Mary Downs
09:00:33 AM
Hello all! We will begin in a few minutes. Thank you for joining us!
Karolina Naranjo Velasco
09:02:34 AM
Hello everyone! Mary, thank you for letting me know it
Good morning. Welcome to the MPI D virtual information session in this session will provide you with an overview of the MPI D program and do our best. Answer your questions if the audio is working. Please type in the chat box to let us know you can hear us.
Sarah Jlassi
09:04:12 AM
Hello
Callan Corcoran
09:04:12 AM
I can hear you!
Veethi Vyas
09:04:13 AM
I can hear you, thanks
Nazareno Montani Cazabat
09:04:16 AM
i can hear you
Claudia Yeap
09:04:17 AM
I can hear you
Are you seeing anybody yes OK? We see several of you? That's good?
Linda John
09:04:18 AM
Can hear you
Audy Velasco Cardona
09:04:20 AM
hello
OK, welcome if you need to ask a question you can type it at anytime in the chat section. You can do so at anytime, but will respond to the questions at the end of our presentation.
Akihiro Hirose
09:04:36 AM
hello
And, please. Feel free to email us after the program if you have additional questions that we have not gotten around to answering or that are specific to you, a recording of this session will be made available within about a week.
Paula Marie Mella Bonilla
09:04:49 AM
Hello, I can hear you
I'm Carol Finnian with me is Sarah Olio, the assistant director of the program.
We'll start with a quick overview of the Kennedy School in the other programs here and then discuss the MPI D program in some death then we'll go over the admissions process and finally we'll have a panel of current MP ID student and will take your questions.
Here at the Kennedy school. We have 4 Masters programs. In 4 doctoral programs. We have almost 1000 full-time students about half of whom are international.
More detailed information about all of our programs may be found on our website but to give you a brief overview. The mid career program shown on the Top line of this chart is a flexible one year program. The typical student has about 14 years of professional experience.
On the next line. The MPI D program enrolls about 68 students a year. We have about 4 to 5 years of professional work experience on average. About 75% or citizens of developing or transitional economy countries in the first year. MPID students take a set of development focused core courses and in the second year they choose electives to suit their interests.
The MPP program shown on the 3rd line has a similar structure to the MPI D with core courses in the first year followed by electives in the 2nd year.
However, the MPP programming roles about 225 students a year. About 80% of whom are US citizens. There are no prerequisite courses for the MPP and students choose from a number of different concentrations.
Finally, the two year MBA program is a flexible program for applicants with at least 3 years of work experience and substantial previous graduate coursework.
I encourage you to spend some time looking into which program is the right fit for you as you can only apply to one program in any given year and cannot transfer to another program once you're here.
Now we're going to focus on the MPI Deprogram. The MPI D is a full time, 2 year program designed to prepare the next generation of leaders in International Development is the economic centered multidisciplinary program, providing rigorous training in analytical and quantitative methods with a focus on policy and practice rather than on training future academics.
Because it's an economic centered program. We have prerequisite course requirements, including one college level course in each micro and Macro Economics and multi variable calculus, which is typically the 3rd course in a University calculus sequence. All of these must be completed before enrolling in the program.
We think there are 4 things that distinguish the MPI deprogramming will talk about each of them in turn. The MPI D program is known for its challenging integrated curriculum outstanding faculty bright committed students and successful alumni.
First, the curriculum about 20 years ago, when the faculty designed the MPI Deprogram. They set out to her by training. There was economics, but grounded in the realities of development and tailored for practitioners and that's what we do.
Sarah Jlassi
09:08:04 AM
I'm a financial ingeneer , with 4 years experience in the field , can I apply ?
The curriculum embodies this mission our core courses were specially designed for this program to introduce students to the main economic quantitative political and managerial tools needed by practitioners and leaders in the field of International Development. The core is followed by a summer internship with electives and a capstone project in the 2nd year.
Our core curriculum begins with two semester sequences in each micro and macro economics as well as quantitative methods, which is statistics and econometrics.
Professor Dan Lady teaches the false statistics course.
Nadia Tadros
09:08:27 AM
if you don't have a background in math can you still apply to masters in public policy?
Additional first year courses dev 101 and 102 comprise a year long sequence that looks at theories of economic development and considers empirical evidence as the basis for designing development policy. These courses identify key features of the development process across countries.
And develop an analytical framework grounded in economic theory to better understand these patterns. They then apply the frameworks. Combined with rigorous Imperial empirical evidence for smart policy designed to enable economic growth and development.
Heta Jangla
09:08:53 AM
It would be great to contrast with the MPA2 program where most relevant.
In addition to the quantitative courses the program includes core courses in public sector management and institutions and of course on governance and politics in developing countries chosen from a menu of offerings.
The final horse in the first year core is cases and applications in International Development. Its purpose is to apply. The range of concepts and techniques learn another MP ID core courses to selected topics such as education, health economic growth. The management of financial crisis, managing common property resources. International migration and community development. The core teaching is complemented by a speaker series designed to expose students to a variety of perspectives and experience.
Since all the anti ID students take the same set of core courses. The faculty can build upon the core in a coordinated fashion.
