Damis

As a German who lived in Berlin most of his life I would first ask how much you have to pay in tuition? Other than that I would say that you can survive on 700-900€ in Berlin depending on the quality of life you aspire to have? Even though the average rent is increasing as long as you are willing to make use of the public transport system there should be a number of places where rent is comparatively cheap. Also note that food and the like a arguably dirt cheap in Germany anywhere.

The worst nightmare one could imagine?  Did Trump open an inter-dimensional portal through which the horrors of the Warp will consume our souls?  I guess he wasn't kidding about his presidency being huge.  

I just got my admission results, which just made the best holiday wish.  I applied for early notification. 

thanks @Yanaka this site is like a maze!

As for me, it's the other way around...I'm planning to pursue an MPP, and one fo the fears I have is that my fellow students will not have work experience enough to enrich the class environment. 
After having worked 3 years full time in this field, plus other 2 years in other jobs, plus internships, I finally feel like I'm ready to go back to school and to have a meaningful experience, and not just to add some more years of formal education to my resume. 

1) It's because work experience is super important to doing public policy well. This field is all about analyzing other fields, like healthcare, education, international development, military affairs, etc, that someone without any experience in those fields is going to be a lot less effective and insightful. Bottom line: if your job is helping to set the rules by which someone else does their job, then you should know how they do their job.
2) It's because MPA/MPP programs don't teach you about what public policy is. They teach you HOW to do it, not WHAT it is. Methods and skills classes take up the bulk of what those programs offer, and especially the core curriculum. Subject matter classes are for later on, and even then, some friends believed that you should never take a graduate class on something if you can read a book about it instead. 
3) It's because work experience makes you a better student in grad school. I saw people who had more work experience were bringing more to class discussions and getting more out of our education. I really enjoyed learning directly from friends and colleagues who had been in Iraq and Afghanistan, who had taught deaf children in Kenya, who worked with coffee farmers in Guatemala. Of course, people who came straight from undergraduate were still excellent because they have to be - there's a higher bar set for them by admissions, but why handicap yourself if you don't have to?
Go get a few years of work experience: go work in a hospital or get deployed or work on a campaign or join a union or be a journalist or teach maternal health in another country. Then, if you still want an MPA/MPP, come back and contribute your ideas for doing it better. 

You don't have to get a job with the White House, Senate, or top federal agency. There are many, many other jobs that can provide you with great experience. I'd recommend you look at Princeton's and Yale's student profiles to see how few students at the most competitive schools are represented at those three employment sources.

78% of your cohort was employed by the end of August. 16% went back to their summer internship employer, not a majority. Average salary of 60k.
Sounds like you are the anomaly, no? That must suck.

Hi Pedro,
Congratulations on your Hertie admission and you must be delighted. Hertie's strength is in governance and EU policies. There are some smaller scale electives. Due to its small faculty, some areas are not well covered. So it really depends on your interests and goals. For Governance and EU, Hertie offers opps while other areas may be a mismatch. Students: More on the younger side and less seasoning compared to US schools. Most come straight out of undergrad or have 1-2 yrs experience. If you look at student bios, very few in late 20s and early 30s. I spoke to some current students and they are articulate and bright with an avid interest in international affairs.
 
So you know the central neighbourhood from your visit. There are pros and cons of its size. It is only one building and the intake is rather small, students know each other. The teaching methods are flexible with lecture, case study, group project, capstone with Berlin based organisations. Good mix of theory and problem solving practice. Some international students confirmed Hertie's academic rigour with US schools. A prof is even on sabbatical to run a major German think tank. On the other hand, Hertie has some shortcomings in terms of small library stocks and opening hours. Few student run clubs and events. Some room of improvement for professional development workshops and career service. Hertie is an English taught programme, but one needs some German to leverage internships, capstone, networking and manage German bureaucracy. 
 
You are correct that tuition is prohibitive by German standard, but there are not many MPP programmes in Germany. I guess Hertie's  tuition is set in same bracket as other top European programmes at LSE and Sciences Po.
Good luck.
 

