Harris1year

I am a current Harris 1st year (MPP) and I've had nothing but a positive experience. The workload is especially quantitative, which is what I was looking for, and at times, it seems needlessly quantitative, but I've started to connect the dots with where it fits into. It sucks, but it's manageable and worthwhile in the end, at least for me. I wanted to learn different types of programming skills and be able to get involved in Chicago's policy landscape. It is really rigorous and there have been definitely times where I've been frustrated and wanted to pull my hair out, but it's what I signed up for and it makes me a better candidate for that reason. I got into several other prestigious public policy schools, but none of them compared to what Harris offered. I felt, with my experiences visiting Wagner, HKS, Georgetown, UW-Madison, Ford, and among others, that I would be in a better position with the hard-skill set that I'm learning here than anywhere else. The resources at Harris are tremendous if you're willing to get involved and ask for it. I've had nothing but wonderful experiences with the administration. WE have an extremely opinionated student body that is willing to be collaborative and wants each other to succeed, which is something I did not see at other public policy schools. This ultimately is what made me choose Harris. I also received a very small aid package and had full rides elsewhere. The career I want would not have been possible if I had gone to other schools. Harris does open a lot of doors for you, if you're willing to be an adult and not wait for a job offer to drop from the sky, but do your due diligence and seek it out. The same can be said for those in the business school at Uchicago that are not going into consulting or finance, they have to do the same networking that we do. In regards to paying back my loans, I plan on taking advantage of the program where if you enter into the public sector, your loans are forgiven after 10 years, or enter into the private sector and live cheaply for 2-3 years and pay it off that way. It's manageable, from what I've heard from fellow alums who are in the same boat. In regards to our career development offices, I've always reached out for support and always gotten it from them or have been connected to someone at a different graduate school that can help me. The network at Uchicago and Harris is unmatched and the alums I've talked to and networked have been nothing but accommodating and willing to connect me with other people to get me to my career goals. I do think that our career development offices can be improved, especially when compared to Booth. However, the admin staff is working hard to remedy this and there are some people in the career development office that are fantastic and have been super helpful. The other comment I have to make is that there are some Harris students that do procrastinate and don't take their career development seriously and wait on internships or jobs, leading to difficulty. Additionally, we no longer live in a world where you are just recruited, the job market has changed dramatically. We are adults and it is up to you to go to networking effects, connect with recruiters, and take charge of your own career and seek out resources when necessary. Harris does have recruiting events and information sessions with employers such as LMI, BCG, Deloitte, City of Chicago, etc..., however those can be improved since a lot of our TA sessions (especially during the first quarter) are during 12-1, when the recruiting sessions are taking place. I've brought this up to the administration that TA sessions should not be held during these times and its something they're looking into. That being said, Harris is extremely responsive to the needs of students, at least in my experience. I hope this helps! I've loved my time at Harris so far and I don't regret my decision at all.