Better ranking vs better financial aid

[jakemc]

Hello everyone,

April 15th is coming up quickly. I think I have whittled down my grad school decision to two programs:

Duke Sanford School (MPP) (30,000 fellowship) 
Virginia Batten School (MPP) (Full tuition Fellowship)

My situation is that I messed up during my undergraduate years, and have about 60,000 in loans already, so taking out a bunch more in loans is really not a good idea.

If I choose Duke (higher ranked), I will probably have to take out around another 60,000 over the two years since my fellowship already has a work component to it, so it is unlikely I would be able to hold an additional job.

If I choose Virginia (lower ranked), I won't have to take out much in loans. Since this fellowship isn't based on any out-of-class work, I would also be able to work during my studies in order to to pay for living expenses. 

The thing is, I know Duke is MUCH more highly regarded in Washington DC (which is where I want to work) and therefore might give me more and better opportunities. My question: is the extra 60,000 in loans worth the extra prestige/opportunities that come with getting an MPP at Duke? 

[MidByMidwest]

I don't know why you'd have to take out 60K in loans to attend Duke, especially with your fellowship. I just checked and grad tuition at Sanford is 36K a year. With your fellowship the whole two year program would cost you something around $12,000 when only looking at tuition. Plus the cost of living in Durham is very affordable. You could probably get by with something in the ballpark of 20K in loans if you attend Duke

Edited April 12, 2016 by MidByMidwest

[kasbah]

5 minutes ago, MidByMidwest said:

I don't know why you'd have to take out 60K in loans to attend Duke, especially with your fellowship. I just checked and grad tuition at Sanford is 36K a year. With your fellowship the whole two year program would cost you something around $12,000 when only looking at tuition. Plus the cost of living in Durham is very affordable. You could probably get by with something in the ballpark of 20K in loans if you attend Duke

Maybe 30K total (15K per year)?

[jakemc]

28 minutes ago, MidByMidwest said:

I don't know why you'd have to take out 60K in loans to attend Duke, especially with your fellowship. I just checked and grad tuition at Sanford is 36K a year. With your fellowship the whole two year program would cost you something around $12,000 when only looking at tuition. Plus the cost of living in Durham is very affordable. You could probably get by with something in the ballpark of 20K in loans if you attend Duke

From the website (http://sanford.duke.edu/admissions/master-public-policy/cost-attendance), tuition for one year is $43,171, and including school fees it's about $46,812.

It would be about 15k each year to cover just the rest of tuition and fees (minus my fellowship), and then the cost of living (which I'm not exactly sure what it is in Durham) would be somewhere in the ballpark of $900-$1000 a month. (Duke people, if this number is way too high let me know)

Edited April 12, 2016 by jakemc

[chocolatecheesecake]

Durham is very affordable. $1,000 per month is how much you may spend if you live entirely on your own, but people can spend as little as $400-500 on rent living with a roommate. I also know a bunch of people who have on-campus jobs or other internships besides the work assistantship included in our financial aid packages. It's not fun to juggle this with graduate school, but it can bring in a few thousand extra. 

Have you tried negotiating your package yet? If you can leverage a full-tuition package, and you really want to go to Duke, I suggest you get in touch with them right away, send them documentation about your better offer, and ask them to meet it. Don't forget that you'll be doing a summer internship which can earn you a good amount of money if you take a job in the private sector ($6000-7000 for ten weeks in consulting). I went with a non-profit and received ~$4K from the MPP Internship fund.

I don't know anything about Virginia and their program, but I think the ranking isn't really the important thing. In my opinion, the curriculum at Duke is very thorough, we also have a tight-knit alumni network, and there's the unquantifiable benefit of going through your graduate years with an excellent cohort of classmates. This degree is worth the money. 

[jakemc]

4 hours ago, chocolatecheesecake said:

Durham is very affordable. $1,000 per month is how much you may spend if you live entirely on your own, but people can spend as little as $400-500 on rent living with a roommate. I also know a bunch of people who have on-campus jobs or other internships besides the work assistantship included in our financial aid packages. It's not fun to juggle this with graduate school, but it can bring in a few thousand extra. 

Have you tried negotiating your package yet? If you can leverage a full-tuition package, and you really want to go to Duke, I suggest you get in touch with them right away, send them documentation about your better offer, and ask them to meet it. Don't forget that you'll be doing a summer internship which can earn you a good amount of money if you take a job in the private sector ($6000-7000 for ten weeks in consulting). I went with a non-profit and received ~$4K from the MPP Internship fund.

I don't know anything about Virginia and their program, but I think the ranking isn't really the important thing. In my opinion, the curriculum at Duke is very thorough, we also have a tight-knit alumni network, and there's the unquantifiable benefit of going through your graduate years with an excellent cohort of classmates. This degree is worth the money. 

Wow, this is great! Thank you so much! Honestly, Duke has been my dream school. I did send them an email asking to have my financial aid package reconsidered. I think you just REALLY helped me make my decision. 

[chocolatecheesecake]

8 hours ago, jakemc said:

Wow, this is great! Thank you so much! Honestly, Duke has been my dream school. I did send them an email asking to have my financial aid package reconsidered. I think you just REALLY helped me make my decision. 

Glad I could help!