• How did you select your graduate school and how did it prepare you for your career?
• Work or internship experience during graduate school
• What was the most important or useful course you took in the MPA/MPP?
• Were you a Presidential Management Intern?
• What has been your career path since graduating? What do you want to be doing in 5 years?
• What is the most exciting and/or interesting aspect of your current job?
• Do you feel your MPA/MPP is helping you to “make a difference?” How?
• What advice, if any, would you give to an undergraduate thinking about going for an MPA/MPP?

How did you select your graduate school and how did it prepare you for your career?

> I used catalogs and the internet for research. The three catalogs were: a guide to graduate school programs in the United States (published by Penguin, I believe), the U.S. News & World Report Guide to Graduate School Programs and the NASPAA graduate program guidebook. I also went online to visit the websites of the universities and programs that I was interested. By coincidence, I also spoke to a professor of a school I was interested at a mini-health fair. The online research introduced me to using the internet for academic research, which I hadn’t used before.

Any work or internship experience during graduate school?

> I was a Teaching Assistant for 3 semesters beginning in January 2001 and ending in May 2002. I worked for professors in both the MPA program and for political science professors. In addition, I was a data lab assistant for 2 semesters.

The work for professors consisted of: verifying journal references; photocopying; borrowing and returning books from the library; proctoring undergraduate exams; distributing and collecting teacher evaluation forms; data entry; taking roll call and observing undergraduate classes; some grading of undergraduate quizzes; showing videotapes, being available to answer undergraduate students’ questions, taking scantron sheets to be graded, etc.

What was the most important or useful course you took in the MPA/MPP?

> It is perhaps too soon to tell, but the 2 statistics courses (Research Design & Quantitative Methods I and II) and Computer Usage in Public Administration were very helpful. I also took some political science courses (non-MPA) and I was able to understand more of the journal articles and data than if I hadn’t taken the statistics courses.

Were you a Presidential Management Intern?

> I am currently a Presidential Management Intern. I am assigned as a budget analyst in the Office of Housing’s Office of Budget and Field Resources at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. I started in August 2002 and have not yet begun my rotations.

What has been your career path since graduating? What do you want to be doing in 5 years?

> Since graduating in May 2002, I have been a PMI at HUD for about 8 weeks. In 5 years, I would like to: perhaps study for another graduate degree, be working as a policy/program/management analyst, have more responsibility, etc.

What is the most exciting and/or interesting aspect of your current job?

> So far, I’ve enjoyed the training and learning opportunities about budgeting, financial procedures and computer applications. In addition, the interaction with fellow PMIs and co-workers has been very useful.

Do you feel your MPA/MPP is helping you to “make a difference?” How?

> It is perhaps too soon to tell if I am “making a difference” since I am still in the learning stage. The courses I took and the professors and fellow students I met who relayed their previous government work experiences were very helpful. Overall, I highly enjoyed my graduate school experience in the MPA program at the University of Houston.

What advice, if any, would you give to an undergraduate thinking about going for an MPA/MPP?

> I would suggest doing a fair amount of research (NASPAA guidebook and other graduate school catalogs, school websites and other websites and perhaps visits) and selecting schools/programs based on post-graduation career plans and availability of teaching assistantships.

Some factors that are useful in selecting a program are: location of the school (will it be close to one’s eventual work location); size of the program (is it a separate school, department or a program within a department); number of faculty assigned to teaching MPA courses; focus of the department; and convenience of the course schedule for part-timers, etc.

I found that being a teaching assistant made my graduate school experience much better in terms of being able to know the professors and fellow students better, being afforded additional resources (like extended library book-borrowing privileges, bookstore discounts, use of the data lab during non-working hours, a desk/bookshelf, etc.) and being exposed to the research projects and teaching methods of the professors.