mk8410

GradSchoolGrad, Really great advice, I appreciate it. I have a few follow-up Q's: Academia: 1) Top-tier Program - what constitutes a "top-tier" program? You mention Oxford's PhD not being top-tier (which is surprising to me). Where is the line drawn here in terms of top tier vs below that? 1A) Competitiveness - what does it take to get into a top-tier program? If I have a 3.7+ grad GPA, good recs, research, is it still a slim shot? 2) Timeline of Application - as a one-year program, I would only have a summer of grades (and maybe the Fall for Jan deadline applications). I'm guessing that it would probably be better to apply in the year after I graduate from the MPA? If so, what kind of position should I aim for (or can I get) for the application year following the MPA that is advantageous to get into a top tier PhD? Work: 1) Consulting - What kind of consulting opportunities are there out there? At Brown the careers person mentioned that Booz Allen, Deloitte, etc had hired students. Are these really hard to get/and generally go to students with prior experience in these areas? 2) PMF/Boren - i looked into this and it seems hard to parse out what they're looking for (except the obvious in veterans preference etc). Are the exams they administer the most important part? Thanks. I really appreciate the answers.

I got a great scholarship at Brown and am headed there in a month. I was wondering if anyone had experience or advice with which to maximize my career/job search as it is just a one year program. About me - 3.9+ political science at a state school. Decent GPA, 5+ work experience in just a no-name company. I'm looking for anything policy or government-work related. Consulting would be good, even experience as a contractor for a World Bank type organization would be fine with me. I don't have much debt since I have savings from my years of working. I'm mainly aiming to gain more "big" organization/company experience, ideally related to policy. Finally, (forgive me for being a little open ended) but academia is something I'm kind of considering. Any advice would give me a sense of the landscape ahead of me: In the off-chance anyone knows anything about how hard/easy it is to go from an MPA to a poli/sci or IR PhD from non-top tier policy program like Brown (but which might have some pull in academia due to its overall reputation), this would help me a lot in thinking about whether its even worth considering.