UC Irvine MPP?

[spacezeppelin]

Hello, I was recently accepted into UC Irvine's MPP program. I've had a hard time getting a feel for the credibility of the program. I know UC Irvine is well respected in general, but the MPP program seems to be less well known than the university as a whole. I know it is very new, so that probably contributes. Does anyone have any thoughts on this program? I am waiting to hear back from other schools, but I want to start formulating an opinion all the same.

 

Also, i'm from Northern California (just outside SF) and was in Santa Cruz for my undergrad. I love northern california's culture and attitude. I've heard some very negative things about Irvine with respect to what it can offer students. I'm trying to decide if the program is worth moving to the area for...

 

p.s: I don't mean to form any unfair opinions about Irvine, so please don't take offense. I'm mostly basing this opinion from other peoples comments on this board. I hope i'm totally wrong about the area.

Edited February 12, 2013 by spacezeppelin

[ZacharyObama]

Irvine is a very bland community - laid out in a master planned format with little of cultural interest. My mother commutes to Irvine and complains about the blandness and horrible traffic with regularity. If you're willing to commute Long Beach offers a more metropolitan experience and northern Orange County (Santa Ana, Anaheim etc) has some pluses. Irvine is basically nothing but UC-Irvine, business parks, and sub-divisions and you're looking at $700 a month for a room off-campus. If you end up having choices I probably wouldn't choose Irvine unless Orange County has some special appeal.

[lost_0101]

Regarding the area, yes - it's a boring community, and only appealing if you want to raise kids.

 

*however UCI is on the border of Irvine, and somewhat close to affordable housing in Costa Mesa, or a (small!) room in an old house on the Newport peninsula, or Huntington Beach and farther south to San Clemente - if you want to commute - which are some of the best places to live on the planet. (Santa Ana and Anaheim are among the worst)

[ZacharyObama]

The further away from campus you would live the greater the transportation cost (and I haven't heard much about the OC bus system) - so if you add relatively high rent to high transportation cost (car, gas, parking) you have a pretty expensive proposition.

[socal_kid]

It sounds like the answers you're getting are dealing with the area and commute times around Irvine.  To answer your question: "I'm trying to decide if the program is worth moving to the area for..." 

 

UCI is a solid school.  It's not nearly as good as the top UC's, but a solid top 50 university.  That being said, its MPP program is not mentioned as one of the top programs.  USNews doesn't have it ranked in the top 25 in MPP programs if that matters to you. This is probably because as far as I know the program was only started a year or 2 ago.  So your answer probably depends on how good the employment stats are for their program, how much in aid they're giving you, and how much you care about the reputation (or lackthereof) of the program.  

 

With regard to the city of Irvine itself, I can give you some decent insight as I went to UCI for undergrad and lived there for 2 years post undergrad.  First and foremost: it is not a college town!  Irvine is the definition of manicured suburbia, which is good and bad depending on your preference.  The city is mostly upper middle class families and has tons of shopping plazas and chain stores.  It is super duper safe and everything closes at 9 or 10.  Most parties I attended in my undergrad years were house parties because there really are no bars within a convenient distance.  (pub on campus if you count that) If you are into the bar scene, you should move to Newport Beach where there are plenty of dive bars close by populated by many a frat/sorority clique.  The down side to Newport Beach is it's more expensive and parking can be a hassle. 

 

The University itself is a ghost town on the weekends because it's a commuter school.  The entire campus is pretty small as it's a circle.  Parking, as with every university, is a pain in the behind.  

 

That's all I can think of, but I would imagine if you're not getting a decent amount of financial aid, given the school's relatively new start it'd probably not be worth the debt.  

[cy213]

Hi everyone--I applied to the UCI MPP program for Fall 2014 last night and I received an email from the UCI MPP director less than an hour ago. Here's the email that I received:

 

Dear [my name],
  Quick introduction - my name is (faculty member/director) and in addition to be a
faculty member in the Criminology, Law and Society Department here at
UCI, I'm also the Director of our MMP (<--- was that a typo? Did he mean MPP?) Program.

  I was just spending a few moments reviewing some of the files and I just
had to write - though I can not make admissions decisions unilaterally,
I can tell you that my first reaction is "How do I get [my name] to come to
UCI!?!?"  You are EXACTLY the kind of applicant we are looking for -
smart, energetic and with a clear policy focus.

  It would be my privilege to speak with you at your convenience to answer
any questions you might have.  Or perhaps there are some other faculty
that you would like to speak with, including our Dean of Social Ecology,
(the director included some names of some of the faculty members)? Please -
if there is anything I can do, or anyone I can put you in touch with, do
not hesitate to reach out to me!

  The Committee is reviewing files soon and I'm sure they will be equally
impressed. If (when) you are offered admission into the MPP, I hope you
will give us serious consideration!

Most Sincerely,

 

[Director's name]

 

Does this mean I have a good chance of getting in? Or is this an automated message that everyone who applied received? I am also wondering about their MPP program and their reputation.

