JHU SAIS vs. Georgetown SSP vs. AU SIS vs. Texas A&M Bush School MIA

[trains]

Received notification last week that I was accepted to both SAIS for MA (DC campus) and Texas A&M Bush School MIA. I haven't heard back from GU or AU yet, but I feel confident.

Is going in to a significant amount of debt to attend SAIS or Georgetown SSP, assuming I get in, worth it? Those are my top two choices. My interests are in national security/intelligence and the curriculum for both really excite me. I didn't receive any fellowship funding at SAIS so I would be funding it on my own.

The alternative is A&M - still a very good program from what I can tell and I received a fellowship which would bring cost of tuition to 6k per year. When comparing to 47k per year at SAIS or 35k at Georgetown, this seems massive. Not to mention the cost of living in D.C. vs. east Texas.

All this to ask, is the instruction, relationships, etc. from being in the top programs in D.C. worth the additional debt I would incur?

Thanks in advance!!

[trains]

Accepted to American SIS but didn't get any information about financial aid.

Any thoughts?

[akdoehler]

I'm in a similar boat. I've gotten into SAIS, GW, and SIS but no merit funding from any of them. I have an offer from Pitt's GSPIA that would make tuition about $9k/year and I still haven't heard back from Syracuse's Maxwell School about funding. No matter how cheap Pitt might be, I can't help but be convinced that going into DC would be worth the extra cost that I'll have to take on because of all of the benefits it gives (I'm anticipating my grandparents being willing to pay half tuition if I go to DC and I take out loans for the other half). Just my two cents. 

[AnonymousGuy]

Deciding between SAIS and SSP too!

[trains]

On 3/15/2017 at 1:57 PM, akdoehler said:

I'm in a similar boat. I've gotten into SAIS, GW, and SIS but no merit funding from any of them. I have an offer from Pitt's GSPIA that would make tuition about $9k/year and I still haven't heard back from Syracuse's Maxwell School about funding. No matter how cheap Pitt might be, I can't help but be convinced that going into DC would be worth the extra cost that I'll have to take on because of all of the benefits it gives (I'm anticipating my grandparents being willing to pay half tuition if I go to DC and I take out loans for the other half). Just my two cents. 

I'm having the same thoughts - I did a "Global Careers" virtual session today with SAIS and came away pretty impressed. I'm sure every other school has a significant career services department but SAIS did a good job marketing theirs. It's tough to put a number on the value of simply being in the "hub" of everything international.

 

22 hours ago, AnonymousGuy said:

Deciding between SAIS and SSP too!

Good luck making your decision! I'm leaning toward SAIS. I'm really intrigued by the economics requirements. I studied poli sci and economics in undergrad so I can definitely understand how additional quant-focused courses would make SAIS graduates more marketable to potential employers, even though they aren't always the most fun for me.