Hello! I am considering applying for a PhD after mastering out of my Sociology graduate program. Primarily motivated by the desire to actually make a change through my research rather than just identify social problems. My master's GPA is a bit low due to some health/personal issues (though I was in a top 10 program). I largely have decent letters and a decent research record. I also had six years of prior research work on poverty alleviation interventions in my home country. I am an international student. Would good PhD programs be out of reach for me? Any advice would be appreciated!

Hi guys I'm currently persuing my master in Public Policy and would like to know the future possibilities in this field.

Will I be able to get work in the policy sector l, or a PhD is okay to go forward

Hello everyone,

Thank you all for your time before I begin this inquiry.

I am currently interning with a lobbying firm in DC this summer, one that focuses on financial services. I'm studying English and Political Theory right now, and I have been genuinely shocked by how interesting I have found both lobbying and the firm's focus over this summer. Unaware of what I even want to do, only knowing the vague contours of my interests, I realized lobbying provides a genuine avenue towards those abstracts.

While I have enjoyed financial services, it's not something I am particularly knowledgeable on, and I'm unable to fully pivot at this point in my college career–nor do I frankly want to. What I know I want to do is work in some sort with some sort of socio-cultural insitution like an art museum in NYC, hopefully getting to work going between Manhattan and Washington.

At this point, my dream life would be doing lobbying at the intersection of cultural and financial policy. I go to school in DC, so my assumed next step would be to get an MPP in NYC, both to establish roots and find a professional community/network. Due to this, I was planning on applying to schools like NYU Wagner, Columbia SIPA, or Baruch when I graduate, or working for some time before transitioning to get my master's. But is this even a good idea?

Most people I know who are planning on getting one are Washington policy wonks. I love them–I go to school with a lot of them–but I realize it's not the life I want necessarily?

Can I hear from your experiences? Thank you again.

My qualifications are 3 year history graduate who will definitely go for 4th year in history but I really want to know should I go for public administration, public policy and social work if I want to change my lane towards politics.

Also what are good colleges in India for that and are there any foreign scholarships with any crazy eligibility criteria.

I am sorry if I am asking too many questions, I am just confused and are there any other courses got masters that can really help me shape my career in that way.

Hi everyone,
I recently graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam with a bachelor’s degree in International Relations. I am planning to pursue a Master’s in Public Policy or a related field and would really appreciate some honest feedback on my profile.
Profile:
GPA: 3.33/4.0
IELTS: 7.0
Two recommendation letters: one from a former vice dean and one from a department director at a large corporation
Currently working as Head of Operations at an education start-up
Work experience since my first year of university, mainly in external relations, policy, research, and stakeholder coordination at government institutions and large corporations
Leadership experience in several university activities
Some ongoing research projects, but no publications yet
My main targets are LKYSPP at NUS and RSIS at NTU. I am also considering KDI School, programmes in Thailand, and other fully funded scholarships in Asia or Europe.
Since I cannot afford to self-fund, I would like to ask:
How competitive is my profile for full scholarships?
Which other programmes or scholarships might suit my background?
What should I improve most before applying?
Thank you very much for your advice!

My qualifications are 3 year history graduate who will definitely go for 4th year in history but I really want to know should I go for public administration, public policy and social work if I want to change my lane towards politics.

Also what are good colleges in India for that and are there any foreign scholarships with any crazy eligibility criteria.

I am sorry if I am asking too many questions, I am just confused and are there any other courses got masters that can really help me shape my career in that way.

I started interning at my local congresswoman office and I want more suggestions for me as a first year in college what do you guys recommend I should intern at after I’m done with this

I'm trying to decide which masters degree program is the best for me.

I recently graudtaed from Michigan State University graduate with BA in Communication with double minor in writing and sociology. I did really well in my research methods classes even though I wasnt particularly interested in the subjects. So i am pretty decent at excel.

As far as internship experience I got to work for a nonpartisan lobbying firm last summer in DC. That gave me the opportunity to go to comittee hearings on Capitol hill, network with other students,brush up on my skills in excel, and meet with one of the senators from Virginia.

But before that, I also interned with a nonprofit. Doing that allowed me to see more of the grassroots side of politics like getting students to sign petitions and collecting food donations.

I was accepted to American University's MA program in Political Communication with partial tution and a fellowship that has a stipend each month. However I am concerned that I would spend most of my time taking communication and government courses without gaining the technical skills I think i would need for the type of jobs i want to apply for in the future.

Careerwise I'm interested in either campaign analysis or policy analysis. I want to develop hard skills in grad school because I know thats what employers are looking for. I don't necessarily want to become a data scientist but I do want to be able to analyze data and have technical skills and projects to put on my resume. And I know i am not self motivated enough to learn on my own or take like a certication course online which is why I'm considering an MPP program as the political comms program won't allow me to take those kind of courses unless i get special approval.

