Investing to Policy Program?

[Financeguy1234]

I currently work in investing for a multibillion dollar fund primarily focused on international markets. 3.6 undergrad from a no name in Economics. 4.0 in my Econ classes including 3 econometrics courses. I've always been interested in Foreign Policy and am thinking about applying to programs like WWS, HKS, SAIS, and Fletcher to try and make the transition. How will admissions coms view this type of experience? Is it a positive since I'm an analytical thinker or will they just see it as unrelated experience? FWIW, I have a stellar list of extracurricular leadership experience in undergrad and have a few leadership roles in community organizations. Thanks for the help. 

[kb6]

At SAIS at least there were a decent number of ex-finance people. I think SAIS has a major boner for quanty people so that  be part of it. 

[MD guy]

At the very least people generally won't doubt your quant skills. Not that all finance people are great at it, but it seems like you would be.

[HelloItsMe]

You might be a hard sale to Princeton. They generally do not take people from the private sector unless you have a specific reason why you want an MPA, and how your current work relates to public service. 

[chocolatecheesecake]

On 8/18/2016 at 2:20 AM, Financeguy1234 said:

I currently work in investing for a multibillion dollar fund primarily focused on international markets. 3.6 undergrad from a no name in Economics. 4.0 in my Econ classes including 3 econometrics courses. I've always been interested in Foreign Policy and am thinking about applying to programs like WWS, HKS, SAIS, and Fletcher to try and make the transition. How will admissions coms view this type of experience? Is it a positive since I'm an analytical thinker or will they just see it as unrelated experience? FWIW, I have a stellar list of extracurricular leadership experience in undergrad and have a few leadership roles in community organizations. Thanks for the help. 

What I enjoyed about public policy grad school is that I got classmates from every sector, including finance. There are about a million ways we all discover an interest in studying policy and making it better, and what matters most is that you show them how you got here. Admissions committees look for a diverse, interesting pool of people. Focus on telling how your experience doing int'l investment has led to your interest in public policy, and show what you can bring to the people around you. That's your SOP. in a nutshell. Some schools do prize public service more than others, and if you don't want to end up in public service, it probably won't be a good fit. That's why you need to know to some extent where you want to go with this degree, but the exact field you're from shouldn't be a dealbreaker.

Last year, I had a classmate who spent seven years as a trader on Wall Street. He brought a dramatically different perspective to several topics in class. It was not combative, or "my way is better than yours". It was informative, and caused me to think about things in a very different way. He was a great addition to our class, and you will be too. Good luck with your applications!

[went_away]

On 8/17/2016 at 2:20 PM, Financeguy1234 said:

I currently work in investing for a multibillion dollar fund primarily focused on international markets. 3.6 undergrad from a no name in Economics. 4.0 in my Econ classes including 3 econometrics courses. I've always been interested in Foreign Policy and am thinking about applying to programs like WWS, HKS, SAIS, and Fletcher to try and make the transition. How will admissions coms view this type of experience? Is it a positive since I'm an analytical thinker or will they just see it as unrelated experience? FWIW, I have a stellar list of extracurricular leadership experience in undergrad and have a few leadership roles in community organizations. Thanks for the help. 

You'll be fine and if your work experience and application are high-flying enough you should get healthy scholarships from Fletcher/SAIS. HKS will probably let you in with no money (generally HKS isn't worth it, just my two cents) and Wilson will probably reject you (just too many applicants for a non-perfect applicant). 

Weirdly enough Georgetown MSFS is probably the best fit for you - they're really good at helping people break into foreign policy and diplomacy, but their tuition rates are astronomical and scholarship support is laughable. Still I'd recommend dropping an app with them; they'll love you if you're successful and articulate. 

Edited September 14, 2016 by went_away