UW Evans School

[mppnw]

I am interested in opinions about this program from current or admitted students. Thanks!

[matcha]

I am interested in opinions about this program from current or admitted students. Thanks!

I was accepted into the program, although I will be attending elsewhere. It is highly ranked for the MPP (top 20), has a beautiful campus, and near the fantastic city of Seattle. The downsides? Really big program, doesn't usually give generous funding for students, and doesn't have the WOW factor of SIPA or HKS.

A strong program for sure!

[fadeindreams]

I was accepted into the program, although I will be attending elsewhere. It is highly ranked for the MPP (top 20), has a beautiful campus, and near the fantastic city of Seattle. The downsides? Really big program, doesn't usually give generous funding for students, and doesn't have the WOW factor of SIPA or HKS.

A strong program for sure!

Evans is also not as ridiculously expensive as SIPA or HKS. You could easily exit Evans with 1/4th or less of the debt and the virtually same longterm career prospects. HKS and SIPA may help you land your first job or two but in the end you'll be competing for the same jobs against grads from less financially burdensome programs (Evans, SPEA, et al).

It's more than a bit irrational that proponents of the "WOW factor" schools will continually tout the ability to procure private sector jobs as grads from those programs while neglecting the best tool they would have available to them as graduates of a policy program - the PSLF. The fact of the matter is that six figure private sector jobs will not be granted to you simply by graduating from a "WOW factor" school and instead you'll most likely be employed in the public sector by the federal government or a non-profit. Those obtaining private sector jobs probably entered grad school with significant previous employment experience.

Lastly, look at how big each class is from SIPA and look at the median salary*. Compare those same stats to those of Evans. Strikingly similar and yet the debt burden from Evans is incredibly less.

*MPA numbers. You can find MIA and historical data here.

Money isn't everything, either in debt or salary, and I know that SIPA may very well provide a better overall experience to its students. In full disclosure, I was denied admittance to SIPA. I would not, however, have attended even if I had been offered admission without a serious financial incentive. That was a judgement I had made prior to March. I don't know at this point whether I will be attending Evans or Ford. It's a difficult decision compounded by the fact that my wife was given full funding to both of those excellent programs.

[sball09]

I am debating between the Evans School and LBJ. Both have highly ranked programs and are located in awesome cities. My only concern with the Evans School is that only 9% of students end up in DC, and they are on the quarter system. I am going to visit Evans this week and am really excited to see what it is like.

[mulberry]

I don't have too much to add about the Evans school, but I did my undergrad at UW. It's a great campus and Seattle is a fantastic city to live in. There's lots to explore. I know a few Evans grads and they all chose to stay in the Seattle area after graduation. I was really happy with my undergrad experience and I never felt like class size ever hindered me from getting to know the faculty better. Might be different for other folks. I'm going to the Evans school open house since I'm in town, but I probably won't go there since I wanted to do my undergrad and grad in different places, but the school definitely has a good reputation in the area.

[mppnw]

Thank you for the responses!

[djad206]

I'll guess I'll see some of you at the open house tomorrow.

I turn around and leave on Friday to visit the Humphrey for their open house albeit for their MURP program not their MPP.

Which leads to my dilemma. Stay in the city I grew up in and get my MPA or move and do something different and get my urban planning degree?

Curious

[fadeindreams]

Has anyone figured out a way to view the EvansJobs posting without paying the enrollment deposit? I don't think it's possible but I thought I'd ask all the same.

By not publishing their jobs to admitted students and requiring us to be enrolled first instead, I believe that Evans is making it unnecessarily difficult for those of us trying to seriously consider multiple offers. My wife and I are stoked that she received a full RA offer but at this point they won't even tell us the likelihood of her retaining it for a second year. Right now it's only assigned for the first year. Ford, on the other hand, has been very transparent and quick to answer our questions. We're just trying to figure out our remaining financial burden from each school as a family. For Ford, this has been very easy. For Evans, it's been nigh impossible.

[djad206]

Has anyone figured out a way to view the EvansJobs posting without paying the enrollment deposit? I don't think it's possible but I thought I'd ask all the same.

