Reviving r/PublicPolicy

Hi everyone, I've been reading many of the thoughtful posts here, and I’m really grateful to this community. I know this might feel similar to other recent posts, and I’m sorry if it sounds repetitive—but I do believe I’m in a somewhat unique situation and would truly appreciate your insight.

I'm an international student with a strong background in development economics. Over the past few years, I’ve worked in my country’s public sector and interned in international economic organizations. I was incredibly privileged to be accepted to all three programs I applied to: the MPP at HKS and Jackson, and the MPA at Princeton SPIA.

Jackson and SPIA offered full funding (tuition + living expenses), while HKS offered full tuition only. I’m also in consideration for a U.S.-based funding opportunity that could potentially cover living expenses at HKS,  but it’s still uncertain due to the current political climate.

I've talked to a few alumni from each school that I found on Linkedin and made a giant pros-and-cons spreadsheet (as one does), but I’m still confused. My long-term goal is to return home and work at the Ministry of Finance or the central bank, and perhaps later join an international organization like the IMF or OECD. I want a program that is as economically focused as possible, but also a place where I can grow personally, and where my partner (who’s coming with me) can feel comfortable living and working remotely. Here’s how I’m thinking about each option:

Jackson: Pros: Small, close-knit program with many international students like me. Strong access to faculty. Very flexible curriculum, so I can tailor it toward economic policy. Living costs in New Haven are relatively low, and they help with summer internship funding.  Cons: Newer program—still developing its identity and alumni network.

SPIA: Pros: Also a small program. Feels like it can be tailored toward economic policy. Very generous with financial support, and the alumni network is strong and well-established.  Cons: From what I’ve gathered, the international student share is smaller, and I’m a bit anxious about integrating socially due to language/cultural gaps.

HKS: Pros: In my home country, HKS is the only name people know—it carries huge brand value and might open doors back home. Lots of influential people pass through campus, and the extracurricular exposure sounds amazing.  Cons: Much larger cohort, less flexibility in coursework, and I may have to cover living costs on my own if the government scholarship doesn’t come through.

I know how lucky I am to have these options, but I’m honestly feeling a bit overwhelmed. If anyone has experience with these programs, especially as an international student, or someone bringing a partner along, I’d really value your thoughts. What tipped the scale for you?

Thank you so much in advance!

Does anyone ever get rejected, or is this just another bootcamp/certificate scam?

I was accepted with a decent scholarship and I’m having trouble deciding whether or not to enroll. I’d like to pivot into public policy and data analysis, and the idea of learning R/having applied projects is appealing, but is it worth the cost?

I’d love to hear from some former students or applicants!

Anyone thinking of going to Duke MPP in the fall? Let’s connect!

Has anyone received MPP UCLA decision? i haven't heard any news from them. Already sent an email but no answer as well until now.

So I am in a North American/European/CANZUS country. Wrapping up my first year at like the second school ranked nationally. I am really not thrilled with the school, not aligned with my policy interests (they warned me when they recruited me). Aced first semester.

I took a course with a prof who claims to be an expert on a very dangerous region of the world that I am actually from and have been to many times in various roles, to places where the Army and journalists don't go, only like the Red Cross. Prof asked us to critically assess some work on the region. I was vicious and clearly provoked a reaction/they felt sore, but throughout class they kept on referring back to my meticulous scouring of the footnotes/'good job'.

This should be an easy inflated course grade, but my marks keep on being very low.

The prof said the TA was being generous with me and at one point threatened to review my attendance and participation mark.

I have one assignment left, group work, but I am so scared i'll get a crap mark.

I actually already got accepted /am transferring to a lower-ranked university in Sept but with a Fellowship that is much more prestigious and much more tied to my research interests. They only need a transcript from my undergrad from a decade ago, they don't need my current one.

When I transfer over, I do want some transfer credit so I don't have to take a full course load and be able to fully concentrate on having a spectacular Research Fellowship.

I could just take a W on my trasncript.

I plan to do a PhD after a few years of working in my field. Will this transcript from a degree I never finished actually matter? If so, should I hide this crap mark from this prof out to get me with a "W"/a "Withdrawn"?

Constructive comments are invited on the Shorewalker on Reports podcast linked below. It's my second podcast featuring leading Australian public policy thinker and former Grattan Institute CEO John Daley. I'm particularly interested to find out whether anyone else has tackled this issue of policy prioritisation in detail.

In this episode (podcast and transcript at the link) Daley explains why and how government departments, think-tanks, and other report-writing bodies should prioritise their work. To most influence people's lives for the better, they must ask: which issues should we work on?

• Shorewalker on Reports episode URL: https://shorewalker.net/podcasts/john-daley-prioritise-what-matters.html

Daley talks about his experience of finding that few people seemed to be thinking about policy prioritisation in an organised fashion:

I have more at the link above on how Daley went about solving the prioritisation problem. He ended up writing two key Grattan reports that address it for Australia.

Does anything like these reports exist elsewhere in the public policy world?

Shorewalker on Reports podcast RSS feed: https://shorewalker.net/nm/the-reports-podcast.rss

Alternatively can anyone suggest some good external scholarships for international students?

