NYU Wagner Professional Experience Requirement

[Cali124]

I just got accepted to Wagner MPA - Non profit management. The offer letter said I would have to fulfill their professional experience requirement, which is like 240 hours throughout your time at Wagner. The website says students would have to fulfill this if they don't have at least 2 years of related professional experience. I've been working for the past 5 years (not for the same org) in nonprofits/public sector (education research, city department, teaching, etc.). What I want to know is that exactly what professional experience are they looking for? Also, is it difficult to fulfill this requirement (ease of finding a job/internship and workload-wise)? Whatever the internship or job, it would have to be approved by the school and I'm thinking the types of positions for an MPA student would be unpaid internships (I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but given that I'd have to fulfill this requirement I would probably be more pressured to take anything - and the choices are probably more limited to folks who have to do this).

Thoughts? Anyone care to share their professional experience who does or does not have to fulfill this requirement? Current students who are fulfilling this requirement are welcome to comment as well!

[grad2]

I just got accepted to Wagner MPA - Non profit management. The offer letter said I would have to fulfill their professional experience requirement, which is like 240 hours throughout your time at Wagner. The website says students would have to fulfill this if they don't have at least 2 years of related professional experience. I've been working for the past 5 years (not for the same org) in nonprofits/public sector (education research, city department, teaching, etc.). What I want to know is that exactly what professional experience are they looking for? Also, is it difficult to fulfill this requirement (ease of finding a job/internship and workload-wise)? Whatever the internship or job, it would have to be approved by the school and I'm thinking the types of positions for an MPA student would be unpaid internships (I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but given that I'd have to fulfill this requirement I would probably be more pressured to take anything - and the choices are probably more limited to folks who have to do this).

Thoughts? Anyone care to share their professional experience who does or does not have to fulfill this requirement? Current students who are fulfilling this requirement are welcome to comment as well!

I am in the same boat. Got accepted but have to fulfill the PER. I have close to 7 years non-profit exp. I am very disappointed that this is the case. The only question is that in the acceptance letter it says that you have to get the 240 hours in order to take the capstone course. I was not sure if capstone is a requisite course though. In any event, would like to hear other people's exp in this regard

[coaks]

I am in the same boat. Got accepted but have to fulfill the PER. I have close to 7 years non-profit exp. I am very disappointed that this is the case. The only question is that in the acceptance letter it says that you have to get the 240 hours in order to take the capstone course. I was not sure if capstone is a requisite course though. In any event, would like to hear other people's exp in this regard

Got the same thing but I assumed that this would be covered by the internship between years 1 & 2. Is that 240 hours above and beyond? Like, for example, during the school year?

I'm sure a lot of people will have questions about it at the admitted students thing on Fri. April 9, so I'll be sure to listen up when they address it.

[Cali124]

Got the same thing but I assumed that this would be covered by the internship between years 1 & 2. Is that 240 hours above and beyond? Like, for example, during the school year?

I'm sure a lot of people will have questions about it at the admitted students thing on Fri. April 9, so I'll be sure to listen up when they address it.

I won't be able to attend Admit day April 9, but I will be in NY another time so I'm trying to see if I can sit in on some classes. Please share what they say in regards to the PER on Admit day. I wrote an email to the admissions folks asking about this too so I'll post what they say.

[Cali124]

I received a very nice email back from admissions: Basically they said because my specialization is in international development, the admissions review committee decided that I didn't have enough related experience at the time of my application, despite work experience in nonprofit work.

She also went on to say that students complete this during the spring or summer semester before the second Fall semester, since you must complete it before Capstone and that's typically when full-time, fall-start students register for Capstone.

[coaks]

Cool. So it's definitely just the standard internship requirement for other schools but Wagner wants to be sure it's with an organization that helps you do what you said you want to do.

Thanks cali124!

And I will let you know anything interesting that happens on admit day. If you have any specific questions that you want me to ask for you, let me know. I will even see if I can record the audio of any sessions with faculty for you (something Ford school does for students that can't make it). No promises though since my sound quality on my phone isn't always the best.

[Cali124]

Cool. So it's definitely just the standard internship requirement for other schools but Wagner wants to be sure it's with an organization that helps you do what you said you want to do.

Thanks cali124!

