ZacharyObama

West Side

Not published. I couldn't get any real indication either from them. I think it's fluctuated somewhat because my impression is that enrollment has increased. I don't think the results page is any real indication as obviously there is some self-selection going on with this board. If I had to guess I would say that for the last couple years it's like 40% - comparable to other similar programs. I think it's a little different o because when you talk about the school as a whole you're talking about some programs that might be in other departments at other schools such as Planning, Health Administration and Real Estate Development. Price strikes me as a very professionalized school compared other schools that are offering just an MPP or MPA. In this sense, even the supposed stats above are of limited use for comparison. Price's internal IR program (IPPAM) is offered as an executive-level program i.e. mid-career. 2012 - enrollment stats - http://priceschool.usc.edu/students/facts/enrollment/

Johnny Walker Black Label

A - Duke Nicholas - I'm sure you'll manage to get a substantial amount of fieldwork in despite being relatively landlocked, also IMHO a younger POI is probably better considering the length of a PhD program. Your SO can travel to you.

I'd say make the payments for it while you're in grad school if you must with PLUS loan money and pay the rest off once you're pau with school. To those above saying get a friend to drive you, I say you are that friend to drive people. If you can afford it, as a Californian, I understand your love of your motor vehicle. To those saying well you can't discharge student loan debt in bankruptcy, I say you're not planning on going bankrupt.

Dark Color

Edit: I need to fix that blemish. F@#%

I'd say follow the money although you need to realize $1500 is pretty tough to live off of in San Diego so you'll need loans/another job etc. to probably pay the bills at the end of the day. If you can visit definitely do so. There are a lot of threads on these programs here: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/11-government-affairs/

I do! I'm hopefully going to start attending next fall. I live near the terminus of the Green Line (there's a nice big free parking lot or you can walk/bike). I would advise you to look at North Redondo (there are a fair number of apartments in the area) so you're nearish the train station. Buses in LA can be really hit or miss in terms of traffic time - so I wouldn't count on a bus. I would say it's feasible. My plan is always just go Green Line, Blue Line, Expo Line - it takes 45 min to an hour consistently. I haven't actually taken the Silver Line. I think it works but it doesn't drop you right at the edge of campus like the Expo Line does (although you could transfer). The South Bay isn't exactly non-car friendly though to be honest - we have local bus networks but they don't really go where you want and the connections are really poorly planned. Be forewarned: you take your life in your own hands riding a bike on the roads in LA. There are a lot of good transit options in terms of living in outlying areas - but train > bus.

Moon Landing

I just wrapped up filling out my FAFSA and other forms for the main Financial Aid office: http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/my_fa/ - I think my aid report will basically consist of: you get Unsubsidized loans + Work Study + PLUS Loan Allowance. First, If you take 15 or more credits you're in flat rate zone: http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/applying_receiving/graduates1/costs.html So Basically: You Can Borrow Cost of Attendance: 52k (8-14 credits - you are charged per credit which is ~$1500 per credit) - Minus Your Scholarships with the balance = Work Study of up to ~$3500 + 20~k in Unsubsidized (@6.8%) + PLUS Loans (@7.9%) or Private Loans or Credit Cards/Cash (Lump Sum or 10 month payment plan). USC for the purpose of enrollment considers 4 units to be half-time and 8 to be full time (important if you're putting loans in deferment). I have a slight blemish on my credit report (like really slight), but as far as I can tell the only way you don't qualify for Stafford Loans or PLUS Loans is if you have student loans in default or are like in bankruptcy. I've been looking for and haven't been able to find many other external/outside scholarship opportunities at this point. Hope that helps. I hope everyone has their logistics all squared away. Count on traffic if you're driving! P.S. If you guys get to ask questions try to find out more about TA's (Price and others)/RA's.

I'm expecting full reports muro and skemp so that I can experience such an event vicariously while waiting another week!

Magic Bean

@ vincehoward - I don't want kids in the immediate future, and possibly ever. I also don't mind living low rent and on a small budget. *shrug*

Most definitely - Thanks for the very useful responses and am glad you enjoyed the USC Happy Hours. I wish you the best of luck in grad school and in helping California take over the world to turn most everywhere else into a homogenized form of California culture a la Disneyland and Hollywood with a dash of San Francisco hipness.

This response was edited because it continued previously pointed out problems with such logic.

@flyingjellyfish - I'm pretty California/West Coast (+ my beloved State of Hawaii) focused so I think USC is a pretty good match, my field is parks/conservation/land management. I've worked for a city here in SoCal for the last year, but I'm a part-timer and so the pay kinda sucks and I don't get benefits. Before that I had a 10-month AmeriCorps internship with the State of Hawaii. I don't think I would meet the requirements for "II" positions right off the bat as from what I've seen the masters degree generally subs for one year of relevant experience. I'm optimistic though that I could pretty quickly move up the salary tier to something like 60-80k in like 3-5 years. I'd be elated if I can land a 40-60k before taxes type position coming out the door of USC. I'm not happy about having to take on more debt but my BA isn't doing very much for me right now, well besides getting me into USC. I think I can handle my debt load and live modestly on such a salary. I take the long-term look - government has great benefits and employment stability - the nonprofit/private sector doesn't really offer that in the long-run. Are you in CA state gov? Are there lots of USC grads around? @Miskina - it's better than you could ever dream once you start getting to retirement age: http://blog.sfgate.com/matierandross/2013/03/25/alameda-county-administrator-tops-in-pay/ As to the "think tank" type jobs, I don't really know that much but you can probably expect to make a similar amount a bit more but you don't have the long-term stability that working toward a "defined" pension offers. I'm not sure how being international would effect your immediate employment prospects for government employment.

