Mich vs. CMU vs. USC

[yeahgradschool!]

Decision time!!

I’m currently deciding between 3 schools: USC, Michigan and Carnegie Mellon (the DC-track)

USC offered me a full tuition fellowship, Michigan offered the difference between out-of-state and in-state tuition and Carnegie offered 22K the first year and 26K the second year.

With the fellowships I’ve received, along with some additional funding, I’ve calculated my total debt after 2 years, (including rent, food, transport, books, fees, health insurance, miscellaneous) to be the following:

USC: $30,000

Carnegie Mellon: $50,000

Michigan: $55,000

This is not considering the possibility of a part-time job, RA/TAship or paid apprenticeship in DC the 2^nd year for CMU. I wanted to go in thinking the worst ha.

I’m looking to eventually find a job working in the private sector as a consultant, hopefully in education or housing policy. I’d like to end up in D.C. but that’s not a deal breaker. All the programs seem to have great electives in social policy so my main concern isn’t with the program fit but where most of the graduates end up afterward.

USC: Obviously the total debt is less than CMU and Michigan. But how are their connections to East coast internships/jobs?

In the end, is a $20,000 difference in debt really all that much? If it weren’t for the money, I would definitely be leaning toward Michigan or CMU.

And if the 20k difference isn’t enough to choose USC, what are people’s thoughts on the pros/cons of Michigan and CMU?

Also, has anyone tried asking for more money from a school by using other offers as leverage? What’s the best way to go about doing it?

Any and all advice is welcome!!!! I am currently living abroad and won’t be able to make any of the open houses so I’m relying on the amazing gradcafe forum to help me out.

[s33]

Decision time!!

I’m currently deciding between 3 schools: USC, Michigan and Carnegie Mellon (the DC-track)

USC offered me a full tuition fellowship, Michigan offered the difference between out-of-state and in-state tuition and Carnegie offered 22K the first year and 26K the second year.

With the fellowships I’ve received, along with some additional funding, I’ve calculated my total debt after 2 years, (including rent, food, transport, books, fees, health insurance, miscellaneous) to be the following:

USC: $30,000

Carnegie Mellon: $50,000

Michigan: $55,000

This is not considering the possibility of a part-time job, RA/TAship or paid apprenticeship in DC the 2^nd year for CMU. I wanted to go in thinking the worst ha.

I’m looking to eventually find a job working in the private sector as a consultant, hopefully in education or housing policy. I’d like to end up in D.C. but that’s not a deal breaker. All the programs seem to have great electives in social policy so my main concern isn’t with the program fit but where most of the graduates end up afterward.

USC: Obviously the total debt is less than CMU and Michigan. But how are their connections to East coast internships/jobs?

In the end, is a $20,000 difference in debt really all that much? If it weren’t for the money, I would definitely be leaning toward Michigan or CMU.

And if the 20k difference isn’t enough to choose USC, what are people’s thoughts on the pros/cons of Michigan and CMU?

Also, has anyone tried asking for more money from a school by using other offers as leverage? What’s the best way to go about doing it?

Any and all advice is welcome!!!! I am currently living abroad and won’t be able to make any of the open houses so I’m relying on the amazing gradcafe forum to help me out.

That is a really difficult choice. All good programs. Normally under such circumstances I would suggest to 'follow the money' (funding), but if you are looking at a consulting career I think it is a bit more complicated. While governments hire from everywhere, some consulting companies recruit only at specific schools. For this reason, I would recommend emailing each school to request their recent placements in the consulting industry. This should give you a better idea of the 'reach' of each program in the private sector. Congratulations on the admits, and good luck.

[mppgal55]

Money is a decision that's all on you, although I will point out that you can ask for more money and they may increase your funding. I'd send an email to the admissions folks indicating where you got a better offer, and if it is a peer school and they have funds available, they will consider increasing your funding. I know people who successfully did this at CMU last year (I wish I had tried!).

Both Michigan and CMU are good programs. Michigan has more electives in the international field, and you would have access to their law school. That said, CMU gives access to GSPIA and law at Pitt. Pittsburgh is a great city with a lot to offer; Ann Arbor is nice and is near enough to Detroit to make things interesting. Ford v. Heinz is usually a decision a bunch of people have to make every year; Ford is Heinz' biggest "rival" for prospective students. It really will come down to fit for most of it. It's rough that you can't visit, but maybe you can call some professors at each school to talk to them and get a good feel. Heinz has a competitive advantage in requiring management science courses (linear programming, optimization, queuing theory, forecasting, etc.) and applying it to policy, but Michigan has more electives offered in general.

In terms of consulting, I don't know about Michigan, but I do know Heinz has amazing relationships in the private sector. Deloitte recruits heavily on campus, both for full time in November and for summer in February. McKinsey (sp?) hosts a case competition with Tepper/Heinz, and interviews/hires students from that. PwC hosts a networking event in New York, and BoozAllen regularly invites students to interview in DC. I know many students who are working with smaller boutique consulting firms as well, primarily in DC, Chicago, Boston, and NYC.

[yeahgradschool!]

Thank you both for your thoughtful responses! I think I'm leaning toward CMU. The 2nd year apprenticeship in D.C. is pretty much what does it for me. mppgal, would I be able to work part-time during my 1st year in Pittsburgh? What is the class schedule like? Morning/afternoon/night? 1hr/3hr classes? A few days per week or every day? I recently emailed about additional funding (crossing fingers)!

[CC139]

All of your choices are awesome! Based on location only, I'd rule out USC -not my top pick. However, Michigan and CMU have comparable programs at two very different but interesting cities.

Have you contacted current students at both? I think this is key when deciding, I mean, job prospects are mostly luck and networking, but if you are happy in the program, you'll make the best of it.

[mppgal55]

Thank you both for your thoughtful responses! I think I'm leaning toward CMU. The 2nd year apprenticeship in D.C. is pretty much what does it for me. mppgal, would I be able to work part-time during my 1st year in Pittsburgh? What is the class schedule like? Morning/afternoon/night? 1hr/3hr classes? A few days per week or every day? I recently emailed about additional funding (crossing fingers)!

The class schedule varies. There are classes 9-10:20, 10:30-11:50, 1:30-2:50, 3:30-4:50, and 5:30-8:20. You have decent flexibility when scheduling your classes, so you can either fill up MWF and have TR empty, or have a whole bunch of night classes, or no night classes, etc. It is typical to take 5 classes each mini; some do 4 or 6. All classes, except for night class, last 1hr and 20 minutes. Night classes usually have breaks in the middle.

As for working in Pittsburgh, a lot of people choose to take federal work study jobs or get internships in the city. Heinz has some great community partnerships. I'm doing FWS, working as a research assistant in one of the policy centers on campus. A few weeks after you arrive, a host of jobs get posted, and then you can apply for your favorites. I'd suggest persistently following up with the ones you're most interested in. There is also an internship fair at the beginning of the semester, if you prefer something outside of school. I wouldn't recommend working any more than 10 hrs - I'm committed to that, and it seems like too much sometimes. More would be death for a DC student (Since we have to take 60 units, we're a bit more loaded than some students).

Good luck with the funding email! I'm curious if they'll increase offers this year like they did last year. I wish I'd asked for more!