Internship opportunities should be the most important factor when choosing a school

[huppster5]

Do you guys agree with that assertion given that the individual doesn't know exactly what he/she wants to do post graduation?

Here is my assumption:

1) We are going to acquire an MPA/MPP in order to get a job we love/are passionate about.

2) The best (and really only way) to find out if you want to do a job is by actually doing it.

EXAMPLE: I thought I wanted to be a Management Consultant. The traveling, solving "complex" business issues etc, made it sound very appealing. I became one post undergrad (Accenture for ~3 years) and hated every minute of it.

The obvious corollary:

If the above are true, then that means for those of us who don't know exactly what they want to do post graduation, the ability to have access to as many and as varied internships as possible should be extremely important.

This leads me to believe that:

I shouldn't even consider programs that don't permit students to hold internships during the school year (example, I called WWS and they said no one has any over the school year...only during summer).

Furthermore:

This makes programs like GWU or American (who upon being asked about weather many students have internships during the school year said nearly everyone has multiple internships during the school year...) extremely appealing.

Not to mention GWU and American's location (aka access to the most important MPA employers in the nation/world) even more compelling.

If the above is true, it makes me wonder what other programs (like WWS or HKS) have to offer for someone who is searching.

What do you guys think?

Do you guys think internships are the most important? Why should I consider programs that don't have abundant during school year internships (like WWS)???

Hopefully this made sense. I just don't want to make the mistake to go to the most prestigious program i get into (Even if their specialty seems a little better than the internship programs) if they don't enable me to try out different professions.

THANKS EVERYONE!!!!!!

[understatement700]

Personally, internship opportunities during the semesters were not that important to me when deciding on a school. I figured it could be somewhat of a plus but wasn't such a huge factor when considering all the other aspects of the program. I've done a bunch of internships in my day and don't necessarily feel like tacking on more and more during grad school. Of course I'll be doing one during the summer between 1st and 2nd year anyways. I have a good idea of what I want to do too but am always open.

It also depends on the graduate school experience that you're interested in. One could argue that the academic experience and community environmentcould be better at schools where you don't work in the day and take classes at night. But having the chance to intern and network in DC during two years of grad school certainly could help you. No easy answer, it really depends on what you value most!

[huppster5]

Thanks for the response understatement700.

Wondering if anyone else has insight on this.

For all of you MPA/MPP graduates....Looking back, do you wish you had had the opportunity to gain more real world experience (i.e. more than just summer internship) prior to graduation?????????

[junebug42]

to be honest, gwu is much better located and has better connections to the think-tanks and government affiliated organizations than american university. although i was an undergraduate student, i had internships at the woodrow wilson center, csis, and on capitol hill (that was a bust - i hated my life then) and most of my classmates had great internships as well - they worked with aei, brookings institute, human rights watch, and state department. while the prestige of the university and grades are important, internships and experience are the things that make you stand out from the crowd.

i'm not well informed about au's graduate program but most of the graduate classes at gwu take place in the evening and meet only once a week. when i was an undergrad at gwu, i took a few graduate level courses at the elliott school and i remember that the majority of my classmates were full-time employees who would attend classes as soon as their working hours were over. to those who may be concerned about college debts, there is the option of working during the day and studying at night - but gwu is known to give out great scholarships and financial aid packages.

good luck with whichever decision you make.

[OregonGal]

I don't think internships during the school year are as important as taking advantage of summer opportunities. During the school year I plan on working a part-time job that hopefully gets me tuition remission (TA/grader/tutor) to defray my living costs and lower my total indebtedness at graduation, on top of taking 4-5 classes. The summer is when I'll have the time to work a full-time internship and get a meaningful project done in that position (hopefully). In that sense, going to a school that provides support for summer internships is important. Thankfully UCSD IR/PS offers summer grants for students undertaking unpaid internships because they recognize how important that work experience is and want to lower financial barriers for it.

[huppster5]

Junebug42 - I think you hit the nail on the head. Couldn't agree more that internships are what set you apart upon graduation (not to mention help you figure out what you want to do in the first place!).

All those internships you mentioned sound fantastic to me. Nothing compares to the opportunities available in DC.

Here's a quick question (for anyone): If you got into both HKS and GWU (for an MPA), which would you attend????

I think it's a hard decision because of HKS's unbelievable name (and I'm sure solid program), but as we've already established, no one can compete with GWU's internship opportunities.

Which school would you go to???

Personally, I'd be leaning towards GWU.

[fenderpete]

I would kind of argue that if you don't know what you want to do, you shouldn't be going to grad school yet.

[gzdzcca]

your argument makes sense only for people straight out of undergraduate. However, as everybody knows, WWS requires 7 years work experience, and people who with 7 year work experience do not really need that much internship opportunities that undergrads need.

[beefmaster]

your argument makes sense only for people straight out of undergraduate. However, as everybody knows, WWS requires 7 years work experience, and people who with 7 year work experience do not really need that much internship opportunities that undergrads need.

7 years?

[gzdzcca]

i mean the mpp there

Edited June 27, 2012 by gzdzcca

[CreamTea]

I visited GWU when I was trying to come up with a list of schools to apply to. I got a strong sense that students were expected to work while they study (since the classes were at night) to make up for the very limited financial aid available. It's not the environment I want.

Also, if you are always interning/working during the day, it would be difficult to build close relationships with your professors. They can really help open doors for you, if they know you well enough.

[OregonGal]

I actually liked that part of GWU; the scheduling of classes helps to enable office internships so you don't have to pop in and out between classes, and it also allows them to draw on that deep pool of current practitioners that they bring in as adjuncts. Also, while there's not a lot of financial aid available that's true for most Masters programs, and their tuition is about $10,000 cheaper than JHU-SAIS--and since they're based on an actual university campus there's a much larger pool of on-campus positions that can get you tuition remission.

[CalSeeker]

The evening classes were one of the main benefits of GW for me, and one of the reasons that I chose it over SAIS (I also received a much better financial offer from GW).

I would argue that the relationships you build through internships/work are much more useful for finding a job after graduation than the relationships with professors, at least in the non-academic sphere. That said, I have found that I have plenty of access to my professors and abilty to build relationships with them. This is particluarly true for the faculty that are core advisors for my particular program. If the academic relationship is most important to you, I still think GW can be a great choice. For example, in two out of the five classes I have been in so far, the professor has asked the students if anyone was interested in a job as a research assistant.