40-60k - local or state government. I have limited work experience and no experience as a supervisor.

Green People

@spacezeppelin Breaking it down: 1. My decision is not immediately financial, I could go to a dramatically lesser established program for much cheaper (CSULB), but I'm not sure I would get as much out of it. I think if just getting through academically was my goal then it would be fine, but my goal is a decent-paying career in short order i.e. coming out of school with the ability to pay loans and make ends meat. My goal coming out is to land a full-time unionized position in local or state government. I think USC really wants me to succeed to make them look good, my undergrad didn't care so much which is why I find myself underemployed right now. I actually happen to be acquainted with a current international public administration lecturer at CSULB and former lecturer at USC Price (back when it was still SPPD) and USC grad and he encouraged me to go to USC and didn't try to sell me at all on CSULB. 2. I think that in terms of making a bet on taking out an additional significant amount of loans/costs incurred that my bet is better made on USC because of the strength of the program and of the alumni network. USC has a ridiculously strong alumni network here in SoCal. I'm not sure how well that extends to the Bay Area but I wouldn't imagine there aren't some out the multiplicity of USC graduates. There's a real mythos and cult of USC here in the Southland that might be a little over-exaggerated, but it's also true in a very real sense. 3. I think the USC program meets my academic expectations very well. I think it's extremely strong in it's core, but in my particular interest of environmental management it's not particularly strong. That said, from what I can tell I think USC is trying to make up this deficiency because it's pretty much the only sub-field they're not top-10 ranked in. I like that USC Price see's itself as wanting to be top dog - I think for the cost of attendance that the school is wanting to go all out with this program is a plus - I also think it's an advantage to that USC has so many other strong departments and programs so that if I take a couple courses outside of Price that it will be very strong overall. I went to a very rigorous undergraduate institution and I'm not sure that I'm going to be overwhelmingly academically challenged with the quant stuff like you see suggested with some of the other programs discussed on this board, but at this point, that's not really what I want; I want to learn by doing. USC Price seems to be very practicality oriented - they're training us to be public servants, not hedge-fund traders. 4. I might be better served going for a Master of Environmental Management degree (UCSB Bren for example, their program looks awesome), but right now I don't have the academic science background for that and considering that my undergrad GPA is less than 3.0 I might not even make the cut-off for most programs; USC was willing to give me a fair look in that regard and was very clear with that right up front when asked. I think no matter what you're going to be taking a risk in picking a program and you should try to calculate that risk considering the initial investment versus the potential long-term pay-off. What do you want to do with this degree? Public-sector, non-profit or private industry? Is cheaper going to be better for what you want to do? I'm thinking that you'll probably visit and then it will click. Hope that wasn't too long of a response and NO - I will not pick for you!

Minimal. I think it's mostly in terms of how the programs think of themselves - more on the policy formulation side or more on the policy implementation side or smack dab in the middle.

That's interesting. I think maybe I'll try to beg again after I officially accept the offer and am going to be chasing whatever scholarships for the second year I can find. I'm looking at trying to get the Sustainable Cities Certificate done if possible which is kinda more planning oriented: http://priceschool.usc.edu/programs/certificate/ - I'm also considering taking longer just to avoid having to take out PLUS Loans - if I can take an extra semester or two and get through all the way on Stafford Loans I would be a happy camper. In short, I need to talk to financial aid As to downtown, my perspective as someone who has watched some of the development over the last 15 years is that it's going in a good direction, but I wouldn't characterize it as a community really - rather it's a mishmash. I think on the whole though that downtown is going places - a number of major capital developments have occurred and the transportation network has been improved, but I wouldn't look for great advances for at least another 5-7 years when a number of projects are due to be completed that will result in further gentrification and more of a neighborhood feel. This is one really cool thing they're going to do: http://www.streetcar.la/ - they're projecting that to open in 2015 but I really doubt it will be finished on schedule. There are a whole variety of new real estate projects happening but I don't think Skid Row is going to stop being a dominant feature overnight. I would say that the best sides of the downtown area are the southeast area (toward USC), the central area (Bunker Hill) and the northeast area (Chinatown, Little Tokyo). To the west it's pretty slummy and to the east and southeast it's very industrial/slummy.

Delicious Fruit

The Planning Program does look pretty sweet though and I almost regret not trying for a dual degree! Maybe down the road

I wouldn't think that if you apply to the program you would be responsible for any additional credits beyond the 40 or 41 your award covers (unless they give another award). I'm not quite sure it would work like that, but you definitely want to check with the MPL program and admissions. What they told me when I inquired if more money would be available as people turned it down was that the Dean's Merit Scholarship is a one-round entrance award (begging for more money most likely won't work). But I'm not sure how that would apply to your situation. DTLA is a mess! If you're interested in downtown they have done some nice renovation of buildings into lofts and apartments so that might be your best bet if you want to buy. Culver City is probably a pretty pricey market for buying. I would think most of the immediate area to USC are rentals because people buy them up to rent to USC students at a tidy profit. Good Luck with the real estate market!