Looking for suggestion, MPA/MPP 2014spring

[Glen]

Hi guys, I just received a admission from UGA MPA program.  I see UGA MPA ranks 4th in usnews and tuition is relatively low, but there are little information about this program in the forums. Does anyone have any idea about this program? Actually, I am in GSPIA MPA program now and still waiting for the decision of USC price MPP program. Do you think this program of UGA is far better than GSPIA.? I feel GSPIA PA program is more international oriented because of its decent related IA program, which could be a benefit to a international student, but GSPIA just ranks 33th in public affairs ranking of usnews. 

 

Hope you could give me some suggestions~thx~

Edited November 8, 2013 by Glen

[NPRjunkie]

The US News rankings aren't worth a penny. They don't factor in international affairs and they differ markedly from actual perceptions of the top programs. Schools like SAIS  (where I went) are disadvantaged because they are IR focused and I don't think Tufts Fletcher is even in the rankings.

 

Anyone basing their applications on US News rankings is in for a shock once they hit the job market. The US News Politics and International Affairs rankings are more accurate for international affairs schools.

Edited November 8, 2013 by NPRjunkie

[Glen]

The US News rankings aren't worth a penny. They don't factor in international affairs and they differ markedly from actual perceptions of the top programs. Schools like SAIS  (where I went) are disadvantaged because they are IR focused and I don't think Tufts Fletcher is even in the rankings.

 

Anyone basing their applications on US News rankings is in for a shock once they hit the job market. The US News Politics and International Affairs rankings are more accurate for international affairs schools.

NPR thanks for your reply~ but since I can hardly find other evaluation standard, I feel hard to identify which one is better. Is there any evaluation system I can refer to? 

[NPRjunkie]

The other evaluation standard is a school's brand name/marketability. Trust me. This matters about a million times more than any ranking system, which are mysterious and laughably incorrect in the case of US News. And if you want to go into federal public service, they don't really care where you went for your master's. It's really a matter of getting the most versatile degree/brand name you can in case you decide to branch off into other things, which about 50% (at least) of all public policy students end up doing.

As far as balancing quality of the program against brand name, the Foreign Policy/Ivory Tower rankings are fairly accurate. The US News rankings for Politics and International Affairs are also more accurate. My advice would be to ignore a purely public policy focused programs. The bigger, better branded schools will have better faculty, top practitioners, etc. and they will also tend to have a more global focus.

[Glen]

The other evaluation standard is a school's brand name/marketability. Trust me. This matters about a million times more than any ranking system, which are mysterious and laughably incorrect in the case of US News. And if you want to go into federal public service, they don't really care where you went for your master's. It's really a matter of getting the most versatile degree/brand name you can in case you decide to branch off into other things, which about 50% (at least) of all public policy students end up doing.

As far as balancing quality of the program against brand name, the Foreign Policy/Ivory Tower rankings are fairly accurate. The US News rankings for Politics and International Affairs are also more accurate. My advice would be to ignore a purely public policy focused programs. The bigger, better branded schools will have better faculty, top practitioners, etc. and they will also tend to have a more global focus.

NPR thanks a lot~