<p>I am a lower Sophomore with 40 credits and a 3.89 GPA (with one W). I plan to take the GRE in February, and if I earn enough internship credits or take classes over the summer, I plan to start applying to graduate programs next Fall. My major is Political Science (Honors) with a minor in Public Policy.</p>
<p>I assume schools like Harvard Kennedy, NYU Wagner and Columbia SIPA require (even if it's just a de facto requirement) 2-4 years of work experience. I was wondering if there are other reputable MPA/MPP programs that do not require upfront work experience?</p>
<p>Here’s the thing: top public administration/policy programs don’t require work experience, per se. It is theoretically possible to get into these programs without work experience. They simply strongly recommend it, to the point that it’s very unlikely that you’ll get into the programs without any work experience.</p>
<p>However, one’s reaction to that shouldn’t be “What other programs should I apply to that don’t require work experience?” but “What should I do to get into the top MPA programs?” Jobs within public administration and policy are already competitive enough; you give yourself a leg up if you go to a competitive program. Besides, ALL of the reputable programs recommend some work experience, although of course the less competitive ones have less competitive applicants to choose from and therefore do admit some students with less work experience. 2-4 years really isn’t that long, and it’s beneficial: you’ll understand and relate to the coursework more if you have work experience, and you’ll have a background to bring into the classroom and contribute to discussions and collaborations.</p>
<p>Besides, as for hiring: no one wants to hire an administrator with NO work experience. If you’re out working in the field, and you’ve got 2 years of experience, who do you want supervising you: someone who’s got 4 years of experience and an MPA, or someone who has 0 years of experience and an MPA? If you want someone to manage the finances for your nonprofit, wouldn’t you want someone who has at least had a similar job before? It’s far easier to get a job after your MPA or MPP if you have at least 2 years of experience before you go. There are many things that you can’t learn from a classroom.</p>
<p>Also, February of your sophomore year is too early to take the GRE. Most people take it spring of junior year at the earliest, and the majority take it between the summer and fall of their senior year. The scores only last for 5 years so you want to have some flexibility in case you do decide to take time off.</p>
<p>No need to rush, believe me. Focus on getting internship experience and applying for jobs in your senior year that will help you get into an MPA program later. Remember that your goal isn’t the MPA/MPP; it’s a job, and the MPA is a means to an end. But you should do other things to aid you in that endeavor, including working. Besides, you’ve only been in college for a year and some change at this point - you don’t know how you will feel after 4 years of college. I was burned out, and I wish I had taken some time off between college and grad school.</p>
<p>1) I agree that it would be preferable to have job experience if I intended to use the MPA as an immediate leg up. I feel like I would gain more by doing internships and staying in school (that is, continuing on to graduate school after I graduate). After receiving my MPA, I would apply for jobs that undergrads would typically apply for (i.e., jobs that only recommend some internship experience)</p>
<p>2) As for the GRE, I am already ten credits ahead of my Sophomore peers. By fall, I will be 22 credits ahead of them, at 82, assuming I take a full summer semester as I did this past summer. I plan to graduate in Summer 2015, and then go on to grad school in the Fall. About a two week break haha, I’ll probably have to skip the graduation ceremony. But from the plan I laid out here, it seems logical to take the GRE this year, and start applying to grad schools in Fall 2014, when I will be at 82 credits working towards 97.</p>
<p>It is possible to get in, and with your grades I think you can. I would say that you can get in as long as you have internship experience prior to applying. I myself got into MPA/MPP programs right out of undergrad (as in applied during my senior year). However, I had 4 internships when applying, plus research and TA experience and a bunch of clubs, so I kind of had that to help, dont know if you do since you gave no information on it.</p>
<p>Anyway, yes you can get in since the work experience is a recommendation, not a requirement, however it will be harder. Some schools take the requirement more seriously than others. For example, SIPA takes it seriously (did not get in) but Wagner is willing to accept you but will require you to have a relevant internship in order to graduate. Your chances are will be lower though, and you will need to stand out in one way or another in order to get that acceptance (imo), as well as have some amazing Rec’s. However if you have no internship experience when applying, then you wont get in.</p>
