then there will be a large amount of graduate student. I guess it will hurt more or less, say some kind of degree inflation. If anybody has any insight on this, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you !