By not publishing their jobs to admitted students and requiring us to be enrolled first instead, I believe that Evans is making it unnecessarily difficult for those of us trying to seriously consider multiple offers. My wife and I are stoked that she received a full RA offer but at this point they won't even tell us the likelihood of her retaining it for a second year. Right now it's only assigned for the first year. Ford, on the other hand, has been very transparent and quick to answer our questions. We're just trying to figure out our remaining financial burden from each school as a family. For Ford, this has been very easy. For Evans, it's been nigh impossible.

The career services people discussed this very issue at the open house today. And to answer your question, you do have to be enrolled to view their RA GA TA portal. It is not for the general public.

[fadeindreams]

The career services people discussed this very issue at the open house today. And to answer your question, you do have to be enrolled to view their RA GA TA portal. It is not for the general public.

Thanks. It makes sense that you need to be enrolled or be an alumni to view the external jobs database. Considering how important funding is in any student's decision to attend a university, I do not understand why the on-campus jobs are hidden from admitted students. I do not intend to pay them $200+ in enrollment fees (not all of it is a deposit, read the fine print) just to view assistantship positions. It seems reasonable to provide that information to students in order for them to make an educated decision. It is very disappointing. Did they tell you why we had to be enrolled first and not simply admitted?

How was open house? Anything interesting you feel like sharing? Did they talk any about second year in-state tuition and the process for it? Did they speak about how many students enter their second year funded (by percentage; internal or external funding)? Have you received any information on housing? What was your impression of career services? Do they seem willing to go the distance in order to help you obtain a good internship and a great job? Are they willing to help with fellowships and the like for your second year?

As you can tell, my mind is 100% stuck on funding right now. I'm not expecting funding, mind you. I just like to have a clear idea of what I can work towards. I feel like I have a good grasp of what they can offer academically and within the program itself.

[djad206]

Thanks. It makes sense that you need to be enrolled or be an alumni to view the external jobs database. Considering how important funding is in any student's decision to attend a university, I do not understand why the on-campus jobs are hidden from admitted students. I do not intend to pay them $200+ in enrollment fees (not all of it is a deposit, read the fine print) just to view assistantship positions. It seems reasonable to provide that information to students in order for them to make an educated decision. It is very disappointing. Did they tell you why we had to be enrolled first and not simply admitted?

How was open house? Anything interesting you feel like sharing? Did they talk any about second year in-state tuition and the process for it? Did they speak about how many students enter their second year funded (by percentage; internal or external funding)? Have you received any information on housing? What was your impression of career services? Do they seem willing to go the distance in order to help you obtain a good internship and a great job? Are they willing to help with fellowships and the like for your second year?

As you can tell, my mind is 100% stuck on funding right now. I'm not expecting funding, mind you. I just like to have a clear idea of what I can work towards. I feel like I have a good grasp of what they can offer academically and within the program itself.

Funding...I understand. There were few to no questions about 2nd year in-state tuition. Unfortunately I cannot answer that question either because I am a Seattle resident. They did mention the RAs GAs TAs are very competitive but as a graduate student you can do any one of these for any program in the University and get the same benefits. For example you could do a RA for a professor in the Geography department and have tuition paid. Also, if there is a specific professor you'd be interested TAing for it's good to get to know them and learn how they work, grade, etc.

Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself here but I had the opportunity of sitting down and talking with the one professor I am interested in working with. We discussed my interest in using Geographic Information Systems to do research on urban issues and problems (I have a GIS and Urban Studies background). She asked if I would be interested in working with her. I said yes and she said send her a resume. She can't/didn't promise me a RA position but she thought I would be a good candidate to do some mapping work she needed in the Fall. With that said, I think it was beneficial for me to go to the open house and start networking not only with professors but also other prospective students. There was another guy interested in doing the Metropolitan Policy concentration.

I'm getting on a plane today to head to the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota for their open house on Monday. I have a tuition scholarship but I would still need to take out the same a amount in loans to cover living expense as I would to stay here and go to the Evans School.

Good luck fadeindreams. I understand how stressful and nerve racking these decisions are.

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