UChicago Harris vs Georgetown McCourt MPP. I cannot decide :-(

[atover]

Okay just about 48 hrs till the decision deadline and I am totally torn between UChicago Harris and Georgetown McCourt. I want to focus on education policy and I’m debating what exactly I want to do after but I know I don’t want a PHD. 
 

Harris Pros

- they have me the best funding (40,000)

- I really liked the school when I went to accepted students day last weekend.

- they seem to have more of a focus on domestic policy and there seem to be a lot of opportunities for education policy.

Harris Con

- I don’t really like Chicago and I’m a little concerned about safety on and around the UChicago Campus. 
 

-Math Camp and Coding: I’m not good at math and don’t have a quant background. I got an A in college stats but that’s the only math I’ve taken since HS. 

- it’s further away from home. 
 

McCourt Pro

- I like that the school seems really plugged into DC. I might want to go into politics one day and I think there might be better internships 

- I’m interested in the DC consortium and being able to take classes at other local schools 

- I was really interested in the presentation from GU politics during admitted students day

- They have a new graduate housing building with a free shuttle and included utilities which is a big perk.

- it’s closer to where I live now (Boston area) and I have some extended family and a friend in town already. Making friends as an adult sucks lol

McCourt Cons

- there didn’t seem to be as much of a focus on education policy there and that is my focus area.

- they gave me less money (19,000 vs 40,000) 

 

I am honestly so torn I’m about to just flip a coin and be done with this. ?

[GradSchoolGrad]

1 hour ago, atover said:

 

Okay just about 48 hrs till the decision deadline and I am totally torn between UChicago Harris and Georgetown McCourt. I want to focus on education policy and I’m debating what exactly I want to do after but I know I don’t want a PHD. 
 

Harris Pros

- they have me the best funding (40,000)

- I really liked the school when I went to accepted students day last weekend.

- they seem to have more of a focus on domestic policy and there seem to be a lot of opportunities for education policy.

Harris Con

- I don’t really like Chicago and I’m a little concerned about safety on and around the UChicago Campus. 
 

-Math Camp and Coding: I’m not good at math and don’t have a quant background. I got an A in college stats but that’s the only math I’ve taken since HS. 

- it’s further away from home. 
 

McCourt Pro

- I like that the school seems really plugged into DC. I might want to go into politics one day and I think there might be better internships 

- I’m interested in the DC consortium and being able to take classes at other local schools 

- I was really interested in the presentation from GU politics during admitted students day

- They have a new graduate housing building with a free shuttle and included utilities which is a big perk.

- it’s closer to where I live now (Boston area) and I have some extended family and a friend in town already. Making friends as an adult sucks lol

McCourt Cons

- there didn’t seem to be as much of a focus on education policy there and that is my focus area.

- they gave me less money (19,000 vs 40,000) 

 

I am honestly so torn I’m about to just flip a coin and be done with this. ?

U. Chicago Harris is the easy option... UNLESS for some reason you want to touch Education from a Capital Hill legislative angle or national perspective research (that frankly doesn't exactly make actionable impact and best can scenario gets referenced on some paper). 

Here is some context to your McCourt Pros:

1. It is plugged into politics - the University at large, not exactly McCourt. If you want to go to Capital Hill, get paid really poorly + be treated poorly, only partial focus on education, and network your way up - with the help of the Georgetown Mafia - McCourt is the better option. If you want to become a politician one day, be a lawyer and/or have a grass roots base. There are MPPs who become politicians, almost all of them are dual degrees with JD or MBA, worked in capital hill, or went home to a strong grass roots network. 

2. The DC consortium is interesting, but honestly unless you want to do something really niche - like space policy or public health, there is no real reason to utilize it. I saw mostly people coming to Georgetown for classes. I only knew of one person ever leaving Georgetown McCourt for classes and that was to do things for Public Health. Bottom line, among all the schools in Georgetown, you got the major classes covered. You are better off using your time doing research/getting an part time internship.

3. GU politics is really primarily for undergrads. The only people from McCourt that did GU politics and translated it to a career were those straight from undergrads trying to pivot into campaigns and fund raising. Beyond that, its essentially a distraction for grad students, and most GU politics alum from McCourt will tell you so. 

