HELP! Deciding between Tufts MALD, Columbia MIA, or George Washington SPS

[shiningstar7]

Hey, so I'm having a hard time choosing between Tufts University MALD, Columbia MIA, and George Washington SPS. I was hoping someone could give me some advice after hearing my reasoning + pros & cons because I feel stressed with the upcoming enrollment deposit deadlines. Thank you in advance~

Context About Me -

• I have a fellowship that offers me financial assistance, 2 great internships with the government, and a job straight after graduation in the government. So, technically I don't HAVE to be in DC because I have that fellowship that will make me end up in DC for the summers anyway for my internship.
• I'm from Texas... so I need information about the city too. 
• I've had an internship in DC before, so honestly, DC is the only one I'm familiar with the area, but I've never visited GW. 
• I visited Tufts for a day, and I really liked it, but again, I don't know Boston. 
• Personal, but I'm a Christian, so I'm gonna be attending a church and need Christian clubs on campus to help keep me sane lol
• I'm South Asian heritage... so I need some diversity to make me feel not alone 
• I'm 21 (will be 22 as I start grad school), so it makes me wary since I'm also super young and entering grad school

Columbia - 

• Pros: I like the program? It's an Ivy League
• Cons: Honestly the biggest negative for me right now is the cost of tuition & cost of living in NYC. I like the program on paper (looking into the International and Security Policy concentration as well as Management specialization), but I don't know if it's worth the debt at the end. I'm appealing for more money, but SIPA didn't offer me additional financial aid in addition to my external fellowship... that means I would need to pay 40k a year. Is it worth the debt? I mean I have a guaranteed job in government after college, so is the name/Ivy League status helpful for someone who already is going to be in the government after college? I've never visited either... I've been to NY before, but I've never seen the campus. 

Tufts -

• Pros: I like the size of the school where you can get to know everyone and can good attention from professors... it'll help with the community aspect. Visiting made me feel good because I got to talk to a couple of students, the admissions dude was nice, and I liked the classes I visited too. I like the ability you have to cross-register and take a few courses at Harvard too for more experience. 
• Cons: I don't know Boston. I'm not good with the cold... so will I survive? It's not DC either, so if I want to do a job to get some experience...  it may be hard to find organizations in Boston that are IR/gov related? 
• With my external fellowship + funding Tufts offered me, I only need to pay $5000 per semester if I attend. But, I'm appealing for more because there's no harm in trying.

GW -

• Pros: I am covered in terms of tuition, which would be amazing considering I have undergrad debt I need to pay off. Big school, so lots of clubs and opportunities to connect/find my people? I know DC (from my 1 semester experience there). Night classes only, so it will help if I want to find a job/internship during the day. 
• Cons: Big school, so I don't know if I'd get a small school attention. Never visited, so I don't know if I would like the campus atmosphere and such. 

I think I'm really wary of grad school life since I haven't experienced it yet. I really don't know how it's gonna be different from undergrad, so I need to really be intentional in finding community/my niche. I guess that's why I'm confused? PLEASE HELP!!! 

Edited April 8, 2019 by shiningstar7
added my age for clarification

[southernhope1]

One thing that i didn't realize before investigating but some of these schools offer traditional schooling and others are more night classes...the Elliott School and I believe Georgetown do most of their classes at night...so you're kind of working or whatever during the day and then head to class at night....while schools like SAIS and Fletcher are full-time grad schools and you work between day classes and the nights are your own (other than internships).

Of these (and MIA is the one that I know the least), Tufts has the best sense of community and you're surrounded only by grad students...there's a feeling of family and I believe you'd find the most lifelong friends there.  Also, they hired a new Dean just yesterday and she sounds amazing https://now.tufts.edu/articles/rachel-kyte-named-fletcher-school-dean  And, also, this is a good perspective on why being outside of DC may be the best -- https://sites.tufts.edu/fletcheradmissions/2019/03/to-dc-or-not-to-dc-that-always-seems-to-be-the-question/

full disclosure -- i'm a parent, my kid is 21, and she committed to Fletcher today (well, after she turns down SAIS tomorrow) .