Syracuse Maxwell 2020

[lameduck]

Didn't see a thread so I figured I'd start one. I was admitted and today is the day merit aid decisions start to come out; I haven't heard from them yet. For some reason, I get the feeling not many folks on here have applied to Maxwell, but if anyone else did, have you heard about merit aid yet today?

[ab1987]

I have received admit for their Atlantis program but am yet to receive financial aid decision. I received an email that stated that financial aid decisions will be rolled out latest by April 1. 

[lameduck]

On 3/21/2020 at 1:59 AM, ab1987 said:

I have received admit for their Atlantis program but am yet to receive financial aid decision. I received an email that stated that financial aid decisions will be rolled out latest by April 1. 

Ok, good to know I'm not the only one that hasn't received a merit aid decision yet. I received my acceptance on 6 Feb., so I've been waiting quite a while to hear about aid. When did you get you admission decision?

Also, since Maxwell starts so early compared to other programs, in light of COVID-19 and aid aside, has that influenced your decision on where you're leaning toward going? I really would prefer to avoid online classes if possible. Have thought about asking for a deferral if I do choose Maxwell.

Edited March 22, 2020 by lameduck

[ab1987]

On 3/23/2020 at 4:31 AM, lameduck said:

Ok, good to know I'm not the only one that hasn't received a merit aid decision yet. I received my acceptance on 6 Feb., so I've been waiting quite a while to hear about aid. When did you get you admission decision?

Also, since Maxwell starts so early compared to other programs, in light of COVID-19 and aid aside, has that influenced your decision on where you're leaning toward going? I really would prefer to avoid online classes if possible. Have thought about asking for a deferral if I do choose Maxwell.

I had applied late but received my decision soon around 18th March. Financial aid decisions would most probably be rolled out this week itself. 

COVID-19 is going to definitely have an impact on my decision as I too do not want to take online classes. Moreover it is also going to create Visa issues for us international students. So let's see how things unfold in the coming months. Deferral is definitely an option. 

[lameduck]

14 hours ago, ab1987 said:

I had applied late but received my decision soon around 18th March. Financial aid decisions would most probably be rolled out this week itself. 

COVID-19 is going to definitely have an impact on my decision as I too do not want to take online classes. Moreover it is also going to create Visa issues for us international students. So let's see how things unfold in the coming months. Deferral is definitely an option. 

Speak of the Devil, I've just received my offer! Partial tuition scholarship worth $20,000 and a 10hr/week Graduate Assistantship worth $8,000. I plan on accepting the offer and going to Maxwell! At this point, I'll just be hoping that classes start in-person on June 29.

[JSACPAMBA]

Hello, I was admitted at Maxwell too this Fall 2020. There is a post in the School's website providing for an option to take the units intended for the Summer Term in August. So technically, the option will run from August 2020 to August 2021 for those who will take the 12-month program. What course are you in?

[lameduck]

17 hours ago, JSACPAMBA said:

Hello, I was admitted at Maxwell too this Fall 2020. There is a post in the School's website providing for an option to take the units intended for the Summer Term in August. So technically, the option will run from August 2020 to August 2021 for those who will take the 12-month program. What course are you in?

Hey! I'm going to start in August. If it ends up being online, oh well, but I'd rather not start online this summer if I don't have to. Have you accepted Maxwell's offer? If so, which option have you decided on?

[MPPNYC]

On 3/24/2020 at 5:22 PM, lameduck said:

Speak of the Devil, I've just received my offer! Partial tuition scholarship worth $20,000 and a 10hr/week Graduate Assistantship worth $8,000. I plan on accepting the offer and going to Maxwell! At this point, I'll just be hoping that classes start in-person on June 29.

Hi! Did you end up at Maxwell?  What are your thoughts about the program at this point and what sort of work are you doing with your graduate assistantship?

[lameduck]

2 minutes ago, MPPNYC said:

Hi! Did you end up at Maxwell?  What are your thoughts about the program at this point and what sort of work are you doing with your graduate assistantship?

I did end up at Maxwell. Avoid if you get an equivalent offer; if you want a cheap program, this is it, but be forewarned you get what you pay for. The core courses in the MPA, specifically Management, Leadership & Public Policy, Public Administration and Democracy, and the MPA Colloquium overlap significantly, down to many individual assignments. Furthermore, there does not seem to be an emphasis on the scientific method, if you will, in this program. In all of the aforementioned core classes, we have taken numerous "personality tests" and "self-assessments" that are, frankly, pseudo-science. Much of the material seems to not have been updated since about 2003, and it shows. Furthermore, many courses tend to be surface-level and lack the deep dive into public administration that I and many of my peers had certainly hoped to experience. 

