Is Fletcher worth it?

[hesitant_grad]

Hi Gradcafe. Long time lurker, first time poster. I'll get right to the point: I'm supposed to be starting my first semester at Fletcher in January, and I'm having some serious concerns about the value of attending the program. Would love any input from current or past Fletcher students about whether or not getting a MALD is worth the price of admission.

I realize that this is a subjective question to a large degree, so to help I'll detail myself briefly. I'm slightly older than Fletcher's median student, relatively debt-free from undergrad, interested in pursuing a career in international relations, something I have not been able to do in my post-undergrad career so far. I'm interested in Fletcher's course offerings, particularly those centered on international trade and commerce. Keeping my options open employment wise, but I'd be very happy with either State Department or private sector IR-themed work, perhaps finance related per my former career. Fletcher has also generously offered me about $30k towards tuition, I have some savings, but would still need to borrow a significant amount to make up the difference ($50-$80k, depending on best case/worst case scenarios).

I attended the orientation earlier this year and I liked the school a lot; everyone was very nice. If it wasn't for the significant debt load, I wouldn't be posting this. That's life, though.

I suppose it may be last minute jitters, but I've struggled these past few weeks with forking over the money. Fletcher seems like the gateway to the type of career I want... but it's still seems *so* expensive. And yes, I have spoken to Fletcher alums/students and asked them this same question, but I'm a little wary as I came into contact with them through the university. Not to be overly paranoid, but I want the real, unvarnished truth about The Fletcher School, which is why I'm posting anonymously on Gradcafe.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, especially from current/prior Fletcher students in the MALD program. Please help set my mind at ease!

Thanks for your time,
Hesitant Grad

[MaxwellAlum]

Not sure if this is helpful, but the couple people I know who attended Fletcher absolutely loved it.  I was accepted (I was 26 when I applied), but turned down the offer because it would have required me to take on six-figure debt.  I ended up at Syracuse because they offered a lot more aid.  I do not regret my decision.

For what it's worth, I racked up just under $50k of debt from my grad program and have found it to be quite manageable using the income-based repayment options.  Of course it'd be ideal not to have debt, but I don't find it to be terribly stressful (although dealing with the loan servicers can be a pain).  My personal opinion is that having much more than $50k in debt is a lot assuming a public sector salary.  

[JerryK]

I have a good friend who was accepted to Fletcher and ended up turning it down. In his case, it made sense to attend a state public university and receive a similar education without as much debt. He's very happy that he chose not to attend Fletcher. Fletcher is an okay school but it excels at one thing more than any other IR school: marketing. Likely due to the fact that they are in Boston and have far less name recognition than SAIS, Georgetown, GWU, SIPA and others, they do an excellent job of promoting themselves but my friend was advised that those other schools are worth the debt and Fletcher is not. I realize some who attended Fletcher may say it's great and to go there, but if you want to enter State or somewhere else in IR it won't be worth $50k more to attend Fletcher if you have another option that won't put you into debt. It would be different if there was a certain professor you wanted to work with at Fletcher or the program was special in some way. And you might want to apply to GWU or Georgetown and see if they may offer you a similar deal. The other nice thing about GWU and Georgetown is that you can often work part-time during your studies or do an internship because the classes are in the evening. Or you could do an internship in DC while studying. Good luck with your decision.

[eltothemo]

What kind of career do you want? Figure out what a reasonable salary is, and then run the numbers.

If you want a federal gov job in DC you will be making around 55k. If you want a non-profit job in DC you will be making in the 40s or low 50s, depending on your work experience.

50k in loans will be about $575/month on a standard 10-year plan. 80k in loans will be about $920/month. Now you can pay less than this each month, but that is a gamble that loan forgiveness will actually exist by the time you're eligible, and it could potentially mean a big tax liability if you move to the private sector (especially as interest accrues). 

So can you afford to pay the standard 10-year plan? Let's take a salary of 50k. 

50,000 / 12 months * .75 (i.e. after tax income) = about $3,125/month. A studio apartment in DC will run you maybe $1500/month. You can cut your rent down to about $1000/month if you're living with roommates. Can you afford a massive loan payment on top of that? Maybe, but it will really hurt. Especially as you get older and are sick of living like a college student. 

 

[SenNoodles]

It's also worth noting there will likely be a federal hiring freeze. If it happens and depending on how long it lasts/how it is structured, you may not have the State Dept option for a while. I'm in DC and have been for several years (working, now at Georgetown for grad school) and there's a good bit of alarm from former co-workers and classmates about their future prospects in the government.

