Berkeley -- Next week?

[eigenvector]

Couldn't make it. I applied for dual track, MPP + MS (ERG), though the email does not specify ERG's decision, though I think it's final.

Congratulations to all those accepted.

[senatorsmith85]

re: the fellowships

Mine was for 1 year. The packet doesn't mention anything about second year departmental fellowships (I think)--do you guys know if there's an opportunity to get second year departmental fellowships? Is it probably dependent on academic performance in the first year?

[CookieMonstr]

senatorsmith85, my sense is that they see the fellowships as a way to help students afford out-of-state tuition, before we become CA residents in our second year and our costs drop substantially. But I could be wrong.

[senatorsmith85]

I'm a CA resident already and was offered money. I also know that basically all schools--including public--offer money to students they really want to go. And most schools I know of offer money the second year (in some cases awarded upon admission or in some cases awarded after the first year).

[goldenbear26]

It's unlikely that GSPP will continue to award fellowship funding into the second year. GSPP is counting on its students to get GSI positions. Over 50% of its students do. Working in these positions allows you to waive tuition.

[state_school'12]

True, although it looks like only the GSR (research assistant) positions give you a tuition waver. The other ones max out at stipend + fee waiver.

[goldenbear26]

Actually, "partial fee remission" includes remission for the student services fee ($486), tuition ($5,610), and the health insurance fee ($1,075). Doesn't pay for non-resident fee.

"Full fee remission" includes all of that AND the berkeley campus fee ($253).

Partial fee remission + a wage is available to GSI, Reader, Tutor, and GSR positions.

The GSI, Reader, and Tutor positions are only available at the "Greater than or equal to 10 hours/week" level. So, for 10 hours a week you get your tuition paid. It seems like any involvement greater than that pushes your classification into the GSR level.

Source: Last page of the AS packet.

[goldenbear26]

One area of ambiguity seems to be with the classification of "Tuition" and "Professional Degree Suplemental Tuition".

"Tuition" is $5,610 dollars a semester.

"Professional Degree Suplemental Tuition" is another $3,645 dollars a semester.

The document that Goldman provides regarding GSI/GSR remission only says that fee remission includes "Tuition". It doesn't explicitly say anything about PDST.

[state_school'12]

Nice, that's good news! I must have missed the bit about the tuition. I agree that it's ambiguous, but since the "Full Fee Remission" category doesn't itemize the Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition, I think we can assume that it's covered in any fee remission scenario.

So it looks like if you get a GSI Step I position >/= 10 hours/week, you'd end up paying about $600/year (campus + class pass fee), and earn about $8,600/year in stipend. Where a year = ten months, or approximately two semesters.

http://registrar.berkeley.edu/current_students/registration_enrollment/feesched.html#pubpol

http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/labor/contracts/BX/current-rates

[state_school'12]

Crap, think again:

DEFINITIONS OF TYPES OF REMISSIONS

Partial Fee Remission: This type of remission is equal to the amount assessed in CARS for the Tuition, the Student Services Fee, and the Health Insurance Fee if the student has not had the health insurance requirement waived by University Health Services. A partial fee remission does not include the Class Pass (AC Transit) Fee, the Berkeley Campus Fee or any other assessments such as professional degree supplemental tuition (PDST). For eligible undergraduate GSI appointees, this program only covers Tuition and Student Services fees.

Full Fee Remission: This type of remission is equal to the amount assessed in CARS for the Tuition, the Student Services Fee, the Class Pass (AC Transit) Fee, the Berkeley Campus Fee, and the Health Insurance Fee if the student has not had the health insurance requirement waived by University Health Services. A full fee remission does not include any other assessments such as professional professional degree supplemental tuition (PDST).

http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/policies/pdf/fee_remission_bulletin.pdf

[goldenbear26]

Good find. Sucks that PDST isn't included, but I'm still thrilled that there is significant opportunity to get a healthy chunk of tuition waived via GSI-ing. Goldman seems to really try to make the MPP affordable, compared to some other programs out there.

[state_school'12]

Agreed. It seems like most MPP treat a GSI thing as something solely at the discretion of the student. It sends a nice signal that Berkeley appears to care about it's masters students.

My big question will be the chances of me GSI-ing the first year. I assume you'd take WWS over GSPP, but how would you compare GSPP and KSG? How much more are you willing to pay for KSG? If you don't mind me asking.

[goldenbear26]

Full cost of GSPP is about $46,000 for the complete program.

Full cost of KSG is about $130,000 for the complete program.

Even at a half-tuition scholarship from KSG (not that they actually do that), GSPP is significantly cheaper. But really, the overwhelming majority would have to pay full sticker at KSG. That level of debt is not okay to me.

And let's be honest, we really shouldn't be looking at GSPP at the $46,000 dollar level. It's likely to be much cheaper if you put in a little effort. Over half of GSPP students get a GSI/GSR/GSA position. With just 10 hours of work in one of these positions a week, you can waive non-PDST tuition and also get a wage.

