<p>Well, that depends a lot on you and what you like. I’ve been to all three, and lived in two. Personally, I prefer Atlanta - as far as settling down is concerned. There are a lot of cultural activities and things to do in Atlanta, but it’s also relatively inexpensive as big cities go. You can rent a one-bedroom apartment in the suburbs (20-30 minute drive to CAU) for $600-800/month. There’s a really close apartment complex to the AUC named College Town where rents for a one-bedroom run $725-850; you could easily split a 2 bed/2 bath for $400-500/month. (God, sometimes making me wish I had gone to Emory instead of Columbia, lol.)</p>
<p>You do need a car to live there, though, unless you live walking distance to Clark Atlanta and only wish to go places MARTA takes you. I went to Spelman so I lived in that area for four years. It’s not a nice area or anything, and there’s not much nearby especially for a grad student. So I would highly recommend a car.</p>
<p>I would say one upside for CAU is that if you are African American, the Atlanta University Center (and Atlanta in general) is teeming with affluent and middle-class young African Americans (18-35). It’s an intellectual black center, and it’s a nice experience to have. But I think that’s better reserved for undergrad.</p>
<p>LIU Brooklyn is, not surprisingly, in Brooklyn. More specifically it is in Downtown Brooklyn, which is a very expensive neighborhood - more expensive than many places in Manhattan, and not terribly affordable for a grad student. However, not too far away are more affordable parts of Brooklyn - Prospect Heights, Fort Greene/Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy. I know a couple of people who live in Brooklyn who basically never leave unless they have to for work or to see other friends, because Brooklyn is pretty self-contained these days - work there, shop there, party there. But New York is still very expensive compared to Atlanta or even Chicago - a one-bedroom, even in the less expensive parts of Brooklyn, will run you at least $1200 and probably around $1500. You could share with a roommate but your part will probably still cost around $700-1100. You’ll also have a much smaller place than you would in Atlanta. You won’t need a car, though, so you’ll save on the cost of gas and maintenance.</p>
<p>Personally, I’m biased because Atlanta is my hometown. I like New York okay, but I hate living in a shoebox and paying far too much for it just for the “pleasure” of living in a cramped city with 8 million other people. And also, the much-touted “so much to do!” is overwhelming: there’s sometimes TOO much to do, which results in doing nothing because you can’t decide what to do. Also, there are only so many times that you can go to museums and touristy places, and a lot of the things that locals like to do are tucked away and hard to find. So you have to meet natives. I have made friends with a lot of people who are from here, so I’ve found more cool stuff to do around the city, but I struggled for a while.</p>
<p>Chicago I’ve only visited, so I have few comments. It seems like a nice city; grittier than New York and only slightly cheaper.</p>
<p>But honestly, the characteristics of the city shouldn’t matter so much in your search. What should matter is the reputations of the MPA programs. And I agree with polarscribe that none of those schools is particularly reputable for an MPA. So I think this is about cost.</p>
<p>LIU is significantly more expensive than both CAU and Governors State, and it will cost more money to live than the other two. I think your total cost will exceed $100K so unless you have some financial aid I think I would pass on that one.</p>
<p>CAU’s 42-credit program in public admin will cost you $34,000 in tuition. I think you could get by living in Atlanta on $20,000 a year - $25,000 at most - so your living expenses will run $40-50K for two years, which means you’ll be $70-80K in debt at the end. Not great, but better than LIU.</p>
<p>If you’re an Illinois resident, the no-brainer is to go with GSU. But even if you’re not, the tuition is much cheaper than the other two options ($26,000 for the whole program) but the living expenses will fall in between them ($50-60K to do the whole thing). So your debt will probably be around $75-85K, which is only slightly more than CAU.</p>
<p>So I’d select either CAU or GSU if I had to choose. From there I’d think about where you might want to live. If you want to stay in Chicago or settle in the Midwest, go to GSU; if you want to stay in the Southeast or South, CAU may be your better bet. If you’re not going to stay in either of those areas, then either one is probably fine.</p>