Admission A Commitment to Public Policy GSPP s goal is to admit those applicants who can get the most from the GSPP master s program and who will use what they learn to be active participants in the formulation, adoption, and implementation of better public policy. One of the applicant s goals should be to convince the admissions committee of this commitment. This can be reflected in the quality of work experience, the statement of purpose, or the analytical essay. Education Students at GSPP represent a wide range of academic backgrounds. Most students have degrees in social sciences, with a smaller number having undergraduate majors in humanities, biological or physical sciences, mathematics or engineering.
Some students already have advanced degrees.
GSPP does not require prior quantitative training, however prior course work in introductory statistics or first-year calculus, and introductory economics, is strongly recommended. How students approach problems and the ability to write clearly and coherently is instrumental in public policy analysis. The committee will pay close attention to the applicant s statement of purpose and response to the analytical essay question. Test scores must be less than five years old. To send an official score report, the institution code for Berkeley is 4833 and the department code for public policy is 1903.