<p>As for when to take the GRE, I would advice you to take it the summer before you apply. The GRE from what I know is more of a check mark than anything else, if you do badly, then obviously you wont get in, but they dont care about how well you do on it, as long as you do well enough (a good benchmark to aim for would be Q160 V160). </p>
<p>One thing I will ask though, is why are you in such a hurry to finish with undergrad? Undergrad is a once in a lifetime experience where you get to grow as an individual, have a lot of fun, make meaningful life long connections, and etc. So I am a bit confused on as to why you want it to end that quickly. Grad school, at least in my experience, is not like ugrad. There is a significantly (and I truly mean significantly) more work during grad school, you have very little free time, and you pretty much have to work hard because everyone around you is working hard.</p>
<p>My son just finished his MPP at American University, and he had I think 7 other good acceptances as well, straight out of finishing undergrad. I do remember him commenting on how few of his classmates were directly out of college. He felt that straight-out-of college applicants were at somewhat of a disadvantage in the application process, and he also commented part way through his program that he was learning a lot from his classmates’ experiences.</p>
<p>However, while an undergrad he made sure to work a good number of meaningful internships/job experiences, and he was extremely lucky with some of the opportunities he had.
My son was not interested in administration, however–he is more into the policy/advocacy side of public policy.–so somewhat different than a person who is more interested in administration. </p>
<p>Do you have the kind of experiences on your resume that the programs you are interested in applying to expect to see? Other than by having high grades and a strong GRE, how do you plan on convincing competitive programs to award you a slot?</p>
<p>Also, I am curious as to why you would want to apply to jobs appropriate to an undergrad when you will have achieved your masters? The jobs would not be congruent with your skill set, and in addition, most employers would perceive you as over-qualified and unlikely to be a good fit for a position regarded as appropriate for a college grad.</p>
<p>You’re not the first person to ask me what’s my rush to finish college haha. I go to a somewhat large (15,000) urban school with students who for the most part don’t share my interests, and I guess I’m not much of a social butterfly in the first place. I really don’t see the point in my wasting an entire extra year, especially if I can get the same work done in three summers (combined with the two APs I came in with—pushes me just over the finish line)</p>
<p>bosx3 — I don’t have any internship experience yet, but I plan to start applying this summer. Hopefully I can even get public policy internship experience through my school’s program.</p>
<p>OP–you should be applying for summer internships right now–get in to your career center ASAP. You also should be talking to your professors–they often have very valuable connections and are happy to use them for the right students.</p>
<p>Also pursue extracurriculars (including jobs) that will get you skills that are pertinent to your future. For example, my son developed a lot of event management and project management skills in some of his extracurriculars…this lead to a wonderful job at a summer camp…which lead to a position as head of logistics for a summer camp program that involved 4 different camp programs sharing facilities over a period of 9 weeks.</p>
<p>He learned all kinds of hard and soft skills that have been so valuable.</p>
<p>You will be much more likely to be competitive in public service positions if you have real-world experience. Moreover, you will have a much better understanding of what direction you want to go within public service. Every government agency is different, with its own mission, constituency, institutional culture, challenges and opportunities. As juillet mentioned, knowing something about an agency on a ground-floor level gives you more credibility when you go to higher levels.</p>
<p>I have a master’s degree and hold a career civil service position with the Forest Service. I would not have either the job or this particular degree if I hadn’t taken a year off after earning my bachelor’s degree, looked for jobs and internships and ended up taking an internship that turned into a job.</p>
<p>The internships I’ve seen don’t offer spring applications until December or January. I’ll keep looking.</p>
<p>My class schedule this semester doesn’t allow for work or much extracurricular activities (not to mention my school is parsimonious in this area, and in career advising. I’m mostly on my own) </p>