UCLA MPP

[miga2010]

Did anyone apply to UCLA's MPP program? I received their acceptance packet today, along with a fellowship. I've heard mixed reviews (mostly here) and was wondering if anyone is seriously considering attending? Thoughts?

[PolicyGuy101]

Did anyone apply to UCLA's MPP program? I received their acceptance packet today, along with a fellowship. I've heard mixed reviews (mostly here) and was wondering if anyone is seriously considering attending? Thoughts?

I also applied to UCLA's MPP program -- it's very quantitative oriented (like most public policy degrees), but you are also able to access great practical experience. UCLA is in a great location, in one of the most vibrant cities; there are many great departments on campus from which you can take courses.

In the end, education is what you make of it -- you're not going to be anointed with brilliance or prestige because you attend X school. I think many folks on this board have a bias based on what they hear, an ego they want to maintain, or what arbitrary rankings tell them to believe -- the ultimate choice should be made by you based on the faculty available, funding, location, and other other factors personal to you. But UCLA is def a great opportunity, so congratulations!

I'm yet to hear from them -- did they call or email before you received your package?

What other schools are you also considering?

[miga2010]

I also applied to UCLA's MPP program -- it's very quantitative oriented (like most public policy degrees), but you are also able to access great practical experience. UCLA is in a great location, in one of the most vibrant cities; there are many great departments on campus from which you can take courses.

In the end, education is what you make of it -- you're not going to be anointed with brilliance or prestige because you attend X school. I think many folks on this board have a bias based on what they hear, an ego they want to maintain, or what arbitrary rankings tell them to believe -- the ultimate choice should be made by you based on the faculty available, funding, location, and other other factors personal to you. But UCLA is def a great opportunity, so congratulations!

I'm yet to hear from them -- did they call or email before you received your package?

What other schools are you also considering?

Hi PolicyGuy. You're totally right, and I appreciate your feedback. Notification came via mail on 3/4 (despite the Admissions Office stating notification would be sent via email first). I did speak to them today, and they mentioned some are receiving emails first, then packets; or vice versa (as in my case).

I'm very fortunate that they are offering me a full fellowship for the first year. As a LA native, I'm primarily looking at UCLA and USC (USC is offering 1/2 tuition - so UCLA wins in the funding department), but I also applied to GSPP and KSG.

Where else did you apply? Good luck!

Edited March 5, 2010 by miga2010

[yogurtlover]

Hi. i got accepted into ucla yesterday w/o any funding, mostly because my gre score was terrible lol (lets not talk about it please--but my gpa is very high, probably 95 percentile). I am also a LA native and i am a current student there, but i was accepted at cornell with 70% tuition funding, so i don tknow, the decision is a tough one. They are technically the same price for me (since ucla is a public school and cornell is private but cornell gave me some money so it equalizes it). From experience, i can tell you that the MPP program at ucla is a solid one academically speaking but one of the things that i hate about ucla is the fact that their career service office is pretty much non existent--well, did i say pretty much? I really meant it doesnt exist haha! They also charge students a fee to use their service, which sucks. Another thing that i am not too thrilled about is the fact that the ucla name is regional, meanign that on the west coast is carries a lot of weight but when you go east, i dont think people care as much. I feel like ucla is the type of school that you kinda just do your own thing and the school pretty much doesnt care about you--that has been my experience so far as a undergrad. I love the people i have met, but i dont feel much solidarity. I dont know, maybe i just like being babysat but thats just me. Its all about preference.

[violet van]

Hi all! I am new to this forum--and yes, I received an acceptance packet yesterday. I am considering whether I should go for it or not. I graduated in June 2009, and am working at a average-paid job. I am concerned because I don't have a lot of work experience (in terms of years) and I had such a hard time getting a job last year (especially because I am an international student). I called the Assistant Director earlier and asked her whether I could defer, but she said I won't be guranteed a place in Fall 2011 (even though it's very likely that they will admit me again) if I decide to defer. My job is pretty stable, but there aren't much room for promotion/pay raise. So what do you all think?

Can someone briefly summarize others' reviews (good or bad) of the UCLA MPP program? Thanks a lot!=)

[Bonzai]

I likewise got accepted into the MPP program. My biggest dilemma is whether to attend UCLA or UCSD (I also got into the Master of Pacific and International Affairs program). I plan on focusing on international relations no matter what (UCLA's program has an international track).