Additionally, the administration at Syracuse is a joke. One of my peers attempted to discuss the overlap among core classes with the Dept. Chair and was essentially told, in 'kinder' terms, to buzz off, and that their criticisms weren't valid due to 'not understanding' the field of Public Administration, due to the younger age of the cohort in the times of Covid. The folks that run this program are, to put it bluntly, members of the 'old guard' and could be more aware of what goes on in the outside world in the 21st century. The registrar's office has also been exceptionally strict when it comes to adding or dropping classes, and has needlessly screwed over several of my peers by failing to process add/drop requests by the deadline, despite these requests being filed well before the deadline.

My GA-ship has been nonexistent. Despite reaching out to my professor consistently since OCTOBER, I have not received a response after doing about 6 hours of clerical work for him. I've been ignored, and while I don't believe my experience is typical of GA-ships, it has sucked, to put it bluntly. I've repeatedly gone through the Department attempting to reach out to my professor, to no avail. At this point, I've basically given up on the GA-ship. I do still get my stipend though, which is a decent consolation prize I guess.

There's been three upsides to Syracuse--my peers are AMAZING, and are quite literally some of the finest people I've ever met. I have made some amazing lifelong friends here, and I am so grateful for that. As well, Profs. Rothbart (budgeting) and Wilcoxen (economics and policy analysis/programming) have been so beyond amazing it's ridiculous. I love them both to death and am so happy I have taken their classes. Finally, the University has been very good about Covid, and we have been in person nearly the entire time since last fall. That is not something much of the country has experienced, and for experiencing it myself, I am grateful.

That said, in spite of the bright spots, if you have an offer from any DC school, any Ivy League, NYU, or any of the other major players, I'd strongly consider skipping Syracuse. The pandemic has turned things upside down everywhere, but this program has dropped the ball on many occassions and I do regret going here quite often. Grad school should be an amazing learning experience. Again, while the pandemic has diminished that somewhat everywhere, I have not had that at Syracuse.

[MPPNYC]

1 minute ago, lameduck said:

I did end up at Maxwell. Avoid if you get an equivalent offer; if you want a cheap program, this is it, but be forewarned you get what you pay for. The core courses in the MPA, specifically Management, Leadership & Public Policy, Public Administration and Democracy, and the MPA Colloquium overlap significantly, down to many individual assignments. Furthermore, there does not seem to be an emphasis on the scientific method, if you will, in this program. In all of the aforementioned core classes, we have taken numerous "personality tests" and "self-assessments" that are, frankly, pseudo-science. Much of the material seems to not have been updated since about 2003, and it shows. Furthermore, many courses tend to be surface-level and lack the deep dive into public administration that I and many of my peers had certainly hoped to experience. 

Additionally, the administration at Syracuse is a joke. One of my peers attempted to discuss the overlap among core classes with the Dept. Chair and was essentially told, in 'kinder' terms, to buzz off, and that their criticisms weren't valid due to 'not understanding' the field of Public Administration, due to the younger age of the cohort in the times of Covid. The folks that run this program are, to put it bluntly, members of the 'old guard' and could be more aware of what goes on in the outside world in the 21st century. The registrar's office has also been exceptionally strict when it comes to adding or dropping classes, and has needlessly screwed over several of my peers by failing to process add/drop requests by the deadline, despite these requests being filed well before the deadline.

My GA-ship has been nonexistent. Despite reaching out to my professor consistently since OCTOBER, I have not received a response after doing about 6 hours of clerical work for him. I've been ignored, and while I don't believe my experience is typical of GA-ships, it has sucked, to put it bluntly. I've repeatedly gone through the Department attempting to reach out to my professor, to no avail. At this point, I've basically given up on the GA-ship. I do still get my stipend though, which is a decent consolation prize I guess.

There's been three upsides to Syracuse--my peers are AMAZING, and are quite literally some of the finest people I've ever met. I have made some amazing lifelong friends here, and I am so grateful for that. As well, Profs. Rothbart (budgeting) and Wilcoxen (economics and policy analysis/programming) have been so beyond amazing it's ridiculous. I love them both to death and am so happy I have taken their classes. Finally, the University has been very good about Covid, and we have been in person nearly the entire time since last fall. That is not something much of the country has experienced, and for experiencing it myself, I am grateful.

That said, in spite of the bright spots, if you have an offer from any DC school, any Ivy League, NYU, or any of the other major players, I'd strongly consider skipping Syracuse. The pandemic has turned things upside down everywhere, but this program has dropped the ball on many occassions and I do regret going here quite often. Grad school should be an amazing learning experience. Again, while the pandemic has diminished that somewhat everywhere, I have not had that at Syracuse.