4. It doesn't make sense for you to live in graduate student housing until Fall of 2024 (I'm hoping you graduate in Spring of 2024), when they plan to start McCourt classes in their long awaited downtown campus. If you want to have a crazy long commute, that is up to you. Until then, it makes more sense for you to live closer to the main Georgetown campus. 

5. When you are in grad school, you will be consumed by grad school. A few visits can happen here and there, but not as often as you think. Flying between Chicago and Boston and DC and Boston is not that much of a time difference.

As for cons:

McCourt doesn't really do education well from a local and state perspective. McCourt also isn't exactly in the forefront of education innovation. Unless you want to focus on education from a broad based national level, there is not exactly a McCourt advantage to education. Also, the Eduwonks club is one more the more clique student groups out. 

Note about math... trust me, the math might be painful on the front end, but it will differentiate you in the job market, and give you more flexibility. I mean both McCourt and U. Chicago are quant intense, so its a wash. 

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by GradSchoolGrad

[Andromeda23]

On 4/13/2022 at 9:03 PM, GradSchoolGrad said:

 2. The DC consortium is interesting, but honestly unless you want to do something really niche - like space policy or public health, there is no real reason to utilize it. I saw mostly people coming to Georgetown for classes. I only knew of one person ever leaving Georgetown McCourt for classes and that was to do things for Public Health.

 

Kinda odd to see Public Health, a policy area that’s so often talked about, in the same sentence as Space Policy. Is Georgetown poor in that policy area? 

[GradSchoolGrad]

37 minutes ago, Andromeda23 said:

Kinda odd to see Public Health, a policy area that’s so often talked about, in the same sentence as Space Policy. Is Georgetown poor in that policy area? 

So McCourt is interesting when it comes to public health. You have four professors (which is a lot) that specialize in it. Professor Schone, Mitchell, Delaire, and one more that is escaping me (although she once ran for office). With the exception of Mitchell, they all look at Healthcare in terms of healthcare access. Mitchell specializes in medical Mal-practice. The bottom line issue is that McCourt Health policy lives in a vacuum without any real connection to the medical school or Georgetown's nursing or healthcare management program. There is also no public health school in Georgetown. Thereby, if you want to go beyond policies involving healthcare access, say global health, lead reduction, disease prevention, gun violence, and etc - GWU and their public health program is where you want to go. 

Edited April 15, 2022 by GradSchoolGrad

[Andromeda23]

Yeah Professor Feder, she ran for congress in Virginia. Her work is mainly in health insurance reform. I see what u mean when u make the distinction between healthcare access and public health. 

[GradSchoolGrad]

9 minutes ago, Andromeda23 said:

Yeah Professor Feder, she ran for congress in Virginia. Her work is mainly in health insurance reform. I see what u mean when u make the distinction between healthcare access and public health. 

Ya… she had a following, not as big as Schone though. She is one of those professors that Georgetown keeps around, but lost favor with the administration because of political infighting (long story made short, Georgetown had another policy program  for a few years because she wanted to limit the Graduate School of Public Policy at that time more limited to an academic focus and less of a professional program.

Edited April 15, 2022 by GradSchoolGrad

[Andromeda23]

9 minutes ago, GradSchoolGrad said:

Ya… she had a following, not as big as Schone though. She is one of those professors that Georgetown keeps around, but lost favor with the administration because of political infighting (long story made short, Georgetown had another policy program  for a few years because she wanted to limit the Graduate School of Public Policy at that time more limited to an academic focus and less of a professional program.

Sounds dramatic, she does have a really impressive resume though. I’m mostly interested in healthcare financing and health insurance reform, so I think I should be fine in Georgetown. 

[GradSchoolGrad]

28 minutes ago, Andromeda23 said:

Sounds dramatic, she does have a really impressive resume though. I’m mostly interested in healthcare financing and health insurance reform, so I think I should be fine in Georgetown. 

Ya… you would be fine almost anywhere. There is huge need for those interested in healthcare. It was scary how some of my less capable classmates got some solid jobs by shooting for healthcare policy.