Old guy with scattered background looking for MPP masters/PhD

Graduate School
1

<p>Ok, so I’m not really old per se…but 30 years old with a family of five sure seems much older than most people who go back to pursue a masters and PhD after just two years of getting work experience and a free single lifestyle. I also have a bit of a odd background given my education and work experience. </p>

<p>I graduated with a BS Civil Engineering from University of Wisconsin - Madison, but decided engineering was not for me after my internships so I went to work for a very large credit card company/bank where I did quite well. I started off as a analyst and in eight years and four promotions moved up to a business manager in charge of a 22 million dollar marketing budget and making great money. We were living the american dream… however, I realized that I wanted to do something that would be ‘more impactful’ (I know…clichee) so I applied to the FBI as a special agent and went through the whole year+ long process just to be eliminated by a slight medical condition at the end - I was crushed. Instead of going back to something I wasn’t passionate about at the bank, I took three years with my family and moved to Costa Rica where we are doing missions work. I’ve been teaching science at a Christian bi-lingual school to 7th, 8th and 10th graders. I’ve learned that I enjoy not-for-profit work, I also enjoy the analysis behind decisions (I enjoyed this at the bank, I enjoy reading about government policies in magazines like foreign affairs, I enjoy thinking about different moves our mission makes - I just enjoy the analysis of policies) and lastly I learned that I love teaching and would love it, more I believe, at the college level. So my thought is why not go study something I really enjoy with the end goal of being able to research and teach it at the college level. </p>

<p>The catch is, I don’t want to spend 150K plus in our own savings to fund it, nor do I want to pull out massive loans that I pay down over the rest of my life. So my main question is, what types of MPP/MPA programs provide me the best opportunity to not only get accepted but also will offer an assistantship or some means of paying for the education? I’m honestly not concerned about attending the top school - any state school school will do. My stats are:</p>

<p>Undergrad GPA 3.34
Major GPA 3.5
GRE V:570 Q:770 (still waiting on the essays) –> Verbals not great - I know (antonyms!) </p>

<p>We are keen on the midwest, so I was considering schools such as Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State, or University of Illinois. Do I have a shot at getting funded there? Does my background help or hurt me? Should I try to apply straight to the PhD program or will I almost have to do a masters first then apply to the same or different school? (I know Purdue works a bit differently in that they do not have different programs, they just make a decision after 2 years if you should/can continue towards PhD studies). Do I need to go to a smaller school to have a shot at getting it paid for? Any thoughts you all have would be great, I feel a bit out of my element and lost.</p>

2

<p>You want to go to grad school to be a college professor right? Have you thoroughly looked in to the job prospects of your degree/becoming a professor? I just say this as you do have a family to help support and are limiting yourself to teaching. Before heading down this road, think about if your family can handle the instability of you finding a professorship (which may take some time to find and be secure). I saw follow your dreams/more power to you, but look at the reality too.</p>

3

<p>No, your point is well take and valid. The reason I like the public policy route is that I would be more than happy rolling those skills over to either a government position, a think tank NGO or not-for-profit. I thinking depending on what I studied, any of those would be valid options as well. I was willing to go work for the government for way less money as an FBI agent instead of at the bank, the same would be true after getting a masters and PhD.</p>

4

<p>I’ll add on to my earlier questions too. Is the public policy an odd stretch given my background? Would it make more sense to go the business school route in something specific like micro-financing or more general like economics (which is not necessarily in the business school I know). My experience probably works better in that context, but I also like the idea of public policy. Thoughts are greatly appreciated.</p>

5

<p>You may want to figure that out for yourself. Having a forum decide something that may affect what you study for the next 2-7 years may not be a great idea. Work on removing the “scattered” part of your SoP before you begin applying to any program as that may be the red flag preventing you from getting admitted anywhere.</p>