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NER: very confused/need education advice
Background: I want to get my masters but I have no idea where or what field. I'm leaning toward economics or public policy for the moment and I'm researching my options.
I'd like to do an online program, but I'm having problems finding one that isn't shady looking and I'm not sure what I should do if that's not a possibility. I was looking at the US News "best colleges" rankings and they have all these different categories. They separate the national universities from the regional ones and I don't know how to compare the universities in different sections.
Here's my question. What do you think is better: A tier 4 national university that was ranked in the top 100 (somewhere in the 70s for the programs I mentioned) or a tier 1 university that was ranked in the top 25 for midwest, smaller institutions (not specifically for the programs I mentioned, just overall)? I would think the higher ranking is good, but is regional way worse than national? Is the difference between tier 1 & 4 something to care about? I don't even know what tiers mean.... Does it even matter where I go or do you think the piece of paper is enough to get a job and I should quit worrying about it?
I'd have to take the GRE and if by some miracle I kickass on that test I hope to go to a tier 1 top school. But I'm not getting my hopes up for that. If anyone has advice on econ/public policy masters feel very free to give me all the advice you have 
Re: NER: very confused/need education advice
I think you should think about what your ideal job is coming out of this masters, find people with that job, and ask them what program they think is better.
You should also think about where you want to work. If you want to stay in Michigan, then the regional program might be better. But I know in DC, there is serious school snobbery. MAs are a dime a dozen there, so to stand out, you need the best school possible (or really awesome work experience and some good connections).
Beware of online courses - they can be incredibly time consuming. I say this partially from experience, but mostly hearsay.
Can you not tell where the regional college is ranked nationally?
There's a pretty big difference between Tier 1 and Tier 4, but I don't know how they distinguish national vs. regional schools.
I don't understand why you wanna get a masters if you don't know what you would do with it.
Dh used to work for an online college around here so he learned about it a bit. It sounds like its best to find one that is geared to specifically teach your field of interest. in other words, a lot of their students were nurses, so the school made sure to get accredited for that.
Any online school can teach you anything, but if they aren't accredited its a worthless degree, or so the arguement goes.
I don't think I'd ever move to DC but I can't say that I'd stay in Michigan b/c if my DH ever gets laid off we'd probably have to move. Any move of mine would be dependent on his job, not mine. He's a mechanical engineer so DC isn't exactly at the top of the list. Right now, Michigan blows something fierce. I would prefer to stay here, but moving is a possibility. Either way I'd prefer a job at the local/state level.
Can you not tell where the regional college is ranked nationally?
I can't figure that out b/c US News separates the different types of institutions. I don't see a combined list anywhere. Is there some other site with dependable rankings?
Also, is it a consensus that tier 1 beats tier 4 no matter what the category?
I don't understand why you wanna get a masters if you don't know what you would do with it.
Well, I wouldn't actually do it without having a certain kind of job in mind. I'm just thinking ahead. I have an interest in econ/public policy. I'd like to do something at a think tank/issue advocacy type of thing or whatever does policy analysis. I'm guessing an econ or public policy masters would help me get my foot in the door but I don't know for sure. So I'm just trying to narrow down my options if that turned out to be true. I definitely won't be taking the GRE without having a plan. I'm looking in to schools b/c I want to know all my options.
Are you looking at graduate program rankings or undergrad rankings? US News does a special graduate ranking edition, I think it comes out in March or so. Make sure you look at those. Lots of schools could have excellent undergrads and diploma mill grad programs, and vice versa.
I wouold start by figuring out a general idea of what you would want to do with it - even if it is somewhat broad. Then. I would look at the programs themselves - look at the course tracking online, what the degrees consist of, what classes are offered, etc.
A Marketing degree, for example, isnt the same from school to school, depending on the courses offered - what is requred/elective and then what the student takes. Also, what you put in is, IMO, way more influential than the ranking in most cases. So, make sure the program is one you can really get into because THAT is how you will get the quality education. Meaning, learning stuff
My friend went to the US News top ranked school for an MPA which happened to be on the east coast and also has low name recognition. She then moved to CA and her top ranked school didn't really hold any sway with employers (though she did eventually land a great job...but only through starting at the bottom, not through her school). Most of the MPPs and MPAs out in CA went to CA based MPA or MPP schools (or Harvard.)
So I guess my advice is, you really need to have a good career trajectory in mind when you pick your school. You could go to a highly ranked national school but if that is not the type of school your future employers recognize and commonly hire from, then what's the point? (Unless of course that national school is one of huge name recognition, e.g. Harvard, and then it may not really matter what your future employer normally does). Speaking of Harvard, they have a 1 year MPP program that looks interesting.
Really, it's probably best to figure out what you want out of your career, where you want to work, and ideally what type of industry you want to work in, and then making decisions about programs and schools will become easier.
Good luck!
If grad school is anything like law school, the tiers may matter to some extent. I don't know exactly how the tiers are calculated, but I think it ties in graduation rates, bar passage rates (obviously not applicable to grad school), grades of students, and something about professor and student publications.
What school you go should also depend on where you ultimately want to end up. For example, I knew I wanted to stay in Minnesota, and I knew I didn't want to go to 2 of our 4 law schools, so my choices were between a tier 1 school (Univ. of MN) and a tier 3 law school. I talked with lawyers in the area about their preferences for hiring and learned that around here, said tier 1 and tier 3 school are regarded the same... basically, going to the tier 1 school would give me almost no advantage after graduation.
Now, if I wanted to move out of Minnesota (or the midwest in general), it would've been a smarter choice for me to choose to go to the tier 1 school simply because of name recognition. I mean, everyone has heard of the U of MN law school, but no one outside of the region has heard of my law school, despite how much I could try to cram down their throats that former Chief Justice Warren Burger is an alum and that Harry Blackmun used to teach there.
Edit: One more thing... are these schools you're looking at regular Brick & Mortar programs that happen to also have online programs or are they (or some of them) strictly on-line institutions? If it's the latter, I'd shy away. I had to do extensive research on the online institutions for work a long time ago, and they seem... suspicious.
Also, is it a consensus that tier 1 beats tier 4 no matter what the category?
No! See my post above. There are many factors to consider when picking a grad program, only one of which is rankings. It really depends on what you want to do with your masters.
That's true.
The tier 1/midwest school was ranked in the undergrad "Masters Universities" section. The tier 4/national univ. was in the graduate section for the subjects I mentioned. The free part of US News only lists grad schools by subject. I didn't find any regional schools in the subject areas I mentioned. I don't know if it's b/c they suck or b/c they weren't included in the survey.
Can I just vent about the lack of online programs at good schools? That's really frustrating.
Don't I wish! If I ace the GRE I would gladly move there. But I won't even let myself dream about that right now. Just for comparison purposes, the last time I took a standardized test was before anyone knew about Monica Lewinsky and her stained blue dress. And I wasn't great at them then. So I'm not holding my breath
Thanks everyone!
I will try to find some people and ask advice about what jobs require what degrees and all that.
The best way to search US News is by the program you want, they break down grad programs in detail.
Top Econ Grad Schools:
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/eco/search
Top Public-Policy Analysis Grad Schools:
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/pad/pub_policy
Most of the schools in these areas are the big dogs nationally and carry national name recognition and are highly competitive and expensive. That is an unfortunate downside to the programs you're interested in.
***Edit*** the schools listed for "Top Graduate Schools" are all universities that offer up to PhDs, so smaller schools are not listed because they may offer only a Masters level degree.