Georgetown MPP vs. University of Michigan MPP vs. University of Washington MPA

[nilesguo]

I was wondering if anyone has any insights between the three offers I currently have between Evans School for UW, Ford School for UMich, and McCourt School for Georgetown. 

 

1) UW: No funding, and the most expensive school out of the three. However, according the US News Grad school ranking for Public Affairs, Evans was ranked very high (6th best), especially in the field I want to study in (Environment Policy). It also has a Capstone project as part of the curriculum, which I value highly. Finally I have been working in the Seattle area for the last 3.5 years, so I have the familiarity with the area already. However, looking at the employment statistics, most of the graduates stay in the PNW after they graduate, with very few heading to DC. Anyone know why a program ranked so high has very few opportunities in DC?

 

2) Ford School: 20K funding, with 5K per semester. The employment statistics is a lot more balanced, with 1/3 heading to DC and has students working all over the country instead. However, the curriculum is focused purely on coursework, and there doesn't seem to be a Capstone project or research opportunities at all. 

 

3) Georgetown: $25K per year funding for the first year, which can be renewed, which is the highest, though it is also still very expensive school. McCourt did not rank very high, which really surprised me, but with its DC location that is a huge draw. However I'm curious on why it's not ranked higher? Is it because the program is still very young? One consideration is that since I'm an international student, all US Govt jobs are out of question for me, but there are still a lot of NGO in the area. 

 

If anyone has any sort of insight, that would be awesome! 

 

Thank you all!

[economixed_policy]

I'm considering Georgetown as well and have similar considerations on ranking as well as being an international student in DC - how much of an advantage.

[MH2]

@economixed_policy @nilesguo Hey. So which school did you guys finally decided to attend? And why?