Sanford MPP Fall 2018

[chocolatecheesecake]

On 3/7/2018 at 6:42 AM, Dampact said:

You should consider yourself lucky as compared to me...I have 2,000$...-_-. Luckily I have a better offer from Harris which is my preference over Duke anyway, so maybe I can use my admission here to negotiate a better deal with Harris.

Congrats on your acceptance to both schools! I do want to note it may not be easy to use Sanford's acceptance to negotiate with Harris. Usually, you need a better offer from somewhere else to leverage them. If you say that you've been accepted to Duke but would rather go to Harris, they may ask for proof, and you'd end up having to send them your offer of admission and admit that Duke already  gave you less. Hope another school gave you more money - that's the offer I'd use in your position to ask more from Harris.

[chocolatecheesecake]

On 3/7/2018 at 2:42 PM, pareidolia said:

 

I got my acceptance email from Sanford this afternoon (3/6) with a half-tuition scholarship ($21K) plus the standard $4K TA/RA position. Since I am pretty narrowly focused on public health policy, Sanford is high on my list; I'm on the waitlist at Harris and waiting for a decision from U Chicago's social work school.

To answer pozole, I have the conflicting admit day problem, with Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health (Master of Healthcare Administration), and I'm really not sure what to do about it. I already visited Sanford back in November when I interviewed at Fuqua, but I didn't get to meet career services or alumni. If there are a number of other admits with conflicts due to other MPP programs having the same admit day, maybe they'd let us do a mini-admit day earlier that week or something?

Congrats on being accepted! It's hard to decide between the different admit days, but having been a part of Sanford's visiting days, I think the most valuable thing is meeting other students who are making similar decisions and seeing who might be a part of your future cohort. It's also a very fun convivial atmosphere, going to the bars together and farmer's markets, etc. etc. If you want to figure out what it might be like to live in Durham or live in Morningside Heights, the admit day will help you figure that out too. If you've already visited Sanford and been able to sit in on a class, I suggest you ask to be put in touch with fellow alums. Career services wouldn't tell you much more than what you'll glean from talking to the alums about their experiences. Or just put questions here, and I'll do my best (and see if I can't get other friends to respond too!). 

That being said, I never got to attend any visiting days because I was traveling overseas all that year while I was applying. I talked to a lot of current students and alums, and in the end, took a little bit of a risk, but loved my Sanford experience. If you can't visit, it's not the end of the world. Good luck with your choices!

[TheOfficeFan]

Hey folks! I was recently accepted to Sanford, and I wanted to reach out and see if anyone will be attending the Open House weekend, as it's looking like Duke is a major possibility for me and I'm planning on being in Durham for the event. I'm still dealing with a fair bit of frustration/sadness about being rejected from Berkeley Goldman, as my partner looks like she's going to be admitted to the MCP program there and as a result we might soon be a bicoastal couple. Any awesome words about the Sanford program would be appreciated! I know it's an incredible program and I'm exceedingly grateful for getting in, so I'm trying to pull out of the Berkeley rejection as much as possible and focus on what a great opportunity I have at Duke.

I'm interested in progressive climate policy -- any other open house attendees interested in environmental policy? Would love to start making some connections.

Best of luck with the rest of your decision-making processes!

[MoE'd]

Hello all, 

Congratulations!

I have been accepted at Sanford's MIDP,  and waitlisted at MPP. I will know about my MPP status only in June apparently and meanwhile I have to accept or decline MIDP by April 15th. Any suggestions?

To give you a little but more info about me, I am a 28 year old International student from India, with 4.5 years of work experience in the private sector and 1.5 years in the public sector. I am want to work for nonprofits in America in the short-term and foray into developing countries in the long term. 

I have also gotten into Columbia MPA, Brown MPA, UNC Chapel Hill MPA, UCSD MPP, and waitlisted at UVA. Haven't heard from UCLA Luskin and NYU Wagner. Due to personal reasons and preference to stay in North Carolina, Duke is my top choice as a university.

Edited March 13, 2018 by MoE'd

[chocolatecheesecake]

18 hours ago, MoE'd said:

Hello all, 

Congratulations!

I have been accepted at Sanford's MIDP,  and waitlisted at MPP. I will know about my MPP status only in June apparently and meanwhile I have to accept or decline MIDP by April 15th. Any suggestions?

To give you a little but more info about me, I am a 28 year old International student from India, with 4.5 years of work experience in the private sector and 1.5 years in the public sector. I am want to work for nonprofits in America in the short-term and foray into developing countries in the long term. 

