More Updates--Michigan, Rangel and d00k

Here are a few updates on the post-PC/grad school planning thing:

• The interview with Michigan went well, I think. I hear that the fact that they chose to hit me up for an interview is a good sign. I figure this means I'm already into their program, I'm just awaiting a funding decision. (I'm hoping to get a REALLY good funding offer from this school, because I need to get good funding offers from at least two schools to be able to negotiate a really good offer from the school I'll ultimately choose to attend.)
• After the Michigan interview, I recieved some good news via email--I'm a finalist for this year's Rangel Foreign Affairs Fellowship! I won't explain all of the benefits of the fellowship on this blog unless I am ultimately selected to recieve the fellowship, but suffice it to say that as an aspiring FSO looking for grad school funding, it would be the dream of a lifetime (I'm NOT exaggerating) and would help me fund any school that I choose to attend. (If you want more info about the fellowship, click here.) My interview is on March 10th and I recieve a final decision on March 13th. . .March 13th can't come soon enough.
• A couple of days ago, more good news rolled in. I've been accepted to the Master's of Public Policy program at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University! Duke gave me a pretty good funding offer that will cover 90% of my tuition costs, plus provide me with a $4,000 assistantship (think grad school version of work-study). Duke is certainly a school that I'm seriously considering for next year's studies (in no small part due to its location in my home state of North Carolina), but my decision will be heavily dependent upon the funding options that I end up with after all the decisions roll in and negotiations have been finalized--to be blunt, I'm not made out of money and I don't want to go into massive debt for graduate school!

Those are all the updates I have for now. There are some big dice rolls and decisions to be made during the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned! Hopefully this good news can keep up just a little while longer. Send me good vibes, peeps. I'll keep ya posted.