Humphrey School Fall '18

[VeryCheesey]

Hi,

I couldn't find a thread for the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. I received a mail to check my application status sometime in the last week, and was pleased to see a bold "accepted"! 

No news on the funding yet, though. Anyone with news?

[ExponentialDecay]

are they giving you any money?

[VeryCheesey]

Nothing in the admissions mail. I believe the Humphrey school aid results are still to be announced. How about you?

[VeryCheesey]

Talked to the Humphrey admissions office. They say that the funding results have not been made yet, and we should expect the results by mid-March if we do receive aid.

[coffee12345]

Anyone with news about funding?

[VeryCheesey]

Not yet. But looking at last year's timeline says we should have the results in a few days.

[BintGherian]

Hey hey.

I received notice of funding today. It's for the Human Rights program. I got $15k for a fellowship. Hope you guys hear back soon. Also, what made you guys apply to the Humphrey school?

[VeryCheesey]

Hey hey.

I received notice of funding today. It's for the Human Rights program. I got $15k for a fellowship. Hope you guys hear back soon. Also, what made you guys apply to the Humphrey school?

 

Congrats @BintGherian ! I hope our decision is not too far out, so I can take a call based on my finances. 

I have applied to the MPP program, and want to specialize in STEP. I didn't apply to the MS-STEP program because I noticed several of the courses were a repetition of what I have studied already, and there was no mechanism to replace most of the courses with other electives.

I chose to apply to Humphrey because:

• I really want to start my Master's in this academic year, and Humphrey seemed like a safer bet, even while maintaining a good international reputation for the program.
• The cost of the program is not too high even without funding. It helps that the School has enough funds to give out too.
• The research at the university, especially in the STEP domain is very relevant to my work experience, and many of the professors are concentrating on India for their ongoing projects (so, pertinent to my home country's interests too).
• The admissions office is extremely patient with my incessant questions, and are dedicated to making me feel like I belong in the program - something I truly appreciate, and I did not receive from the bigger names like Harris/SIPA/Georgetown. Moreover, instead of selling the "name brand" of their institute, they highlighted the work going on at the place, again something that I think was unique to them, and a big selling point for me. 
• Building on the previous point, I talked to a few alumni, and most of them are thoroughly pleased with the program. A small caveat they all pointed out was the dearth of international students in the program (which is important to me). I also discussed this with a few international students at Humphrey, and they all indicated that their project work with the research centres more than makes up for the lack of "international outlook" in the class, and it helps that the cohort is so small - everyone gets something to do.
• I am not interested in a career in DC, so the fact that Minneapolis employs 70% of the alumni does not bother me.
• The faculty members are highly qualified and extremely humble - and though you don't study from Nobel laureates like at HKS or SIPA or Harris, you're not missing out on much. There is a great rapport between faculty and students. 
• Minneapolis, in general, is a great city for students, and very accepting too.

Of course, there are many other smaller factors. It upsets me that this forum chooses to ignore the less popular programs.

How about you? Why did you apply?

[JRS218]

@VeryCheesey

Have you received any funding info for MPP yet? I’m also waiting and getting anxious.

[JRS218]

Just got my award letter, actually. I'm a little confused as I received a Non-Resident Tuition Award but I am an MN resident. I'll have to call in the morning to get some clarification on that.

[VeryCheesey]

Hi @JRS218, just checked my mail and was pleased to see the reward! I've received the non-resident tuition award (difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition, about $8,500 per year) plus a Humphrey merit fellowship of $10000 per year.

I read the document about the non-resident aid carefully and there's a section you might like.

[JRS218]

@VeryCheesey

Yeah! I saw that, too, but I'm a little confused by it. Is that indicating that I'm receiving the difference as an additional award to my tuition cost? As in, do I get the 8k applied to my tuition cost? It's just worded so strangely. 

I also got a merit fellowship for $7,500 per year.

Edit: Congratulations! Is Humphrey looking like the choice for you?

Edited March 15, 2018 by JRS218

[VeryCheesey]

3 hours ago, JRS218 said:

Edit: Congratulations! Is Humphrey looking like the choice for you?

 

@JRS218 , Congrats to you too!

Honestly, at the moment it's between Humphrey and Ford for me. 

As an international student, my decisions so far have been based entirely on word of mouth, QS and USNWR university rankings, alumni reviews and my own research. I did not go after the international reputation as such - the only filter I had was that the university should be known to me.

Ford has offered me $30k over two years unconditionally, and has more courses that align with my interests. Moreover, it has a larger international presence than Humphrey from what I hear. However, even with the $30k waiver, my expenses are going to run close to $90k, which is probably too high. Even if I manage to get campus jobs in the 2nd year, it would be a lot higher expense than I am willing to take.

With Humphrey, the expense is brought down considerably (~50k over two years, I will be taking a very small debt after accounting my savings into the equation), so financially it is the best option I have at the moment. Unfortunately, most of what I have heard about the school comes straight from them, they don't have many alumni from my country, and from my (very limited) survey most jobs are limited to the Twin Cities. I am not sure how well the degree does overseas. I eventually intend to return to India for a number of reasons, so I want to be sure of my decision.

Do you have any inputs that might ease my stress and dilemma? As an in-state student, you might be able to help me out more than you think.

Edited March 15, 2018 by VeryCheesey
Completing an incomplete thought in the post.

[JRS218]

I did talk with admissions this morning - they apparently sent the non-resident blip to literally every single person, causing a lot of confusion.

With respect to your questions about Humphrey:

I am of the personal opinion that people tend to take rank into consideration entirely too much. While I think there is a case to made when comparing a top-tier policy school to a virtual unknown, I do not believe the distinction between Ford and Humphrey to be that severe. I believe it's far more important what you do in graduate school than where you do it in more situations than not.

I am also unsure what you intend to focus on and what realm of employment you're looking into, but I would be highly averse to taking on nearly $100,000 in debt for what would most likely be a negligible "boost" from Ford over Humphrey. While I am sure Ford has a better name recognition overall, I do not personally believe that name recognition is worth that amount of money, particularly if you're entering public service careers (ie: not going to be a millionaire). 

I do also know from speaking with some of my networks from my undergrad (senators, professors, foreign service officers) that UMN has been very interested in recent years in growing and improving its international appeal both in terms of program outcomes and student recruiting, particularly while Eric Schwartz was heading the school. I think there is a distinct chance that they will be putting a lot of effort and resources into improving that, which could definitely help with your concerns about returning to India eventually. 

In short, I think that Humphrey is a comparable choice in several respects while also being a literal fraction of the cost. $100k is A LOT of money to have hanging over your head as you begin a career.