bettyburritos Posted March 14, 2023 Share Posted March 14, 2023 Hi everyone, I recently received admissions decisions, and have narrowed down my choices to the following: Georgetown's Master of International Development Policy (MIDP) with a $28.5k tuition scholarship for each year. I can "afford" this by using my savings for room + board, using $20k of savings directly towards tuition, and taking the rest of the tuition cost + fees (~$42k) out in loans. Throughout the program I would find a job and work 20 hrs/wk, which on the lower end would give me an extra $30k over two years to put towards those loans. That would mean graduating with ~$12k in loans and ~$8k left in my savings (not including retirement, I don't want to touch that). My hesitancy with this choice is that it's draining my savings! But the program seems amazing. The director reached out to me during the review cycle to congratulate me on a well-written application and has kept in touch with me since then (yes, he was very effective in brainwashing me lol). It's a small cohort (less than 20), average age is mid-late 20s (I'm 26), and average years of work experience is 4 (I have 3). There's a fully-funded (or nearly fully-funded) required summer internship opportunity abroad. There are many international students, which is a plus for me, and I've heard the director is truly invested in the academic success of each cohort member. Some people apparently don't like his "overly involved presence", but I would appreciate it. I've internet stalked recent MIDP grads, and they're all doing incredible things and have jobs that I would salivate over. The quant-heavy aspect of this program scares me, but I want the challenge. University of Michigan's Master of Public Policy (MPP) with the Rackham Graduate Merit Award of full tuition and stipend for each year. No budgeting needed. My hesitancy with this choice is location, unfortunately 😒 I elaborate more below. There's also no capstone project, which I thought was weird. The curriculum isn't as rigid as Georgetown's MIDP, so I have more flexibility in policy concentration and can take up to 25% of my credits across different schools. University of Maryland's Master of Public Policy (MPP) with a 50% assistantship. This would leave me to cover roughly ~$7.5k of tuition, which I could do out of pocket. A good chunk of room + board could be paid for by working an additional 10ish hours at a student hourly position. My hesitancy with this choice is that it's lower ranked than both of my other ones, and their admissions team has not been helping to improve their image 😄 They feel discombobulated and slightly unprofessional. Because UMD is a large state school, I'd imagine I'd have to advocate for myself and actively manage my studies/opportunities, which I feel wouldn't be as big of a need with a smaller program like Georgetown's MIDP. I would really, really appreciate anyone who can talk up their program! Some miscellaneous considerations that have been on my mind: I have been working for FEMA for the past two years, and while I enjoy what I do to an extent, I am ready to pivot internationally and use that experience in humanitarian and disaster aid in graduate studies. I have roughly $65k in savings thanks to graduating debt free in undergrad, but do I want to blow through all of it for grad school? How could I use that money to aid my studies (unpaid internships, work abroad, etc.) if I went to a cheaper school instead? I decided to attend a state school for undergrad on full tuition and managed to save a lot through scholarships and fully funded study abroad programs. Higher education has always been a personal priority to me, and I don't have an issue with paying for quality/connections. At the same time, I want to make sure I'm not being blinded by prestige and name brand. I have experience tailoring my academic experience at a large state school from undergrad, and while that's not what I was hoping for with grad, I don't know if it's worth all of my savings. I spent my entire life in the Midwest, and just escaped last year! I know Michigan is an incredible school, but still... location is a consideration for me. I unfortunately love a man who can't move to Michigan and has to stay in the DMV area. We live together and feel seriously about each other, so this is a consideration for me. We would do long distance if I went to Michigan, but it would definitely be hard. My career aspirations are in the development sector, and I am particularly interested in impact evaluation, environmental policy, and development policy. I'm not strongly set towards public sector or private sector. I'm worried that my lack of a definitive plan/goal for after graduation means I should choose a program that won't wipe my savings and leave me with debt. I hope this post is coherent enough to prompt responses! I would really appreciate thoughts, advice, or questions for me to consider as I make such a large life decision. Thanks all 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GradSchoolGrad Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 On 3/14/2023 at 5:50 PM, bettyburritos said: Hi everyone, I recently received admissions decisions, and have narrowed down my choices to the following: Georgetown's Master of International Development Policy (MIDP) with a $28.5k tuition scholarship for each year. I can "afford" this by using my savings for room + board, using $20k of savings directly towards tuition, and taking the rest of the tuition cost + fees (~$42k) out in loans. Throughout the program I would find a job and work 20 hrs/wk, which on the lower end would give me an extra $30k over two years to put towards those loans. That would mean graduating with ~$12k in loans and ~$8k left in my savings (not including retirement, I don't want to touch that). My hesitancy with this choice is that it's draining my savings! But the program seems amazing. The director reached out to me during the review cycle to congratulate me on a well-written application and has kept in touch with me since then (yes, he was very effective in brainwashing me lol). It's a small cohort (less than 20), average age is mid-late 20s (I'm 26), and average years of work experience is 4 (I have 3). There's a fully-funded (or nearly fully-funded) required summer internship opportunity abroad. There are many international students, which is a plus for me, and I've heard the director is truly invested in the academic success of each cohort member. Some people apparently don't like his "overly involved presence", but I would appreciate it. I've internet stalked recent MIDP grads, and they're all doing incredible things and have jobs that I would salivate over. The quant-heavy aspect of this program scares me, but I want the challenge. University of Michigan's Master of Public Policy (MPP) with the Rackham Graduate Merit Award of full tuition and stipend for each year. No budgeting needed. My hesitancy with this choice is location, unfortunately 😒 I elaborate more below. There's also no capstone project, which I thought was weird. The curriculum isn't as rigid as Georgetown's MIDP, so I have more flexibility in policy concentration and can take up to 25% of my credits across different schools. University of Maryland's Master of Public Policy (MPP) with a 50% assistantship. This would leave me to cover roughly ~$7.5k of tuition, which I could do out of pocket. A good chunk of room + board could be paid for by working an additional 10ish hours at a student hourly position. My hesitancy with this choice is that it's lower ranked than both of my other ones, and their admissions team has not been helping to improve their image 😄 They feel discombobulated and slightly unprofessional. Because UMD is a large state school, I'd imagine I'd have to advocate for myself and actively manage my studies/opportunities, which I feel wouldn't be as big of a need with a smaller program like Georgetown's MIDP. I would really, really appreciate anyone who can talk up their program! Some miscellaneous considerations that have been on my mind: I have been working for FEMA for the past two years, and while I enjoy what I do to an extent, I am ready to pivot internationally and use that experience in humanitarian and disaster aid in graduate studies. I have roughly $65k in savings thanks to graduating debt free in undergrad, but do I want to blow through all of it for grad school? How could I use that money to aid my studies (unpaid internships, work abroad, etc.) if I went to a cheaper school instead? I decided to attend a state school for undergrad on full tuition and managed to save a lot through scholarships and fully funded study abroad programs. Higher education has always been a personal priority to me, and I don't have an issue with paying for quality/connections. At the same time, I want to make sure I'm not being blinded by prestige and name brand. I have experience tailoring my academic experience at a large state school from undergrad, and while that's not what I was hoping for with grad, I don't know if it's worth all of my savings. I spent my entire life in the Midwest, and just escaped last year! I know Michigan is an incredible school, but still... location is a consideration for me. I unfortunately love a man who can't move to Michigan and has to stay in the DMV area. We live together and feel seriously about each other, so this is a consideration for me. We would do long distance if I went to Michigan, but it would definitely be hard. My career aspirations are in the development sector, and I am particularly interested in impact evaluation, environmental policy, and development policy. I'm not strongly set towards public sector or private sector. I'm worried that my lack of a definitive plan/goal for after graduation means I should choose a program that won't wipe my savings and leave me with debt. I hope this post is coherent enough to prompt responses! I would really appreciate thoughts, advice, or questions for me to consider as I make such a large life decision. Thanks all 🙂 This sounds crazy, but ever thought about applying to Georgetown MPP (or asking if you can transition to an MPP admittance... I am thinking it might be a better fit for you). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GradSchoolGrad Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 2 minutes ago, GradSchoolGrad said: This sounds crazy, but ever thought about applying to Georgetown MPP (or asking if you can transition to an MPP admittance... I am thinking it might be a better fit for you). Also maybe asking for a bit more scholarship. McCourt is swimming in cash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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