University of Chicago vs. Carnegie Mellon Masters of Public Policy (MPP)

[walkersj90]

I have received acceptance letters from University of Chicago and Carnegie Mellon for their public policy grad programs and am trying to decide between the two. Chicago is obviously my number one choice, however the funding offers I received make this a difficult decision.

Both schools cost about $90K for tuition for two years, and while University of Chicago offered me no funding or scholarships, Carnegie Mellon offered a scholarship covering 80% of tuition (essentailly $15K of tuition instead of $90K over two years). It is also important to note I currently have no undergraduate debt and am open to student loans regardless of which school I attend. I also plan on working in the private sector afterwards and would have a good enough salary to pay off any debt that i have.

I believe that Chicago is such a good school and such a great experience that the opportunities I will have from attending there might be worth the high tuition costs. Is it worth it? But Carnegie Mellon is also a great school. What should I do?

 

P.S. I have also been accepted to University of Michigan and Georgetown University with some funding offers. I may use those as competing offers to try and get higher scholarship packages from Chicago and Carnegie Mellon.

Any advice is welcomed!

Edited March 13, 2016 by walkersj90
Typo

[rising_star]

Wait, why are your two top choices CMU and Chicago? Why aren't you considering Georgetown? Honestly, if you're willing to take on the debt, then it's worth thinking about what you want to study specifically (and what sector you want to work in after graduation) and using that to help you decide where to attend.

[coasts]

CMU's curriculum seems very skills-based and almost MBA-like, while Harris seems stronger in policy content. Both would provide a solid quant education. Seems like you could probably get more money from CMU by leveraging other offers. You could also try to negotiate with Chicago, they might give you something. Maybe visiting both would help clarify? I also suggest posting this on the Government Affairs board for more feedback!