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So if I don't end up going to law school, my back-up plan is to get a Public Policy Master's. I'm curious about any knowledge any TLSers have of MPP's in general. Do they open up doors to make it worth it? I'm basically a K-JD with a little bit of relevant work experience, but otherwise unqualified for just about everything. Will a MPP help me get my foot in the door for policy/non-profit jobs. This job market blows; thanks, boomers.

I mentioned that I was thinking about applying to law school to a guy I work with a while back. He has a MPP from Harvard and his wife has a JD from...Fordham I think (or some comparable school). He told me that even from Harvard, the MPP feels like less of an asset than his wife's JD. Now, this guy's probably about 45-50, so take that for what it's worth, but there's one point of view.

In my experience in gov work (mostly as a contractor, more recently as a gov employee) I have seen several people with MPP in positions that were generally considered desierable jobs. Although in the cases were I knew these people well enough to know the details of their educational background, most had considerable work experience in a related field before getting the degree.

Swimp wrote:I mentioned that I was thinking about applying to law school to a guy I work with a while back. He has a MPP from Harvard and his wife has a JD from...Fordham I think (or some comparable school). He told me that even from Harvard, the MPP feels like less of an asset than his wife's JD. Now, this guy's probably about 45-50, so take that for what it's worth, but there's one point of view.

This point of view is not out of line with what I have seen.

haus wrote:In my experience in gov work (mostly as a contractor, more recently as a gov employee) I have seen several people with MPP in positions that were generally considered desierable jobs. Although in the cases were I knew these people well enough to know the details of their educational background, most had considerable work experience in a related field before getting the degree.

Yeah, I've met several people with similar jobs/education, but wasn't aware of WE before the degree. Fuck this economy.

I know of a quite a few people with MPPs that then apply to law school. But never heard of anyone with a JD going on to do an MPP. I'm a member of the former group

The MPP/MPA is *supposed* to act like the MBA of the public sector. It is a tremendous asset to military folks, GS-5/7's, government contractors with specialized experience, and so forth. Unless you go to a top school, it is not especially helpful for getting into a think tank or policy NGO (not that a JD is, either).

The MPP/MPA is less impressive than the JD in social circles, arguably, but you make up for that by not having 150k in non-dischargable debt. I'm currently in an MPA program -- not a top notch school, but still a fairly good one. I haven't even finished it yet, and I'm already doing significantly better than my peers who aren't doing one.

In this order, I'd take:

T14 law (free) > Princeton MPA > HYS JD > Harvard MPA > T14 law

twentypercentmore wrote:The MPP/MPA is *supposed* to act like the MBA of the public sector. It is a tremendous asset to military folks, GS-5/7's, government contractors with specialized experience, and so forth. Unless you go to a top school, it is not especially helpful for getting into a think tank or policy NGO (not that a JD is, either).

The MPP/MPA is less impressive than the JD in social circles, arguably, but you make up for that by not having 150k in non-dischargable debt. I'm currently in an MPA program -- not a top notch school, but still a fairly good one. I haven't even finished it yet, and I'm already doing significantly better than my peers who aren't doing one.

In this order, I'd take:

T14 law (free) > Princeton MPA > HYS JD > Harvard MPA > T14 law

True. At what level of debt do you consider a T1 MPP worth/not worth it? Also, I got dinged from the T14 and have no chance an an Ivy MPP/A. Ideally, I want to practice law, but I'm not sure the economy is going to let me, so how would you order a T1 MPP v a T1 JD?

What about using a JD to get into policy work?

This is a weird thread. The MPP and the JD are not substitutes, and neither are the job categories for which each degree qualifies you. Get a JD if you want to be a lawyer; don't get a JD if you don't want to be a lawyer.

Bildungsroman wrote:This is a weird thread. The MPP and the JD are not substitutes, and neither are the job categories for which each degree qualifies you. Get a JD if you want to be a lawyer; don't get a JD if you don't want to be a lawyer.

In most cases i would agree with you, but within the world of federal agencies, especially in and around DC, these degrees do have a considerable amount of overlap.

haus wrote:

Bildungsroman wrote:This is a weird thread. The MPP and the JD are not substitutes, and neither are the job categories for which each degree qualifies you. Get a JD if you want to be a lawyer; don't get a JD if you don't want to be a lawyer.

In most cases i would agree with you, but within the world of federal agencies, especially in and around DC, these degrees do have a considerable amount of overlap.

Pretty much this, from my experience in DC.

slawww wrote:

haus wrote:

Bildungsroman wrote:This is a weird thread. The MPP and the JD are not substitutes, and neither are the job categories for which each degree qualifies you. Get a JD if you want to be a lawyer; don't get a JD if you don't want to be a lawyer.

In most cases i would agree with you, but within the world of federal agencies, especially in and around DC, these degrees do have a considerable amount of overlap.

Pretty much this, from my experience in DC.

If you want to be a lawyer, get a JD.

Bildungsroman wrote: If you want to be a lawyer, get a JD.

Thanks for the really insightful advice. Getting a JD does not mean I will get a job as a lawyer, hence the question posed in the OP.

tonton wrote:I know of a quite a few people with MPPs that then apply to law school. But never heard of anyone with a JD going on to do an MPP. I'm a member of the former group

I'm in the former group as well. I find the JD to be much more valuable.