jmckeegan10

Hi all, I'm a new poster on this site, but have been reading comments regarding graduate school advice here for about a year. I've seen a lot of pre-career prospective MPA students asking about the degree's job prospects and value versus an MPP and a JD, but I wanted to ask the same question from a different angle. I'm a current federal government employee who has been working in the national security field in the DC area for three years. I have decided that I would like to re-orient my career to have a more domestic focus on government administration (hoping to one day work at the GAO, Congressional Research Service, or as a program analyst at agencies like FEMA, DoT, or the DOE), as my current job does not provide me with much of an exposure to the way agencies with a domestic focus work. So, I decided about two years ago to pursue an MPA as a way of switching career tracks; I would be looking at entering school in the Fall of 2014. I am looking at a wide variety of schools, but the most promising ones on my list are American, George Mason, and Virginia Tech (the final two because of their low tuition for Virginia residents) -- I've taken two MPA/MPP classes at George Mason and have connections at AU, so I've heard and seen good things at two of the three schools. While I have considered an MPP, quantitative skills are not my strong suit (640 verbal/510 quant on the GRE), so I'm focusing more on the MPA for now. My question is this: For a semi-established professional (I am currently a GS-11 in a fairly technical area), will an MPA allow me to re-orient the direction of my career right off the bat with my work experience, perhaps by seeking a Presidential Management Fellowship, or will I have to start looking for internships? Any thoughts from current feds thinking about applying to or who are enrolled in an MPA program would be appreciated; it seems that for jobs above a GS-9, a Ph.D is needed for program analysis and higher-level administrative positions). Thanks! -John