<p>So I'm in this quandary: I really, really hate the cramped, fourth tier college I go to, and want to finish up my degree as soon as possible and head on to grad school for either a Masters in Public Administration or in a program related to Political Science. I've maintained a high GPA (I'm in the honors program) and will be studying hard for the GRE.</p>
<p>The issue is work experience and internships. If I am to complete my degree as soon as possible, I will need to take 15 credits for full semesters, and 12 in the summer. If I were to do an internship, I will either have an hour to myself every night or a diminished GPA. Probably both. So I have thought of this plan: Graduate in three years, and then spend one year doing internships and applying to grad schools (I'll be applying to these internships without any previous experience, which sucks, but I'll probably get something). </p>
<p>Is this feasible? And what are my chances if I don't find an internship? I got burned by not having extracurriculars in High School (I went to a private school that didn't have any, and got out too late to find any on my own), I don't want it to happen again here.</p>
<p>Most successful MPA applicants have about 3-5 years of work experience, and are about 25-27 years old. So I think you should plan to take at least 2 years “off” before starting graduate school. MPA programs, much like MBA programs, are really designed for students who come into it with some work experience so that they have experiences to draw from in class.</p>
<p>Of the very few students who come into an MPA program with less than two years of formal work experience, virtually all of them have done extensive internship work in college - as in not just summer internships but also working part-time during the academic year. Think about it - they are training you to be a public administrator. Who wants to hire an administrator with no experience doing the thing he’ll be administrating?</p>
<p>An MA in poli sci would be a little different; you would really need some research experience if you wanted that. But you would still also need to make the time to get research experience (typically 10-20 hours a week) with a professor.</p>
<p>Personally I don’t think it’s a good idea. There are ways to make your college experience more enjoyable - see if your college has any domestic exchange or study abroad programs and spend a year somewhere else. Or get involved off-campus or with something you love on-campus. You really need the time to do the internships and get the work experience if you want to get into a good MPA program.</p>
<p>Study abroad is complicated, but let’s just say I’m not interested.</p>
<p>As for extracurriculars, there are few mainstream political clubs in my school. I believe there are only two political groups at all, actually: an international socialist one and a radical pro-Palestinian group. Needless to say membership in either of these groups will not help me in the job application process.</p>
<p>OP–my son has just completed his MPP at a top program. He was one of the few accepted to the program that did not have significant work experience, but he had substantial experience through internships. Even so, he sometimes felt disadvantaged, although he finished at the top of his class.</p>
<p>Don’t make excuses about your campus not having political groups. Start one. Or start a forum. Or become involved in politics off campus. Or write a political blog. Or get an internship in a related field, such as communications.</p>
<p>And don’t make excuses about not having time. My son took anywhere from 17-22 hours a QUARTER (crazy double major/double minor) while managing to work his internships and maintain the grades that got him in to the MPP program. </p>
<p>It’s what the students who get in to the top programs do.</p>
To be a competitive candidate, most likely. You’re going to be competing in the same pool for the same jobs with a number of students who have equally-good or better academic qualifications and internships.</p>
<p>I see that MPP/MPA programs revolve around students’ experiences etc., and that I should wait until I have a few years of work experience before considering applying.</p>
<p>As for why I don’t do extracurriculars, I will answer this again and hope that this part of the conversation is settled quickly considering it doesn’t have much pertinence to graduate school admission. It’s not an excuse that there are only nutty groups on campus, it’s a fact. Without giving away too much about where I go to school, it’s a commuter school whose students don’t have much interest in sticking around after class. Those who do stick around and form clubs, it would naturally follow and is demonstrated in the selection of clubs at my school, will be people of a more radical nature. If I wanted to form a group, I doubt I would even be able to scramble together four other people. And besides, I didn’t ask for ways to make my college experience better :)</p>
<p>As for applying to jobs, I see the advantage of having internships and will try to find some for the summer (my schedule is too tight in the Spring in terms of class time distribution).</p>
<p>hahahaha. I don’t need to view statistics to guess that over 90% of graduate school applicants never went on study abroad or joined their school’s local Hamas chapter (which is basically the worldview of the student groups on campus). Take your nonsense somewhere else.</p>
<p>The campus group tolerates those who favor the one-state solution, an eliminationist position favored by Hamas. This isn’t debatable and frankly irrelevant since grad school admissions couldn’t care less about club membership.</p>
<p>Oh and there’s an anti-hydrofracking group, a method of natural gas exploration I support. Would be a pretty useless member, no?</p>