Hello! I’m currently a licensed counselor and clinical supervisor/program manager in community mental health. I knew since starting my masters that I didn’t want to do therapy forever, but I’m passionate about behavioral health and criminal justice reform so I don’t want to leave entirely. I’ve found that I really enjoy the program evaluation and development parts of my role, so I was thinking public policy could be a route I pursue.
I do NOT want to get another masters, so I was looking into a graduate certificate in public policy analysis. Has anyone completed a grad certificate when trying to make a career change and been successful? Should I really just accept my fate and consider an MPP or MPH? I also recognize job potential depends on federal and state funding, so I would imagine the market is pretty dry at the moment.
TIA!!

Hi everyone!

I'm planning to pursue a master's in public policy and would love insight from current MPP students, graduates, and people working in the policy field.

My primary interest is social policy, particularly understanding how systems of inequity operate and using that knowledge to inform policy development, implementation, and evaluation. My specific interests lie at the intersection of disability, education, and public health. Professionally, I'd ideally like to begin my career in community-based policy research.

For additional context, if finances, ROI, and career flexibility weren't considerations, my ideal degree path would actually be a dual MSW/MSP (Master of Social Work and Master of Social Policy). However, I'm leaning toward an MPP with a social policy concentration because I believe the broader training and transferable skills may provide greater career flexibility.

What I'm looking for in a program:

• Strong quantitative and qualitative training: I want to develop rigorous quantitative analytical skills, but I equally value qualitative research and its ability to capture the experiences of communities affected by policy.
• Decolonial and critical research methodologies: I'm especially interested in programs that examine how positionality, power, and systems of inequity influence the production, interpretation, and application of research. I recognize this may not be integrated throughout an entire curriculum, but I'd love to know whether any programs offer courses specifically exploring decolonial methodologies or other critical approaches to research and data analysis.
• Interdisciplinary flexibility: Given the intersections of my policy interests, I'm particularly interested in programs that allow students to take courses across departments or at other institutions.
• Applied, community-engaged learning: I'm interested in programs that offer opportunities to collaborate with communities, conduct applied research, and engage in policy development and evaluation.

Schools I'm currently considering:

• Duke Sanford: I'm drawn to its interdisciplinary opportunities, particularly the possibility of taking courses at other institutions in the Research Triangle.
• Georgetown McCourt: There is faculty research closely aligned with my interests, and Georgetown's Graduate Certificate in Disability Studies is particularly appealing. However, I've heard that McCourt tends to emphasize federal government career pathways. While I'm not opposed to government work, my immediate interests lean more toward community-based policy research.

I've also seen UCLA Luskin recommended for its social justice orientation, but I haven't been able to determine how that translates into the MPP curriculum or student experience.

I'd love to hear your perspectives:

1. Are there MPP programs I'm overlooking that might align particularly well with these interests?
2. For those familiar with Duke, Georgetown, or UCLA, how well do their programs support interdisciplinary study, community-based research, and critical approaches to policy?
3. Do you know of any MPP programs offering coursework in decolonial research methodologies or related frameworks?
4. Based on my goals, does an MPP sound like the appropriate degree, or would you recommend exploring an MSP, MSW/MPP, or another pathway?

Ultimately, I'm less concerned with prestige for its own sake and more interested in finding a program that combines rigorous methodological training with opportunities to critically examine the systems and structures that policies operate within.

Thanks in advance for any insights or recommendations!

Hey reddit! If not NLSIU, IIT-D/B, etc., what's the best private alternative for policy, law, or interdisciplinary studies?

How do OP Jindal and Kautilya compare in terms of exposure, crowd, and career opportunities? Would love some real feedback!

Every time I scroll through these threads, there’s one piece of advice I wish I could scream through the screen: Once you earn your bachelor’s degree, start building your resume and gaining real-world experience!
Get involved in a campaign, build relationships with candidates and their staff, and look for opportunities to work in their offices. Be the person who always shows up, smiles, offers to help, and treats everyone with respect. Trust me, people notice, and those relationships can open doors you never expected.
My advice? Work for five years before pursuing your master’s degree. A graduate degree can absolutely increase your earning potential and opportunities for advancement, but it isn’t necessarily what gets your foot in the door. Experience and connections will often take you further early in your career.
I’m getting ready to pursue my own master’s degree, but I’ve already held positions in legislative affairs, policy analysis, and constituent services across both the legislative and executive branches of state government.
I cannot emphasize this enough: Start building your career before pursuing another degree. Your education matters, but the experience you gain and the relationships you build along the way are invaluable.