And I will let you know anything interesting that happens on admit day. If you have any specific questions that you want me to ask for you, let me know. I will even see if I can record the audio of any sessions with faculty for you (something Ford school does for students that can't make it). No promises though since my sound quality on my phone isn't always the best.

That would be great if you could give me a recap of admit day! I don't think they have an agenda posted yet so I don't know what kind of stuff they'll cover....but here's what I'd like to know (off the top of my head)

- What the networking opportunities are or the strength of the alumni network.

- I would ask current students what their thought processes were before they decided to attend Wagner; what other schools were they deciding between and what tipped the scale for them.

- What current students like the best and least about the program.

- Opportunity for TA positions even if you haven't been offered any at admission

- Criteria/likelihood for 2nd year funding

- If you happen to talk to any current students who are in the International Development specialization, ask them what they think of the program and what are their job prospects for after graduation?

Totally off the top of my head I swear! Of course you don't have to ask any of these but I definitely appreciate your offer. Thanks Coakleym!

[grad2]

That would be great if you could give me a recap of admit day! I don't think they have an agenda posted yet so I don't know what kind of stuff they'll cover....but here's what I'd like to know (off the top of my head)

- What the networking opportunities are or the strength of the alumni network.

- I would ask current students what their thought processes were before they decided to attend Wagner; what other schools were they deciding between and what tipped the scale for them.

- What current students like the best and least about the program.

- Opportunity for TA positions even if you haven't been offered any at admission

- Criteria/likelihood for 2nd year funding

- If you happen to talk to any current students who are in the International Development specialization, ask them what they think of the program and what are their job prospects for after graduation?

Totally off the top of my head I swear! Of course you don't have to ask any of these but I definitely appreciate your offer. Thanks Coakleym!

Hi Cali124,

I am planning on going to the admit day. I actually have a similar list of questions so I will be sure to report back what I hear.

On another note, I am also interested in the international development/ organization track. I was accepted to SIPA's MIA program as well. I am really undecided between Wagner and SIPA. I like Wagner as I heard faculties are more accessible but I don't know whether a MPA will adequately prepare me for the intl work I am interested in pursuing or not.

[pea-jay]

Cool. So it's definitely just the standard internship requirement for other schools but Wagner wants to be sure it's with an organization that helps you do what you said you want to do.

Thanks cali124!

And I will let you know anything interesting that happens on admit day. If you have any specific questions that you want me to ask for you, let me know. I will even see if I can record the audio of any sessions with faculty for you (something Ford school does for students that can't make it). No promises though since my sound quality on my phone isn't always the best.

That would be cool if you could post that here. There's no way I'm making visiting day.

[Cali124]

Hi Cali124,

I am planning on going to the admit day. I actually have a similar list of questions so I will be sure to report back what I hear.

On another note, I am also interested in the international development/ organization track. I was accepted to SIPA's MIA program as well. I am really undecided between Wagner and SIPA. I like Wagner as I heard faculties are more accessible but I don't know whether a MPA will adequately prepare me for the intl work I am interested in pursuing or not.

I was accepted to SIPA as well, but in their MPA program in the economic and political development track. I'm interested in international work as well but I felt that I was more interested in organizational management and program implementation. That would be great if you could recap your experience at Admit day as well --the more perspectives the better. I will be attending the SIPA admit day on the 13th so we should compare notes.

[grad2]

I was accepted to SIPA as well, but in their MPA program in the economic and political development track. I'm interested in international work as well but I felt that I was more interested in organizational management and program implementation. That would be great if you could recap your experience at Admit day as well --the more perspectives the better. I will be attending the SIPA admit day on the 13th so we should compare notes.

Sounds good!

[Cali124]

Anyone who attended Wagner's admit day care to share their experience and perspectives? Thanks!

[coaks]

Cali124, very sorry I didn't get back sooner with more info! I hope that you have time to make your decision. I'll check my notes (I took a lot of them with the intention of sharing) later tonight but until then, here's what I have:

I personally attended both the Wagner admit day and Ford's admit day in Michigan and while I was impressed by the students/faculty/staff at both, those at Wagner were much more dynamic. Seeing both groups basically flipped me entirely. I had been assuming I would attend Ford but changed my mind last weekend to Wagner and sent in my deposit mid-week. Talking to some current students, the Wagner community's diversity of backgrounds/goals seemed to be one of the big factors in making their decision.

