Best undergrad major for MPP

[MobileRelief]

Currently attending UCLA as an undergrad and have my sights on going for an MPP (or something like it) down the line after gaining a couple years' work experience (looking at Peace Corps). Obviously I am a bit early to this whole process, but have mainly been looking at Political Science and Public Affairs as majors. Generally speaking, I'm interested in public policy, international relations, and government affairs, and hope to eventually enter a career at gov agency, nonprofit, or think tank. However, lately I've been curious as to whether the analytical tools obtained in an Economics Major (perhaps paired with a major such as Intl Development) may prove more useful for grad school. My only reservations are that perhaps the Major gets a bit more in depth than what would be relevant/necessary for those careers, and I would not be able to get as high of a GPA in it. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated! ?

 

 

 

 

 

[GradSchoolGrad]

Your major doesn't matter. It is about justifying your history of academic and professional excellence + showing that the grad degree is right for your professional goals.

I will say that the biggest blocker I have seen people experience with getting into MPA MPP programs lack of quant (statistics, economics, and calculus). Reality is that policy is being more data driven and all grad schools are beefing up their (if they aren't beefed up already) their quant component. Depending on school, some schools require those classes for Political Science majors, but some don't. Just take those classes one way or another and get good grades on them! 

[prokem]

Agree with @GradSchoolGrad, your major doesn't matter. You could be an engineering major or an art major, but as long as you can craft a compelling and coherent narrative as to why you want an mpp and what you want to do with it, you'll be fine (along w work exp, some quant background, leadership, etc). Rather than using undergrad to set yourself up for what you think schools look for in an MPP candidate, use it to figure out what specific areas of policy you're most interested and gain leadership and work exp that helps you figure that out and beefs up your skills and knowledge base.

Edited January 22, 2021 by prokem
Typos

[MobileRelief]

@GradSchoolGrad @prokem Thank you both for the inputs! I appreciate it. I have another question if you don't mind: is a high GPA in undergrad crucial to getting more $$$ from MPP programs later on? Or is experience, SOP, GRE, etc. equally if not more important?

[GradSchoolGrad]

4 hours ago, MobileRelief said:

@GradSchoolGrad @prokem Thank you both for the inputs! I appreciate it. I have another question if you don't mind: is a high GPA in undergrad crucial to getting more $$$ from MPP programs later on? Or is experience, SOP, GRE, etc. equally if not more important?

Depends on 1. Difficulty of major 2. Mitigating factors like illness and etc. and how much professional experience or great your GRE is. It is better to have an okay GPA but have As in quant classes than an A with English major and no quant classes. 
 

also it depends on how competitive your application cycle year is. My application cycle year was really weak. I know someone with a sub-3.0 GPA and 80 percentile GRE get 15K per year scholarship. This COVID application cycle means only the truly more compatible are getting money.