McCourt MPP vs SP2 MSSP+DA please help me decide

[bambool]

About me: I'm an international student and I plan to pursue a phd afterwards, not for academic devotion just for a better degree (I know this is bad but plz don't judge me as I'm not sure if I can stay in US, and a doctorate degree would be helpful for a decent position back in my home country). My field of interest is more about public policy and government. 

Here's something I know about the two program:

McCourt MPP

Pros: 1. I like the orientation and the courses; 2. It has a dissertation option which would be good for phd application; 3. McCourt is famous for research in public policy(right?) with good faculty; 4.DC

Cons: 1. The overall ranking of Georgetown is not good, not sure if this would be bad in some way; 2. The program setting is far from research-oriented, the admission office have no information about previous students' further education placements when asked

SP2 MSSP+DA

Pros: 1. Upenn's title is very good; 2. 10% of students went on to pursue phd and the admission office have some information about previous students' phd placements

Cons: 1. No dissertation; 2. I am less interested in social policy.

I realize both programs are not research-oriented, but this is the best I could get. So basically I want to know if this two programs and schools differ much in its academic atmosphere, and if so which one is better.

Also, the things listed above may be wrong as I currently know little about US education and career environment... So Please help me! Any information would be extremely helpful!(;_;)

Edited March 28, 2023 by bambool

[GradSchoolGrad]

5 hours ago, bambool said:

About me: I'm an international student and I plan to pursue a phd afterwards, not for academic devotion just for a better degree (I know this is bad but plz don't judge me as I'm not sure if I can stay in US, and a doctorate degree would be helpful for a decent position back in my home country). My field of interest is more about public policy and government. 

Here's something I know about the two program:

McCourt MPP

Pros: 1. I like the orientation and the courses; 2. It has a dissertation option which would be good for phd application; 3. McCourt is famous for research in public policy(right?) with good faculty; 4.DC

Cons: 1. The overall ranking of Georgetown is not good, not sure if this would be bad in some way; 2. The program setting is far from research-oriented, the admission office have no information about previous students' further education placements when asked

SP2 MSSP+DA

Pros: 1. Upenn's title is very good; 2. 10% of students went on to pursue phd and the admission office have some information about previous students' phd placements

Cons: 1. No dissertation; 2. I am less interested in social policy.

I realize both programs are not research-oriented, but this is the best I could get. So basically I want to know if this two programs and schools differ much in its academic atmosphere, and if so which one is better.

Also, the things listed above may be wrong as I currently know little about US education and career environment... So Please help me! Any information would be extremely helpful!(;_;)

Both options are high risk. Both might help you get into a better grad school for PhD if and only if you:

a. Get nearly all As

b. Your research (you can wins awards or has high professor sponsorship

c. You research an area that major professors care about. If the professors don’t care about your interests then it doesn’t matter how good of a student you are, they are less likely to refer you for PhD.

Please understand that McCourt is the better school for landing you a professional job, but it doesn’t have that large or strong of a research background among the teaching faculty. There are a lot of research organizations within McCourt but getting a research assistantship can be really hard and competitive.

Penn’s program is newer, less developed, and more regionally focused. However you do get access to Penn’s pool of faculty at large.

So basically, if I wanted a job, I would go McCourt. If I wanted to resume boost for a PhD, I would go Penn. However, both schools are crazy high risk for the PhD boosting game that you speak of. As an American, I would have a 5% to 10%  chance of succeeding on getting a top PhD program this way.

[bambool]

10 hours ago, GradSchoolGrad said:

Both options are high risk. Both might help you get into a better grad school for PhD if and only if you:

a. Get nearly all As

b. Your research (you can wins awards or has high professor sponsorship

c. You research an area that major professors care about. If the professors don’t care about your interests then it doesn’t matter how good of a student you are, they are less likely to refer you for PhD.

Please understand that McCourt is the better school for landing you a professional job, but it doesn’t have that large or strong of a research background among the teaching faculty. There are a lot of research organizations within McCourt but getting a research assistantship can be really hard and competitive.

Penn’s program is newer, less developed, and more regionally focused. However you do get access to Penn’s pool of faculty at large.

So basically, if I wanted a job, I would go McCourt. If I wanted to resume boost for a PhD, I would go Penn. However, both schools are crazy high risk for the PhD boosting game that you speak of. As an American, I would have a 5% to 10%  chance of succeeding on getting a top PhD program this way.

Thank you sooo much!! This is really helpful. I was wondering if you know about UCLA's MaSS program. It seems better for pursuing a PhD, but it is a 9-month program without graduate dissertation and it has only research method courses. Do you think it would be a good choice in my circumstances? Thank you very much!!

[GradSchoolGrad]

18 minutes ago, bambool said:

Thank you sooo much!! This is really helpful. I was wondering if you know about UCLA's MaSS program. It seems better for pursuing a PhD, but it is a 9-month program without graduate dissertation and it has only research method courses. Do you think it would be a good choice in my circumstances? Thank you very much!!

I don't know the school and I don't know the program. It all comes down to if you have enough exposure to professors that matter and if you think you can win them over to mentor you towards a PhD. 

[bambool]

46 minutes ago, GradSchoolGrad said:

I don't know the school and I don't know the program. It all comes down to if you have enough exposure to professors that matter and if you think you can win them over to mentor you towards a PhD. 

I understand. Thank you sooo much!!