Recent speakers have included Antoinette Siaa Liberian Economist. She served as the director of the African Department at the International Monetary Fund from 2008 to 2016 and she's currently a distinguished visiting fellow at the Center for global development in Washington, DC.
Prior to return with the IMF she served as Minister of Finance in the Cabinet of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
As I mentioned between the 1st and 2nd years of study students completed development related internship. For example, Radnika Prasad interned at the World Bank's climate change group in Washington, DC, she wrote to us. I'm 2 weeks into my internship with the World Bank's climate change group and it's been an incredible experience seeing how a year of MPI D has prepared me for this work.
The curriculum does include room for electives in the second year students may choose up to 6 elective courses. Students can choose substantive courses in broad areas, such as national and international economic policy or in sectors such a sustainable development social policy or global governance.
Or in private sector development and its regulation.
Other popular electors include development policy strategy taught by Ricardo Haussmann. Negotiations leadership finance and data courses such as data visualization.
There's a huge range of courses to choose from at the Kennedy School and beyond. Students may cross register to the other schools at Harvard, such as the schools of business law. Public Health, Education, and design or at the faculty of Arts and Sciences, which includes the Department of economics government computer science, math and so on.
Simi Thambi
09:11:22 AM
Can electives be also taken Harvard Divinity School?
We also have crossed registration relationships with MIT and the Fletcher School of Law and diplomacy at half.
The last part of the curriculum is the 2nd year policy analysis, which goes by the acronym sipa. The site visit. Kapstone paper designed to integrate coursework through the application of analytical tools to apolosi problem chosen by the student.
Michael Walton shown here is one of the faculty members who advises students on their scyphus. After a full career with the World Bank Michael joined the Kennedy school faculty to bring his practitioners perspective to the students capstone projects.
Here is an example of one recent secondary policy analysis, the authors of this paper who's a boss. Classical Lupo and Patricia Goldstein are from Peru and Argentina. Respectively, in their capstone paper. They analyzed the mass exodus of Venezuelans that resulted from the countries economic collapse. Specifically, they consider the challenges for the Peruvian government and society that result from the arrival around 3/4 of a million Venezuelans have migrated to prove, since 2016.
The Kennedy school does offer combined degree programs with some other professional schools. We have joint degrees with Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School and concurrent degrees with several other business schools. Wharton Dartmouth, Stanford in the Sloan School at MIT and various law schools listed here. We also have concurrent degrees with Harvard Divinity School. Harvard design school and with medical schools on a case by case basis. The application for each school is completely separate if you're interested in the program with Harvard Business School note that you must apply to both.
Tools at the same time that is in the same admission jeer more information is available on our website.
A student in a combined degree program spends one year at each school and then splits. The 3rd year between the two schools with fall at the Kennedy School in spring at the other school.
Students in the joint program with Harvard Business School must begin at the Kennedy School. Most other concurrent 3 students choose that sequence as well.
The advantage of doing it combined degree is that you can do an MBA plus an MP ID for example, in 3 years, rather than 4 so it saves one year.
The Harvard Kennedy School is home to a large and distinguished faculty working in International Development, including professor Danny Rodrick faculty chair of the MPI D program.
In addition to research and teaching our faculty is actively engaged in the affairs the world shaping public policy. Advising governments and helping to run major institutions. Excuse me in the United States and abroad. The learning in our classrooms reflect this reality.
Our faculty are both academics and practitioners. Some, like Jeff Frankel have been primarily academics, although he spends considerable time advising governments on macro economic topics. Assistant Professor G by has been primarily in academic. She works on micro economic issues of firms in developing countries and emerging markets and teaches the core course on game theory.
Other members of our faculty have spent many years as practitioners. Professor of practice. Ricardo Haussmann served as Finance Minister of Venezuela in the 1990s and director of the Research Department of the Inter American Development Bank before joining the Kennedy School as professor of practice of economic development and many years for many years served as the director of Harvard Center for International Development Lecture Eliana. Carranza graduated from the MPI D program and is currently on leave from the World Bank where she's a senior economist.
Like our student body our faculty is international faculty members teaching in the MPI deprogrammed come from China, Cuba, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Turkey. the UK Venezuela and of course, the US, they bring their very perspectives to their teaching.
Next our students, the students who enroll in the MPI D program at one of its most valuable resources representing an extraordinary a variety of countries and backgrounds. They bring a wealth of experience to classroom discussions and study groups.
In a typical class of the gender ratio is pretty close to 5050. Our students come from a wide variety of backgrounds and interests. The average age is about 28 on Roland.
The students come from out from a variety of countries. The distribution differs from year to year. But we have roughly 75% from developing or transitional economy countries 15% from the US in about 10% from the rest of the industrialized world. We especially encourage applications from citizens of developing and transitional economy countries.
The course work here is challenging with readings problem sets and preparation before class meetings. We encourage students to work together in groups and to learn from each other.
There is life outside of classes students place towards go on trips and joy extracurricular activities and spend time with their families. Students do have some balance in their lives, but it is true that they work very hard, especially in the first semester.
For graduate student in this area there. Basically, 3 types of housing off campus apartments through the private market. University owned apartments or dormitories with single rooms neighborhoods nearly campus tend to have small residential buildings with 2 or 3 units like the one in this picture.