[MPAallday]

Hi everyone--I applied to the UCI MPP program for Fall 2014 last night and I received an email from the UCI MPP director less than an hour ago. Here's the email that I received:

 

Dear [my name],

  Quick introduction - my name is (faculty member/director) and in addition to be a

faculty member in the Criminology, Law and Society Department here at

UCI, I'm also the Director of our MMP (<--- was that a typo? Did he mean MPP?) Program.

  I was just spending a few moments reviewing some of the files and I just

had to write - though I can not make admissions decisions unilaterally,

I can tell you that my first reaction is "How do I get [my name] to come to

UCI!?!?"  You are EXACTLY the kind of applicant we are looking for -

smart, energetic and with a clear policy focus.

  It would be my privilege to speak with you at your convenience to answer

any questions you might have.  Or perhaps there are some other faculty

that you would like to speak with, including our Dean of Social Ecology,

(the director included some names of some of the faculty members)? Please -

if there is anything I can do, or anyone I can put you in touch with, do

not hesitate to reach out to me!

  The Committee is reviewing files soon and I'm sure they will be equally

impressed. If (when) you are offered admission into the MPP, I hope you

will give us serious consideration!

Most Sincerely,

 

[Director's name]

 

Does this mean I have a good chance of getting in? Or is this an automated message that everyone who applied received? I am also wondering about their MPP program and their reputation.

Wow that's impressive! I'd say that's a great sign that you might be admitted!

[cy213]

Wow that's impressive! I'd say that's a great sign that you might be admitted!

 

 

So you think it's a personal email from the director to me specifically? If so, I am glad, because I honestly didn't even think I was going to get into any MPP program (not that I did yet)--or even any graduate school program. Thanks, I feel a lot better! 

[cy213]

I just received an email from the Director again and he said I am admitted!!! I haven't gotten a formal letter of acceptance yet but he said he will be mailing it to me shortly. Ahhh!!! I cannot believe this. 

 

Did anyone else apply and hear back from them yet? I thought this was rather too soon since I sent in the application only 10 days ago.

[faeriqueen]

Has anyone attended the UCI MPP program and can tell me about their experiences? It seems that the program is incredibly new and even though I have been accepted, I am doubtful of the reputation of the program itself. As of now, the program is not ranked among the top MPP programs, and I am assuming this is because of the limited history of the program itself. I really didn't consider myself a strong applicant, and wonder if I should put in some effort to enter a more reputable school. 

 

My reasons for this are because of a study I read from the Georgetown review stating that, unlike other fields, entering government and law relies heavily on school pedigree (the top 5 Pol Sci programs supply 50% of gov't jobs). While I plan on applying to law school after my MPP, it seems like getting admitted to a more reputable MPP program will help me "cross-over" to a law program with a higher amount of job security. 

 

I am finding it difficult to find current information on former or current graduates' experiences at the university. Any information would be lovely.

[Skipper18542]

Hey. It’s 2021 and I think that last update on this thread is from 2015 or so. Anyone have any updates on UCI and how it’s MPP program has matured?

[Skipper18542]

Alright. So I have my own update. They seem to be rather generous with money. For me I got $18,000 in funding when the cost of tuition is $21,000, so I don’t think you can beat them on price. They also seem very open to students taking the initiative and expanding the program into the greater area, but that seems to depend on your own contact network in the county which I think most people attending the program won’t have. Despite this, I have to say that given the other UC programs that have this (Berkeley, LA, San Diego, and Riverside) that Irvine is obviously ranked above Riverside, and depending on what you want to study I’d say even higher than San Diego.  San Diego seems to be focused mainly on international stuff so they put so much emphasis on that in their accepted students meetings as well as their website content. While they do have great programs for non-international affairs stuff, it seems to me at least that that is their bread and butter. This is not the case at UCI, which appears to be focused on a very large set of domestic factors and even allows you to make your own concentration, even letting you take classes outside the department to do so. 
 

I have to say that the program is better than I thought after going to all of its events and speaking to alumni and current students. I think that it has come a long way since this first thread began. 

[dawnbirth]

On 4/2/2021 at 1:50 PM, Skipper18542 said:

Alright. So I have my own update. They seem to be rather generous with money. For me I got $18,000 in funding when the cost of tuition is $21,000, so I don’t think you can beat them on price. They also seem very open to students taking the initiative and expanding the program into the greater area, but that seems to depend on your own contact network in the county which I think most people attending the program won’t have. Despite this, I have to say that given the other UC programs that have this (Berkeley, LA, San Diego, and Riverside) that Irvine is obviously ranked above Riverside, and depending on what you want to study I’d say even higher than San Diego.  San Diego seems to be focused mainly on international stuff so they put so much emphasis on that in their accepted students meetings as well as their website content. While they do have great programs for non-international affairs stuff, it seems to me at least that that is their bread and butter. This is not the case at UCI, which appears to be focused on a very large set of domestic factors and even allows you to make your own concentration, even letting you take classes outside the department to do so. 
 

I have to say that the program is better than I thought after going to all of its events and speaking to alumni and current students. I think that it has come a long way since this first thread began. 

I appreciate the update!

[samiralalami]

I got into UCI as well, 19.5k fellowship.