Masters of Public Policy @ UC San Diego VS University of Maryland

[mkd6]

I am having trouble deciding between the MPP program at UCSD or at University of Maryland.  If anyone has any personal insight or suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it!  

Thanks!

[ood63]

I would say that the proximity to the DC area makes Maryland way more attractive.  Depending on what your long term goals are it really is exciting to be right there in the hub of government.  Makes every day a real life case study.  Also, think about the internship opportunities and the convenience of being right there.  

[mcrmpp]

Did either give you funding/does that play a role?

[memento22]

I think the U of Maryland is a bit more prestigious. Both have great traditions in agriculture/rural development with their ag econ programs. But for policy, I'd think Maryland has the advantage due to being in/around DC.

[GradSchoolGrad]

On 3/23/2021 at 11:34 AM, mkd6 said:

I am having trouble deciding between the MPP program at UCSD or at University of Maryland.  If anyone has any personal insight or suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it!  

Thanks!

Do you want to stay in California or not? What area of policy do you care about?

[mkd6]

13 hours ago, GradSchoolGrad said:

Do you want to stay in California or not? What area of policy do you care about?

Sorry, I should have gave more info.  I am from NY, so it would be a move either way, albeit a much larger move going to UCSD.  I think I want to focus on education policy, however I am open to changing that or adding on another concentration.  Thanks!

[GradSchoolGrad]

40 minutes ago, mkd6 said:

Sorry, I should have gave more info.  I am from NY, so it would be a move either way, albeit a much larger move going to UCSD.  I think I want to focus on education policy, however I am open to changing that or adding on another concentration.  Thanks!

I want to highlight that there is a massive over saturation of Ed Policy people in Policy. The easiest way to make your finding a job difficult is to go to Ed Policy. 

That being said, since it doesn't sound like you have a desire to stay in California, I would go to UMD. The reality is that California is pretty much almost another country (in many policy areas they joke that California is the Republic of California because they have their own standards for pretty much everything). California schools cater to California jobs.