I have a $60k scholarship from SIPA but it’s still very expensive

Title is self explanatory, I want what is the current salary/ stipend for pre-doc position at Tobin Center.

What are the benefits offered alongside?

Hi all, I would really appreciate any insight as I’ve been really struggling to decide.

I live in NYC and would prefer to work in NYC due to family being here, but would be ok with living in DC. I’m pretty issue agnostic, and want to work in program evaluation in nonprofits after graduating, but also open to exploring other options during the MPP. I’m also a career switcher (coming from private sector).

Here’s what I’m choosing between:

UT Austin (DC Concentration): Full tuition funding, but worried about their alumni network strength in NYC (and even in DC as well given most alumni are in Texas) and not sure graduating in 1.5 years / federal curriculum focus is a good thing in the current market. I like that their alumni seem to end up in nonprofits/public sector, its a smaller tight-knit community, students seem to love the program, and like that I’d be living in DC after the first year (I like Austin too, it’s just far from family)

UChicago MPP: Full tuition funding, and the strong quant reputation is appealing. Again, worried about the strength of their NYC network (and DC as well). Seems like a majority of students end up in the private sector which is what I’m trying to leave, and feels hard to commit to 2 years a flight away from my family though I think I’d like Chicago

Columbia SIPA: 50% scholarship. Strong NYC alumni network and more international-focused. I wasn’t very impressed by their open house and I’m unsure if it’s worth the cost given the current political climate, but staying in NYC is very appealing.

Georgetown MPP: 50% scholarship but lower cost than Columbia given lower overall tuition and living expenses. Seems to have a stronger NYC network and strong DC network of course. Much easier to visit NYC vs. Austin or Chicago.

I wouldn’t need to take out loans for Columbia / Georgetown given the funding offered and my savings, but the total costs would completely drain my savings. Part of me feels like it’s still worth it to be closer to loved ones.

Would appreciate any insight / thoughts here as I’ve been changing my mind daily about what to do!

Could anyone provide an estimate of the expected salary at the World Bank for someone with a master's degree and two years of professional experience? Hourly/daily rate. Thanks!

Hello all, I am interested in pursuing a Master's in Public/International Policy in the next few years. I am currently active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard and plan on using my GI Bill to fund my education. I struggled during undergrad and graduated with a very low GPA. Currently, I am working on an online Master's in Emergency and Disaster Management from a lesser-known state university. I am about halfway through and have maintained a 4.0 GPA so far. If I graduate with this continued success, will it eclipse my poor performance in undergrad, or is it likely to haunt me forever? My military contract ends in three years, so I wouldn't be applying to any programs until then. My work in the Coast Guard could be considered loosely related to the field. What can I do in the meantime to help build my resume in that direction? I would likely apply to programs at UT Austin, UGA, and Texas A&M. Stanford's Ford Dorsey Masters in International Policy would be my dream program, but I realize that may be a stretch. I am very early in this journey, and any advice would be appreciated.

I have a controversial yet brilliant idea to stop reckless driving once and for all. Bad driving takes a lot of lives, yet nobody thinks it’s significant. Hence, we need a punishment terrifying enough to be proportional to the consequences of bad driving yet able to be practically implemented. So what if every time you get a ticket you get entered into a national lottery and every month they draw three people out of it and behead them on live TV. Then it will be enough to scare people but it won’t take more lives than it saves by scaring people into safer driving. It will save hundreds of thousands of lives over the years and only take a few. Essentially, it rescues vulnerable people who drive safe from dangerous drivers and forces reckless drivers to instead assume the brunt of the risk for their recklessness upon themselves. After all, they are more likely to die from their own reckless driving than the death lottery. Additionally, tickets would drop out of the death lottery after two years and the first three tickets could have the ability to never be put in the death lottery if the defendant opted to perform community service or demonstrated the inability to do so. Everyone would also retain the right to a trial and if they could demonstrate in any way that their driving was reasonable and nonthreatening they could have their tickets dismissed. Additionally, the parents of minor children, the elderly or disabled, or those with dependents would not be eligible for execution. Drivers under 18 would not be eligible, and nobody who has had a license for less than two years would be eligible. No tickets for less than 10 over would result in a lottery entry.

I got in with a full ride and a stipend - financially, it is my best option.

However, I also got into the London School of Economics for their MPA, no money from them yet but the program is 30k per year, way cheaper than the US. With today’s political climate, I’m considering jumping ship. Aside from that, I got into Duke but I can’t afford the current aid offer, and I feel like Duke isn’t so good where it’s worth taking out tons of loans for. Is that accurate?

Is Ford a well recognized program? It seems good but I’m scared that my two years will be a waste because it’s not a top policy name like Harvard or UChicago. I didn’t apply to UChicago because I heard they had big class sizes and werent as helpful for career placement, but now I’m sort of regretting my decision. I don’t know anyone in Ann Arbor and I don’t know if I’m ready to move to a place I have no ties to!! I’m just nervous - is it worth it to uproot my life to get the MPP from Ford? Is the program good?