Hi Gradcafe. Long time lurker, first time poster. I'll get right to the point: I'm supposed to be starting my first semester at Fletcher in January, and I'm having some serious concerns about the value of attending the program. Would love any input from current or past Fletcher students about whether or not getting a MALD is worth the price of admission.
I realize that this is a subjective question to a large degree, so to help I'll detail myself briefly. I'm slightly older than Fletcher's median student, relatively debt-free from undergrad, interested in pursuing a career in international relations, something I have not been able to do in my post-undergrad career so far. I'm interested in Fletcher's course offerings, particularly those centered on international trade and commerce. Keeping my options open employment wise, but I'd be very happy with either State Department or private sector IR-themed work, perhaps finance related per my former career. Fletcher has also generously offered me about $30k towards tuition, I have some savings, but would still need to borrow a significant amount to make up the difference ($50-$80k, depending on best case/worst case scenarios).
I attended the orientation earlier this year and I liked the school a lot; everyone was very nice. If it wasn't for the significant debt load, I wouldn't be posting this. That's life, though.
I suppose it may be last minute jitters, but I've struggled these past few weeks with forking over the money. Fletcher seems like the gateway to the type of career I want... but it's still seems *so* expensive. And yes, I have spoken to Fletcher alums/students and asked them this same question, but I'm a little wary as I came into contact with them through the university. Not to be overly paranoid, but I want the real, unvarnished truth about The Fletcher School, which is why I'm posting anonymously on Gradcafe.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, especially from current/prior Fletcher students in the MALD program. Please help set my mind at ease!

Thanks for your time,
Hesitant Grad

I know it's a little early and some are still finishing up their applications, but I just wanted to start this thread since I received my decision from SIPA yesterday for early action. In for their MPA-ESP program.
Good luck to everyone!

@Damis you are welcome! I applied back when you could still do the Harvard MPA/MBA, so once I was admitted to HBS, I simply made a call and asked to be switched over to the MPA2. Note that when I first called, someone told me "You can't do that," which I knew was incorrect, so I just called again and spoke to someone else. These strange things happen occasionally in large, busy institutions, which is why I always suggest sending in questions and requests in writing and to the actual decision-maker.
I suggest folks fulfill the requirement by taking graduate-level courses at a reputable university (does not have to be super-prestigious; just nationally accredited and not a for-profit school). Make sure you take the type of courses that HKS lists. Don't just take courses that "sound" like what HKS would want you to take. Refer to that same link we both linked to. Since you're applying to Wharton, Tuck, Stanford, and/or MIT, at the same time as you're applying to HKS, you simply apply directly to the MPA2.

Hi @Ken528 and @Damis,
As Damis mentioned, after this year's deadline, you should email (I always recommend emailing over calling so that you have a written record of what you were told) HKS Admissions to get a definitive answer on your eligibility. Clearly spell out how many/which graduate-level courses you have completed and how many years of full-time professional work experience you will have at time of your application.
Currently, the MPA2 requires that you have 3 years full-time work experience at time of application and 4 qualifying graduate-level courses. Ken, from your post, it sounds like you're hoping to sub in the Higher Civil Services exam for those 4 courses. In my opinion, this will not meet the qualification. It was unclear from your post how many years of full-time professional work experience you will have when you apply, but there isn't much (if any) flexibility there either.
Damis: the course and work experience eligibility has been around for at least 3 years, as I've been working with clients to apply to the MPA2 for the last 6 (and also was an MPA2 myself).
Best of luck to both of you!
Kaneisha
 

Hi, everyone.
I have a query on academic prerequisite of HKS MPA2 program. According to HKS homepage, applicants are required to have substantial graduate-level coursework similar to core MPP courses. 
 
Situation:
WRT this requirement, I did not take lectures in graduate schools; but, I passed the Higher Civil Services Exam, which consists of several subjects including micro/macro/international economics, and international politics, and the exam needs graduate-level understanding on each subject. As wiki says, it's really challenging exam, and my recommenders, including Former Minister of Finance of Korea, will guarantee the authority and the level of difficulty of it. Plus, I was runner-up at the moot court competition, held by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Korea; since most participants were graduate students, I think that it would also prove my capability.
WRT working experience, I worked as a policy consultant for Myanmar government with OECD; and currently, as a deputy director at the Ministry of Finance, I developed and implemented industrial and corporate restructuring plan of Korea, including establishment of a $4bn bailout program for global largest shipbuilder. I'm wondering whether the HKS committee consider these experiences indication of graduate-level understanding on economics, international politics, and relative laws.
 
Question:
Does anyone know whether my case can be regarded to qualify the academic prerequisite of HKS MPA2? 
 
I hope to get valuable advice, opinion, or knowledge from you. Good luck to all!

Bio is so, so 'hot' right now. Bio-genetics, bio-policy, bio-hazards, bio-security, bio-modifications. All sorts of relevant cross-over stuff you can point to in your app beyond boring old run of the mill 'analytical' skills.

