Public Policy

<p>Are there any current/past/prospective students who want to study Public Policy at William and Mary? Could anyone give any info on studies as an undergrad in this area or about the school of public policy?</p>

<p>I'm a freshman who is definately planning on majoring in Public Policy.</p>

<p>I came to William and Mary largely because of the Public Policy program. There are so many possible electives in Government, Sociology, and Econ that you can take to satisfy the major requirements. I really like the flexibility. Plus, I think its definately a more practical major than Government. You still get the necessary tools for going on to law school or graduate study in Government or Economics, but I definately think Policy majors are more marketable straight out of undergrad.</p>

<p>The professors are wonderful and knowledgeable and my freshman advisor has been a HUGE help in deciding what I should take based on my particular policy interests.</p>

<p>I think the ugrad Policy major is definately one of William and Mary's strong points. My only problem with it is that the policy classes in the Enviro Studies department don't count as electives. Otherwise, I HIGHLY recommend it.</p>

<p>If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.</p>

<p>I'm a freshman, and will likely be majoring in both Government and Public Policy. What's important to remember is that the Thomas Jefferson School of Public Policy is the graduate school program. As an undergraduate, there is no separate "Public Policy" school of which you are a part. At William and Mary, Public Policy is merely an interdisciplinarian major mainly consisting of Government and Economics, as well as Sociology, Psychology, History, and Philosophy.</p>

<p>From what I hear, there are relatively few Public Policy majors (cf. Government, International Relations), but that shouldn't discourage you. In terms of comparing it to the Government major, you need to consider what you really want to study. Public Policy is essentially a more specific form of Government, focusing almost exclusively on domestic issues. The Government major itself, on the other hand, affords you the opportunity to study a broader range of topics and regions in the world, as well as more strongly focusing on political theory, rather than it's application.</p>

<p>So as an undergraduate there is no public policy "program" per se but rather just a concentration of different studies that gears you toward the graduate Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy? </p>

<p>Are you planning on continuing your studies as a graduate at the Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy?</p>

<p>Here are two links that might help you:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wm.edu/registrar/UGCatalog/PublicPolicy.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.wm.edu/registrar/UGCatalog/PublicPolicy.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.wm.edu/publicpolicy/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.wm.edu/publicpolicy/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Its sort of hard to explain, I guess is the problem. While there is a "Public Policy" department for undergraduates, the Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy is mainly for getting the Masters. As an undergrad, you don't take courses specifically labelled PUBLIC POLICY, but rather an assortment of classes from different departments.</p>

<p>As for me, no, I will likely go to law school following William and Mary.</p>

<p>Is your study concentration hard? Everyone says that William and Mary is hard and there is "rampant" grade deflation but is this true in this area of study (economics, political science, public policy etc.) ?</p>

<p>I'm only a freshman, so my knowledge is rather limited. However, from what I have experienced, William and Mary isn't necessarily a lot more work than some high schools, especially if you went to a good one. On the other hand, many professors grade rather arbitrarily, making it somewhat difficult to get high marks.</p>

<p>If it helps, I took two government classes this past semester and got A's in both of them.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info!!! Just one more question, do you have a heavy workload at William and Mary and is it true that people study like 4-6 hours per day?</p>

<p>"You still get the necessary tools for going on to law school or graduate study in Government or Economics"</p>

<p>Government, maybe, but certainly not econ.</p>

<p>"is it true that people study like 4-6 hours per day"</p>

<p>Sure....and some people study zero hours a day, and some study over ten. It just depends on what you're taking, what kind of grades youre after, etc.</p>

<p>
[quote]
"is it true that people study like 4-6 hours per day"

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
Sure....and some people study zero hours a day, and some study over ten. It just depends on what you're taking, what kind of grades youre after, etc.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>yea... some people hardly study at all and some people study a ton. Different things for different people. If you're aiming for a 4.0 (aside from having no chance at all), you should expect to do tons of work. Until you realize that there are more important things, and you can do less work and still get solid grades while leaving time for other things.</p>