[分享]MPA/MPP: tips about applying(zz)

wanderlistUID: 111521

这位哥大SIPA的前辈分析得十分透彻, 申请的小tips也讲得很有道理, 希望各位战友读了之后都能有所收获.

<<I graduated with an MPA from SIPA at Columbia a few years ago. Right now I'm applying to Ph.D. programs, and so far I've gotten into NYU's Wagner School (for public administration), Chicago's Harris School (for public policy), and the Columbia School of Social Work (for social policy).

SIPA is a very good program, and I've also heard great things about KSG at Harvard, the Wilson School at Princeton, the Harris School at University of Chicago, and the Maxwell School at Syracuse. But please note that those are only programs that I've looked into and am at least somewhat familiar with - I'm sure there are lots of other excellent schools out there.

One of the really great things about Princeton is that they're extremely generous when it comes to providing financial aid. If they accept you and you qualify as "financially needy" (i.e., unless you or your parents are rich), they'll give you grants and scholarships that will cover your tuition, plus a stipend or assistantship to cover living expenses.

In choosing schools to apply to, the most important thing is to look at their job placement record. If a school is placing close to 100% of its grads, and if it's placing significant numbers in the kinds of jobs you would like to have - whether that job is as a housing policy analyst for a city agency, or a researcher for environmental think tank, or an associate at a private consulting firm - then that school is probably doing a good job. It means that: a) the career placement office has developed good relationships with employers, and students at your school will have "the inside track" on certain jobs, and b) the school is teaching marketable skills that employers value.

Some tips about applying: work experience counts for A LOT, as it does with MBA programs. At SIPA, the average age of students was something like 27, and most people had at least 3 or 4 years' full-time, post-college work experience (it doesn't particulary matter whether or not the work you did is related to your future career plans). Only 1 or 2 people out of my class of 100 or so went to SIPA straight from college, and this trend is true of most of the top MPA programs. Some people do get into the top schools without work experience, but they tend to be really exceptionally gifted students with stellar academic records.

Probably the second most important factor in getting in is having some sort of quant background. Most MPA programs are very quant-heavy, and they like to see applicants who've taken college-level courses in microeconomics and calculus (and perhaps macroeconomics and statistics, as well). It's possible to get in without a quant background (I was an English major who'd had no math since high school, and the only econ course I took was Econ 101). But if you don't have a quant background, then you'll need to stand out in some other way (having a very high GPA and/or strong work experience). Also, if you don't have a quant background, it's more important that you have a decent quant GRE score (say, mid-600s or above).

The GRE is not as important as people think - it's certainly less important than your transcript or GPA. SIPA, for example, doesn't even require it! - though most people submit it anyway. For the top schools, as long as you have a quant background and score 1800 total, and not below 500 in any one section, your scores probably won't hurt you. And even stellar scores won't help you all that much.

One other thing I would suggest: be aware of the politics of the schools you're applying to. There is some controversy over whether public policy schools should be preparing people for public service (government and nonprofits) only, or whether it's also appropriate to send large numbers of grads into the private sector. SIPA is very private-sector friendly, and so are most schools these days.

But Harvard and Princeton see their role as preparing people for careers in public service, and they try to steer as many of their grads that way as they can (though significant numbers of them end up going into the private sector anyway). They say they like to see applicants with a strong commitment to public service. So if you're looking to switch from the private to the public sector, or if your career goal is to work in the private sector, then you may find it more difficult to get into WWS and KSG (though not, I should stress, most other public policy schools).

Good luck, and let me know if you have more questions.>>

hehuiUID: 134334

thank you very much, what you said is really helpful.

xaverUID: 121812

yah,great eassy , thank u so much !

xaverUID: 121812

yah,great eassy , thank u so much !

lyhcynthiaUID: 2178647

thanks for sharing~