Duke Sanford MPP 2020

[Ajo1797]

I have not seen a lot of people talking about Duke Sanford MPP on here. So decided to create this. It would be great if people would comment on the fact that not many people are interested in MPP at Duke even when it is one of the best courses out there. Also it would be great if someone could comment on whether it poses a problem for policy students at Duke to study in a small town and whether that hinders their internship or job prospects in big cities which universities like Georgetown have it a little easy. Not heard good reviews about Georgetown hence it is important for me to know about Duke.

[ludile_gia]

Bumping this post. Have some of the same questions. Also considering both these schools.

[chocolatecheesecake]

This might be too late, but I'm sure others will be curious about these questions too. I graduated from the Duke MPP program in 2016 BC (before COVID-19). IMHO, it does not pose a problem to study in a "small town" and it does not hinder internship or job prospects in big cities.

First, one of the most interesting and fun things about studying in Durham and the Triangle was being able to study a lot of regional issues. There were a lot of non-profit organizations and state or regional government organizations who wanted our help when it came time to select topics for semester-long projects or even our year-long master's project in the second year. It's probably the most prestigious program regarding public policy in the area, so we ended up being the go-to people. I ended up working with the North Carolina Community College System for my master's project and at the end, presented in Raleigh to a room full of state-wide decision-makers who were interested in the question I studied. It's a state with a fast growing population and lots of interesting issues, no matter what you're interested in, so it's a great laboratory for budding policy makers. 

Second, my cohort and I ended up in internships all over the world, many of them in DC, for the summer between our first and second years. We have a great career services team, and they were very instrumental in finding us placements whenever we wanted them. I ended up choosing from four organizations which said yes to me, which was a testament to the great connections they had. (Also, you can hardly throw a rock without hitting a graduate of the Duke MPP program in the area, so if it's more local stuff you want, that's a piece of cake.) When we graduated, a full third of my class went into federal consulting in DC. In great part, it was thanks to the connections we made our first winter, when they took us on a 3-day trip to DC where we met with MPP alumni all over DC. I visited OMB with several classmates and made some great connections there who ended up inviting me for an interview for internships that summer. Even though it didn't work out, it was a good connection to make. 

Great questions to consider, and good luck with making decisions!

[GradSchoolGrad]

On 5/21/2020 at 12:09 AM, chocolatecheesecake said:

This might be too late, but I'm sure others will be curious about these questions too. I graduated from the Duke MPP program in 2016 BC (before COVID-19). IMHO, it does not pose a problem to study in a "small town" and it does not hinder internship or job prospects in big cities.

First, one of the most interesting and fun things about studying in Durham and the Triangle was being able to study a lot of regional issues. There were a lot of non-profit organizations and state or regional government organizations who wanted our help when it came time to select topics for semester-long projects or even our year-long master's project in the second year. It's probably the most prestigious program regarding public policy in the area, so we ended up being the go-to people. I ended up working with the North Carolina Community College System for my master's project and at the end, presented in Raleigh to a room full of state-wide decision-makers who were interested in the question I studied. It's a state with a fast growing population and lots of interesting issues, no matter what you're interested in, so it's a great laboratory for budding policy makers. 

Second, my cohort and I ended up in internships all over the world, many of them in DC, for the summer between our first and second years. We have a great career services team, and they were very instrumental in finding us placements whenever we wanted them. I ended up choosing from four organizations which said yes to me, which was a testament to the great connections they had. (Also, you can hardly throw a rock without hitting a graduate of the Duke MPP program in the area, so if it's more local stuff you want, that's a piece of cake.) When we graduated, a full third of my class went into federal consulting in DC. In great part, it was thanks to the connections we made our first winter, when they took us on a 3-day trip to DC where we met with MPP alumni all over DC. I visited OMB with several classmates and made some great connections there who ended up inviting me for an interview for internships that summer. Even though it didn't work out, it was a good connection to make. 

Great questions to consider, and good luck with making decisions!

I would 100% confirm about the message from @chocolatecheesecake about Duke Sanford MPP from an outsider from another MPP school who has been around the MPP grad/student world a bit --> looking in perspective as well. Granted no school is perfect, I would say Duke Sanford MPP is super well rounded and a great school for anyone that wants career flexibility short of MBB consulting (no dual degree).