I have also gotten into Columbia MPA, Brown MPA, UNC Chapel Hill MPA, UCSD MPP, and waitlisted at UVA. Haven't heard from UCLA Luskin and NYU Wagner. Due to personal reasons and preference to stay in North Carolina, Duke is my top choice as a university.

Hey @MoE'd, PM me your email. I can connect you with friends who are alums of both MIDP and MPP programs. They're also from your country, so should be able to give some insight into what's best for your future career.

[chocolatecheesecake]

On 3/13/2018 at 5:46 AM, TheOfficeFan said:

Hey folks! I was recently accepted to Sanford, and I wanted to reach out and see if anyone will be attending the Open House weekend, as it's looking like Duke is a major possibility for me and I'm planning on being in Durham for the event. I'm still dealing with a fair bit of frustration/sadness about being rejected from Berkeley Goldman, as my partner looks like she's going to be admitted to the MCP program there and as a result we might soon be a bicoastal couple. Any awesome words about the Sanford program would be appreciated! I know it's an incredible program and I'm exceedingly grateful for getting in, so I'm trying to pull out of the Berkeley rejection as much as possible and focus on what a great opportunity I have at Duke.

I'm interested in progressive climate policy -- any other open house attendees interested in environmental policy? Would love to start making some connections.

Best of luck with the rest of your decision-making processes!

Hey, congrats, and I hope you have a good time at Open House. Just wanted to say I've been there - Berkeley was my dream school for several years, and it really stung that I was unable to attend. I ended up very happy at Duke, and I think it's one of the schools that is closest to what Berkeley offers. The 48-hour memo project is very memorable and fun, honestly. Like Berkeley, Sanford also offers a lot of intensive group-work in the policy analysis classes, and the second-year master's project or capstone. It was a very rigorous environment, and I enjoyed that. For environmental studies, I've heard a lot of great things about Billy Pizer's classes. It's also easy to attend classes at the Nicholas School, which is excellent too. You're going to enjoy your two years, and occasionally rub those Bay Area people's noses in the fact that your rent is about a third of what they pay. ^_~ 

[TheOfficeFan]

Thanks so much for the thoughtful response, @chocolatecheesecake, it definitely lifted my spirits. At this point, the rejection is starting to fade, and the hardest part is the thought that my partner and I will be ~2500 miles away from each other for almost two years. Definitely a day-to-day process at this point with that very possible reality.

I come from a small liberal arts school background, so the small class/cohort size at Sanford is a huge selling point. On your recommendation (and actually a few other people's!), I've reached out to Billy for his thoughts on the environmental curriculum. I understand that the environmental offerings are fabulous at Sanford/Nicholas, but I'm a little concerned that most things will be wrapped around an economic understanding of the environment rather than the equity/social science perspective I want to move in the direction of. 

Can I ask -- how did you find the culture and politics at Duke? I am an outspoken and active progressive (most Americans would consider me a radical), and I'm worried I'm not going to fit in too well, given what I know about the place. I know that there will sympathetic viewpoints and grad programs are slightly insulated from undergrad, but the progressive/equity focus of Berkeley was a big factor in me wanting to go there. We obviously don't have to agree on politics, but I'm interested in your read on what the culture is like and whether you encountered folks on the left (not liberal) there.

Thanks for your help and kind words, I appreciate it!

[chocolatecheesecake]

On 3/16/2018 at 1:04 AM, TheOfficeFan said:

Thanks so much for the thoughtful response, @chocolatecheesecake, it definitely lifted my spirits. At this point, the rejection is starting to fade, and the hardest part is the thought that my partner and I will be ~2500 miles away from each other for almost two years. Definitely a day-to-day process at this point with that very possible reality.

I come from a small liberal arts school background, so the small class/cohort size at Sanford is a huge selling point. On your recommendation (and actually a few other people's!), I've reached out to Billy for his thoughts on the environmental curriculum. I understand that the environmental offerings are fabulous at Sanford/Nicholas, but I'm a little concerned that most things will be wrapped around an economic understanding of the environment rather than the equity/social science perspective I want to move in the direction of. 

Can I ask -- how did you find the culture and politics at Duke? I am an outspoken and active progressive (most Americans would consider me a radical), and I'm worried I'm not going to fit in too well, given what I know about the place. I know that there will sympathetic viewpoints and grad programs are slightly insulated from undergrad, but the progressive/equity focus of Berkeley was a big factor in me wanting to go there. We obviously don't have to agree on politics, but I'm interested in your read on what the culture is like and whether you encountered folks on the left (not liberal) there.

