devpolicy

Yes, it applies equally for the MPPs. The curriculum for MPPs at say SIPA and the Masters in IR program at Columbia do not vary that widely. Also, if you took undergraduate economic courses, those are basically comparable with what you'll learn quant wise at most top MPP programs. The biggest benefit is that you'll get the chance to learn some programming languages, capitalize on those opportunities. Harris is a good program--which is what I assume you're talking about, if relatively young (which can hurt you from a networking standpoint). They're very good at conflict work in developing settings, but not sure how strong their other stuff in IR is.

Hola2288--If you do have a fancy UG degree, speak several languages, and have worked in D.C., you should have a real-life network that knows you personally that can likely give you better answers than what you read on this board. Yes, what people have written above is good advice in general, but it's always best to get tailored advice from people you trust. Anyways, serious success in IR is all about the grind. Look at the people you admire and check out their resumes--especially their earliest positions. Model yourselves after these career paths, within reason.

Tairos -- Exactly what I'll be asking during the admitted students' weekends

Y'all, can anyone share what the "housing email" people are talking about on the survey said? Here's the tweet from Blattman: It's obviously from 10 days ago, but I don't think it gives us much information because we don't have any clue whether A. He isn't on the AdCom this year and is reading the International Dev applications only (100 doesn't seem like that many to me, so it could be the case) or B. He is on the AdCom and is sifting through a first cut of all of them. If it's A. The process could be much further along then we thought B. Then we've obviously got a lot more time to kill.

Nico--Feel free to reach out via PM. Gradcafe can be a hopelessly depressing place with a warped perspective at times, but based on the schools you've applied to in your bio (GW & AU) I think you'll be alright. The dirty secret of D.C. is that people from these programs in the district (even from undergrad!) go on to have amazing careers because they're able to intern downtown every semester and work their way up the D.C. career ladder. It's not for everyone, but it's 100% doable. The only real upside to these top 3 IR prestige programs (since the material you're learning is not that different elsewhere) is being able to network with your peers, many who will go on to do amazing things. Addendum: I didn't even mention in my original post the possibility of lobbying positions which absolutely abound in D.C. (and pay well, and you get to do cool things too). Honestly, if you can't find some form of employment in D.C. after a year of hard grafting, you're doing something wrong.

Anonymity is a crazy thing. I'm sorry that happened to you, but without substantial context, your story just seems a little far fetched. If you went to one of the top private schools in the Northeast and a top 3 IR school, landing a private sector gig or even a position at a non-profit is not that incredibly difficult. Is getting a job in the conduct and formulation of foreign policy itself extremely hard, yeah. But being forced to go to Latin America to dodge debt is quite something. I have no dog in this fight--I'm not applying to the IR Masters programs, but it's a bit annoying to see stories like this written ad nauseum on this board. There's certainly some response bias for those who post their stories, so keep that in mind while reading everything you see here. All who are applying--keep your eyes wide open. If you want to be successful and get a good job in D.C. (or Geneva or wherever) after your degree, that process has to start while you're in undergrad or before you go to grad school. Make those connections early, they'll be invaluable later on.

Absolutely nothing--At this point I think I may two-step verification all of my personal email accounts and turn my phone off...

Fair enough, good luck!

Congrats on GMU! Re: Duke, I don't see anyone that has posted (official) wait-lists or rejections yet. In past years, rejections were sent out a week after acceptances. I haven't heard back either way so at this point I'm assuming a rejection--would love to be wrong though!

Hey all, I know there hasn't been a post on this thread for a little bit, so I thought I'd share a little bit about where I am at the moment for both future and current applicants to have some better insight on the application process. I applied to 5 schools which I thought were a good fit for doing International Development specific research: Duke Sanford, UNC Chapel Hill, Pardee Rand, NYU Wagner, and U Chicago. I heard back from a professor at UNC Chapel Hill on January 12th letting me know I was unofficially admitted, and I received official notification from the Dean of the Graduate School (via the online portal) that I was admitted on January 24th. I had a call with the professor who emailed me on January 15th where they told me that the department lets in a few of its top candidates early so that they can put them up for consideration for a graduate school wide scholarship, with decisions on the scholarship made by mid-February. I don't think they're done accepting applicants. I got an email interview request for Duke on January 24th, and did a Skype interview with two professors from the Sanford School on January 25th. During the interview, they told me that they would get back to me with a decision in a couple of weeks. I haven't heard back from them since then. I know a few people have asked about interviews for Duke on the survey part of gradcafe, so I thought I would add my two cents here. I did not post my interview on the survey, but I know a few others have. Additionally, like a few people on this thread, I got an alumni interview request from RAND on January 17th, and met with an alumni in my area on January 21st. RAND said decisions would be released on/by February 23rd. I have yet to hear anything from NYU Wagner or U Chicago. I know that the PhD application process for Public Policy is exceedingly opaque (especially because we have so few data points on gradcafe likely due to a smaller applicant pool than say Political Science, coupled with response bias). Happy to share more about myself and why I applied to these programs over PM!

I wouldn't know to be honest, it could be a location thing as I'm based on the East Coast currently. If you did the RAND "pre-application" you probably already got an email from her/if you went to the information sessions she was there as well. Regardless, that's only good news. Good luck!

Yes, though it's just with an alumni. I've already been contacted by a RAND alumni in my area and we've set up a time to talk. I would worry too much about it though!

Hey all--now that people have started hearing back from schools, I thought I'd start this thread to get other's input on a question I haven't seen answered recently. Basically, what do you think the top Public Policy PhD programs are out there for those doing international development type research (of a more economic bent, as opposed to global health or conflict studies). I'm interested to hear what others have to say as I ultimately narrowed down the schools I applied to to--U Chicago Harris, NYU Wagner, Pardee RAND, Duke Sanford, and UNC Chapel Hill. I've already heard back from UNC and spoke with a potential advisor at the school there that spoke strongly about UNC's Carolina Population Center, but I'm interested to see if anyone has any additional perspective about the strengths of NYU, RAND, and Duke in particular. Additionally, I know Harris has very strong faculty, but I'm a bit concerned that a lot of them are mostly focused on violence/conflict (i.e. Blattman). Any insight anyone has on this topic would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!