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University of Washington Evans School 2018


Atayac

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Hello all! 

I saw a few others recently admitted to the UW Evans MPA program for Fall 2018, and thought I'd start a discussion thread to meet each other and discuss various aspects of the school and thoughts on the decision-making process. Where else have you applied/been admitted? Are you leaning one way or another about Evans? What do you want to specialize in/what's your interest area? Any other background info you want to share. I'd love to get to know one another a little better as I myself am struggling with making a decision.

A bit about me: I also applied and have been accepted to Berkeley's Environmental, Science, Policy and Management PhD program, and Columbia University's SIPA MPA in Environmental Science program (I cast a wide net). As is kinda obvious from the other programs I applied to I'm interested in environmental policy, which was my big draw to Evans, as well as the concurrent degree option (I also applied to the UW FES MS program and think I got in- haven't heard officially, but was invited to a "prospective student visit day"). I grew up in the Seattle area but currently live in Utah. I'd be happy to talk about Seattle and PNW in general if folks have any questions on that as well.

Anyway, hope some other recently admitted folks find this and want to connect! Looking forward to talking to y'all! :)

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Hi, I was also accepted this past weekend to the Evans MPA for fall! To answer your questions: I haven't heard back from anywhere else yet, but applied to UW's Jackson School MAIS, Georgetown MSFS/MPP program, George Washington MAIA, and Columbia's SIPA MAIA. I went to UW for undergrad, and the in-state tuition is appealing, but unless I also get into the Jackson school, Washington DC is too good of an opportunity to pass up for my career goals. 

For any others, I've been in Seattle for 6 years and went to UW for undergrad, so I can answer any questions you have too!

Edited by rlgiova
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Hi both!

Thanks for starting this thread -- I too was accepted into the MPA program at Evans for 2018, and am trying to weigh options in advance of the next round of decisions that are going to come my way in ~early March (Berkeley Goldman, Duke Sanford, Yale Forestry, UVa Batten, UWisconsin Nelson). Evans gave me a generous fellowship, and I am exceedingly grateful for it. I also have already been accepted to UMich SEAS and UCDenver.

Like you, @Atayac, I want to do environmental policy, and I'm specifically interested in focusing on progressive climate mitigation and adaptation methods. I will make no effort here to conceal my progressive attitudes and vision of large scale future climate action being used as a force to promote greater social equity, and I'm committed to going to a grad program that can help me build out that vision.

To be honest, I'm slightly concerned that Evans might not be the best place for that -- compared to say, Berkeley, it's hard to find environmental faculty that are focused on issues of equity, energy democratization, grassroots governance, etc. While I believe a strong, straightforward policy program would be great and I could apply my desired outlook to program/project work (hence me applying to places like Duke), ideally I would like to go to a place that can actively support me in that way.

Any thoughts on that? It's hard to argue against the environmental focus at Evans given how highly regarded it is, but I'm a little concerned it's going to solely be a market-based and/or traditional environmental conservation curriculum. Useful, as I've said, but not ideal.

Edited by TheOfficeFan
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On 2/13/2018 at 11:35 AM, rlgiova said:

Hi, I was also accepted this past weekend to the Evans MPA for fall! To answer your questions: I haven't heard back from anywhere else yet, but applied to UW's Jackson School MAIS, Georgetown MSFS/MPP program, George Washington MAIA, and Columbia's SIPA MAIA. I went to UW for undergrad, and the in-state tuition is appealing, but unless I also get into the Jackson school, Washington DC is too good of an opportunity to pass up for my career goals. 

For any others, I've been in Seattle for 6 years and went to UW for undergrad, so I can answer any questions you have too!

That makes sense. I visited SIPA this past weekend and the faculty are amazing. I sat in on an energy policy class that had a guest lecturer, Jeff Kupfer, who was DOE Chief of Staff under George W. Really amazing experience as there were only ~20 students in the class and it was organized in a round table fashion where we directed the discussion along with the faculty who asked some really pointed questions that cut to the heart of issues. I was really impressed. Plus the proximity of the school to DC and the international connections with the UN make SIPA a serious contender for me. Not to mention they offered more financial support than UW. Don't know much about the other programs your applying to, but can say Columbia convinced me. Good luck! 

