Heinz (MSPPM) or Columbia (MIA) or GPPI (MPP)

[arguseyed]

I need to decide between Columbia (MIA) - no funding, Heinz (MSPPM)-8k per semester and GPPI (10k/year). Columbia was my top choice because of the brand name and coursework, however the no funding and higher living expenses in NYC make me apprehensive. Their financial aid is focused towards second years, so I may get something then. I'm not so sure about the job opportunities at Heinz because of its location. Also, I'm not sure how much role its technology focus will play, since I don't have a technical background. I'm an international student from India so federal or non-profit jobs are not an option for me.

I'm not considering Duke, University of Washington for their location and NYU for their lack of funding.

Can somebody give me some perspective that will make my decision easier?

Edited March 20, 2011 by arguseyed

[Avi]

Hi,

I am in a similar situation pretty much. i have got admits from (i think) great places. My problem is becoz i wasn't really sure of my career path, i knew i wanted to study environment (policy may be and most certainly correlate it to development) so, i applied to a variety of courses and my admits in this field are from:1. Cambridge, uk: phd

2. Columbia univ: masters

3. Chicago: harris: MPP

4, Minnesota: humphrey: MDP

5. LSE: Masters in International Dev

6. U of Boston: MA in Global Dev Policy

i have no clue how i should decide and yeah, i am an international student neither from uk nor us. I am trying to choose between the first three. What's your background in and what specialization are you looking at, in these schools?

I need to decide between Columbia (MIA) - no funding, Heinz (MSPPM)-8k per semester and GPPI (10k/year). Columbia was my top choice because of the brand name and coursework, however the no funding and higher living expenses in NYC make me apprehensive. Their financial aid is focused towards second years, so I may get something then. I'm not so sure about the job opportunities at Heinz because of its location. Also, I'm not sure how much role its technology focus will play, since I don't have a technical background. I'm an international student from India so federal or non-profit jobs are not an option for me.

I'm not considering Duke, University of Washington for their location and NYU for their lack of funding.

Can somebody give me some perspective that will make my decision easier?

[arguseyed]

Congrats on all your admits!

I also got an admit from Boston University for the same program. I believe its a relatively new one, so I am not really considering it although the course structure looks quite good. I am most likely going to CMU over SIPA and GPPI. The cost of living was a fairly important factor to rule out SIPA. I did not get any funding from them and although their financial aid is aimed at 2nd year students, its still very uncertain. I also read that not as many second year students get financial aid as they claim on their website. I felt CMU would give me a better education and job opportunities over GPPI and it did take a while to get over the location factor.

I am from India and have a consulting background with a brief stint at a microfinance start up in India. I plan to take up international policy and economic development. Maybe you could go through the course cirriculum and see what works best for you. Another thing that I did was to check the job opportunities available for international students post graduation.

What's your background?

Good luck for your decision!

[PraxD10]

Hi ! congrats for your admits ! My background is in infrastructure planning and have 4 years work experience. Any suggestions for deciding between Heinz (CMU), Rutgers and USC Price School? I m more interested in CMU for its strong coursework and in USC coz of its infrastructure focus...would be glad to have your view !