<p>Hey guys... It's weird being back after obsessing over these boards during undergraduate admissions.</p>
<p>So here's the deal. I'm a rising senior at a top 3 ivy league school with a 3.6 majoring in Political Science (concentration in Political comm.) looking at going directly to grad school after graduation. I'd ideally want to do an MSc in Politics and Communications, but because those programs don't really exist, I'm probably applying to MPP programs in the states and the UK. My dilemma is that I can't really see the rationale for going to a school in the US over a good program in the UK because 1) It's cheaper in the UK and 2) The programs are only a year long. On the other hand, I would like to work in the US in public affairs and on political campaigns...</p>
<p>My prospective UK Schools: LSE (MSc in Politics and Comm/ MPP &Econ), UCL (MPP), UEdinburgh (MPP) and UManchester (MPP)</p>
<p>US Schools: UCBerkeley, Harvard (JFKS), Columbia, UMich, Carnegie Mellon (MSPPM) and USC</p>
<p>Are these comparable programs and do I seem to be aiming in the right direction in terms of prestige, academic experience and job opportunities after spending all of this money on grad school?</p>
<p>Stats</p>
<p>GPA- 3.6 (3.75 on major) at Top 3 ivy
GRE- Haven't take it yet... although I'm a good test taker, so I'd expect scores to fall in line</p>
<p>I've spent time abroad in France and the UK studying and have working knowledge of French. My academic focus has been on elections, political communications and public policy making. I have experience on numerous campaigns, a DC Lobbying firm and will work in the brand strategy dept. at a major advertising firm this summer. Also, I've beem extremely active on campus- most notably working as the comm director of a student run PAC with a 300k bi-annual budget. </p>
<p>PLEASE HELP ME!!!!</p>