Which public policy thinktank?

Career Opportunities & Internships
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<p>Hello-- I have received two offers for summer internships in DC. Would appreciate advice based on my career goals and the relative prestige/employment opportunities of these two places. Below are the descriptions. I am a senior at an Ivy graduating in December with degrees in English and Government. I have held internships for the past six summers. Thanks!</p>

<p>I am interested in graduate school (MPP) and I hope to spend a portion of my career doing public policy research, writing, and advocacy. </p>

<p>The first offer is to do research in the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution. I have always admired Brookings, and from what I know of it, it is largely regarded as the most respectable research institution in the world. I am interested in elections, electoral reform, campaigning, and civil rights (and social policy, after this class!), so the topic seems like a good fit. I would be placed under the guidance of a few of their experts and would serve as a research assistant.</p>

<p>The second is a fellowship situation. It is a Fiscal Internship sponsored by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which pays my salary and places me with a host institution. The host institution that I have been placed with is CSIS, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, doing research for the Global Aging Institute. This would be doing comparative research on strategies other countries have been using to deal with the stress of an aging population in terms of pensions, healthcare, and entitlements, making connections to the U.S. and how that research could impact entitlement reform-- the Director said that it is treated similarly to a graduate seminar. I find this really interesting, but I also worry that I may be out of my element as I have no formal economics coursework, and only introductory statistics for quantitative analysis.</p>

<p>The Brookings Institution is unpaid, and the CSIS is paid well through the Peterson Foundation. However, I feel financially comfortable enough to ignore the salary question and focus on the experiences, prestige, or what it would bring to my resume.</p>

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<p>those are both very highly respected.</p>

<p>Does the work you would be doing at one seem more interesting? Do they have current intern bios that you can compare?</p>

<p>I’m surprised that you can didn’t take any econ… honestly that’s probably a scheduling oversight on your part and you should definitely at least have the basics of micro and macro, especially with your plan to go to grad school. All the issues in the CSIS internship have an economic component to them that cannot be ignored (though, our country is doing a good job of ignoring them, so perhaps you wouldn’t be out of place).</p>

<p>I would go with Brookings, and try to take some econ classes.</p>

<p>That said, if CSIS offers more of their interns permanent positions, you might consider that as a big deal, but you are probably only looking for something for 6-18 months between DEC and Public Policy school. And my impression is that think tank interns do not often (hardly at all) end up working there “permanently” beyond their internship time or to the point where they are getting any salary that you can live on.</p>

<p>and I would like to add the disclaimer that I know nothing about the Peter G. Peterson foundation and what perks might come with that part of the CSIS arrangement.</p>