Many graduate students live in Harvard University housing like the Peabody Terrace apartment complex shown here Beauty Terrace House is a mix of single students couples and families.
Now I'd like to give you some information on our alumni in their careers as you're considering Graduate School. This should be obviously of concern to you. What kinds of jobs are well. am I going to have the MPI D program offers unparalleled training for professional career in International Development. The mix of theoretical rigor with a practical approach has proven to be a winning combination in the professional world.
Simi Thambi
09:17:18 AM
How is a 4 degree ( 2 MPA/ID + 2 at another concurrent school) shortened into 3 years? Does it mean taking more courses every year?
By creating this program, the Kennedy School has established a new career path toward leadership positions in International Development are graduates hold influential policy and management positions in a wide range of organizations. I'll show you a few examples today.
The majority of MPI D graduates are in public service, which includes international organizations like the World Bank IMF for Regional Development Banks. The public public sector predominantly the governments of their home countries nonprofits such as the Gates Foundation. Jaypal innovations for Poverty Action. Ox Fam World Vision and the Clinton Health Access initiative or in educational institutions such as Harvard Center for International Development and increasing number of our graduates start their own set social enterprise.
About 40% of our graduates work in the private sector. Many of them are in consulting, including the big strategy consulting firms like McKinsey BCG and bang as well as development focused organizations such as Dahlberg Advisors.
As I mentioned our graduates are spread across a large number of organizations. About 10% work at the World Bank. The next 2 biggest employers are McKinsey and the US government after that, the graduates are very dispersed.
The MPI D degree is highly valued in the development employment market are graduates are doing a number of terrifically interesting things, but I only have time to mention a few examples today.
Alumni work in a number of international organizations such as the examples shown here.
As I mentioned the World Bank is a single largest employer of our graduates. The World Bank's young professionals program has extended offers to 29 of our graduates since 2002 as you probably know the young professionals program is the most selective entree to the World Bank 8 to 10,000 people apply each year, 3 or 400 or after some it longer applications. About 150 or interviewed and 35 to 40 or higher each year, we've been averaging 2 or 3M Pi DS creator lately.
Depressing is another example of someone working in an international organization. She and many other graduates are hired by the IMF and eventually maybe come from just seeing the economist.
Charlie Chan works at the new Development Bank in Shanghai.
In the public sector, many of our alumni work in the governments of their home countries.
One REL, Jimenez has worked his recently been a minister of economy, it for the Dominican Republic after working in other government positions for a number of years.
Simi Thambi
09:19:57 AM
How welcoming is HKS MPA/ID program ( life outside school- housing etc) to expecting mothers or new mothers?
Melissa Tashu is now with the government Ethiopia, his home country after completing the MPI D program. He joined the IMF where he rose to the position of senior economist is now on leave from the IMF serving as Senior Macro Economic Advisor in the prime minister's office in Ethiopia.
Chris Maloney is now deputy assistant administrator of USAID immediately following graduation, he joined McKinsey and Johannesburg. South Africa and he's also worked at the Millennium Challenge Corp in DC rising with the position of managing director for selection eligibility.
As a final example or one exam one more of a number of examples. Fran wrote her second year policy analysis on redesigning the Chilean child welfare system after graduation. She was hired by the president's office to implement her recommendations that she now serves as the president's advisor for the childhood agenda.
British singers member of the Indian administrative service returned to India. Appan graduation and he recently wrote to talk about his new job as Senior Advisor to the Indian executive director at the World Bank.
He says I've been appointed by the government excuse me as a senior adviser to India's executive director for the World Bank. I had not applied for this position and it came as a complete surprise. I learned later that my MP ID training was an important part of being selected.
So the jobs with national governments cover a range of kinds of positions that you can see from these few examples.
In the nonprofit area are graduates do work at a number of of the household name type of nonprofit organizations that you see listed here about 10% of our grads are the nonprofit sector.
The reason example is he Yang graduated from the MPI D program in 2019 and returned to the Clinton Health Access Initiative. In a new role as China's country manager. She's now open them opening their new office in China.
As another example the shall serve isn't international economist at the US Treasury Department and then special adviser to the Minister of Finance in Liberia followed by directory. Public service sector finance at Standard Chartered Bank before joining the Gates Foundation, a US citizen. He's obviously served in a number of different roles before ending up at the Gates Foundation.
Utama Okubo, who graduated in 2014, is a social policy specialist at UNICEF currently stationed in Bangkok, Thailand.
Anne Healy is a chief innovation officer with evidence action cheesehead various other positions with innovations for Poverty Action and in the State Department in the US government.
Finally, the private sector many of our graduates do work in the private sector, especially in consulting and financial services. You can see some of the other employers listed here. Some examples, Nico Grossman is head of Economic Research for Latin America at McKinsey and company.
Other people are more product oriented firm so.
Tawiah is the cocoa sustainability, manager with the Hershey Company in her, her home country of Ghana for example.
And recently a number of our graduates have gravitated toward the tech sector. For example, Donnie areas become head of policy for Indonesia at bite dance previously. He served as Facebook's public policy, manager for Indonesia.
