Advice regarding MPA/MPP/MA

[chipanda]

I'm really interested in pursuing a MPA or MPP, and have a few questions regarding this.

My undergrad GPA is terrible 2.6. I have a BS in CS. I took a few Poli Sci classes in undergrad, and did really well on those I paid attention to, and did terrible to those I just took to fill out credit hours. Basically, I fucked up undergrad, and have a non-related major.

I'm very interested in local/state politics, specifically in education policy, and am interested in educational non-profits. I currently work IT for an educational non-profit, and I really want to bring my non-profit more success and greater exposure. I'm also REALLY interested in analyzing educational reform, and help implement education reform. Part of me also really just wants to be a teacher...but I'm putting that goal aside for a little while.

My current end goal is a MPA from IU-Bloomington or MPP from U of Chicago. I don't know if it's worth lowering my expectations, but I can't move out of Chicago for the next several years, hence my choices.

So questions:

• I've seen the differences between a MPP and MPA, but I've equally interested in policy research as I am in policy implementation. Is there any point in pursuing both?
• Would it be worth it to pursue a MA in Poli Sci to get a better foundation, and prove to myself and admissions I can handle grad school, and THEN pursue a MPA or MPP?
• How can I become a more competitive applicant for these programs?

Edited December 16, 2015 by chipanda

[cooperstreet]

wrong forum, but the only question related to political science here is that MAs in political science are generally not worth it.

[went_away]

For IU, if you can achieve a decent to significant level of professional success plus retake 2-5 courses (macro/microeconomics, statistics, maybe an upper level policy course), that would probably be sufficient. For Chicago, you may need to re-do your last two years of undergrad to produce an alternate transcript - plus the other career stuff along with good GRE, recs, and essays. 

I would encourage you to also consider whether going back to school is really necessary to achieve your professional goals. It sounds like you're already working in the field you want to be in and it's just a matter of continuing to move up the ladder, do additional volunteer work (ie work on a campaign) in order to get where you want to go. 

[chipanda]

10 hours ago, cooperstreet said:

wrong forum

I think someone moved my post, so thank you. 

10 hours ago, cooperstreet said:

but the only question related to political science here is that MAs in political science are generally not worth it.

Even to get a good foundation and show I can handle grad school? Sigh...admissions questions are hard to ask and answer as well. 

 

7 hours ago, went_away said:

For IU, if you can achieve a decent to significant level of professional success plus retake 2-5 courses (macro/microeconomics, statistics, maybe an upper level policy course), that would probably be sufficient. For Chicago, you may need to re-do your last two years of undergrad to produce an alternate transcript - plus the other career stuff along with good GRE, recs, and essays. 

Basically, a good amount of work. 

 

7 hours ago, went_away said:

I would encourage you to also consider whether going back to school is really necessary to achieve your professional goals. It sounds like you're already working in the field you want to be in and it's just a matter of continuing to move up the ladder, do additional volunteer work (ie work on a campaign) in order to get where you want to go. 

I'm not sure. While I absolutely enjoy where I am, I can't help but think if learning how to budget, manage finances, fundraise, be able to effectively administrate/manage, will enable me to jump up to where I want to be. I also want to be a lot more involved in my local area educational policy, and I kind of want to do research into such policy, hence why I'm interested in a MPP vs. a MPA. I've always felt that it's hard to break into the policy/political world without either being in it for many years or having the necessary "accreditation" to be qualified to speak about it. While I can (and do) help out in general campaigns, I want to get more involved in educational policy and institutions which I think is more specialized than general politics and would require me to gain knowledge to be able to understand, and effectively change such policy.