Thinking of applying Fall 2010

[benandjerry]

Hello! I am a recently graduated MA in political science (May 09) and have discovered that I have no interest in continuing on in my program to get the PhD and/or going into research/academia. I am very interested in policy analyst/non-profit type work, but my MA degree has had very few bites since starting to apply for jobs two months ago. I am considering applying to MPA programs for Fall 2010 and was wondering if anyone had any input on whether or not you think I may be qualified for some of the more top-tiered programs like Berkley, Duke, etc. Here's my background:

-undergrad at a mid-size state university, not that great of a school but I had a GPA of 3.6 and did some internships at the local state attorneys office and worked on multiple campaigns

-went straight to grad school after undergrad where I received a fully funded (with assistantship) offer to enter into the PhD program. While there, I researched under top poli sci faculty, got some coauthored publications and incredible methods training (advanced stats, calculus, etc)

-i've also taught summer classes at the university i got my degree in

Other than that, no real "real world" work experience outside of stuff i did in undergrad.

Thanks!