You have a promising profile, so don't knock yourself! I say so because the practice GRE scores are great (getting above 160 in quant is desirable), and you have what sounds like interesting journalism experience. When it comes to age, you're in the middle of the pack for public policy grad students. Our average age was like 27, and there were more than a few people who were 30 years old in my cohort, so don't worry. Age and experience are real assets when it comes to public policy grad school.
For suggestions, I would say:
Take care of econ and stats sometime in the next year. Take them through an online course (like UCLA or Berkeley's) or community college. As long as it's an accredited school, and you receive course credits for them, it doesn't matter what institution or name. Get an A to show you can handle the classes, and you'll also go much further during school with them - coursework will be a LOT easier.  Your resume could use some sustained full-time work. I suggest you spend at least a year at your next job in DC.  Don't feel bad about getting in touch with old professors. Four/five years is nothing. Some people come back after a decade, after all. (I've heard stories!) Maybe attach samples of your work from back then. If you attend your econ/stats classes in person and develop a good relationship, you could even use one of those professors. Once you have a firmer idea of your subject area (maybe through more work experience), you'll get a better sense of what schools are best. Starting by just going through websites for the top 30-40 schools should help you identify which have focuses/ professors I was interested in. I will be frank and say I've never even heard innovation policy, but you may want to look for social entrepreneurship focuses, which may be the closest thing.  New programs aren't necessarily a bad thing. It depends on the people involved, and where it is. IMHO, I'd go for a more established program, because what I mainly value about higher ed is the alumni network that it comes with. That's how I've gotten every single job in my career so far.  Good luck! 

Immigration law is a field that one can realistically expect to break into, but international law isn't. If you're talking about working for the Hague, UN, State, etc., those jobs are ridiculously competitive, and are typically only reserved for the top 10% at a T14 (+ moot court awards, review publications, etc.) or top third at Harvard/Yale/Stanford.
Yes, they do. If you're coming in straight out of undergrad, I wouldn't expect to necessarily be making $60k starting salary--a master's with no experience yields GS-9 in the government, which is $50k. But after a couple of years, you'll be hitting the $60-$80k range pretty quickly. Lawyers progress through the pay scales much faster than analysts/traditional civil servants--they may take 5 years to hit $110k+ range, vs. civil servants taking 10-20 years--but their jobs are A LOT harder to get in the first place. Federal government lawyering is more competitive than big law.
Fields are very different, and so there isn't necessarily an "advantage" in one or the other. I know that MPP programs are more about implementing/analyzing policy with regard to their goals/objectives. I'd imagine that lawyering is focused on complying with regulations, or if you're in the hypercompetitive like nat-sec constitutional law or clerkships, it's more about argumentation, regardless of whether the position you're fighting for is necessarily right.
Depends on the school and the field. You need to look at the school's employment reports for this and what types of employers students are placed at. Different MPP schools will have different focuses (e.g. CMU Heinz is very focused on domestic, quantitatively analytical work; Michigan Ford is fairly strong in both domestic and foreign policy). I've considered both fields, and I feel like MPP jobs are not as competitive, partly because of the attitude of job seekers and the nature of the field. Because the jobs are so different, you really need to consider what you want and what you're probably going to be able to get out of your education.
Merit scholarships are something you need to consider. For law school, conventional wisdom says you really need to go to the top school you can get into (e.g. Harvard over some place among the CCN), especially if you're going for clerkships/big gov. Because scholarship prospects greatly decline at the top schools and because law school tuition is so expensive, that means your education is probably going to be more expensive per year (note law is 3 years, vs. MPP 2 years) than an MPP program. MPP programs don't appear to have such a strict hierarchy, and so students can select applications and school enrollments in a much more financially strategic fashion.
Among the big nine on these forums (CMU, Harvard, Princeton, Michigan, Georgetown, Berkeley, Columbia, Chicago, and Duke), there are some informal tiers (Princeton >>> Harvard > Berkeley/Columbia/Chicago > Duke/Georgetown/Michigan/CMU), but students regularly choose less selective schools over seemingly more prestigious schools because of how they might fit their goals better. Employers don't seem to make such rigid distinctions either as opposed to law (Y > H/S >>> CCN >>> remaining T-14 >>>>> everyone else).
So, like many students here, you may be able to choose a school because of the funding they offer you. That may mean a much smaller financial burden than that held by law school graduates.