The students attending the admit day at Wagner seemed to not only come from a wider array of backgrounds and experiences they also had a more interesting set of goals. From the guy that had been a firefighter for the past five years and wanted to change the way the FDNY operated top to bottom to the many that were looking to expand the non-profits that they helped out (or started) to the few that had been doing CBA for government agencies down in DC and wanted to round themselves out, they all seemed like they could offer a ton in a classroom setting.

Also, we met a few different faculty members. I personally was excited to see a balance of backgrounds -- there were many Wagner faculty members with PhDs from top academic programs (Berkeley Econ, Harvard Political Economy) but also a number with PhD's from top business schools (like Stanford GSB, MIT Sloan). The coursework, if you want it to be, can be a great balance. After speaking to a few of the professors, I wasn't concerned about being able to pursue a more analytically/statistically rigorous course of study. They said the options were there formally as well as informally (additional reading/research assignments could be arranged for those that wanted to be more quantitatively heavy).

In terms of networking, etc. it seemed very strong, especially in the non-profit/public world of NY. Before I went to admit day, I had the perception that NYU Wagner admits work only in NYC public positions, which seems to not necessarily be the case. The large number that stay in the NY area seem to stay in large part because they want to stay close to NY. NYC has the largest concentration of non-profits of anywhere in the world and many current students noted this was a huge plus in terms of networking/interning while in school and over the summer. While it's always hard to compare hard numbers between programs, the network does extend into other parts of the country as well as the federal government and the private consulting world. Obviously getting an MPA from Wagner isn't the same as getting a degree from HKS, but the opportunities are there -- especially in a place like NYC where you can find anything you're looking for right there (unless you're specifically pursuing something federal, in which case the Washington DC chapter of the Wagner alumni network was called out as being quite active).

I believe your question about working during the time at school was raised from a little different angle. There are TA positions but the career staff seemed to want to encourage students to pursue paid internships with organizations outside the school to build their network. In fact, at one point, a student who will go PT asked if that would put her at a disadvantage, and the staff member fielding the question said it would put her at an unqualified advantage. He also said, "if I had my druthers, all students would be working" at least a few hours a week to put the concepts and technique to use in the real world.

There wasn't much discussed about funding in the second year, other than it's available for top performing students but, again, if you can pursue and obtain a paid internship position a day or two a week, that's encouraged. The alumni panel was asked about their loans. They were pretty honest, saying that the loan payments are definitely a non-trivial amount, encouraging future students to be prudent if possible (live in the outer boroughs rather than the village). But none of them were having problems paying back their loans (one student even had to do it all on loans and didn't claim it was a big issue for him at the moment -- he had just bought a house and he was paying the student loans and the mortgage payment with no real difficulty).

Hopefully grad2 can answer your questions about international stuff because I didn't ask them after s/he offered to share some info. What I do know is that Wagner facilitates summer study courses between the first and second year in Africa, Europe, Asia and/or South/Central America depending on the year (usually a couple of weeks in June-July). They also arrange for students attending these classes to get an internship with an international NGO in that country for the duration of the summer, rather than having to interrupt their domestic internship to travel abroad.

Hope this helped!

Edited April 19, 2010 by coakleym

[Cali124]

Thanks for the detailed recap! I heard from some other folks that it was quite an inspiring day...that the speakers were really good. I'm disappointed that I missed it...especially because I think it would have had an effect on my decision. I'm not sure if it would have swayed it completely but I was able to attend 2 other schools' admit days and they definitely gave me more of an informed decision. I really like the fact that Wagner pushes its students to work while you're in school so that you can actually apply what you learn at the same time. However, my interest lies in international development and it seems like the program focuses a lot on local (NYC) governments and nonprofits. I just declined Wagner's offer and I'm a little sad about it but I think it's for the best.

[grad2]

Thanks for the detailed recap! I heard from some other folks that it was quite an inspiring day...that the speakers were really good. I'm disappointed that I missed it...especially because I think it would have had an effect on my decision. I'm not sure if it would have swayed it completely but I was able to attend 2 other schools' admit days and they definitely gave me more of an informed decision. I really like the fact that Wagner pushes its students to work while you're in school so that you can actually apply what you learn at the same time. However, my interest lies in international development and it seems like the program focuses a lot on local (NYC) governments and nonprofits. I just declined Wagner's offer and I'm a little sad about it but I think it's for the best.

