public policy or public admin without experience

[bbq555]

is it pretty much hopeless to apply to top 20-30 schools of Publich policy and public administration with out real world experience? Although i have a good GPA and pretty decent GRE score, i only have about 3-4 months of interning under my belt. Is it hopeless for me? :-(

[East_of_Eden]

I wouldn't say it's hopeless. Also, applying to a top 20-30 program -- based on the US News rankings -- doesn't mean much. However, even with a strong GPA and "decent" GRE scores, it's highly unlikely that'd you'd get into places like HKS, WWS, GPPI, Chicago, SIPA, GSPP, CMU. But, there are still so many GREAT programs out there that will/would be happy to take someone with some strong academic promise. I've heard of people getting into Syracuse, Georgia, UMD, American and GW with little work experience. While I have 6 years of WE and can't speak firsthand, the best advice I can give you is: give it a shot.

[bbq555]

would being affiliated in many organizations with elected positions including president be able to fill in the gap a little bit for experience or is EC in general not considered in high detail? Also, if US news is not a reliable source for the rankings of top public admin/public policy schools, is there another website with legitmate rankings? and would carnegie mellon cornell or nyu also be considered a little too out of my reach as well? if so what schools do you think are around my grasp.

Sorry for all the questions.

if you need a little more info i have a 3.7 criminal justice degree at a state. 1310 on my GRE. 4 months of interning at a big city police agency. many community service hours and affilated with 3 organizations with elected positions

[linden]

bbq555:

From the comments I have read on this post, it does not appear impossible to gain admission to a public policy/administration program with little work experience. Your stats are certainly competitive for many programs that are discussed here. Nevertheless, it is probably true that you would be at a disadvantage for top programs such as WWS, HKS, etc... On the other hand, if you work for a few years you might be able to gain admission--and funding--into those programs. Why settle for a degree from a less-known institution and less-rigorous program when holding off for a few years might help gain admission into more competitive programs? Nevertheless, if you have spare cash and time, you can always apply and see what happens.

Good luck.

[Snowden12]

I suppose it depends, obviously. I have no experience in any governmental work aside serving in military intel for 5 years. So that's real-world experience but entirely unrelated. I've done no internships and have never worked in state or local government. For what it's worth, I had terrible GRE scores and a good, if not great, GPA. I didn't apply to as many programs as I should have but I got accepted by the Ford School's MPP program and was turned down by A&M's and LBJ's. I also got accepted to ESIA's and AU's international affairs programs...so I didn't do too bad.

Again, I guess it's a case-by-case issue. I'm certain there are some that got in on grades alone, some that got in because of their expertise...and then there are those like me. Having been turned down by 30-something ranked A&M but accepted by a few top 10 programs, I'm pretty convinced the process is pretty subjective.

[skz]

I have no work experience - my acceptances and rejections are in my signature. GRE total was 1280, had a GPA of about 3.7 (3.8 in my majors). I have worked on a couple research projects during my time as an undergrad however.

[iwantgradz]

I'd suggest waiting just a year, unless you are absolutely sure this is your chosen path and have stellar credentials and internship experience and are unwilling to wait under any circumstances.

I applied without WE because I knew I definitely wanted to do an MPP but also because I felt I would never get a job in this market. I was rejected from 3 schools and waitlisted at 1. Had great letters of recommendation, graduated with a distinction and a 1300gre. Have lived abroad, speak 8 foreign languages, and have significant intern/volunteer exp in developing countries.

SIPA rejected me but encouraged me to reapply after WE, and I'm kind of glad. I've been speaking to a friend who is in the LSE MPP program (got in without WE) who told me that she is lost in many of her classes simply because she has no context to understand things that seasoned professionals are talking about. She said I would definitely learn and benefit more from having prior work experience.

Just relating my experience - hope it helps!

[publicpolicy79]

I got a degree at SPA (American) and there were lots of people there with incredible work experience, but also lots of people who had "only" done AmeriCorp or people who had worked in completely unrelated areas (one of my friends had been an activities director at a nursing home after college!). So you can get into good programs that lead to good jobs with less experience. I, with my American University education, ended up working with lots of HKS people so it clearly didn't make a huge difference in our career paths (or salaries for that matter).

[ManleyQ]

I'd suggest waiting just a year, unless you are absolutely sure this is your chosen path and have stellar credentials and internship experience and are unwilling to wait under any circumstances.

I applied without WE because I knew I definitely wanted to do an MPP but also because I felt I would never get a job in this market. I was rejected from 3 schools and waitlisted at 1. Had great letters of recommendation, graduated with a distinction and a 1300gre. Have lived abroad, speak 8 foreign languages, and have significant intern/volunteer exp in developing countries.

SIPA rejected me but encouraged me to reapply after WE, and I'm kind of glad. I've been speaking to a friend who is in the LSE MPP program (got in without WE) who told me that she is lost in many of her classes simply because she has no context to understand things that seasoned professionals are talking about. She said I would definitely learn and benefit more from having prior work experience.

Just relating my experience - hope it helps!

I couldnt agree more with iwantgradz, I have lots of internship experience, mostly done overseas in different countries, speak four languages ,but never done a professional work experience ( u know the ones they talk about), I mean the thing is it is impossible to get work experience nowadays with governmental organisations without a decent graduate degrees, this s why I am going to graduates school. And then graduates schools tell us to go back to gain more work experience in the field jst sounds like an irony to me. I mean I am waitlisted by Harris and SIPA, but dont know how much chance I have in getting in, at the same time, I wonder even if we wait for another year, will this one year definitely makes a dramatic difference on our application? Just some thoughts