I am also concerned about the quality of UCLA's program. I want to make sure I am not making a mistake if I pick it. In addition, the fact that I will have to do so much math is daunting.

[stewster28]

Congrats on your acceptances!

Should I be concerned that I haven't heard from UCLA yet? Do you have any sense whether all the acceptances have been sent? I've pretty much decided on USC (full scholarship!), but I'm curious to know about UCLA.

[Liquid Kitty]

Stewster... I'm in the same boat. I haven't heard back from UCLA yet, but I got a full tuition scholarship from USC SPPD. I kind of doubt that multiple full-scholarship winners at USC would fail gain admission to UCLA, so my guess is that not all acceptances have been sent out yet.

[ajorgens]

Stewster... I'm in the same boat. I haven't heard back from UCLA yet, but I got a full tuition scholarship from USC SPPD. I kind of doubt that multiple full-scholarship winners at USC would fail gain admission to UCLA, so my guess is that not all acceptances have been sent out yet.

Haha, I'm in the exact same spot as you two. I got into USC's MPA with full tuition, but have yet to hear back from UCLA. I did get my application in close to the deadline, but I doubt that has any effect since they don't do rolling admissions.

[stilesg57]

For you So-Cal peeps who applied to a couple schools in the area (UCLA, UCSD, USC, etc.), I'd STRONGLY advise shopping career centers as much as programs. It's something I didn't prioritize as much as I should have when I was making my decision last year, and frankly I just got lucky. All of these top-tier policy programs are excellent academically, but its the career center that's going to get you a great job.

FWIW I shopped UCLA and UCSD very hard last year after being accepted to both. I turned down UCLA due to living costs basically washing out the scholarship they offered and turned down UCSD because I decided the IR wasn't the degree for me. If I had known then what I do now, I would've shopped career services MUCH harder.

[yogurtlover]

FWIW I shopped UCLA and UCSD very hard last year after being accepted to both. I turned down UCLA due to living costs basically washing out the scholarship they offered and turned down UCSD because I decided the IR wasn't the degree for me. If I had known then what I do now, I would've shopped career services MUCH harder.

I find your statement really informative and its something that I have known about UCLA for a very long time. If you read a couple of posts up, i am a current ucla student and just got recently accepted at the mpp program, and UCLA practically has no career service center--well, they do, but its practically worthless. I am just wondering about what you said: "if i had known then what i do now," well, what do you know now? lol is duke not providing you with a proper amount of social capital? Do you feel that ucla is worthless in terms of career services? speak up! haha

[Putoots]

Hello all,

I received my acceptance packet last week and am seriously considering UCLA (I live in Los Angeles).

I applied to UCLA because their M.P.P. program, though smaller than many, is pretty well-respected and has an international policy concentration that is more robust than others (Ford and GPPI also look very strong). Having graduated from a large UC, I would say that for undergraduates outside of engineering and business, career help is slim-to-none. I do not know if this is necessarily true for graduate students.

A large part of getting help will undoubtedly come from Professors and other faculty. If you can effectively utilize these resources, I believe you have a good chance at finding avenues for placement/employment.

Of course, if you are looking for a vast, built-in network (the Trojan and Georgetown networks come to mind), you may want consider those schools.

[yogurtlover]

A large part of getting help will undoubtedly come from Professors and other faculty. If you can effectively utilize these resources, I believe you have a good chance at finding avenues for placement/employment.

im sorry but thats a straight up lie. professors are too busy with their research work to care. Moreover, a lot of professors in ucla's public policy department are professors from sociology, polisci, econ, etc, (trust me, i know--i am a student there) so they wont exactly know how to help you find a job lol.

Edited March 10, 2010 by yogurtlover

[ajorgens]

Welp, I got my admissions packet today from the Department of Public Policy, so it looks they're probably sending another wave of decisions. No uni scholarships or fellowships, but there's always the chance to be a TA/RA (which I'm sure they tell everyone about). Still glad I got accepted, though. Good luck to everyone who hasn't heard back yet.

[stilesg57]

I am just wondering about what you said: "if i had known then what i do now," well, what do you know now? lol is duke not providing you with a proper amount of social capital? Do you feel that ucla is worthless in terms of career services? speak up! haha

My point was this: I didn't really consider career resources very carefully when I was choosing a program. Though its worked out splendidly with Duke having such a strong career center, I could've easily ended up in a place that didn't. Now that I know how important it is, I would've spent more time shopping career services last year than I did. A lot more.

