UCLA MPP vs George Washington MPP/MPA vs American MPP/MPA

[zotzot]

Hey all! I have recently been accepted to GWU, as well as UCLA. I know it is premature to say it, but I have a feeling I will also be accepted to American as well because upon applying, of the 3, American seemed to be the most likely to accept me. For the programs themselves, I feel that GW and American fit my liking more because of the flexibility of their programs, but UCLA works as well because I live in LA. For UCLA, I would only have to worry about paying tuition, whereas living expenses would be a factor in DC. However, for my interests, I would need to construct my own concentration at UCLA, which might prove to be a headache. Should the name recognition of UCLA and the lower price tag be enough for me to forsake going across the country?

[readyornot]

Were you offered scholarship to any of these programs? Where do you want to be after graduation? If the answer is working for the government in some capacity, you may want to strongly consider one of the DC programs as you will likely end up doing an internship in the area, which could morph into a job offer and/or connections to get one. UCLA is a great school though (though admittedly aside from knowing it's a top program I don't know much about it).

[zotzot]

I was not offered a scholarship from either. I want to go into government consulting. While I feel that, as far as my quantitative skills growing and classes in economics and stats are almost the same for any of them, I feel that the GW and American programs for location itself will open me to more possibilities.

If I were to go to UCLA, I would have to construct my own concentration because I feel that the ones they already have constructed do not fit what I want. This could be a blessing in disguise if I could swing taking classes in UCLA's business program and make some connections there as well. I have a government internship set up for summer if I choose to stay in California, but I do not know if that is a good enough reason to stay.