Another recent graduate Kochia Klenova accepted a job at the AI labor economy as the AI laboring economy lead at the partnership on AI in San Francisco after she graduated before coming to the MPI D program. She had worked in marketing for Google, Russia and then at Google headquarters in California. Her summer internship was with the UN's Executive Office of the secretary general, for Strategic and through **** Benny and monitoring related to AI issues with the UN.
And many of our graduates have started their own organizations. You may be familiar with some of these MP ID ventures listed here.
One of the first was ventures in development started by Carol Chow in one of her classmates. In 2006, they found adventures and development in its subsidiary. Show K Show K is a social business that brings Tibetan yak down product to the international market in a way that promote sustainable development. Carolyn her partner, one be Harvard Business School. Business plan competition in 2006 and echoing Green Fellowship in 2008, which enabled them to launch their organization.
It's another example bodyshot and several his classmates founded ID insight, which helps leaders in developing countries use evidence to improve their social impact. These are just a few of the myriad ways that our graduates are doing development differently.
Now will turn to the nuts and bolts of actually applying to the MPI D program and I'll turn the program over to assistant director Sara Olea. Thank you Carol before I begin. I'd like to mention that the MPI D Office. Manage is its own admissions process in close collaboration with the HKS admissions office. If you have any questions related to applying to the MPAD program. Specifically, please contact our office directly by sending us an email or you can give us a call.
Sarah Jlassi
09:25:59 AM
I have a financial background , can apply for an MPA/ID program?
Since the MPI D program is a rigorous economic center program designed to train development practitioners. We look for 3. Key things in our applicants. We look for your ability to do the quantitative coursework your commitment to development and your professional potential an leadership in the field. First of all we're looking for applicants who have a strong academic record, especially in quantitative forces. We also look for the prerequisite coursework that Carol described college level courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics, and multivariable calculus.
It is possible to apply if you haven't completed all of the prerequisite courses as long as you. Let us know your plan for completing them before you enroll if you are admitted well. We do admit some applicants. Conditionally, who are missing one or 2 prerequisite courses. It's unlikely that we would admit someone who is missing. All of the prerequisite courses. The reason we have the prerequisites is because the core courses in the first year of the program build upon the material that is covered in these courses next. We look at your giri or your gmat scores.
Our strongest applicants of scores in the 80th percentile or above on the quantitative section.
If you have below the 80th percentile. I strongly recommend that you take some time to study and then retake the exam that said if you're just below the 80th percentile. We will not automatically disregard your application, we will. However, search the other parts of your application for evidence that you can handle the quantitative court, including your coursework from college and the quantitative nature of your professional experiences. We also look at your verbal score, but we do, play place less weight on that section knowing that English may not be your first language.
Ayokunle Adare
09:27:20 AM
How do you fulfil the requirements for the prerequisite courses?
And if English is not your first language and you did not complete your full undergraduate degree at an English speaking institution. You are required to submit to full or I'll scores we require a minimum of 100 on the total preferably with scores of at least 25 in each subsection or an overall band score of 7 on the Isles.
The second thing we look for is your commitment to the development of developing and transitional economy countries. We want to see that you've engaged with development issues in your career and well. We don't have a required number of years of work experience is very, very rare that we admit people with fewer than 2 or 3 years of work experience. We really want people who have dealt with development issues in their professional lives so they can bring those experiences to the classroom and finally we assess your leadership potential based on the work that you've done in the information shared in your essays.
And in your letters of recommendation.
As you likely know this year is application is available online. Now the deadline to apply this year is December 3rd. Here's a list of the required application materials. The application consists of an on line form. Several essay questions your official transcripts that you'll upload yourself test scores and 3 loads of 3 letters of recommendation from people who know you very well, ideally at least 1 professional reference and one academic reference.
All applicants must submit or resume in a standard bullet point format. There are also several essays. The optional statement is an opportunity for you to explain anything about your background that you think the Admissions Committee should know so for example, if you were sick during a semester of college and your grades suffered as a result you might want to tell us that or if you have a gap in your employment history for some reason you can also explain things like that. In this essay next. There are 3 required essays, the first essay asks you to discuss your.
Reason for choosing to study International Development and pursue it as your career, which is like a statement of purpose. The second essay prompt asks you to describe an event or an experience where you've taken a leadership role and finally the 3rd asks you to describe a public policy or management problem related to International Development and offer a range of solutions in this essay were really gauging your analytic ability treated like you wouldn't assignment for a graduate level course. It's fine to use outside references. Please just cite them properly in footnotes.
And the citations in your footnotes will not count towards your total workout. There is an additional essay for joint degree applicants to either HBS or HLS.
There is an optional personal history essay in which you can discuss how your background or life experiences have shaped your perspectives and how that would contribute to the classroom and community at age Cass. Please note that this is completely optional and not submitting this essay will not affect your application. Finally we will ask you to report how you've met the prerequisite course requirements or provide us with a plan for how you intend to take the courses prior to enrolling should you be admitted.
As mentioned this year's application deadline is December, 3rd all applications are red twice by a committee of faculty who teach in the MPI D program an senior staff will send out admissions decisions on or before March 31st and will host a visiting day for admitted students in mid April again. If you have any questions about applying to the MPA ID program. Please email our office.