Oof, I am SO sorry you're having such a tough time with the experience.  I went to law school right after the '08 financial crisis and it was a compete shit show at my law school, so I completely understand your disappointment in spending time and money on something that just does not pan out as planned.

I am really so appreciative of your thorough description. The money, the 1 year program, the GA offer, and that the program is in NY -- it seemed like a good fit given that I have already attended law school (although I have notice that my fellow admitted students are YOUNG).  But not looking to check a box here - I care a lot about the quantitative aspects and was feeling maybe Maxwell didn't quite have what I was looking for, even if they say they do.  

I actually just signed up to sit in on Prof. Rothbart's budgeting class on 3/31; will probably still attend to just check it out! I just got into Ford yesterday -- I have a bit of sticker shock w/o any funding but maybe it's worth it to throw more debt on the pile . 

Thank you so much again for your thorough assessment!

[lameduck]

Just now, MPPNYC said:

Oof, I am SO sorry you're having such a tough time with the experience.  I went to law school right after the '08 financial crisis and it was a compete shit show at my law school, so I completely understand your disappointment in spending time and money on something that just does not pan out as planned.

I am really so appreciative of your thorough description. The money, the 1 year program, the GA offer, and that the program is in NY -- it seemed like a good fit given that I have already attended law school (although I have notice that my fellow admitted students are YOUNG).  But not looking to check a box here - I care a lot about the quantitative aspects and was feeling maybe Maxwell didn't quite have what I was looking for, even if they say they do.  

I actually just signed up to sit in on Prof. Rothbart's budgeting class on 3/31; will probably still attend to just check it out! I just got into Ford yesterday -- I have a bit of sticker shock w/o any funding but maybe it's worth it to throw more debt on the pile . 

Thank you so much again for your thorough assessment!

Of course, always happy to provide honest feedback!  I actually am in Rothbart's class right now, feel free to shoot me a DM if you'd like to chat more and want the syllabus and/or any readings. I can also tell ya quite a bit more about the quantitative aspects, and would be happy to do so!

[EscapingBrexit]

20 hours ago, lameduck said:

I did end up at Maxwell. Avoid if you get an equivalent offer; if you want a cheap program, this is it, but be forewarned you get what you pay for. The core courses in the MPA, specifically Management, Leadership & Public Policy, Public Administration and Democracy, and the MPA Colloquium overlap significantly, down to many individual assignments. Furthermore, there does not seem to be an emphasis on the scientific method, if you will, in this program. In all of the aforementioned core classes, we have taken numerous "personality tests" and "self-assessments" that are, frankly, pseudo-science. Much of the material seems to not have been updated since about 2003, and it shows. Furthermore, many courses tend to be surface-level and lack the deep dive into public administration that I and many of my peers had certainly hoped to experience. 

Additionally, the administration at Syracuse is a joke. One of my peers attempted to discuss the overlap among core classes with the Dept. Chair and was essentially told, in 'kinder' terms, to buzz off, and that their criticisms weren't valid due to 'not understanding' the field of Public Administration, due to the younger age of the cohort in the times of Covid. The folks that run this program are, to put it bluntly, members of the 'old guard' and could be more aware of what goes on in the outside world in the 21st century. The registrar's office has also been exceptionally strict when it comes to adding or dropping classes, and has needlessly screwed over several of my peers by failing to process add/drop requests by the deadline, despite these requests being filed well before the deadline.

My GA-ship has been nonexistent. Despite reaching out to my professor consistently since OCTOBER, I have not received a response after doing about 6 hours of clerical work for him. I've been ignored, and while I don't believe my experience is typical of GA-ships, it has sucked, to put it bluntly. I've repeatedly gone through the Department attempting to reach out to my professor, to no avail. At this point, I've basically given up on the GA-ship. I do still get my stipend though, which is a decent consolation prize I guess.

There's been three upsides to Syracuse--my peers are AMAZING, and are quite literally some of the finest people I've ever met. I have made some amazing lifelong friends here, and I am so grateful for that. As well, Profs. Rothbart (budgeting) and Wilcoxen (economics and policy analysis/programming) have been so beyond amazing it's ridiculous. I love them both to death and am so happy I have taken their classes. Finally, the University has been very good about Covid, and we have been in person nearly the entire time since last fall. That is not something much of the country has experienced, and for experiencing it myself, I am grateful.

That said, in spite of the bright spots, if you have an offer from any DC school, any Ivy League, NYU, or any of the other major players, I'd strongly consider skipping Syracuse. The pandemic has turned things upside down everywhere, but this program has dropped the ball on many occassions and I do regret going here quite often. Grad school should be an amazing learning experience. Again, while the pandemic has diminished that somewhat everywhere, I have not had that at Syracuse.

This is one of the most useful posts on GradCafe. Thank you for your honest opinions, and good luck with everything!