publicaffairsstudent

What is your research interest and what topics do students there usually work on?

In the past Berkeleys website has said they only accept students from their own mpp program to do doctoral work.

I had a notice from Maryland this week but my application season is over. Maxwell social science had the latest deadline of all my programs, March 1, so I imagine they haven't started reviewing yet.

SUNY Albany. I accepted.

Wait listed at Syracuse.

Got a formal acceptance email today. I'm really happy, it's one of my top choices and I will likely accept. Not gonna jinx it by naming it here. Good luck to the other applicants.

I think any policy related degree would be redundant. If you want to learn quant skills then don't mess around. Get a masters in statistics. If you're wedded to the econ and still in England, look into London school of economics. They have an MSc in econometrics and mathematical economics. Degrees by that name at other institutions may be worthwhile to investigate.

Rejected at Cornell. My first notification of 7. Had a phone interview at one of my schools that seemed to go well.

Its ok to have a rough time at a certain point in your undergraduate experience. No one holds that against you. But to gain admission to a graduate program, its not enough to give an explanation and let that be the end of it. You have to demonstrate recovery and show that you are now capable of doing academic work, even though you weren't before. I came back from an undergrad gpa of 2.87, and similar personal challenges and setbacks. The graduate program I applied to was not overly competitive and I was able to gain admission with a few good years of work experience and gpa. But I encourage you to shoot higher than I did. I did not know about admissions when I started but I do now and I will share what I know with you, so you can do better than I did. You can get into any program you want. Even top american programs. Your first step should be to find a job and develop compelling experience in the public or non-profit sector. If you have to start volunteering in a field that you find emotionally compelling and meet as many people as you can. Network while pursuing conventional job searches. When you have 3 years of work experience you will be ready to apply. While you are working, seek out a community college or open enrollment public college in your town, that offers undergraduate math courses at night. Start taking one course a semester beginning with calculus 1. Over the next three years take calculus 1, 2, 3, linear algebra, introductory statistics and intermediate statistics. Take a course in intermediate macro economics and one in intermediate microeconomics over the summer. Study as hard as you can so you get an A or A- in each of these courses. With only 1 course at a time this shouldn't be too much for you. At the end of 3 years you will have demonstrated the capability to succeed in tough courses and will have distinguished yourself as a candidate with a strong quantitative background. Masters programs can't get enough of these types of students. Finally, don't allow yourself to be a victim of your experience and don't make excuses. You are empowered to change your academic direction. Over the next three years dedicate yourself to changing your path. Put all of your effort and energy and focus into achieving this. If you make this your passion, you will succeed and you will get into any program you want to.

He didn't go to Cornell but he went to a top public affairs program. He said the quantitative methods core used extensive calculus and linear algebra, and most of his classmates had that background. As public policy is more heavily quantitative than public affairs, it will require more math. All good public policy programs have a two course sequence in microeconomics and a two course sequence in econometrics. You won't get through those without calculus. For example, UNC Chapel Hill which ranks about 15 requires calc 1 and 2 for admission, and states this on their website. Georgia state at #23 requires students without a quantitative background to complete a course that covers differential and integral calculus and matrix algebra before advancing to doctoral coursework. Higher ranked schools like Chicago, Harvard, Duke and Berkeley almost certainly have higher expectations. So while a professor might say its unneccessary, in practice I imagine very few people earn admission without a decent quant background, unless they have some other unusual qualification.

Calculus isn't used in statistical modeling, but core courses in quantitative methods at good public policy programs teach a foundation in mathematical statistics, and this theory requires calculus and linear algebra to calculate probability distributions, regression coefficients and other key concepts. In practice a computer will do this for you, but good programs teach the theory.

I've taken so many math and statistics courses as I've prepared to apply that it's opened up a whole new world of job opportunities I feel. There are some really exciting things going on out there for people who are comfortable with research methods and statistics. Fields such as data science and traditional consulting and financr roles are becoming more research intensive and industries like the technology sector are employing huge numbers of data analysts and other quantitative researchers. So there might be a learning curve and value in taking a few more math courses to pursue these roles, but there are a lot of exciting options right now for people interested in quantitative research.

No. My interests are related to economics and econometrics, not political science. I have very little poli sci experience and am focused on quantitative research.

Your profile is very good. I would like to see more formal coursework in mathematics, but as an undergraduate engineering and comp sci major, I believe you have more fluency in these methodologies than the 3 math courses you listed. I'm interested in educational policy as well, and really excited about the intersection with computer science, especially in terms of applying new data science and machine learning methodologies to public policy applications. I applied to Syracuse and Albany too, I really hope to see you there! I expect you should have at least one offer from your list with a standard funding package.

Core courses in quantitative methods at public policy and public affairs programs draw heavily on multivariable calculus and linear algebra. Many public policy programs now formally state the requirements, such as UNC Chapel Hill requiring a 1 year calculus sequence for admissions. In practice I think very few people are admitted without Calc 1-3 and Linear Algebra. Applicants should be comfortable with quantitative analysis. American culture has a collective math anxiety, but this condition is unbecoming of a researcher in a heavily quantitative field like public affairs and to a greater extent public policy. If you are considering math in terms of "do I need to" you probably aren't ready to be considering this path.