The application deadline for Harvard Kennedy School financial aid is February 3rd, 2020, Harvard Kennedy School Awards will be released around the same time as ambitious decisions.
There are many sources of financial aid available. It is wise to begin your search now as some scholarships have fall deadlines, particularly those from organizations outside Harvard. However, you do not need to have your financial aid in hand in order to apply for admission if you have any questions about financial aid. Please email, the office of student financial services at the Kennedy School.
Simi Thambi
09:31:26 AM
Is it okay if we do not submit optional statements?
Will pause here for just a moment and look at some of the questions that you've submitted that pertain to the material that Carolyn I have covered before we transition to the student panel so please just give us a moment to take a look at the questions you've submitted.
I do see a question here about how do you fulfill the requirements for prerequisite courses we as we said that the requirements are of course and microeconomics macroeconomics and then 3 college level calculus courses including multivariable calculus. So if you already taken these courses. We will see that you have done so on the form that you submit as part of your application and then we'll look in your transcripts your official transcripts that you submit and look to see that they appear on your transcript.
Alice Lassman
09:32:23 AM
Is a module in macroeconomics enough to qualify a prerequisite?
If you haven't taken those courses. Yet then you'll indicate on the form that I mentioned where and when you plan to take the courses so that we can make sure that those courses fulfill our requirements. So you can work directly with our office if you have some particular questions about those.
Anushka Bansal
09:32:34 AM
Is MPA/ID early action binding?
Ayokunle Adare
09:32:35 AM
Thank you
Nazareno Montani Cazabat
09:32:45 AM
Is the MPA ID a good fit for a mid career with 13 years of professional experience? have you had mid careers in this program before?
OK, I'm seeing some other questions, asking for clarification between the MPI deprogramming somewhere other programs. The MP MPP program. It MP ID program had a core of courses in the first year that are required followed by electives in the second year. The two year. MBA program has no required core courses and therefore they require that you have done substantial graduate coursework before applying and that's the reason that there is not required core now the NPID program has a clear identity.
In the employment market because all of our students share this horse set of skills. They developed from our required curriculum in a program that has no required courses like the MPA 2. Each student takes a different set of courses. So I think it's a little bit harder for employers to understand what the setup of skills and knowledge that they can expect from some of that degree.
So that that's one level of distinction. We've also had a question about the difference between MP ID and a PhD?
Uh if you want your next job to be assistant professor of economics or political science or public policy. You should go to a PhD program. You would be best advised I think, to go directly to a PhD program. If you are viewing the NP ideas a possible 2 year prep for a PhD program. That's a pretty time consuming expensive way to do it. So I don't suggest that that's a good strategy. The MPI program is not designed to have the courses at the same level as PhD program courses so the economics and quantitative.
Courses, but also have a broader focus on management governance implementation kinds of issues and is aimed to prepare you in the 2 years here to be a practitioner.
And not have to spend 3 or 4 or 5 years in a library writing a dissertation. That's good training to become a scholar or professor, but it's not particularly helpful in the world of practice.
Simi Thambi
09:34:27 AM
Is MPA/ ID a good program for someone who has already done a PhD in Economics (from another country) but wants to join this program for getting better practical skills in economics?
If you want to would be organs practitioner. I think MPI D is a very good choice. If you really want to be a researcher or professor the PhD is a good choice for them.
Some of the questions have been about can you apply with a financial background? Can you apply if you have more than the average amount of experience? Can you apply if you already have a PhD in economics.
Karolina Naranjo Velasco
09:35:14 AM
Could you tell me how I show you the plan of studying for the prerequisite courses? Is there a section on the online application?
Old people with all of those situations are welcome to apply. The average age as I mentioned for an MP ID student coming in as around 28, but there is a distribution. The younger and is around 24. Ish 2324 and the upper end is often close to 40 years old. So it depends on what you want to get out of the program. If you do have a number of years of experience. You can consider being a midcareer student here at the Kennedy School. It's a one year program. But it's similar to the two year MBA program has no required.
Or courses, it's a design it yourself situation so the choice of program depends on what you would like to do with your time here.
Anushka Bansal
09:35:27 AM
Do I need an IELTS/TOEFL waiver if my three-year undergraduate degree (India) was conducted in English?
Looking some more questions.
Uh we don't tell and ask the question about early action. We don't have early decision. We release all of our decisions for musical programs in March.
Um is a module in macroeconomics enough to qualify requisite. No, we really need it to be a full course and as I think this current students here can tell you the reason for these prerequisites, not arbitrary. It's because we don't start at the beginning in those topics. We start fairly far in an you need to be well prepared for that conversation class.
Heta Jangla
09:36:00 AM
do you have the opportunity to take MPA/ID courses in the MPA2 program too?
Simi Thambi
09:36:08 AM
Is there a country quota to international students? ( un upper limit for students from a particular country)?
Said he wanted to get more of those admissions questions about I ox for prerequisites.
Sure, I did see also a question about whether or not the MP ideas in early action binding program and it is not.
There is a question about if you qualify for a tiles are total waiver. If you did your three year undergraduate degree in India entirely in English.
