USC Price vs. Fletcher to Work in CSR or Public Affairs

[Ana Pascal]

I'm currently working in the private sector in CSR and reputation management/ brand risk mitigation, in a fairly low level position. I'd love to stay generally in this field, and think a grad degree will open new advancement opportunities for me. As for the future, I really want to intern abroad, and then either work abroad, or find a job that includes international travel. To add context, my undergrad and work experience is in communications. 

 

I've been accepted to USC's Price School (MPP) with full funding, but am also considering Tufts' Master of International Business.

 

At USC, I can graduate with no debt, and maybe some money still in the bank. This is an incredible opportunity, and I have a good impression of the school (following a visit day last Friday). 

 

At Tufts, where the curriculum looks amazing to me, I'll come out with up to $35k in debt (and utterly depleted savings). $35k of debt is not out of control, but it's still a number that will take at least several years to pay back, and will affect my choice of job, as I would be eager to chip away at it quickly. 

 

Both Price and Fletcher are very good schools in their respective fields, but one is public policy and the other is IR. Does this matter? In one case, I will learn a lot of quantitative skills, while in the other I will finish learning a language and take some business/marketing classes.

 

Is there a clear choice here? 

[MJA87]

Take my advice with a grain of salt as I've not even applied for grad school (getting everything ready for the Fall '15 cycle), but if I were in your shoes I would take USC's offer and not look back. The opportunity to get a graduate degree from a very well regarded school with no debt is amazing and I think you'll look back a couple years from now and thank yourself if you take the money and attend Price.

 

I don't know how the different degrees apply to your field or if one is more applicable than the other, but all things being equal, I would pick USC in a heartbeat.

[Ana Pascal]

Thanks for your perspective, MJA87! 

 

Bumping this - anyone else have an opinion? Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

[chocolatecheesecake]

I'm glad you had a good impression of USC on visit day! Still weighing my own options, but I feel it's unlikely I'll be in LA at this point. =( 

 

About your career objectives, I'm honestly not familiar with your field of work, but I think you should try drawing some direct lines between what the MPP and MIB separately offer and what you want to do in two years, when you're done with the degree (those new advancement opportunities you're talking about?). A lot of different fields can offer you international travel at this point. From what I've heard from a previous alum who graduated a few years ago, USC is much stronger in the domestic field than in international development (though they have faculty who do that too), so if you're looking for something that will garner you international contacts or a network for that sort of thing, it could be difficult.

 

I also think you should not rule out re-assessing your situation and coming up with a more defined vision of where you want to be in a few years, because those two degrees you are contemplating will launch you on very different paths. If you're still wavering between which is best, I think it could mean you should reconsider and maybe apply in a future year, if you feel you absolutely need it. I've been looking at jobs the last two years that I've been interested in in advocacy and non-profits, and many of them say a Masters in Public Policy. That's part of the impetus that's been pushing me toward it, so I'd advise looking at those job postings or looking at staff biographies on websites of organizations you're interested in to see their trajectories and paths.

 

A new grad degree, no matter what it is, will certainly open up new paths, but I think they will be different ones. In order to make sure you don't waste money (or time, which is just as precious), I would reassess to make sure you really want a graduate degree right now, and if so, which one.