Fels MPA (Penn) vs Evans (UW)

[candrew14]

Have narrowed my choices down to Fels or Evans at UW.  Fels is more expensive, but with cohorts of only 30, tailored class schedules and an expansive Penn alumni network, it seems hard to turn down.

My question...why isn't Fels talked about on these forums? It seems like a legit program, but there's very little about it on these forums. Does it have to do with its ranking? Yet SIPA's ranking is low as well, and every other post on here seems to be about SIPA. 

Would love some insight.

Edited April 10, 2016 by candrew14

[CakeTea]

Congratulations on your admission to 2 great programs. I concur with you that Fels has quality, good student to teacher ratio, is surprisingly low profile and one wonder why. I think this may be due to its narrow concentrations, local government & implementation focus, small class size, regional appeal as it recruits in state/New England. To my knowledge, most grads end up working in Pennsylvania. I don't know about funding opportunities at Fels. SIPA is different as it covers many courses and some have a glamorous element (IR, development, security), is in NYC, many US and international applicants and has large classes. SIPA has some star professors, Fels doesn't.