I would say if you have a particular question about that. Please do email our office, but generally if you did. The entire undergraduate program. And if your entire undergraduate program was just 3 years. I'm in English. We would consider that sufficient and we would give you the total waiver.
We don't have any country waivers or country quotas for international students.
Paula Zamora Riaño
09:37:04 AM
How many students are in each class? Is it easy to have one-to-one interactions with professors?
And there is a a particular form on the application for telling us how you've met the prerequisite courses. They have seen that a couple of different questions as well.
OK, at this point, I'd like to move towards our student panelists.
Uhm I will let each of them introduce themselves. We have one first year student two second year students and a student who is in her 3rd year because she has done the combined MP ID and business program so let's start with Sean's our first year student representative here. Hi Marshall, Drygas from sure lanca I. This is my first year first month, technically and before this, I was at the International Monetary Fund for.
But for years and before that, I studied physics and economics in College in the US? Yeah.
Um higher one AM and I understand I'm from Mexico, an I'm a second year MP ID.
Before coming to HKS I worked at the central bank's at the Economic Research Division. and I studied double bachelors degree in Economics and political science in Mexico.
Everyone I'm Jack Sullivan. I'm also a second year in the MPI D program. I'm from just outside Washington DC. and I spent my career before the MPI D working in a variety of consulting positions first for Deloitte consulting for their social impact practice and then I left for an organization called results for development and I was working with the Gates Foundation and the Nigerian Ministry of Health on social health insurance reforms at the federal and state levels and measure.
Hi everyone, I'm Emily and I'm a third year. M PhD student doing current degree with the MBA at MIT. Sloan I'm from the US prior to school I worked in Kenya at an agricultural social enterprise called One Acre Fund and then I was working before that idea insight in Lusaka with the Ministry of Health on a number of health consulting projects.
And I studied economics at Harvard.
Sarah Jlassi
09:39:41 AM
hello smart people !
At this point, I want to ask all of you current students to think back to when you were in the position that most of our listeners are in of your considering applying to various graduate programs. Can you tell us a little bit about what you were thinking? What it was about the MPI be program that led you to apply here and feel free to comment about how it turned out after you got here as well. Yes, why I applied to their pid program with the IMF dev dev analysts were undergrads and.
PH DS an in among those pH. DS there a lot of MPI DS as well. And that was the only other group of master. It was a majority of them are students who made it into the diameter so and I got a lot of talking with them. They talk about the background. Off it and it appeared to me because it was quantity rigorous and it also had the practitioners capability. And that's what kind of threw me into MP ID program.
Yeah, an applying to it was just running through the gamut of things that Sarah mentioned earlier.
Um for me, I think that I really want to focus my Korean working in the in the government in Mexico and I knew that I needed Masters degree in order to step up in other more leadership positions so I was checking Masters in public policy. But what really drove me to the MP ID is their focusing International Development that their students are from.
All over the world, so the so the conversation is always about.
Not only the US so and you learn a lot from how things work in different countries.
Yeah, and so for me, I think any captured a lot of it. I thought about it in terms of what I would learn both from professors what I would learn from the other students in the program and then the 3rd component being just the general atmosphere. This school and will you learn from professors. I was drawn to it. I knew I wanted to polisy in some way but it felt very concrete and it seemed like it give you a very specific and applicable set of skills and learning from the students as I said it's been amazing to be with people from all over the world and just learn from people worked on.
Public private and social sector problems everywhere and then finally opportunities at Harvard outside of class or just amazing. I've been able to compete in the Business School competition and go to Wharton. The International Finals done some stuff that MIT. It's really. I mean, there's kind of a buzz about Cambridge. That's hard to be.
Paula Zamora Riaño
09:42:04 AM
How many students does each cohort have?
For me right out of college, I was working at ID insight, which is one of the companies that Carol mentioned that idea insight. Alumni had found it and through interacting closely with the partners who are MPD alumni. I learned a lot about the combination of really quantitative analytical skills that you learned in the classroom, but then combined with how to actually apply them and learning that from world class professors as well as abstract mentioned the right the student body that all come from really very Danbury.
Amazing work experiences and so that's what really drew me specifically to MP ID over other public policy programs that I have been considering and then coming here and being in my 3rd year. I found it. That's been really true. The cast work has been a combination of really building your quantitative and analytical skills, which I saw from my work ID and Seitan. One acre fund is really important to making informed policy decisions, but then at the same time, learning how to apply that in a practical.
Studying through cases an classroom discussions.
Thank you. Emily one of the questions we're getting is how many students are in each class. An is it easy to have one on one interactions with professors all of the first year. MPID students take the core courses together, so there are 68 or 70 students in much each of those classes. Most years in the second year class size varies just depending on how many students choose any given elective course, so for you guys who were in your 2nd or 3rd year do you want to come in about interactions with faculty?
It's opportunity to have to work individually with faculty.
Yeah, I think in general, the not even general across the board the faculty, especially the core faculties incredibly accessible. I have a friend to approach professor Frankel with research question just kind of wanting to talk about in office hours and actually at his suggestion. They're not working on it as an actual research project. So it's a very kind of almost like entrepreneurial environment professors and they even outside of office hours. You can swing by their offices and kind of knock on the door. I go see Dan Levy.
