How to meet academic prerequisite of HKS MPA2

[Ken528]

Hi, everyone.

I have a query on academic prerequisite of HKS MPA2 program. According to HKS homepage, applicants are required to have substantial graduate-level coursework similar to core MPP courses. 

 

Situation:

WRT this requirement, I did not take lectures in graduate schools; but, I passed the Higher Civil Services Exam, which consists of several subjects including micro/macro/international economics, and international politics, and the exam needs graduate-level understanding on each subject. As wiki says, it's really challenging exam, and my recommenders, including Former Minister of Finance of Korea, will guarantee the authority and the level of difficulty of it. Plus, I was runner-up at the moot court competition, held by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Korea; since most participants were graduate students, I think that it would also prove my capability.

 

Question:

Does anyone know whether my case can be regarded to qualify the academic prerequisite of HKS MPA2? 

 

I hope to get valuable advice, opinion, or knowledge from you. Good luck to all!

[juilletmercredi]

Probably not, but the people to ask would be the Kennedy school itself. You could always call or e-mail their admissions office and inquire.

But I'm going to wager that the exam likely won't take the place of credit-bearing courses in the area. The HKS page says in several places that they require a minimum of four graduate-level courses, and nowhere do they say that civil service exams can be substituted (I'd imagine they'd say that, given that a substantial portion of their applicants are international). You'll probably just need to take the classes.