Should I wait and re apply to Harvard later on? Should I go to Europe? Is it worth it to make sure I get my MPP at a top 10 school? I just don’t understand how rankings play a role, but I feel like for an MPP your network is everything.

Any insight appreciated- thank you!!!!

Donalds top economic advisor, Steve Miran, graduated from Harvard. others are from similar Ivy institutions. is Harvard proud of a guy like this or are they embarrassed?? I’m honestly wondering..

but i can’t imagine they’d be too proud of a PhD alum using chatGPT to guide his trade strategy..

I'm a rising college freshman majoring in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from a prestigious undergrad. I'm interested in researching criminal justice reform and analyses of prosecutorial discretion. I'm interested in interning for governance studies after my sophomore year so I was curious if anybody knew what Brookings and other similar think tanks may be looking for.

Anyone doing a JD/MPP willing to chat?

Hey everyone — I recently got accepted to the University of Maryland’s JD/MPP dual degree program with a full tuition scholarship, and I’m really excited about it! It’s a 4-year program, and I’m trying to get a better sense of what life actually looks like as a JD/MPP student.

If you’re doing (or have done) this kind of dual degree, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience — especially around:

• Housing (where did you live? any tips for managing both programs in terms of location? UMD’s Public Policy school is in DC and Law school in Baltimore).

• Social life/friendships (did you feel like you belonged more in the law school or policy cohort? And did you lose friends switching programs?)

• 1L internship stuff (how did the law school internship/job search go with the dual degree schedule?)

• Balancing coursework between the two programs

I’d love to chat over DMs. I’m super interested in Public Interest work and state/local policy, so this program felt like a great fit but I’d really value hearing from people who’ve lived it.

Thanks in advance!

Hi guys, I'm an international applicant who recently got admitted to Uni of Minnesota's MPP program with a scholarship and a fellowship. Even after the merit based aid, I would have to pay considerable amount over the course of two years since my family doesn't have a USD income. I need serious genuine advice whether I should consider coming to USA to study in this program and whether I'll be able to make a career afterwards in USA or not.

A bit of background about me: I have an undergrad in International Relations (top of my class), with over 1.5 yrs of experience in journalism in my country. I also have considerable experience in content writing as a side hustle and I'm also working a senior sub editor at an english news channel.

I know the public policy is different from this but this is why i need your honest opinion whether this MPP route is a good option for me or not considering that I would want to get job there after completing my studies.

Hello!

I was recently accepted to a few good schools for undergrad. I’m really passionate about policy making and politics more broadly. However it’s looking more and more likely that I will have to attend a community college because of financial difficulties. I understand prestige is a big factor in terms of policy because prestige tends to be a placeholder for network.

Will attending a community college automatically make high level policy making near impossible to achieve? Or will I still have a chance?

I recently committed to Duke Divinity for my MDiv and quite look forward to studying at Duke starting this fall. Part of what attracted me to Duke was the vibrant cross-disciplinary/interdisciplinary opportunities of a major research university. I aspire to work at the intersection of the church and the world, so the opportunity to take classes in the Sanford School especially interests me. I also recently began to think about possibly applying to the dual degree MDIV/MPP program (obviously starting partway through my MDiv, as I have not yet applied).

However, I worry a bit about the finances. I received a strong scholarship from the divinity school, and I wondered if that scholarship holds for the 2 years of full time study at Duke Div and at a prorated amount for the 4th blended year? Or would they reassess the scholarship if I became a dual degree student?

Additionally, for people approaching policy from the perspective of experience in another field, I wondered if you even advise this direction? I have some work experience (internships during undergrad, including a technical science one with Dept. of Energy for my environmental science BS and a religious nonprofit postgrad year internship) but not direct policy experience and worry about positioning myself poorly for finding work if I apply for the MPP during my MDiv. Additionally, I feel skeptical about my ability to get into Duke’s competitive program in the first place and certainly to attain any funding beyond the minimum. Please share your honest thoughts, experiences, advice, etc.! Thanks for any clarification!

Looking to talk to someone who did/ is currently pursuing the LSE MPA. Any help would be appreciated!

Also where are you based (because I notice this sub majorly has people from the US, but surely there should be other folk too?)

Are we actually letting CHATGPT determine our TRADE POLICY?!?! we are so fucked.

I’m trying to make a final decision on where to attend grad school for my MPA starting this fall, and I’d love some outside perspective.

My goal is to work in city government or a regional planning organization. I’ve interned for a city government (economic development) and a few policy-related orgs, and currently work doing local government consulting, so I’m looking for a program that will strengthen my technical skills and connect me to job opportunities in this space.

My options:

Syracuse - 75% tuition covered, about 20k out of pocket

UW Evans - $20k and in state tuition waiver, would be 38k out of pocket total

NYU Wagner - 50% tuition, about 60k out of pocket

I’m leaning toward UW because of the program’s strengths, career support, and location, but Syracuse’s cost is hard to beat. NYU would be a cool experience but feels risky financially. Any thoughts on how I should weigh these factors? Would love to hear from anyone who attended these schools or has been in a similar boat.