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Can any of the current students at Harris speak about private apartment buildings in Hyde Park? Specifically, I'm interested in Regents Park, Twin Towers, Hyde Park Tower, and Windermere House. Has anyone had experience with these places? Do you have other recommendations? The places I listed aren't exactly on campus, but I know there are buses that stop near them. Do the buses run frequently and timely? (Worried about those winter days when I'll be waiting outside.) Thanks for your help!

I'm not sure about government consulting firms or public sector organizations, but for research-oriented think tanks such as Brookings or RAND, the people I've talked to (ie, career services at MPP schools) agree that they prefer PhD students over MPP students. They do hire masters students, but there isn't an upward track for them at these places. You may be able to work for a few years there, but you'll hit a glass ceiling eventually. Perhaps there are exceptions to this, but I think it makes sense because, if you look at the senior-level people working there, most -- if not all -- have PhD's. Some other think tanks are Urban Institute, AEI, and Mathematica. Not sure how they rank, but just a few names to widen your net. (:

xnormajeanx and Stephen33, Thanks for coming back to answer our questions. I am interested in domestic social policy and ultimately plan to go into policy research at a think tank or to pursue a doctoral degree in economics. Are there many students at Harris who choose this path? Do you think Harris will provide good preparation for this? How accessible are professors to students? Do they operate an open-door policy? Are there opportunities for students to be a TA or an RA? What percentage of MPP students obtain these positions? How easy is it to take electives in the economics department? I have an undergraduate degree in econ and am planning to opt out of the core econ/stats courses. The Financial Aid letter mentioned that scholarship amounts can be increased for the second year given "outstanding work". I don't know if you know the answer to this, but would you be able to quantify "outstanding work"? Is it very difficult for students receive additional scholarship aid in their second year? Thanks, again!

Anyone? I can think of a few schools that have a strong focus on social policy, but I'm not sure how they would rank: Ford, GSPP, Harris, and Sanford.

My advice is to look at the people at these organizations where you want to work and see which degrees they have. My guess is that they have PhDs. If you are interested in a research job, then I think a PhD is necessary. But you should find out whether this is true for the specific places you mentioned: the World Bank, IFPRI, and the UN. Another place you can get some insight is from the career services offices at GSPP/SIPA/Georgetown and the school where you would pursue your PhD. Ask them whether graduating students have been successful at obtaining positions at the World Bank, etc. Some schools' advice you may need to take with a grain of salt (they are recruiting you, after all!) but I think most will be honest in their replies.

I feel that there has been a lot of talk on this regarding IR/foreign policy programs. Can anyone rank the MPP programs in terms of domestic social policy? Thank you!

Can I also get in on that PM? Hehe. Sorry for crashing. Thanks for offering to answer our questions!

i voted "Business" and "Research". I've been working at an economic consulting firm for the past few years. So "Business" because it's the private sector, but "Research" for the nature of my job.

Oh - sorry! I didn't mean for my comment to sound that way. I just wanted to clarify because I know people (myself especially!) are anxious.

Yeah. I spoke to Emmett Griffin, so I'm hoping what he told me was accurate.

I called and was told that the decisions had not yet been released from the Scholarship Committee.

I agree as well. There seems to be a part of the admissions process that is completely random. For example, one friend of mine got into Harvard's MPA/ID program but was rejected from Georgetown. Another friend got into WWS but was rejected from HKS. (They applied in different years.)

I don't know anything about LSE's MPA program, but I studied abroad there for year and I loved it. The school has an urban campus because it's smack dab in the middle of the city -- which I loved. With that said, I wasn't too fond of the teaching style. I graduated from a liberal arts college, so I'm used to small classes taught by the professor and professors being available for office hours. At LSE, courses had two sections: a lecture taught by the professor and smaller class sections led by a PhD student. I found that most of my "learning" occurred in the classes, not necessarily the lectures. I was in the economic department, so this may be different for the MPA program. Also of note is that you're going to be in a masters program. I was there as an undergraduate. LSE is a great school in a great location, and academically - I think it can hold its own. Congratulations on getting in!

I emailed Berkeley about that, and this is what they replied: Hopefully, that helps!

rising_star - Yes, you're right. I meant either 700 or a 90th percentile, not that a score of 700 means the 90th percentile. Sorry for the confusion! policy_applicant - Thanks for your help! Some schools don't post statistics, but I found some that do.