Georgetown vs. Stanford vs. UPenn

[MaitreTea]

I was accepted into Georgetown's Global Human Development program and Stanford/UPenn for International Education Development. I'm having a difficult time deciding which one, so maybe someone can chime in with advice. I'm still waiting to hear back from Teachers College, UCLA, and NYU but even if I do in it's still between these three (unless someone can offer a compelling reason for these others).

 

Stanford:

 

I'm part of Stanford's School of Education, which is super prestigious. It's also really well-respected in the field of international education development. There is a professor who works in the same specific field of interest (education in China) which is a bonus. The program seems to be academic and "bookish." There isn't a internship component like there is for Georgetown or UPenn, instead there is a MA paper. The focus of the program seems to be focused on becoming a researcher and not a practitioner. If I wanted to go down a research path this would be a good school, but I'm more interested in being a practitioner. Also, location. Most of international development jobs are in Washington DC, and being on the wrong coast might be a disadvantage. No financial aid, but it's a one year program.

 

Georgetown:

 

The Global Human Development program is under the School of Foreign Service, which is extremely prestigious. The program isn't specifically focused on international education development like the others, which may be a good or bad thing. Being a more "generalist" program I can branch out to other fields of international development, but they don't offer the depth of classes focused on international education development. There's an summer internship component, and the program is very practitioner based. Also, the location is amazing and there are a lot of chances of professional networking. No financial aid, and it's a two year program. Oh, it's a new program, but this being Georgetown there's no employers will question the program's pedigree. 

 

UPenn:

 

The International Education Development program is under the School of Education, which is also really prestigious...just not as prestigious as Stanford. The program is also extremely new, but the program's director is a UNESCO Chair. There's a summer internship component, and the program is also very practitioner based. The professors have good experience, maybe not as "intensive" as those at Georgetown though. There is a professor who works int he same specific field of interest (education in China), which is a bonus. There are a lot of classes on international education development. The location is alright, close enough to both Washington DC and New York City. Amazing range of classes focusing on international education development. I got a financial aid package of $13,500, and the program would be two semesters full-time, one semester part-time.

 

 

Conclusion:

 

Right now I'm drawn more to Georgetown and UPenn. Georgetown is a great place to be for the field of international development, but I'm worried that the curriculum specifically focused on international education development isn't as great as UPenn's. with UPenn, I'm worried that it's a completely new program. It's also not as prestigious as Georgetown. Also, at UPenn I might "pigeon-holed" into doing international education development work, and that might hinder me if I end up wanting to do other stuff instead. Regarding financial aid, the $20,000 or whatever difference isn't significant enough for me to not choose Georgetown or UPenn.

 

[MaitreTea]

*EDIT*

 

Financial Aid just matters...just did the math and going to Georgetown would be almost as twice as expensive as UPenn