Simi Thambi
09:44:30 AM
MPA with a lot of quantitative economic courses or MPA/ID? Will these options give the same level quantitative exposure
I think that the siper class that you take out the second year is also a great way to engage with professors in a smaller setting each section is about 20 students. I'm in one with Professor Rema Hanna and through that. You can access are in section in office hours and at the same time, you also have a site but by user which is professor at the Kennedy school that really specializes in a topic that you are interested.
Paula Zamora Riaño
09:44:40 AM
Thanks! :)
Karolina Naranjo Velasco
09:44:49 AM
Thank you
We haven't haven't talked too much about internships. I'd like to ask those of you who are in your 2nd or 3rd year and completed an internship to talk a little bit about what you did, yeah, so I was and I was working in.
In a number of hit organization that is called transforming rule. India that they focus in rural communities in India to improve their quality of life and these is transforming rural India, they work with women self help groups in order to reach communities and they train the womans in health issues and allocation issues so they can.
Have better decide better for their community and I think that this summer internship was very rewarding.
I love working in India. I think that I had never I wouldn't have never had that opportunity. How about not being here and I just I think it was a really.
Yeah, great opportunity to also explore other other type of work because I was working in the central bank in the government and this was more a nonprofit small organization with more direct contact with their beneficiaries. So it was a great great experience.
And I actually spent the summer in Baltimore in America. I find myself as EMP ID goes on in kind of an ironic twist, wanting to work on US. Social policy and so I actually work for a nonprofit there focused on access to capital for poor and minority entrepreneurs in Baltimore for an alarm of the program actually running birds. He works for the harbor back there, and I loved it, it was actually even though it was US based I found I was applying virtually everything I learned in the first year.
A lot of what I was doing was comparing was looking at kind of financing activity and comparing that to economic growth like very granular levels in Baltimore, which is an incredibly unequal city and again. I was emailing with teddies. Peronace our econometrics. Professor for the second semester like weekly asking him questions that I could do cool things I really enjoyed it.
I spent my summer in Jakarta, Indonesia at a *** tech startup that was rolling out of financial services product of small and medium enterprises and Peri urban areas. This was an amazing experience for me. It was my first time working in SE Asia 'cause. I spent my prior career in southern in East Africa and also coming from a nonprofit background, the start up was a really interesting way for me to see how a private sector might work in some of these issues.
Kind of similar to what Jack said it incorporated some of the concepts. I learned in my first year, particularly I was doing some data work using the statistics and Econometrics course work that we had learned.
Simi Thambi
09:47:33 AM
How do you choose which country or location to intern in?
OK, I see 1 question here asking if you're in another degree program say that you are in the NBA 2 program. Can you take some of the MPI D core courses generally speak the answer is no because the courses are meant to be taken together, they can. We do have prerequisites so that we could start at a more advanced level and there is intended to be some synergy between the courses that students are taking so we want MP ID students to take them all all the courses together and not have just be some other program just.
Randomly pick and choose the ones that you like.
Heta Jangla
09:48:11 AM
Did any of the panelists chose between the MPA2 and MPA/ID program? If so, why did you chose MPA/ID?
Let's turn a little bit to that how the courses are and then maybe 2 life outside of school here for minute option isn't sure in the first year core now. You've just completed math camping, orientation in your about 2 three weeks into the first semester.
Yeah, what would you like the audience will uh I'm not the most organized person so I'm still trying to figure out my way about life outside of problem sets in the library. But it is happening slowly. I joined intramural squash club yesterday and hopefully pick up a few other things as you go on, but apart from the problems that we spend a lot of time their classmates and you end up doing a lot of things with them last Sunday. We had stats and movie night and things like that so.
There's a lot of life outside the classroom that involves stuff that happens in the classroom.
Well, for me. The per semester in the US speaking mainly show at the time and also I live off campus. I leave everyone leaves in Boston and Cambridge, and I live in Boston, so I needed to commute everyday.
I highly recommend living in Boston after my first month I really enjoy they are not.
I think that it gives me a mental break just across the River and maybe in another part of the city.
But I I think that the community is great, you in the first semester. You have a lot of problems at so you kind of bond with people doing homework together, but
I don't know I think it's a great way to know, people and you made. Incredible friendships, but, yeah, for me. The first semester. They don't have much life outside the classroom in the second semester eyes. I don't know I thought that they can do wear glasses. I started to do some other things going to more talks going to other activities, but I think that.
Either way, if you're just doing problem sets with your classmate. It's always very fun to hang out with them.
Yeah, an I don't have a ton to add to that. I think they were captured fairly well. I would say as I said, I think the fact that one thing I really like is you are working together a lot of the time, but that also kind of then find yourself working with people pretty much everybody at at one point, I struggle with think of very many people in my class. So I haven't worked with on something and that's not necessarily not in a sense of work on group projects that are assigned to us, but just sitting around working on problem sets and then as followed on that then.
