Last minute developments, Chicago vs. Georgetown

[TornAndConfused]

I have a semi time-sensitive question I’d like to put to the gradcafe hive mind. I’d really appreciate some input on this if any of y’all can spare a second.

 

So, let me word this as simply as I can.

I’m 25yo, have 2yrs experience, and I got into Chicago Harris ($20k/yr) and Georgetown McCourt ($20k/yr), as well as a few others. I want to go into public sector government consulting (think Deloitte), so both schools could get me where I want to go career-wise. I chose Chicago Harris because the brand seemed a bit stronger, the cost of living is cheaper, and I have a small network in the city from undergrad. I rejected Georgetown. That said, I do have a lot of friends in DC as well as one of my parents.

I was in DC a week ago and met with someone who offered me a federal government job (~$50k a year, jumping to ~$60k year two). I said probably not, but let me think about it because I had already committed to Chicago Harris (paid the $350 deposit) and don't want to put off graduate school to work. After the meeting I emailed Georgetown to ask if it was even possible to get my admission back, scholarship reinstated, and change to part-time if I were to take this job. I expected the answer to be “no,” but I figured it was worth asking. To my surprise, the answer was “yes.”

So, now I’m in a bind. Do I go to Chicago Harris, graduate in two years with ~$65k in debt? Or do I go to Georgetown, take three years to finish, work full time, but graduate with effectively no debt? Note: the out-of-pocket tuition cost of the schools is basically the same @ ~$65k.

Pros of Chicago: I know the city, it's a better school, I wouldn't have to rush to DC in two or three weeks for a job, I would only be focusing on school + a TA/RA position, and the program is two years & finishes in 2021 rather than 2022, i.e. I would have an extra year of earning.

Pros of Georgetown: I could get the extra 3yrs work experience in the federal government, Georgetown's campus is in a very vibrant and young area, it's close to one of my parents, I could get healthcare from my job, and I'd be graduating with basically no debt (although I'll pay about the same amount for the two programs in absolute terms).

Is the 3 extra years experience in the federal government going to help me later? Am I going to be miserable those 3 years that I’m working + going to class two nights a week? If I graduate a year earlier from Chicago than Georgetown I could theoretically just dump my salary into my student loans and probably pay about half of it off, so maybe that's wiser? I am not a flakey person so it feels weird to even be thinking about reneging on Chicago, but the Georgetown opportunity might just be too good to pass up, given the job offer.

What do you all think?

[went_away]

The so-called job offer sounds shady, fake and/or tentative at best. If however it is legit I'd say this is a no-brainer for Georgetown.

[TornAndConfused]

35 minutes ago, went_away said:

The so-called job offer sounds shady, fake and/or tentative at best. If however it is legit I'd say this is a no-brainer for Georgetown.

It's just a GS-7 gig, so it's not this gigantic deal but I tried to stay intentionally vague because it would be really easy to identify the agency if I said much more. But yeah, it's real. Thank you for your input though! I'm feeling like Georgetown is probably the wisest choice, too, but I think I'm just struggling internally because there's a lot of pressure to get this right.

Edited May 9, 2019 by TornAndConfused

[went_away]

3 hours ago, TornAndConfused said:

It's just a GS-7 gig, so it's not this gigantic deal but I tried to stay intentionally vague because it would be really easy to identify the agency if I said much more. But yeah, it's real. Thank you for your input though! I'm feeling like Georgetown is probably the wisest choice, too, but I think I'm just struggling internally because there's a lot of pressure to get this right.

Probably still worth it. Ideally it tops out as an 11 or better after a couple years. I would still be skeptical of any hand shake government job offer until you're in the seat, even a 7.

Edited May 10, 2019 by went_away

[TalkPoliticsToMe]

I have a friend that did the Georgetown part time program while working full time. I have notes from a conversation I held with her — I’ll send them to you privately.