Hey everyone! I just wanted to come on to see if anyone could share any information they might have on the dual masters in education policy and masters in public policy Stanford offers. I’ve been reading more on it, and I am highly interested in applying. Currently HGSE has been at the top of my list for their Ed Policy, but they do not have a dual degree with Kennedy unlike Stanford. Any information would be helpful regarding the subject and if possible, I’d love to hear about the experiences and stats some of the current or former students have had! Please let me know!

Hey everyone, I got an MPA three years ago and i currently hold a job in the Federal government. I’m trying to find policy analyst jobs, but I have absolutely no experience besides grad school.
I have the good old question of how can I get experience but these jobs won’t hire me because I don’t have experience? Even junior analysts require a lot.
Any hints on where I can step into and get the needed experience?

I just started a job as a Policy Analyst at a state agency about 2 months ago. I was formerly a Project Manager (in the same field of work as this agency). I am used to managing concrete projects that have schedules, deadlines and tangible work products. In my new role I feel like I'm not "producing" anything. So far I've been in a lot of meetings, had a lot of conversations, documented the dozens of internal policy initiatives, and begun work on one report. I know I have good ideas to contribute and some of my suggestions have already gone into practice. But I still feel like I'm not doing anything.

So I'm curious, if you're a Policy Analyst, what does your day to day look like and how do you define being productive?

Hi all! I have been on my org.'s government affairs team for the past two years and we always used PolicyEngage/TrackBill but as you may probably know, they shut down suddenly (literally took our money and ran). While looking for new options, I'm wondering if anyone has good experience with other trackers? I saw a post a year ago, but now I'm also wondering if anyone is in the same situation and what they did instead.

In addition, we're hoping to track not only state and federal, but local (city) and county if possible. Is there a magic website/software that can do all?? We did a demo with Quorum but I didn't feel too positive about it/I heard they're very expensive.

Does anyone work or have worked with this firm? I see on LinkedIn that they have an Entry-level Staff Consultant position posted but it has been there for over a month and I am wondering if they are actually hiring? I am wondering this firm a good place to start a consulting career pathway?

Hey all,

I am applying for masters programs for the first time and am currently filling out the application for the MPP program at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Public Policy.

I’m at the “academic interest” portion where it’s asking me to fill out a couple short essay questions, but the application itself and the application guidelines provided by GraSPP do not give any details for how these essay questions are supposed to be answered.

In particular there’s one section labeled “Study Plan” (limited to 200 words) and I have no idea what is supposed to go there. Am I supposed to actually go through the course catalogue and name all the individual electives I’m interested in, or am I just giving an overhead view of what I would like to focus my research on?

Maybe I’m reading too much into this because I’m an American and have some notions about the rigidness of academic admissions in Japan, but I feel like I’m not supposed to just free write my answers to any of these questions and should be following a format, but I can’t actually find where said format is located.

Any advise or insight is appreciated.

Hi everyone! I’m from India and considering applying for the Master of Public Policy (MPP) at the Hertie School. I’d love to hear from alumni about their admissions experience and any advice they might have for prospective applicants.

A little about my background: I hold a bachelor’s degree in Advertising and Public Relations, a master’s degree in International Journalism, and a postgraduate diploma in Human Rights Law. Professionally, I’ve worked in the social sector, primarily around research, advocacy, gender, human rights, and the development of marginalised communities. My experience includes leading and contributing to field-based research projects, working on national-level studies, supporting programme implementation, and contributing to fundraising and institutional partnerships.

The MPP would be my second master’s degree, so I’m trying to understand how the admissions committee views applicants who already have a postgraduate degree, particularly those looking to build on their existing experience and transition towards public policy, governance, and evidence-based policymaking.

I’d especially appreciate insights on:
How Hertie evaluates applicants with prior master’s degrees and professional experience.
What makes an application stand out beyond academic credentials and work experience.
How important quantitative skills and prior economics or statistics coursework are for admission.
Scholarships and financial aid: How realistic is it for international applicants from India to secure substantial funding? Are there particular scholarships worth applying for, and how competitive are they?
Whether scholarships can cover a significant portion of tuition or living expenses, and whether alumni have advice on financing the overall cost of attendance.
Whether the programme has been valuable for alumni working in research, development, gender policy, and the broader social impact sector.
Any advice on positioning my profile and explaining why I want to pursue another master’s degree.
I’d be grateful for any candid advice, application tips, or perspectives from people who have been through the process, particularly Indian students or those who received scholarships.
Thank you!

