Harvard Kennedy School or Columbia SIPA for finance?

[Sbalex]

Hi,

For an econ undergrad who hopes to work for the US Treasury or for one of the Federal Reserve Banks, which school is better?

SIPA has an International Finance and Economic Policy track and HKS has International Trade& Finance. In the employment statistics, SIPA seems to have more graduates who work for FED. I may be wrong but it seems like HKS doesn't have many graduates who work there. Additionally, there doesn't seem to be many courses related to Finance in HKS International Trade& Finance specialization. However, again I may be wrong, but I think Harvard's brand name may sound more powerful when applying for a job at those institutions.

I wonder what others think about this subject.

[went_away]

I'm not sure which is better, but usually lean strongly toward the Harvard brand name. Both schools should be sufficient to get you into either of those jobs (SAIS might be slightly better for Treasury). For either you'll need to be laser-focused on getting that job from before the first moment you begin school - this means internships, utilizing career services, networking, career trips and everything else. You'll also have to be prepared to make very little money initially relative to the cost of your degree. Ideally you'd have 1-4 prestigious internships under your belt before you even begin the MA. Your econ undergrad should be very helpful, especially if it's a B.S.