That said, if you're willing to go private as you say, you'll be OK job prospect wise (but likely will have more competition to get the job since if the govt isn't an option a lot of people will be looking for substitutes). Not sure how the salary would break down (does Fletcher have average salary stats for private sector? don't look at overall stats since that includes nonprofit and government. If you can't find it online, email and ask). That could give you an idea of the salary to expect and whether it would be affordable based on the stats others above have posted on monthly repayment and cost of living. Good luck!! Tough decision for sure.

[JerryK]

Good point by SenNoodles on the hiring freeze. It is almost certainly going to happen and Trump said he will do this in his first 100 days. This is something he can easily accomplish through an executive order. It doesn't have to go through Congress. There are plenty of news articles on this upcoming hiring freeze within the government. The aim is to shrink the government by 10% so the only positions that will become available after the freeze is enacted will come after 10% has left. And of course, departures from government for reasons other than retirement will certainly slow because of increased competition in the private sector. So yes, it is a bad time to aim for a government job.

This is also another area where I think Fletcher is worse off than other schools. While the term "Fletcher mafia" is part of their well known marketing campaign, it does reflect that Fletcher grads often head into US government positions and not private sector.

[Connie @ TheArtofApplying]

@hesitant_grad: It’s always a tough decision in terms of taking on debt. I didn’t attend Fletcher, but if you're still on the fence, I have some general thoughts about this.

First, have you been able to negotiate the offer? You can always ask for more money by writing a financial aid appeal letter, and attaching a more generous package from another school can help as leverage. If there’s an additional amount of grant aid that would make you comfortable with taking on the debt, then you should ask for it. 

Secondly, the rule of thumb is to not take on more student loan debt than your expected first year of salary; $50-$80K is definitely the high end of that range, but I think you can manage that in the private IR sector. It’s definitely a lot of money, but I think a Fletcher degree will help you pay for that in a reasonable amount of time (no longer than 10 years after graduation). @eltothemo has provided some good estimates for federal government job salaries in DC if you'd rather do public sector. 

Thirdly, I also suggest you reach out to Fletcher alums on LinkedIn for a more unbiased perspective. Find someone who works in the career or organization you want, and cold-email them. 

Here are some questions that have helped me gain candid insights: 

• What was the best part of your experience and the worst? What surprised you?
• What were some common complaints about the program/department among your peers?
• Did the program help you end up in your current position?

Fourth, I think the question you’re asking here is “Is Fletcher worth the investment?”, and not “Is Fletcher more worth it than another school?”

The second question is very different and much harder to answer without other offers in hand or knowing how comfortable you are with waiting a cycle to apply again. 

Ultimately, we’re all interested in graduate school for different reasons. Your definition of “worth it” won’t be someone else’s, and we all take on some risk. All you can do is make sure you’re clear on what you want to do with the degree, and be reasonably sure this program will help you get there. Good luck with the decision! 

[went_away]

On 11/28/2016 at 10:21 AM, hesitant_grad said:

Hi Gradcafe. Long time lurker, first time poster. I'll get right to the point: I'm supposed to be starting my first semester at Fletcher in January, and I'm having some serious concerns about the value of attending the program. Would love any input from current or past Fletcher students about whether or not getting a MALD is worth the price of admission.

I realize that this is a subjective question to a large degree, so to help I'll detail myself briefly. I'm slightly older than Fletcher's median student, relatively debt-free from undergrad, interested in pursuing a career in international relations, something I have not been able to do in my post-undergrad career so far. I'm interested in Fletcher's course offerings, particularly those centered on international trade and commerce. Keeping my options open employment wise, but I'd be very happy with either State Department or private sector IR-themed work, perhaps finance related per my former career. Fletcher has also generously offered me about $30k towards tuition, I have some savings, but would still need to borrow a significant amount to make up the difference ($50-$80k, depending on best case/worst case scenarios).

I attended the orientation earlier this year and I liked the school a lot; everyone was very nice. If it wasn't for the significant debt load, I wouldn't be posting this. That's life, though.

I suppose it may be last minute jitters, but I've struggled these past few weeks with forking over the money. Fletcher seems like the gateway to the type of career I want... but it's still seems *so* expensive. And yes, I have spoken to Fletcher alums/students and asked them this same question, but I'm a little wary as I came into contact with them through the university. Not to be overly paranoid, but I want the real, unvarnished truth about The Fletcher School, which is why I'm posting anonymously on Gradcafe.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, especially from current/prior Fletcher students in the MALD program. Please help set my mind at ease!

Thanks for your time,
Hesitant Grad

Hard to say without knowing more about your current job, your career trajectory, and how much 'intrinsic value' there is for you in getting a top-tier IR master's degree. In your case, my gut says it's a close call, but yes, Fletcher would be worth it. 

Generally speaking, IR schools are way too expensive relative to expected starting salary. Fletcher grads typically start at $50-$90k, depending on the sector, which is about half of what you'd expect to get in starting pay coming out of a a second or third-tier MBA program.