Hi Cali124,

Sorry for the delay in posting my notes from Wagner Admit student day. I got quite sick the past week (maybe all the vacillation between Wagner and SIPA is weighing on me) Coakelym had an excellent recap on the whole day's event. Likewise, I felt Wagner is real dynamic both students and faculty. In terms of International Development, I do like John Gershman (sp?) I think he would be a fantastic teacher. However, I have to say that although Wagner has put a lot of resources and efforts in developing its international track, its course offering and faculty are not at par with school like SIPA. So I think if you are very sure about going to Intl Development, you made a right decision to pass Wagner. Which program did you decide on, if you don't mind sharing?

[Cali124]

Hi Cali124,

Sorry for the delay in posting my notes from Wagner Admit student day. I got quite sick the past week (maybe all the vacillation between Wagner and SIPA is weighing on me) Coakelym had an excellent recap on the whole day's event. Likewise, I felt Wagner is real dynamic both students and faculty. In terms of International Development, I do like John Gershman (sp?) I think he would be a fantastic teacher. However, I have to say that although Wagner has put a lot of resources and efforts in developing its international track, its course offering and faculty are not at par with school like SIPA. So I think if you are very sure about going to Intl Development, you made a right decision to pass Wagner. Which program did you decide on, if you don't mind sharing?

I just accepted to go to SIPA. what did you decide?

[grad2]

I just accepted to go to SIPA. what did you decide?

I have to defer at least half semester b/c family medical emergency. but i am leaning towards sipa. i am also interested in switching to mpa but it seems that requires a new application. do mpa and mia have the same core courses? i have to take a closer a look at the curriculum.

If I decide on SIPA, we should try to connect there.

[Cali124]

I have to defer at least half semester b/c family medical emergency. but i am leaning towards sipa. i am also interested in switching to mpa but it seems that requires a new application. do mpa and mia have the same core courses? i have to take a closer a look at the curriculum.

If I decide on SIPA, we should try to connect there.

The core courses for the MIA and MPA are nearly identical - that's mostly why I chose the MPA; I figured it would appear more "managerial" on my resume but still have the international focus. I think the only course that's different is the Politics of Policymaking (MPA) vs. the Foundations of International Politics (MIA).

Good luck with everything. See you at SIPA if you decide to attend.

[grad2]

The core courses for the MIA and MPA are nearly identical - that's mostly why I chose the MPA; I figured it would appear more "managerial" on my resume but still have the international focus. I think the only course that's different is the Politics of Policymaking (MPA) vs. the Foundations of International Politics (MIA).

Good luck with everything. See you at SIPA if you decide to attend.

Thanks. I definitely prefer SIPA's course offerings to those of Wagner. I think I am just still a bit nervous about the cost and debts. Also I got a feeling that it might be quite competative among fellow students in SIPA because of the situation with the 2nd year fellowship. That's not such a biggie but wish it does not have to be that way in grad school. Have you decided on Concentration and/or specilatization?

[Cali124]

I'm also a little worried about the competitiveness for fellowships and internships, but I think it's like that with a lot of schools. The cost is pretty daunting but I just have to keep reminding myself that it's an investment in me and this is a great opportunity.

I'm probably going to be in the economic and political development concentration and I haven't decided on the specialization yet.

[ac546]

I was thinking of applying for Fall 2011 to these programs. If anyone wouldn't mind giving their stats (undergrad GPA, GRE scores, and/or years of experience), I would greatly appreciate it so I could evaluate my own chances of getting accepted.

Thanks so much!

I'm also a little worried about the competitiveness for fellowships and internships, but I think it's like that with a lot of schools. The cost is pretty daunting but I just have to keep reminding myself that it's an investment in me and this is a great opportunity.

I'm probably going to be in the economic and political development concentration and I haven't decided on the specialization yet.

[CC139]

I was thinking of applying for Fall 2011 to these programs. If anyone wouldn't mind giving their stats (undergrad GPA, GRE scores, and/or years of experience), I would greatly appreciate it so I could evaluate my own chances of getting accepted.

Thanks so much!

I applied to Wagner for fall '11 (submitted on Jan 4). I am an international applicant with research experience on public policy (9 months) and experience as a project manager at the federal government in my country (almost 2 years). I have a BA in Politics and Public Administraiton, my undergrad GPA is 93 out of 100, GRE is 600Q, 680V, 4.0 AW.

I have not heard anything yet, tho'.