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On 2/20/2018 at 2:28 PM, TheOfficeFan said:

Hi both!

Thanks for starting this thread -- I too was accepted into the MPA program at Evans for 2018, and am trying to weigh options in advance of the next round of decisions that are going to come my way in ~early March (Berkeley Goldman, Duke Sanford, Yale Forestry, UVa Batten, UWisconsin Nelson). Evans gave me a generous fellowship, and I am exceedingly grateful for it. I also have already been accepted to UMich SEAS and UCDenver.

Like you, @Atayac, I want to do environmental policy, and I'm specifically interested in focusing on progressive climate mitigation and adaptation methods. I will make no effort here to conceal my progressive attitudes and vision of large scale future climate action being used as a force to promote greater social equity, and I'm committed to going to a grad program that can help me build out that vision.

To be honest, I'm slightly concerned that Evans might not be the best place for that -- compared to say, Berkeley, it's hard to find environmental faculty that are focused on issues of equity, energy democratization, grassroots governance, etc. While I believe a strong, straightforward policy program would be great and I could apply my desired outlook to program/project work (hence me applying to places like Duke), ideally I would like to go to a place that can actively support me in that way.

Any thoughts on that? It's hard to argue against the environmental focus at Evans given how highly regarded it is, but I'm a little concerned it's going to solely be a market-based and/or traditional environmental conservation curriculum. Useful, as I've said, but not ideal.

Hi! Thanks for joining the discussion. Your focus on climate mitigation and social equity sounds really interesting and I can understand your concern with Evans having a stronger focus on environmental economics (for example) than social equity. I should note that haven't visited the program which means I'm basing my understanding of the program solely on the website. But I also had a difficult time finding faculty at Evans that seemed focused on my interest area (tribal natural resource governance). Whereas, at Berkeley the professor I would be working with wrote a book on Indigenous water resource issues. So I agree that you will find a closer faculty interest and support for some of the more progressive ideas you're working on at Berkeley. Plus Goldman looks like a really great program-- I nearly applied there too, but decided on the ESPM PhD instead. 

That said, and I'm sure you've thought of this as well, where you choose to go to school also depends on where you're interested in establishing a network and potentially working in the future. Does Evans present some important networks for you? Are you interested in working in the Pacific Northwest? Looks like you have applied to a number of places across the U.S. so maybe you're still thinking of where you want to end up. It is hard to be sure at this stage. 

Somethings I'm asking myself are what credentials (for lack of a better) are going to help me in the future? I don't want to live or work in New York, but I envision working with folks from DC often, and I feel like having a reputable school like Columbia on my resume might open more doors than UW in those circles. The same would be true of Yale and Duke, which you've applied to. BTW, did you apply to the Yale FES MEM? I applied there and can't stand the wait since I have heard from everywhere else. Anyhow, I think Evans has fallen to the bottom of my list, but I haven't completely taken it off the table. If you think of some great reasons to attend I would love to hear about it. I'm currently looking at deferring Berkeley a year to complete an MPA at Columbia.

Edited by Atayac
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  • 11 months later...
On 2/7/2019 at 11:18 AM, sandvoldus said:

Anyone hear back from Evans this application cycle? 

Nothing yet. I believe decisions came out around this time last year. The campus has been closed due to weather the past few days, so that could be delaying things. 

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On 2/26/2019 at 4:10 AM, L_S_P said:

If you don't mind me asking, when did you submit your application? I still haven't gotten a decision yet and the wait is killing me!

Hey!

I got accepted! 

I submitted right on the deadline. Hope that helps :)

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On 2/25/2019 at 5:40 PM, L_S_P said:

If you don't mind me asking, when did you submit your application? I still haven't gotten a decision yet and the wait is killing me!

I submitted on January 10! 

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  • 11 months later...

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