Kind of translates into outside of the classroom friendship, so there was a time where I was at the Kennedy school very late and I procrastinated on problem sets and it was me. Only one other person and maybe October last year. I haven't spent time with, we end up finishing the problem set together and then the following night agreed to go out and we got dinner and drinks in Cambridge, and so it's just kind of a very almost familial atmosphere and everybody because it's such a new experience. Everybody is kind of in the same mindset, which is we want to meet as many people as possible. and I spend as much time together as possible. Whether that's on problem sets or.
Just to build on that I'll give one example of the familial bonding that really happens with the cohort so in my class every month. We organize a cultural event or cultural party and every month. It's a different theme or region, so for example, around we had an E Asian one and people from.
China, Japan, Taiwan, all those places, we each brought a dish and cooked it talked about where it came from and then but then spent the day together, having lunch and hanging on socializing. So I think a lot of the bonds that you built in the classroom also translate outside whether you're doing something in Boston or self organizing some kind of social event.
OK anything else that you guys would like to add about people are still focused on choosing between the MPA 2 programming MP idea with any comments from you guys about them.
I think it really depends on what you want to do after the MP ideas very specific tailored for people who are very interested in International Development and who want to come at it from a quantitative perspective.
That's not really your profile, then I feel like the MPA 2 would be a better fit because you can flexibly pick into the classes. You want to take but if you're very passionate about development and want to build those quantitative skills and that's the coursework. You wouldn't get from the MPA 2 and then like Carol mentioned there's a signaling aspect of the MPI D as well that you wouldn't have from the MPA 2.
Thank you Emily that stupid summary.
Other comment, yeah, yeah, I think that's a perfect summary. I uh I think as I enter my second year and now enter kind of the elective phase of the NPIDI will say. I don't necessarily find myself. I'm very excited by this phase and I love the electives. I'm taking but I don't really find myself wishing I had had 4. Semesters of electives, but again that's just that's just personal for me. I kind of like the structure of the first year and people do take electives not as much in the first instance that's kind of device but in the second semester above and beyond the core.
And then the other thing I'll say is I don't know much about the MPA core faculty and I'm sure they're all great but the kind of like.
MPI corvax I mean, not just professors, but Sarah and Carolyn Kevin as well. There's just so much support for you at all times and kind of your life is so stressful in some ways, but they do such a good job of making all the things that can make grad school stressful and not stressful like finding you housing and sending you internships constantly that it's a pretty as someone who is not very organized that was great.
Simi Thambi
09:54:34 AM
What is the percentage of students in the total cohort that pursue concurrent degree programs?
So I'm taking our migration class, little module so it's half of semester. An I really. I really like the topic. It's very important in Mexico right now. I think that the dynamic the class dynamics are very different from the core courses of the MPI D in the in the core courses. Everything is very well structured. I don't know the professors uses a lot of power points and videos and visualizations to help you.
Anushka Bansal
09:55:09 AM
Can I choose an elective focusing on Gender?
Because we're learning very quantitative stuff and hearing in my in my elective class well coming back to the workers what I really like about the courses that we take into other is that we already know each other very well. We have been together for a year. The professors already know each other. So it's it's very safe and it's very like. Everyone can participate, and share their opinion and in these new courses.
I don't know anybody there from different schools, so the conversation is also very different that when we used to have. I enjoyed it a lot, but I think that there is also valuing having these classes with the same people together and getting to know each other and learning a lot from each other.
I'm taking an African global politics course. It's relatively knew and it's coming from a professor. There's more of an anthropology. Sociology background, so that's been an interesting contract contrast to the more quantitative heavy core that we had our first year.
Yeah, so um I one class that I would have never thought I was going to take then I'm taking and I'm loving. It is called public solutions detect dilemmas with ash harder and it's just to kind of give you a sense of how flexible the program can be that it is fitting as my governance requirements. I'm kind of killing two birds with one stone, but I'm also just absolutely loving it and ash. Carter is the former Secretary Defense of the US and incredible background where he was a PhD in physics and then worked on quantum electrodynamics, then was like.
Basically hand picked by a mentor to go into public service and is never left and so it's just kind of in a nice.
Flavor like kind of picture of how very the backgrounds of faculty are and he despite being a very powerful well connected man is so accessible outside of class and I've been to his office hours and he's just like such a warm guy and that was a classic and I've just mush enough my governance requirement at my friend. He and said Oh I'm taking tech solutions going to do that, and it's OK. Thank you panelists on that note.
Simi Thambi
09:57:27 AM
Thank you. This was useful
Nazareno Montani Cazabat
09:57:29 AM
thank you all for your time
Pick up all the time that we have and so we'd like to close now. But if you have individual questions or things that we didn't get around to answering in the time we had please. Feel free to email them to us and we will we will get back to you individually as soon as we can. And this recording will be posted in a week or so online so that if you have any friends who missed it, and want to be with that could be able to do that. Thank you all for tuning in, and thank you panel for being with us today.
Callan Corcoran
09:57:34 AM
Thank you!
Sarah Jlassi
09:57:35 AM
thank u
Paula Zamora Riaño
09:57:40 AM
Thank you
Karolina Naranjo Velasco
09:57:42 AM
Thanks a million!
Claudia Yeap
09:57:46 AM
Thank you!
Linda John
09:57:48 AM
Thank you!