Any recommendations for summer before?

[pubpol101]

I'm an incoming MPP (Pittsburgh track) candidate at CMU Heinz, and I was wondering, do any of you have any recommendations on what one should do the summer before?

My focus has generally been DC work in national security/foreign affairs, though I have strong interests in subfields of federal social policy. At this moment, I'm hoping to expand the readership of my writing (Huffington Post, various other small magazines/blogs) and perhaps break into large national outlets like The Atlantic or New Republic. I'm continuing my previous writing, but without substantial assistance, it seems like I won't be writing national headlines on a regular basis any time soon. I was thinking of contacting professors to establish connections early on for publishing opportunities, but I feel like it may be too early to do so. I also intend to apply for a part-time internship with Pittsburgh's city government so that I can work in a somewhat relevant field during this coming academic year.

I have recently completed some courses in macro and microeconomics and I have a strong math background, so I only plan to do a cursory review of the basic concepts.

Edited June 21, 2016 by AAAAAAAA

[MD guy]

1 hour ago, AAAAAAAA said:

I was thinking of contacting professors to establish connections early on for publishing opportunities, but I feel like it may be too early to do so. I also intend to apply for a part-time internship with Pittsburgh's city government so that I can work in a somewhat relevant field during this coming academic year.

Both of these sound like good options. I wouldn't worry about being too early for contacting professors

[chocolatecheesecake]

Before I started graduate school, I wished that I had established some good life patterns that I could try to hold to during my time in school. It's hard to start doing stuff in grad school at the same time that you're starting so many other things, but if you'd already started it beforehand, it's easier to keep up. For example, shopping/ cooking regularly so you don't buy food all the time, a set time to go to the gym or go running, etc. Honestly, those are the things I wish I had been able to provide for myself more systematically during that time, because school becomes king and a lot of other stuff go out the window. Make a good effort to keep your work-life balance!

I would also start looking at what resources exist around school to gain the kind of skills you want, and try to get on some listhosts/ calendars early. I only found out in my second year about these social science research workshops that were being held in a building across the street, and really wished that I'd done it my first year. So the earlier you can get into those sorts of things, the more you'll be able to take advantage of it.