That said, Duke's career services are ridiculously on top of their game. Coming from an undergrad with virtually no career services, I'm frankly shocked. The career center is almost another class here - required workshops and progress reports and so forth. They're always keeping tabs on you and helping you out. Again, all very new to me and VERY nice.

I don't want to rip on UCLA's career services since I'm not a student there (and have never been one), but I didn't come away very confident when I spoke to them over email last year and I haven't heard many nice things said about it since. Make sure you check it out very carefully and get details. Good luck with your decision!

[Putoots]

Welp, I got my admissions packet today from the Department of Public Policy, so it looks they're probably sending another wave of decisions. No uni scholarships or fellowships, but there's always the chance to be a TA/RA (which I'm sure they tell everyone about). Still glad I got accepted, though. Good luck to everyone who hasn't heard back yet.

Congratulations! What is your planned area of concentration?

[ajorgens]

Congratulations! What is your planned area of concentration?

Thanks. I'd really like to focus on Urban Policy, but I could also see myself doing a concentration in poverty studies or nonprofits. One of the main reasons I applied to both UCLA and USC was because of the excellent research opportunities in LA for urban policy. I'll probably end up taking courses from a lot of different areas whichever school I go to. I like UCLA's curriculum a lot and am glad I have the option of an MPP along with MPAs offered at the other schools I applied to, but I think it's probably going to come down to funding and it looks like USC wins out in that area.

[TKO]

My point was this: I didn't really consider career resources very carefully when I was choosing a program. Though its worked out splendidly with Duke having such a strong career center, I could've easily ended up in a place that didn't. Now that I know how important it is, I would've spent more time shopping career services last year than I did. A lot more.

That said, Duke's career services are ridiculously on top of their game. Coming from an undergrad with virtually no career services, I'm frankly shocked. The career center is almost another class here - required workshops and progress reports and so forth. They're always keeping tabs on you and helping you out. Again, all very new to me and VERY nice.

I don't want to rip on UCLA's career services since I'm not a student there (and have never been one), but I didn't come away very confident when I spoke to them over email last year and I haven't heard many nice things said about it since. Make sure you check it out very carefully and get details. Good luck with your decision!

I just looked into this and Sherry Dodge is the new Director of Career Services. Based on personal experience, I think you'll be in good hands. She is fantastic! I was a undergraduate minor in public affairs for a while. She's been a counselor in the department for 4 years or so prior to her current position. The professors are top notch and accessible. They certainly have lots of connections outside of academia. If you're by any chance interested in national security policy, former UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale teaches once or twice a year. So does Amy Zegart. They are the best of the best if that's the field you want to pursue. The same goes for criminal justice policy (Mark Kleiman). Michael Dukakis (hope I spell this right lol) teaches at UCLA every winter. Personally, I didn't apply to UCLA because I want a change of scenery (which happens to be USC), but not because of the program. You should really visit the campus though! It's right next to the sculpture garden, which is gorgeous. The SPA building on the other hand...

[yogurtlover]

The SPA building on the other hand...

lol yeah, i have a class there right now and that thing is built in the 70s, hasnt been remodeled since.

[Bonzai]

I just received my official notification from Grad Division, so I can accept UCLA's offer at any time. My concentration would be international relations (probably learn a language as well). Still debating whether or not to accept UCSD's offer though. Decisions, decisions...

[zodr]

Hi all,

Congrats to those that got in. I am on the waitlist for the MPP program at UCLA. We'll see how that goes.

[yogurtlover]

I am on the waitlist for the MPP program at UCLA. We'll see how that goes.

you'll get in. im going to give my spot away this week, i think, since i think i am going to decide on cornell.

edit: good luck

Edited March 11, 2010 by yogurtlover

[uclampp]

As a current student in the program I am willing to answer specific questions here or via private message.

Best of luck as you make your decisions!

[jabenjam]

Hey everyone---I'm actually interested in applying to the Public Policy MA at UCLA (conc. in Education Policy). I was wondering, what did you guys do to get accepted? what was your gpa/major/gre score/internships/jobs, etc? I'm a 4th year anthro major from UCSD who JUST got interested in the field and I'm trying to see if I'm a legit candidate when I apply this Fall. thanks for the help. also, you can pm me if you dont wanna reveal all that info on the board

[Putoots]

^ I sent you a PM. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Also, for other people considering UCLA (is there anyone left on these boards interested in this program?) -- are you going to the Welcome Day on the 12th?