MPP Admissions Requirements

Public policy is, by nature, an interdisciplinary endeavor. The curriculum of the MPP program and the background of the program's students reflect this. GPPI admits MPP students representing a variety of undergraduate majors, including political science, economics, English, engineering, history, sociology, nursing, business, philosophy, and biology. GPPI also admits students with diverse professional backgrounds, including those who have worked as direct service providers (such as teachers or directors of homeless shelters and soup kitchens), in various policy-related positions, the U.S. Military, or from a wide variety of private-sector occupations and industries.

For admission consideration, applicants must have a bachelor's degree or equivalent from an accredited college or university in the United States or an international college or university recognized by the Ministry of Education in the country where the institution is located. In the U.S., a bachelor's degree is considered sixteen years of formal education consisting of twelve years of primary/secondary education plus four years of college or university education. For some international students, the educational configuration may consist of thirteen years of primary/secondary and three years of college or university education.

The Admissions Committee carefully considers an applicant's combined academic background and professional experience in determining admissibility to the master's program. No part of the application is unimportant, and no application will be considered if any section is incomplete. Interviews are not required for admission. Also, GPPI does not have minimum test score or grade point average requirements.

Review of the combined record includes the following:

Academic background includes undergraduate transcripts, academic recommendations, performance on the GRE, and membership in academic honor societies.

Professional experience includes internships, part-time and fulltime work, professional recommendations, volunteer and community service activities, campus leadership, membership in civic organizations, and published material.

Admission essays stating public policy career goals and reasons for wishing to attend the GPPI.
Students applying for enrollment immediately after completing their undergraduate careers must demonstrate a clear understanding of their reasons for pursuing substantive public policy studies. They must also exhibit clear professional capabilities through extensive part-time employment or volunteer internship experience in a related field of public service, research or policy.

While the GPPI does not require prior quantitative training, the program's core curriculum is rigorous in nature and completion of prior course work in pre-calculus or calculus, microeconomics, and statistics is strongly recommended. The admissions committee will also evaluate each application with an eye toward the applicant's writing and analytical skills, both vital to success in studying policy analysis at the graduate level. Students will receive training and instruction in computer applications for statistics in the core GPPI methodology courses.

Those students admitted to the program whose academic record or GRE scores evidence a weak quantitative background, may be required by the Admissions Committee as a condition of admission to take course work in pre-calculus, microeconomics, and/or statistics as condition of admission and earn a (B) or better in the course.

Interviews are not required, but prospective students are encouraged to attend an information session with a GPPI representative. These one-on-one sessions offer students a chance to visit Georgetown, to talk to current students and faculty, and to attend classes.

Prior work experience is also not an admission requirement, but is highly recommended. Students with previous work experience are able to derive more from classes through exposure to relevant issues/topics addressed in a professional work environment. While most students have several years of policy related work experience, students applying as undergraduates often do not. These students usually demonstrate an interest in the policy field through relevant coursework and internship experiences.