Thanks for your help and kind words, I appreciate it!

Sorry for the late response! I am happy to talk a little about the culture and politics. The politics in Durham are decidedly progressive and on campus, dominated by fairly left-leaning viewpoints. You'll find that in most of the universities here, as well as most cities and towns in North Carolina (Chapel Hill of course, Raleigh, Charlotte). There are a lot of grassroots organizations at Duke and in Durham I've seen running jail bond campaigns, for example. They may not be as far left-leaning as you, but it's pretty progressive in general. At Sanford, there is a quiet group of folks who are here to study national security and have a military background; some are still serving and go between Durham and Fort Bragg quite often. I met the first people I ever knew who served as Marines and in the intelligence service. Most of them have a right-leaning perspective, but they're quiet about it. There are also a handful of libertarians. I had some really thoughtful and interesting conversations with the military crowd, and it was a good respectful learning experience. Historically, it's important to remember the blue enclaves in the state are surrounded by fairly deep red counties, though the atmosphere has changed since McCrory left as Governor and Roy Cooper stepped in. At Duke, you'll still find yourself at a historical Southern institution with plenty of history and baggage. The perspective I took and I think might be helpful was that while Durham can't hope to compete with Berkeley (and few places can) in terms of awareness and activism, there are a lot of people trying to make a difference in the Triangle area, and bringing your voice to the discussion happening at Duke can make a bigger difference than you think. 

[SanfordMPPCandidate2018]

Hey y'all! I was in the 2016 admit cycle and I am now almost done with my MPP at Sanford. It's been the best experience of my life. I want to hit on the few things that popped out while skimming your sections above. Duke Sanford is an awesome place with great people and community! I cannot speak to the undergraduate experience, but Sanford MPPs really have their own subculture. The program is a modest size (60 students my year which was unusually small, but closer to 80 for the 2019 class and going forward). The size means you'll know everyone and make strong relationships with your classmates. The faculty are so nice and approachable. They feel like an extension of the family. All my professors and the administrative staff know me personally and we are on a first name basis (no Professor XX nonsense). They treat us like colleagues more than students. I can't drop in on any of them, any day of the week to discuss academic or personal matters. Just talking about it reminds me of how lucky I am.  I have even balled my eyes out in a professors office and it wasn't weird.

I moved from Michigan, having lived there my whole life and attended Univ. of Michigan for undergrad & my first masters, and I love Durham and NC. I took a job in the DC area, which is where I need to be professionally, but would stay in NC otherwise. Most people fall in love with this place. Great weather, sports, live music/shows at the Durham Performing Arts Center (went to Les Mis AND Phantom in the past three months!), beautiful forests and parks if you like the outdoors, fantastic restaurants, bars and breweries, etc., etc., etc. And compared to big cities, the cost of living is low. I have a 900 square ft single apartment that I live in alone and pay about $900/month including utilities. Others rent houses with lots of roommates and pay half that much. 

Regarding open houses. I was fortunate not to have any conflicts my year (for schools I considered) and attended them all. It was the single most important part of making my decision. I would have chosen the wrong school if I had not attended all of my open houses. For those with conflicts, try to schedule an alternate visit for one of them. Duke is very accommodating in this (I helped with admissions last year). They cannot re-create the open house experience, but they will try to find a course for you to sit in on, set you up with students for coffee/lunch, and introduce you to staff/faculty. Duke also records most of the Open House sessions and posts them online afterwards for those who cannot attend. Also, if you reach out to an Admissions Ambassador or the the Admissions Director, they will connect you to a current student with similar policy interests who will call you to share their experience and answer  your questions. Bottom line is that Duke will bend over backwards to help you make your decision even if you cannot attend open house. All you have to do is contact the right people and ask for it. 

[3dender]

On 15/3/2018 at 1:04 PM, TheOfficeFan said:

Thanks so much for the thoughtful response, @chocolatecheesecake, it definitely lifted my spirits. At this point, the rejection is starting to fade, and the hardest part is the thought that my partner and I will be ~2500 miles away from each other for almost two years. Definitely a day-to-day process at this point with that very possible reality.