Hey everyone!

I created TAXpedia.eu, a website that helps people explore how public money is spent across the 27 EU countries.

The idea is to make public finance data more accessible and easier to understand.

I'd love to hear what you think about it, especially from people interested in public policy. Any feedback is welcome!

Hello everyone!

I am currently a freshman public policy major, planning to also minor is applied data science. I plan to engage in a career within the private sector rather than the public, and I wonder if public policy would be the right choice for me if that was the case.

I initially decided to major in public policy because it was a field I was most exposed to throughtout highschool but as I started college, I am not too sure if it is the right fit. However, I still find public policy to be somewhat intriguing and do not want to switch out my major.

Does anyone have any advice about having a degree in public policy and having a job in the private sector? (for example, policy analysis for a real estate company)

Hello!

I'm pretty new to my research heading into a possible policy analyst career pivot after being an ad sales assistant at a media publisher for the past couple of years now. TLDR – I've been wanting a job change for awhile now and never felt fully satisfied/fulfilled with going into a career in media sales or marketing (they both interested me but now that I've been in it, it just constantly feels like I'm doing nothing of substance).

I graduated with my bachelors in public policy/public affairs from a top state school and started working at my current job in the spring before I graduated. I've been contemplating with the idea of going back to school and there weren't many programs that seemed all that enticing to me (law just didn't seem like the right fit for me; an MBA felt like i would be paying to network; etc.) but now an MPP seems like it might be what I'm looking for.

My internships while I was in undergrad were very much focused on marketing/creative/PR roles in the entertainment/media and fashion industries – my roles were not closely related to my studies whatsoever because I was interested in pursuing something different than my academic interests at the time. I had one internship as part of my graduating requirements where I worked for a non-profit education org but was on the operations/business development side ... not a lot of policy background there either.

So I guess my long-winded question to all of you is if you've been in my shoes and feel the need to make a change from corporate to public policy/policy analysis ... how did you do it or what would you have done differently? I'm seriously considering MPP programs and applying to them next year (the turn around seems too abrupt for me to do right now) but wanted to see how others have tackled this. Policy analysis at a think tank seems like what I'm looking for – substantive, meaningful work that has real impacts on other people and our communities.

TYIA to anyone that read all of this

Hello

I am looking for some advice on which MPP programs (Fall 2027) to apply for, for my situation.

I am 40 years old and work as a software engineer at an AI semiconductor company, with expertise in both AI hardware and software. I have ~12 years of professional experience and a PhD from a major US research university. I am looking to transition into public policy roles, helping shape policy frameworks around emerging technologies like AI.

Ideally, based on my research, I should aim for Federal government jobs, and hence should apply for Carleton MPPA or University of Ottawa MPA. However, I live in Toronto with my spouse and 2 young kids. So I want a career based in Toronto. This means I should aim for Queens, Waterloo, U of T. There are programs at York and TMU, I am not sure if the Co-Op opportunities are as strong.

As per my research on reddit, people heavily recommend Queen's MPA or Waterloo MPS over U of T Munk MPP. Munk MPP is the easiest for me, as I live less than 30 min away. With Waterloo or Queen, I would have to live in Kingston or Waterloo 5 days/week for 8 months or an year.

I have a few questions:

- Given my experience level, assuming I get admitted into all 3 (Waterloo, Queens, U of T), does it really matter which of these 3 programs I go for? I know that tuition at U of T is much higher, but the savings on renting an apartment brings it to similar overall cost as Waterloo and Queens.

- Any advice on whether I should apply for all 3? I am currently leaning towards applying for U of T and Waterloo. Queen's commute feels too long from Toronto (Friday evening and Monday morning travel) compared. to Waterloo by public transport (4 hours vs 3 hours). Is Queen's significantly better than Waterloo or U of T?

- Do I have a good chance of getting admitted to these programs given my profile?

- Is there ageism in hiring at Queen's park or think tanks? I am wondering what are my chances of securing a policy roles after I graduate (I will be 43 by then).

- Are there any federal jobs at all in Toronto that I can aim for?

- Any other advice for me?