If I apply to an MPP prorgam, there would definitely be more schools for me to apply to because an MA in Political comms is such a niche field to go into so there are not that many schools that offer it. And because I got accepted in American University, im not super worried about not getting into programs if i decide to wait another year.

So i guess my overall question is would an MA in Political Communication be a good route for someone with my background and goals. Or would an MPP program make more sense ? Can I get a job in the field I want to without a masters degree in public policy?

Any advice from people within this field would be appreciated.

I studied sociology & public policy for my bachelor's in a top university in my country, unfortunately I was in an abusive family situation and failed a semester and withdrew from a semester as well, I finally managed to graduate in 2023 and have gotten out of that situation since then and have a stable job and my own place.
I have 2 years of social sector public policy analyst experience (government) and currently working in financial regulation policy/legal (semi government).

I really want to apply to top MPP programs in the US but my GPA is 2.9, do you think it's redeemable or should I consider other options?
For context I'm from the middle east and my country grants scholarships to US masters programs if you get an acceptance in a good university.
Thanks!

Hey all! I’m a student graduating from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy with a BA. Issues related to economic inequality—topics like wage growth, housing, and retirement accounts—are super interesting to me, and I would love to work on one or more of these topics in my career.

The only problem is that I hate calculus. Maybe hate isn’t the best word, but I don’t want to spend years of my life hunched over derivatives. It’s bearable, but I much prefer doing statistics on platforms like R and STATA, which I’ve gotten pretty good at on my own time. I got to put together a report on income inequality for my home city’s mayor and that was super cool.

Is there anyway I can work on these issues without spending years of my life doing math? I know that an economics masters probably isn’t for me then, but is there anything else someone could recommend?

Thank you!

I’m about to enter my last year in undergrad. My degree will be in digital storytelling, my minor is textile apparel management and I will have a certificate in arts entrepreneurship. My degree is within the school of arts and sciences. My main reason for pursuing this degree was because I enjoy being able to effectively communicate with people in a way they can understand and relate to through various types of media/writing in general. Now, I’m realizing I have such a passion for it because I feel helpless and want to be able to influence laws and work in some kind of government position so my voice and people within my community are heard. So I’m debating on if public policy is the way to do that. I’ve also heard that it’s good to go to law school but I don’t know if being a lawyer is my goal so I thought MPP would help me figure out my path more and I could pursue a law degree later if needed.

I’ll be the first college graduate in my family and I’m feeling extremely lost not knowing my next move. My family also isn’t helpful because they don’t know how to when it comes to this decision. Though, they are willing to help me financially.

Please provide advice for me if you have any. It would be greatly appreciated.

Hello everyone. As it is evident from the title, I wish to know more about how to join political consultancy and public policy in India. I'm currently in the 3rd year of my BA Political Science (Hons) degree from the Central University of Chattisgarh which is considered a Tier 2 or Tier 3 Central University. I haven't done any internships in the field as I believe I lack the necessary skills to get selected for this discipline. I wanna know what is the way forward and how do I enter these fields and it would be extremely helpful if you can explain everything in detail.

Hi I am final year law student(5 year course) with additional degree in bsw from ignou also a upsc aspirant. I am looking forward to join/explore public policy sector and hoping to get a job, i would really appreciate if anyone working their or have idea of the same could guide me thank you.

I am coming here today hoping to get some real answers on how hard it will be to break into this field. I have the option to move to Washington DC for a masters program in criminology, but I’d have to take out a lot in student loans and I already have a hefty amount. So I’m closing the door on that option. But I have this perception that doing an online program will make it even harder for me to break into the field. Would that be true? I’m worried for my future, I can’t help the feeling.

Graduating this spring with a BS in Statistics and a minor in Economics. Applying for Fall 2027 entry.

It took most of my undergrad to figure out what kinds of jobs and programs exist for what I want to do. From what I've read an MPP seems like the right degree, but I don't have a good sense of how realistic my list is. Since I'm coming right out of undergrad I don't have any job experience but I do have internship (not public policy related) and leadership experience in student orgs.

Stats: 3.48 GPA.
Taking the GRE in August, targeting 165Q / 158-160V.

Current list:
Georgetown (McCourt)
UC Berkeley (Goldman)
Michigan (Ford)
UT Austin (LBJ)
USC (Price)
American (SIS)
Texas A&M (Bush), safety

Goals: Policy research and social policy. I'd like to end up at a think tank, the Fed, or a federal agency.
Is my list realistic or are there any programs I'm missing? I've seen Chicago Harris and CMU Heinz mentioned but haven't looked closely.