ExponentialDecay

bro, this OP is from 2012...

The name of the degree doesn't matter. "IDEV" as a trajectory is also not specific enough to make a good decision. Do you want to do private sector development or early childhood education? The same program, even if it's literally called IDEV, will not serve both of those needs equally well. You want to go to a school that has regular course offerings in your narrow area of interest. If you can, it helps to learn how the degree places with employers you're interested in. You can't find this out from the internet in sufficient detail, so you'd actually have to talk to people. This also onl

[quote] will having no work experience for nearly a year likely disqualify me from most reputable MPA/MPP programs?[/quote] No. Programs will be lenient, most of all, because academia is facing some very lean years and professional grad schools in particular are struggling to attract and retain enough students to stay open. If you're a legal person and you're willing to hand them money, they'll take you. That said, all the discourse about being cautious when investing in this degree applies doubly to anyone without work experience. Pandemic or no pandemic, it's going to take you time

As well as any other school. Getting an STC position isn't super challenging in general, but moving on to staff requires a lot more than just going to a prestigious masters program. STEM designation isn't as important if you're aiming for IOs since you can work on a G visa (some don't even take OPT and make you open a G visa right away). That said, if you change your mind (and many people do once they realize the reality of working at an IO), a STEM designation is nice to have.

I talk about US programs and the US immigration climate because that's what I know. My impression from secondary sources is that Canada, Australia and a handful of EU countries (e.g. Germany, Poland) are feasible to migrate to via school, but I don't want to advise because immigration in each country is its own beast. The added complication is that a lot of traditional policy jobs require local citizenship or residency and policy degrees don't necessarily transfer well outside of policy fields.

lol dude what is your problem?

@GradSchoolGrad Please enlighten me if you see otherwise, but I've read both posts I made here and I see nowhere that I've been unkind or not nice, to you or to anyone. You never explained why you took such a condescending tone with me, "First off" and so on. Based on my longterm experience on this board, you are very invested in being the resident expert on all things here and you become incensed whenever somebody posts something you disagree with. I'm really not looking for an internet fight so, if you can't keep your communications civil, I'd rather we not interact anymore. You can post you

I'm sort of confused by your tone. I'm not saying a US education is bad; I'm saying that trying to immigrate via F1 now is much riskier than it was even a short while ago. I don't understand why you're acting defensive. 1. It doesn't matter. Even if Biden wins in November, policy and procedure doesn't just change like that once a new president takes hold (I should hope that people who advise on the Government Affairs grad school forum know that). It takes time for a new administration to make changes to immigration policies - hence why Trump's immigration policies, most of which were impl

I would definitely pick a program that is STEM-certified. More and more MBA and policy programs are going that route, including some big names. That said, regardless of what you study and how many years of OPT you have, the current administration has made labor migration so difficult (not just H1B, but EB, L, O) that staying on after school has become exponentially more difficult than when you were in college. A lot of companies that hired internationals even 5 years ago now won't consider non-residents. Based on what I heard from a lawyer friend (large fwiw, of course), a lot of compani

This is a strange question. MPP and JD are very different degrees and lead to very different careers. If you are not sure which one is right for you, the answer is probably neither - for now. Getting an American law degree without plans to work in America is particularly strange, especially when you are not looking at financial law, contracts law or another area where being barred in the state of New York could be relevant. It does not seem to me like you are ready for grad school. If in Indonesia it is hard to find a job without a masters, I would recommend getting a local masters and going t

...they also require linear algebra, calculus up to multivariable, and a proofs course? For admissions questions, you should look on the websites of the programs you are interested in and, if they are not answered there, contact admissions.

They had PhD-level credentials before they got the MPA. Not super relevant for OP.

If you want to get an econ PhD, do not - and I cannot stress this enough - do not get an MPA. Speaking of Harvard's MPA-ID, if you go to the open day, Dani Rodrik will literally give a speech to you, in which he will literally tell you that, if you want to get a PhD later, this is not the right program for you. MPAs and other professional policy degrees are designed for people who want to work in policy. They do not provide the right opportunities for someone who wants to get a PhD. Some degrees in this general area now offer relatively sophisticated economic and mathematical coursework - beca

Not commenting w/r/t the specific situation with your visa, but I wouldn't attack @PokePsych for trying to be helpful and saying something that is very true. Moreover, not only are departments usually clueless about visa policies, but HR, legal and even the ISO can make mistakes and give bad advice. From the State Department's perspective, you and you alone are responsible for maintaining your visa status, so if you have problems because of some bad advice you followed - from your school, your lawyer, who cares - you are screwed. So just as a general piece of advice from someone who has spent

This is probably way late, but depending on what you mean by sustainable finance (i.e. financial instruments and financing structures vs finance that targets environmental sustainability goals) you are better served doing a straight finance MA or MBA with a concentration on sustainable finance in the former case, and an environmental program in the latter. An international development program is going to be too unfocused to efficiently serve either of those goals. The SAIS energy program is well-reputed and you can switch into it. In either case, if you are committed to doing a public policy d