I come from a small liberal arts school background, so the small class/cohort size at Sanford is a huge selling point. On your recommendation (and actually a few other people's!), I've reached out to Billy for his thoughts on the environmental curriculum. I understand that the environmental offerings are fabulous at Sanford/Nicholas, but I'm a little concerned that most things will be wrapped around an economic understanding of the environment rather than the equity/social science perspective I want to move in the direction of. 

Can I ask -- how did you find the culture and politics at Duke? I am an outspoken and active progressive (most Americans would consider me a radical), and I'm worried I'm not going to fit in too well, given what I know about the place. I know that there will sympathetic viewpoints and grad programs are slightly insulated from undergrad, but the progressive/equity focus of Berkeley was a big factor in me wanting to go there. We obviously don't have to agree on politics, but I'm interested in your read on what the culture is like and whether you encountered folks on the left (not liberal) there.

Thanks for your help and kind words, I appreciate it!

I am a 1st year MPP at Sanford, probably lefter than you, and quite happy here.  I'd be happy to talk to you (or anyone else) privately about the culture (or anything else) if you have any questions.

Open Houses are important if you can make them, but there are ways to substitute if your schedule doesn't allow it.  I had comparable offers from Sanford and Harris but hated Harris upon visiting, while loving Sanford.  Talking to current students and alumni is also helpful, as well as scouring the course offerings and curriculum requirements.  Good luck to you all.

Btw I'm not sure about negotiating at other schools, but at Sanford it is pretty easy to get an extra 5k/yr or so added on to your offer.  There was a line of folks doing this at Open House.

Edited March 21, 2018 by 3dender

[frsc]

On 3/20/2018 at 4:14 AM, chocolatecheesecake said:

Sorry for the late response! I am happy to talk a little about the culture and politics. The politics in Durham are decidedly progressive and on campus, dominated by fairly left-leaning viewpoints. You'll find that in most of the universities here, as well as most cities and towns in North Carolina (Chapel Hill of course, Raleigh, Charlotte). There are a lot of grassroots organizations at Duke and in Durham I've seen running jail bond campaigns, for example. They may not be as far left-leaning as you, but it's pretty progressive in general. At Sanford, there is a quiet group of folks who are here to study national security and have a military background; some are still serving and go between Durham and Fort Bragg quite often. I met the first people I ever knew who served as Marines and in the intelligence service. Most of them have a right-leaning perspective, but they're quiet about it. There are also a handful of libertarians. I had some really thoughtful and interesting conversations with the military crowd, and it was a good respectful learning experience. Historically, it's important to remember the blue enclaves in the state are surrounded by fairly deep red counties, though the atmosphere has changed since McCrory left as Governor and Roy Cooper stepped in. At Duke, you'll still find yourself at a historical Southern institution with plenty of history and baggage. The perspective I took and I think might be helpful was that while Durham can't hope to compete with Berkeley (and few places can) in terms of awareness and activism, there are a lot of people trying to make a difference in the Triangle area, and bringing your voice to the discussion happening at Duke can make a bigger difference than you think. 

Yo! Totally agree with above comment and I'm guessing im friends with that above individual HAHA As a first year MPP thats as far left as you'll get + I'm from Cali, lived in Oakland, I had similar concerns to you. But... Durham is a hub of progressive, radical energy. In some ways, I like it more than Oakland cuz its smaller and there aren't already a ton of radicals doing stuff all the time. There is a mix of families, young, old, black, white, etc. at protests, ENTIRE city council and mayor are trying to be progressive in regressive state, and it feels better to be involved (just my opinion) because you feel like you can really contribute in a place thats trying but isn't quite (YET???) where Berkeley and Oakland are at. Durham is the unexpected highlight for me in any case. Duke itself is unavoidably a conservative institution as mentioned (ie spent at least 2 million dollars to kill grad student union last year),  which again, provides opportunities to make changes. But Sanford is sort of dominated by center-left, probably happily voted HRC types, with a new faction of young professors trying to move it Left (seemingly). Type of view that "market failures are problem," not "lets take down capitalism." Common philosophical viewpoint of policy as technical skill (data data data) rather than political power game (ie people are not talking Foucault/Angela Davis in class all that much, though we try), common acceptance of Voltaire-style free speech liberalism rather than widespread acceptance of deplatforming/ANTIFA etc. But you will absolutely find a sizable minority contingent that are basically outright against the neoclassical microeconomics curriculum, anticapitalist, openly antiracist, etc. As mentioned, there are also the military folk (maybe 10/80 students in my year), and honestly, I second the fact that they are typically more conservative, but I also love exchanging with some of them. Just today had some fun jokes cuz one of them invited me to a defense class (mostly as a joke cuz they know I would just rant anti-imperialism the whole time). They have a different viewpoint that is often irreconcilable with mine but you can really get a lot of knowledge/perspective on empire/intelligence/etc from them. And most of them are really cool people, often officers, and at Sanford to learn first and foremost. A few engage with Left ideas for first time, quite earnestly. Plus, personally, I want to stay in touch with people I disagree with while in school, left Oakland partly cuz I was bored of nothing but radicalism. If you get nothing out of talking to centrists and the right, you'll NOT love a lot of the chat and class. If you get something from bringing Left perspective and energy to center and right, then you'll like it.

