Carleton's MPPA vs University of Ottawa GSPIA

[Endzone98]

Hey everyone, 

I have been admitted into the Graduate school of public and international affairs at Uottawa, and the Masters in Public Policy and Public Administration at Carleton University. I am not exactly sure which school offers better job placement (heard carleton might be stronger with COOP), and also how reputation plays a factor. I personally am interested in International Affairs, but after hearing that Uottawa has a french requirement for one of its courses and that only the top 20% of the class gets a COOP placement, it has really made me rethink what is the best choice moving forward. I aspire to work for GAC or an NGO so i'm not sure if having an MPPA will help me or not! Any advice?

[av13]

Hey I have the same conundrum. I have received offers from both MPPA at Carleton and Public and International Affairs at the U of Ottawa. So far my research has found U of Ottawa to have a better overall reputation, but Carleton seems to have a really good Public Affairs program. Also, I didn't know that only 20% of U of Ottawa's student get a coop placement. Is that really true ? Have you made your decision? Any insights will be appreciated.

Thanks! 

[BTF]

To the above two posters, Carleton's MPPA has a better reputation and coop placements than UOttawa (MPPA has above a 90% placement rate). However, if you are interested in International Affairs, you will not get that education in Carleton's MPPA, you should have applied to NPSIA. Well, you could take NPSIA electives I guess.

Can you achieve your goal of working for GAC or an NGO? Of course, I am in the MPPA program and we have access to plenty of GAC coop jobs. If your goal is work in the federal government you should do the MPPA. If you goal is anything else, do not do the MPPA.

Feel free to message me, also, your posts are better served in the government affairs forum page, not social sciences.

https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/11-government-affairs/

[Paulcg87]

10 hours ago, BTF said:

To the above two posters, Carleton's MPPA has a better reputation and coop placements than UOttawa (MPPA has above a 90% placement rate). However, if you are interested in International Affairs, you will not get that education in Carleton's MPPA, you should have applied to NPSIA. Well, you could take NPSIA electives I guess.

Can you achieve your goal of working for GAC or an NGO? Of course, I am in the MPPA program and we have access to plenty of GAC coop jobs. If your goal is work in the federal government you should do the MPPA. If you goal is anything else, do not do the MPPA.

Feel free to message me, also, your posts are better served in the government affairs forum page, not social sciences.

https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/11-government-affairs/

^What BTF said; Carleton has outstanding placements and networking/connections if you want to work for the government/civil service, particularly if you want to stay in Ottawa with the feds. Also, there's an entire forum on here just for this degree type but the MPPA (and Public Affairs/MPP/MPS type degrees) from North American schools generally are not the same as a master's degree in political science in a number of ways so this specific forum is ill suited for this.

 

14 hours ago, av13 said:

Hey I have the same conundrum. I have received offers from both MPPA at Carleton and Public and International Affairs at the U of Ottawa. So far my research has found U of Ottawa to have a better overall reputation, but Carleton seems to have a really good Public Affairs program. Also, I didn't know that only 20% of U of Ottawa's student get a coop placement. Is that really true ? Have you made your decision? Any insights will be appreciated.

Thanks! 

Just FYI, there are some fantastic Carleton MPPA threads on reddit too that answer just about every question.