Current Student in the University of Georgia MPA program

[Alyssa@UGA-MPA]

Feel free to ask me any questions you might have about the University of Georgia's Master of Public Administration program. I am a current student and intern with the career services office.

[MJA87]

Could I ask what stats you applied with, such as GPA, GRE, years of work experience, etc..? I'm also interested in what other options you had (what other schools and funding?) and what made you chose UGA?

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

[Alyssa@UGA-MPA]

Sorry for the delay in response, I'm a bit new to this forum and haven't figured out how to get notifications when someone responds.

 

I came in with Three years of work experience, a GPA of 3.9, a GRE Math 156, Language 164, and Writing 5. There is a broad range of achievements in the program, however.

 

I had the option of Duke, UConn, University of Texas Austin, University of Montana, and University of Wyoming. All except the University of Texas had offered me full assistantships that incuded tuition and a stipend (though Duke's tuition waiver was only 50%).

 

I chose UGA because it was the highest ranked out of all of these programs, allowed students to tailor their concentration and take classes in other departments, and the reputation of some of their faculty. I also just really liked the city of Athens due to its smaller size, but proximity to Atlanta. Another aspect I enjoyed was that they encouraged working or interning while going to school. Some programs such as Duke forbade working during the school year. I really wanted to be able to gain additional work experience while attending school since this is a professional program.

[chocolatecheesecake]

Another aspect I enjoyed was that they encouraged working or interning while going to school. Some programs such as Duke forbade working during the school year. I really wanted to be able to gain additional work experience while attending school since this is a professional program.

 

Alyssa, I'm not sure what programs you're referring to at Duke. Both the Masters of International Development Policy and Masters of Public Policy program provide chances for students to work part-time during the school year, and have avid career services staff who have encouraged us and helped us to find internships during the school year. As a first-year student, I'm currently doing a paid internship at an organization in Raleigh and just also began a paid teaching assistantship for undergraduates. Just wanted to put that clarification out there, because it's an important point.

[Alyssa@UGA-MPA]

Alyssa, I'm not sure what programs you're referring to at Duke. Both the Masters of International Development Policy and Masters of Public Policy program provide chances for students to work part-time during the school year, and have avid career services staff who have encouraged us and helped us to find internships during the school year. As a first-year student, I'm currently doing a paid internship at an organization in Raleigh and just also began a paid teaching assistantship for undergraduates. Just wanted to put that clarification out there, because it's an important point.

 

 

 

Hi chocolatecheesecake, thanks for pointing out my error. I had to go back and check, as it was a feeling I got after my visitation day. After doing some research to figure out what caused me to think Duke forbade working while going to school, I think I was wrong saying 'forbade.' On the Duke MPP website it looks like 'discourage' was the better word for working off campus: "Most students do not work off-campus while enrolled in the MPP program, as the curriculum is quite demanding." Also, Duke does not allow part-time study for people who work full-time. I do recall that at Duke all American students were offered assistantships that covered half tuition and a stipend of about $1000 a month, which was neat. The career services personnel also seemed extremely adept at their job, but did say during their presentation at visitation day that if we weren't looking to work in Washington, D.C. or the North Carolina area then it wasn't the program we should go in to because they don't have connections elsewhere.

 

I chose UGA over Duke for a lot of reasons. Obviously it was a great program or I wouldn't have been considering it against my completely funded program options. In the end I wanted to keep my debt very low to non-existent, which was not possible at Duke even with an assistantship, I was looking for a heavy emphasis on gaining relevant work experience on the job so I could test out different career paths while seeking my degree, and I wanted to be able to move back to the West after my graduation. Different strokes for different folks! 

[chocolatecheesecake]

 

 

Hi chocolatecheesecake, thanks for pointing out my error. I had to go back and check, as it was a feeling I got after my visitation day. After doing some research to figure out what caused me to think Duke forbade working while going to school, I think I was wrong saying 'forbade.' On the Duke MPP website it looks like 'discourage' was the better word for working off campus: "Most students do not work off-campus while enrolled in the MPP program, as the curriculum is quite demanding." Also, Duke does not allow part-time study for people who work full-time. I do recall that at Duke all American students were offered assistantships that covered half tuition and a stipend of about $1000 a month, which was neat. The career services personnel also seemed extremely adept at their job, but did say during their presentation at visitation day that if we weren't looking to work in Washington, D.C. or the North Carolina area then it wasn't the program we should go in to because they don't have connections elsewhere.

 

I chose UGA over Duke for a lot of reasons. Obviously it was a great program or I wouldn't have been considering it against my completely funded program options. In the end I wanted to keep my debt very low to non-existent, which was not possible at Duke even with an assistantship, I was looking for a heavy emphasis on gaining relevant work experience on the job so I could test out different career paths while seeking my degree, and I wanted to be able to move back to the West after my graduation. Different strokes for different folks! 

 

 

Thanks for clarifying, Alyssa. It's definitely true that Duke doesn't allow part-time students in the MPP program. We're all full-time students, but off the top of my head, I can name about five friends in my cohort who have part-time jobs or paying internships off campus, and I know several people found them through the career office here. I'd also say we have a great network that is definitely national and international in scope - I'm applying for at least four internships abroad and in other parts of the states, which I've all learned about through the career office or connections with alums who have worked there before. Those networks definitely don't compare to the depth of the networks that Duke has in DC and Raleigh, however, so there's some truth to that. 

 

Well, I appreciate you clarifying, and I fully agree with you that professional work experience is very important during the MPP. We now return you to your regular programming about UGA! =) 

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