[frsc]

18k is standard/basic in my option. I accepted on that amount. Some ppl get more, some very little (2-4k.) But I feel 18k is most common amount.

[LizFromCA]

On 3/12/2018 at 5:46 PM, TheOfficeFan said:

Hey folks! I was recently accepted to Sanford, and I wanted to reach out and see if anyone will be attending the Open House weekend, as it's looking like Duke is a major possibility for me and I'm planning on being in Durham for the event. I'm still dealing with a fair bit of frustration/sadness about being rejected from Berkeley Goldman, as my partner looks like she's going to be admitted to the MCP program there and as a result we might soon be a bicoastal couple. Any awesome words about the Sanford program would be appreciated! I know it's an incredible program and I'm exceedingly grateful for getting in, so I'm trying to pull out of the Berkeley rejection as much as possible and focus on what a great opportunity I have at Duke.

I'm interested in progressive climate policy -- any other open house attendees interested in environmental policy? Would love to start making some connections.

Best of luck with the rest of your decision-making processes!

Hi TheOfficeFan, a classmate of mine suggested I reach out to you. I was also rejected by Goldman and am here at Sanford now doing climate policy/energy policy/transportation policy. I"m a dual MPP and MEM. Let me know if you have any questions. 

[TheOfficeFan]

I want to thank you three, @3dender, @frsc, and @LizFromCA -- you've made me feel really welcome, and cleared up a lot of questions/concerns I had about the program! I'll be in touch directly, and maybe we can grab coffee during that open house weekend of April 6th.

[thismustbetheplace]

On 3/22/2018 at 5:54 PM, TheOfficeFan said:

I want to thank you three, @3dender, @frsc, and @LizFromCA -- you've made me feel really welcome, and cleared up a lot of questions/concerns I had about the program! I'll be in touch directly, and maybe we can grab coffee during that open house weekend of April 6th.

First time posting in this thread but agreed, thanks so much to the current Sanford MPP students for all of the info! 

I unfortunately am not able to attend the Open House, but I visited campus last week and the current MPP students were very helpful and the campus community seemed really great.

Regarding negotiating for scholarships, since I can't attend the Open House, should I just email the MPP Director of Admissions and Scholarships directly?

Edited April 3, 2018 by thismustbetheplace

[3dender]

3 hours ago, thismustbetheplace said:

First time posting in this thread but agreed, thanks so much to the current Sanford MPP students for all of the info! 

I unfortunately am not able to attend the Open House, but I visited campus last week and the current MPP students were very helpful and the campus community seemed really great.

Regarding negotiating for scholarships, since I can't attend the Open House, should I just email the MPP Director of Admissions and Scholarships directly?

That's what I'd suggest. Jessica Pan will be your point of contact.

[Rosszhu]

Hello everyone! I didn't see a topic for Sanford 2019, so I dug this out.

Has anyone received any updates from Sanford this year? It seems they normally release decisions around this point of every year.

[FujiShe]

11 hours ago, Rosszhu said:

Hello everyone! I didn't see a topic for Sanford 2019, so I dug this out.

Has anyone received any updates from Sanford this year? It seems they normally release decisions around this point of every year.

Nothing here, hopefully soon!

[usernamesmakemeanxious]

2 hours ago, FujiShe said:

Nothing here, hopefully soon!

Their website says mid-March, so I am trying to not get obsessive until the 15th. It would be great to hear sooner! If I can figure it out, I'm going to start a Sanford 2019 thread...