For me, there's the funding from this departmental fellowship plus the prospect of GSI gigs which makes GSPP's cost closer to the $20K - $30K range. That's a steal.

So, for me, KSG doesn't even begin to step into the equation unless it gets into the $50K range. I want to go into public service and staying out debt plays an important role in that.

As for WWS, most would probably take WWS over GSPP. It's a top program for free. No brainer. For me, personally, I'll likely take GSPP over WWS regardless. I went to Berkeley for undergrad and like what Berkeley has to offer more than Princeton. Community, bay area quality of living, the value of political organizing and social innovation, and access to the best graduate programs (law school, business school, etc), and it's especially strong for CA politics. I recognize that I'm in the minority when it comes to the GSPP v WWS comparison.

Oh and obviously, this is all strictly hypothetical. Admission decisions for those schools haven't even come out, so it's not like this is even a "problem" yet -- who knows if it even will be.

[goldenbear26]

Forgot to answer one of your questions. I know a couple people in GSPP and they seemed to indicate that getting a GSI gig after 1st semester isn't hard. And in your second year, it's even easier.

Personally, I'll be reaching out to professors of mine from when I was an undergrad there to try to get a GSI gig with them from the get-go, but we'll see.

[intldevelopmentguy]

Thanks for all the helpful information guys; this is making me feel a lot more positive about investing in the program.

[goldenbear26]

Also, I like Berkeley's track record for feeding into the PMF (presidential management fellow) program. For a class of about 70, it usually has about 11 PMFs (last years number). KSG had about 30 last year between its MPP and MPA programs but from a much bigger class size. GSPP's PMF record is quite impressive.

[state_school'12]

Nice analysis Goldenbear. I didn't apply to KSG since I figured that even in the rare event that I got in, my chances at significant funding would be next to nothing. I've noticed that about PMF finalists as well... For a school that doesn't get a lot of props for DC connections, it sure puts a lot of students on the dc career fast track.

What sort of work do you want to do after graduation?

[goldenbear26]

Definitely looking at the California Legislative Analysts Office. Great salaries, great way to get into high level positions in CA state politics, and challenging work. Tons of GSPPrs end up there. They offer a great internship -- pay about 3K a month in the summer (which goes a long way in Sacramento). I'd definitely apply to intern at the WH OMB in the summer (I'd probably take the LAO though, they hire a bunch of their interns). I'll obviously take a swing at the PMF gig, too.

So yeah, thinking about state or federal policy analysis type work.

[goldenbear26]

Whoops. Accidentally said that full cost of GSPP (including living expenses) is 46K. Don't know why I wrote that. It's about 70K when you have in-state residency. But again, that obviously goes substantially down when you use the GSI gigs to waive tuition.

[energypolicy23]

1) Is anyone else waitlisted?

2) Are any of you lucky ducks who were accepted going to defer or go somewhere else?

Thanks!

[dcenergygirl]

1) Is anyone else waitlisted?

2) Are any of you lucky ducks who were accepted going to defer or go somewhere else?

Thanks!

I'm probably leaning more towards east coast options since ideally I'd like to have a more international bend. I just spoke with a Berkeley student who said there is always a way to make the program more international. However, that seems like a lot of unneccesary work when I've gotten into international programs. Sounds like you are also energy focused, and as far as that goes, Berkeley is fantastic. It will be a tough choice...

Best of luck getting in off the waitlist!

[goldenbear26]

Anyone here set on Berkeley? I'll be attending for sure. If anyone on here is set on Berkeley -- or will be attending the open house -- PM me. I'd love to get a FB group going soon.

[state_school'12]

Berkeley is my dream school. Right now, my two concerns are funding my first year, and ensuring that I can take more advanced quantitative coursework. I emailed Martha about the second question, and I'll share what I find out.

[Inquisitor8]

I'm waitlisted to unfortunately.... and in the field of energy and resource. Got into HKS but not really interested... from what I've seen people have been accepted off the waitlist before. I'm just nervous about funding then!

Edited March 21, 2012 by Inquisitor8

[SRILO]

Seriously considering GSPP (love the program; my top choice), but can someone confirm my math? I'm breaking out costs and a little shell shocked. This assumes no fellowship, no GSI position, and the cost of living figure provided by Berkeley (extrapolated to a 12 month period rather than 9).

For the sake of simplicity I did not try to factor in anticipated tuition increases, though they are likely.

Year 1 Tuition + Fees (out of state): $34,975.50

Year 2 Tuition + Fees (in state): $22,274.50

Cost of Living: $27,575.00

Year 1 + Year 2 + (Cost of Living x2) = Total loan principal: $112,400

I believe the tuition/fee figures at the following site are per semester, so I multiplied each figure by 2 to get tuition/fees for years 1 and 2: http://registrar.berkeley.edu/current_students/registration_enrollment/feesched.html#pubpol