Hey @mrs12 I have never applied, so all I can do is offer you the best of luck! 

@Damis, Thank you so much for the heads up! I would have totally missed this deadline otherwise!
I'll be applying to the Rangel for the first time this year! It'll be tricky because I'm in an intensive language program right up until close to the deadline, but I'll try my best. I'd really appreciate it if any of you previous applicants/finalists could give me some advice once again! I know that last time with the Pickering I wasn't selected as a finalist, and I think it was probably because of the tone/focus of my essay, so I'd really love to get some advice from all of you on that subject. :3
 

People always have the option of working full time for a few years to save up money instead of jumping into MPP/MPA programs after little to no work experience.  MBA programs require at minimum 3-4 years of work experience for a damn reason.  There is also a reason why professional programs such as MPP/MPA programs are year-after-year increasing their average age/work experience of their incoming class.
This has a few advantages:
1) More money saved up so you don't have to live dirt poor on ramen during grad school or in some extremely shoddy apartment.
2) More work experience means you have a better chance of getting into a top school (with more funding too). 
3) Being in a professional environment longer will do wonders for your personality.  What you learn in the real world will help you out in grad school when you are going through recruiting, resumes, working on team assignments, etc.  You will have a more professional attitude and this extremely important.  You are not in undergrad anymore.  You will have more leadership opportunities in a professional environment which is only beneficial to you.
4) The professional connections.  The longer you work, the more professional connections you develop.  This is extremely important for any area.
5) Being in a professional environment longer will give you more opportunities to figure out what you truly want to do.
6) Guess who will have a bigger advantage when it comes to landing a job? The people with more work experience. Higher starting salaries, higher staff levels.
 
TL;DR Obtain more work experience.  It wont hurt you.  You will even able to attend that dream school you wanted to go to because budgets and more funding will make it more feasible and this debt conversation wont be as big of an issue.
 

It's a very conservative approach, I think. I don't fall under any of these 2 categories and still I'm not planning to take on any debt. And I'm going to SIPA which is notorious for it's frugality. I was lucky to get full-tuition fellowship from the school and an extra scholarship from another source. With these two, I have already secured almost 90% of my overall costs (direct & indirect). During the second year I hope to get an assistantship or another scholarship so I will manage to avoid accruing any debt whatsoever. Of course, I am not sure I will manage to do it, but my point is that WWS is not the only school that can generously assist you financially. So it is indeed possible to graduate debt free from a policy school (I hope!).

Wtf is even INSEAD? Sounds like a scam university. I know it's not, but I also doubt any public service/business dual degree is worth it. They serve two entirely different purposes and people should decide before enrolling in a master's degree what they want to do with their lives, not after racking up debt and spending unnecessary years of a life in school.

Nah. Contrary to popular belief driven mostly by sensationalist media, any medical field for a physician can make back 6 figure loans easily.

#yolo 
 

A number of things:
Everyone I've talked to says getting is a poor use of your money and time. Most jobs will want either the analytical skill set (from the MPP) or the legal skill set (from the JD), but few will substantially care if you have both. Having isn't bad and you see a decent number of them among top positions, but that's more because a) they're older and a JD was more broadly valued 20-30 years ago than it is today, even at YHS schools, and b ) those people are over-represented among the high-achieving/striver mentality that would have allowed them to get high-level positions regardless of whether they had the extra degree. Instead, use those years to work full-time and advance into higher-level positions; use your extra time to network, build your skill set, keep abreast of your field, etc.; use your money to maintain your financial independence so you can literally take whatever job you want without having to worry how the salary might be a bit too high or the organization might not quite fit the list of accepted ones, etc.
Federal clerkships are not easy to get at CLS (6%) or HLS (19%). You should absolutely not go to law school if you're banking on getting a federal clerkship, unless you're going to Yale (or maybe Stanford). You mentioned clerkship rather than federal clerkship, so a state clerkship should be a more reasonable hope if you go to HLS or CLS (depending on your state).
None of your STEM ties, scholarship stuff, or MPP/MPA degree will boost your law school admission chances in any substantive manner.
Nobody makes partner anymore, so absolutely don't bank on that no matter who you are or where you went to law school.
How would you have eliminated your GU debt so quickly?
If you're really interested in this field, there's a few people on toplawschools.com that do this line of work. They should be able to help you out, and I'm sure they'll tell you to pick either the MPP or the JD. There's a lot of cynical assholes over there that you'll want to avoid, but you'll find good advice if you can find the right people.