Edited March 4, 2019 by usernamesmakemeanxious

[Dr_M]

Hi all,

Very interesting reading this thread, thanks to everyone for sharing. I've also been curious about the seemingly conservative strain at Duke (just based on the paltry evidence I've gathered off the website). I'm quite lefty-left; I usually describe myself as a socialist, and wrote a dissertation on Marxist theory! I've been wondering if I'm going to have to hide my light under a bushel ? But it sounds like there's a good contingency of left-leaners there. I'm currently living in a rather conservative area of Southern California and am ready to be surrounded by more lefties.

I've been accepted to Ford with 25% fellowship and Sanford with 60% fellowship, however, at U Mich, I can potentially work as a TA and my tuition gets paid, plus health insurance, plus a stipend. I don't think Duke offers anything like that for TAs. Since this is a second career for me and I have a family, I'm quite worried about finances/taking on debt. I had read on another forum that Sanford does not renegotiate offers anymore. Can anyone comment?

I was also wondering whether anyone could chime in on Sanford's data analysis chops. Ford offers courses in R and STATA, but I didn't see anything like that when I was searching through Sanford's course offerings. Maybe I was looking in the wrong place?

Thanks!

Edited March 25, 2019 by Dr_M

[TalkPoliticsToMe]

1 hour ago, Dr_M said:

Ive  been accepted to Ford with 25% fellowship and Sanford with 60% fellowship, however, at U Mich, I can potentially work as a TA and my tuition gets paid, plus health insurance, plus a stipend. I don't think Duke offers anything like that for TAs. Since this is a second career for me and I have a family, I'm quite worried about finances/taking on debt. I had read on another forum that Sanford does not renegotiate offers anymore. Can anyone comment?

I was also wondering whether anyone could chime in on Sanford's data analysis chops. Ford offers courses in R and STATA, but I didn't see anything like that when I was searching through Sanford's course offerings. Maybe I was looking in the wrong place?

Thanks!

They do re-negotiate. I sent them a note asking if they could match another offer I had (from Ford) and while they were unable to match, they did increase their initial offer to me.

[3dender]

12 hours ago, Dr_M said:

Hi all,

Very interesting reading this thread, thanks to everyone for sharing. I've also been curious about the seemingly conservative strain at Duke (just based on the paltry evidence I've gathered off the website). I'm quite lefty-left; I usually describe myself as a socialist, and wrote a dissertation on Marxist theory! I've been wondering if I'm going to have to hide my light under a bushel ? But it sounds like there's a good contingency of left-leaners there. I'm currently living in a rather conservative area of Southern California and am ready to be surrounded by more lefties.

I've been accepted to Ford with 25% fellowship and Sanford with 60% fellowship, however, at U Mich, I can potentially work as a TA and my tuition gets paid, plus health insurance, plus a stipend. I don't think Duke offers anything like that for TAs. Since this is a second career for me and I have a family, I'm quite worried about finances/taking on debt. I had read on another forum that Sanford does not renegotiate offers anymore. Can anyone comment?

I was also wondering whether anyone could chime in on Sanford's data analysis chops. Ford offers courses in R and STATA, but I didn't see anything like that when I was searching through Sanford's course offerings. Maybe I was looking in the wrong place?

Thanks!

I am graduating from Sanford in a month, we sure could use more lefties to take my place.  You do not have to hide here, on the contrary I have derived great pleasure from antagonizing some of the old fossils around here whenever I could.  I've also started a left student group.  From what I've learned about Ford since I've been here though, it will be a better educational experience for you, and more up your alley politics-wise (my favorite professor here got his PhD at Ford and loves it).

The above poster is correct on renegotiation, at least as of 2017 when I entered.  They bumped my offer $5k/yr and might have gone more.

Sanford (to my displeasure) does not do much with R, but you deal with Stata pretty extensively in your first year.  You can take electives in the Statistics department too, and the library has regular (free) 1-2 hour workshops on whichever software you want.  I've taken one on ArcGIS and one on Tableau.

Overall I am basically satisfied with my education here.  It's kind of irrelevant because I also have a family and am from this area, so relocating was not very appealing, and my wife doesn't do cold.  In a vacuum I think either Ford or Berkeley would have been better fits for my interests and politics, but Sanford has been fine as far as an educational transaction goes, and I love many of my classmates (and a few professors).  Feel free to message me with any questions.  Also you may want to post on the 2019 thread from here on out to avoid confusion.

Edited March 26, 2019 by 3dender

[Dr_M]

Thanks 3dender! I recently spoke with a Sanford student and it was really helpful. We're flying out to Michigan Wednesday, then on to Durham for Open House, so I'm hoping to get a good feel for both places.