Has anyone heard from CMU Heinz (MSPPM Pittsburgh?)

[DaveMaynard]

or the accelerated 3 semester program?

[avocado48]

5 hours ago, DaveMaynard said:

or the accelerated 3 semester program?

I heard back about the 3 semester track on 3/3. It seems like they might be issuing decisions in batches, though!

[DaveMaynard]

thanks for letting me know avocado48.  I know my application was slow to move to finished after a transcript issue so perhaps this coming week.  

[Duq2CMU]

On 3/10/2017 at 6:05 PM, eeagan said:

has anyone heard from the global track?

I heard back on 3/13, 40% scholarship.  Seriously considering this route

[mpamppquestions]

I'm really having a hard time deciding if taking out all these loans for Heinz is worth it, even with the 50% tuition scholarship.

[PubPolPal]

@mpamppquestions I'm in a similar boat. I tried to bump this thread (below - the original discussion about it was from 7 years ago) 

 

... but it didn't get any traction.

 

[PolicyStud]

2 hours ago, PubPolPal said:

@mpamppquestions I'm in a similar boat. I tried to bump this thread (below - the original discussion about it was from 7 years ago) 

 

4 hours ago, mpamppquestions said:

I'm really having a hard time deciding if taking out all these loans for Heinz is worth it, even with the 50% tuition scholarship.

The answer to your questions depends on where you are, where you want to go, and how driven you are.

I'm currently a student at Heinz College, so my views may be slanted in favor of it, but here's what I know:

Pros:

• I've received internship offers from several highly selective employers (i.e. many top 20 schools represented, less than 1% interviewed, intelligence tests required, previous experience including PwC and the White House, etc.) and they have all been impressed by the Carnegie Mellon name. This isn't Harvard, but it's clear that for all except the snobbiest of employers, the CMU name will help.
• If you want to go to a policy school that will grant you technical skills, CMU is it. The reason why I chose the school is because I couldn't find the range of quantitative courses in any other public policy program. If you're careful, you can set up your entire curriculum to be focused on things like decision science, operations research, data mining, machine learning, and etc. With the exemptions I have and the focus of my course planning, I'll likely have at least 45 (i.e. 1.5 years) semester credits (or 135 units in the CMU system) of coursework in these technical fields. And you can always take less if it's too much---the point is that the opportunity is here.
  • Of course, the flip side of this is that if you're not careful, you may end up taking softer courses that you don't want or need. I've never heard anything bad about the softer courses since the subjects are interesting, but make sure you know what you want. CMU's strength is in computer science, data analytics, and related subjects. I feel it is wise to take advantage of this. Most of my interviewers have been impressed by the skills I've gained at CMU--R data mining, SQL, econometrics, decision analytics, and etc. that help me to analyze international issues with greater rigor than a typical MPP.
  • Also, the information science school is housed in the same building. We can share classes, students, and perspectives, which broadens our networks and friend groups. A majority of my closest friends are in fact in the MISM (MS information system management) program. My most rigorous and interesting courses are oftentimes part of the MISM elective/core curriculum.
• Below, I note that one con is that there isn't much available in the way for careers focused on diplomacy/international affairs. But right next door is the University of Pittsburgh. If you join CMU as a student, you are always free to travel to Pitt to network with professors and students. You can key skills during the day at CMU and at night talk to people at Pitt to get a different perspective and/or develop your network.
• Students here all have strong backgrounds. Two founded NGOs in their home country. Several worked for CBO. One worked for the UN, founded a startup, and worked in state government. Another worked in a senior position at the Ministry of Defense in his home country and yet another fought in Afghanistan for several years. There's always something to learn from these people. If you got in, be proud of your accomplishments and be ready to listen to others' stories of what they did before grad school.

Cons:

• Not really a con, but just a reminder: brand name isn't everything. Deloitte and PwC, along with major public sector employers like CBO, GAO, the NSA, and the Treasury all recruit heavily here. Many Heinz students are hired. But they're all still competing with each other like they would at any other school. Just like not every grad of a top 25 school is hired into a top employer, not every Heinz student makes it through Deloitte's case interview. If you really want a specific position, the resources *are* here to help you get in. But be prepared to work for it.
• If you want an internationally focused career (UN, etc.), then CMU isn't as well connected as WWS, SAIS, or HKS. 40% of students are international, so students sometimes end up working for the World Bank and other top employers. I've received internship offers from these organizations. But that's because we've worked to get into those organizations. Professors here are top-notch, with ground-breaking research being done in domestic policy and quantitative disciplines, but it's not like at SAIS where the dean of your school happens to sometimes be a former undersecretary of the State Department.
• It's not DC. While employers from all over the country recruit here, public sector and multilateral employers aren't always a 15-minute drive away--we're 4.5 hours from DC. As noted before, employers like the NSA and GAO have sent their representatives to recruit at Heinz multiple times this past year, but the DC factor is something we Heinz students obviously don't get unless we're in the MS-DC program.
• I've heard from other grads that our core curriculum is a bit more restrictive than it is at other grad schools. I haven't had any issues personally--I got exemptions and I actually love their quant core courses like stochastic and optimization management science--but that's something to consider if other schools allow you to customizes your studies more and have a reputation that ranges more broadly.

If you want more info, feel free to PM me. I may not check the Grad Cafe every day, but I'll try to respond when I can.

Edited March 16, 2017 by PolicyStud