Experience Professional Seeking Grad School Advice

[joedigler]

I have 3 years work for a state government in an accounting role; 2 1/2 years in affordable housing/real estate development in project mgmt; and 2 years working at USAID in a capacity which i am choosing not to expose. I want to move as far up the federal ladder as possible before lateraling over to private sector, think tank or lobbying. I want to know is it worth it to give HKS, Maxwell or WWS a shot? or given my work experience would one the the 3 schools evening programs in DC suit me just fine. Resources aren't an issue, but I don't want to waste my time.

[jndaven]

Why don't you try MBA if you want to move over to the private sector? That seems like it would help your networking prospects more. Harvard has joint MPP-MBA program for example.

[joedigler]

Why don't you try MBA if you want to move over to the private sector? That seems like it would help your networking prospects more. Harvard has joint MPP-MBA program for example.

I already have an MBA, just not from a very notable school

[oxana]

If resources are not an issue, definitely go to graduate school, whichever one is more convenient, HKS, Georgetown, or GW. Check their programs out and see what fits your interests best. Of course, go for HKS if it suits your specific interests.

Experience will get you places, but there is nothing like knowledge. Knowledge from experience is outstanding, but knowledge from education, if truly taken seriously, will force you to understand concepts that at workplace you may have never been exposed to. Higher education will allow you to think differently, or learn to look at your professional experience in a different light.

If you want to be just like every other politician out there, just make those contacts and you will be one of them. You will have the job, the money, the power, and whatever else you wish. *But* if you want to make a difference, create something new, progress the country to a different level, and offer a different perspective, education can sometimes play that role. It can give you the perspective necessary to see things beyond the everyday direct work experience.

Basically, experience and education, both are great, but one should not exist without the other.