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Those rankings applt to MPA/MPP programs. Doctoral programs in public policy are not ranked. In my opinion, you should make your decision based on faculty.

I don't know much about this program but I wouldn't go there if I were looking to secure an academic appointment after finishing the program. I'm sure it's perfectly good if you're looking to earn the Ph.D. as a credential in the nonprofit world.

I think this is generally true in that individuals with a Public Policy PhD will generally be eligible to be hired in a policy school but not in a standard academic department whereas those with a PhD in a specific discipline can teach in both. If you go the Public Policy route, I think it is very important to make sure that you have a strong grounding in a specific discipline (e.g., Economics, Sociology, etc). Take the first-year courses and comps in the home department and acquire additional expertise in policy-relevant research in the policy school. Duke and Michigan both have new Public Policy programs that take this approach. In addition, I'm sure you could fashion your own program in a disciplinary field at Berkeley or Princeton (WWS). Chicago and Harvard seem a little more rigid. If you are able to do so, I think the advantage is that you have both expertise in your disciplinary field and in applied public policy research. Of course, you can always find a way to do this sort of work in a standard disciplinary department though this may not be preferred if you would really like to do interdisciplinary social science research.

If you would like a job that ins quantitatively oriented, there is no question -- the MA in Econ from NYU is superior. Mroeover, there is a glut of folks with MPP/MPA type degrees on the market. I think you will find far fewer people have a master's degree in Economics and yet there is increasing demand for people with such skills. Without knowing much about your career goals, I'd be inclined to go with NYU.

Go to Ford!!!! It's a terrific program and you don't want to be saddled with debt whrn you leave. Congrats!

Yea -- this is the thing. Public Policy is really just social science methods applied to issues of public relevance. Most public policy scholars publish in econ/polisci or sociology journals or in journals related to a particular topical area. It's not like a faculty scholarship index could be developed for 'public policy.' This is why applying to doctoral programs in Public Policy, unlike other disciplines, is so interest/faculty match oriented. Good luck with Maryland and GMU. Maryland has a terrific faculty -- Thomas Schelling comes to mind!

I agree completely -- these are the same reasons I am so interested in the 'field' of Public Policy. And I do think you're right that, in many ways, we'll have to make our own way. There is simply not the same level of structure as there is in the major substantive fields. I am OK with this -- but I do think it makes faculty match all the more important than it is in say Economics. My friends applying to doctoral programs in Econ are much less concerned with matching specific faculty as their subfield interests are less well formed and more likely to change over the course of the program. I'll be sure to let you know my thoughts on Duke after my visit (I have also been very impressed by the friendly vibe there). I imagine we probably have quite a bit of overlap in our interests!

Thanks for the info! I know they accepted a few people Friday evening and also rejected a bunch of others. Not sure what's going on at this point. Just hope they don't keep me hanging forever!

Hey there, Congrats on those terrific admits! I'm in at Duke (econ track) as well and Berkeley. Waiting on Chicago and Princeton (WWS). Will you be visiting Duke on the 21st? What are your specific interests? To me, Public Policy is sort of a made up field. -- an amalgamation of a number of fields and a ton of different substantive areas. As such, I don't think these programs can really be ranked in any traditional sense (unlike in major fields like Economics or Political Science where rankings are fairly well established). For me, it's all about the faculty match. Ideally you want to work with someone who is a big name in the field and is also very interested in working with you. Your job prospects will depend on how much effort these professors put into mentoring you. In a very general sense, I would say that an advantage of Chicago is that it has been around a while. An advantage of Duke is that you get substantive training in Economics in a formal sense (the Economics track) which I believe is important if you want to deal in economics-oriented policy work afterwards (after all, we will be hired by and working with people trained as economists). But still -- I think the most important thig is faculty match. My story: I have an MA in econ and have worked for several years as a researcher at a economic/social policy research institution. I am interested in going into academia and becoming a professor. I am specifically interested in the economics of crime as well as labor market and educational policy. I chose programs where I felt there were some top professors who were also interested in these topics. I am strongly considering Duke because a specific professor is there who I would love to work with (doesn't hurt that it's terrific funding for such a low cost-of-living area where I'd like to live!). Berkeley's program is small and individually tailored which is a big plus for me and there are also some very good people to work with there (though the funding is less well settled than at Duke). I'm not sure WWS would be such a good fit with my interests. I would very much like to get into Chicago, where there are probably the most faculty members whose interests match my own (plus my fiancee would like to move there). In any case, congrats on the terrific options you have! Perhaps we'll have the chance to chat at Duke's admit day. I'm really looking forward to heading down there!

Hey, congrats!!

Certainly WWS is #1 because they fully fund everyone.

No way to know for certain but I wouldn't expect to see all that many admits posted either way. In each of the past two years, there has been only one or two admits posted on GradCafe. In any case, I hope I'm wrong and there are lots more to come. Best of luck to everyone.

I called WWS today asking about the Ph.D. program but it looks like Ph.D. and M.P.A. all appear to go out at the same time. They said we'd hear by Friday. Judging from the last two years on GradCafe it looks like admits go out the first day and then its all rejections thereafter. Let's hope since they started today late, tomorrow morning will have some good news too. Otherwise, today may have been the day.

Has anyone heard from them -- specifically anyone who applied to the Ph.D. program? I know that several people have been rejected/accepted thus far. Called on Monday and I'm apparently still in limbo. Anyone else still waiting? Does anyone have any information? Thanks in advance!

I'm pretty sure that Harvard sociology is done admitting people. In past years if you were not admitted by mid-February, you were dinged in early March.