Chicago is my favorite city since I first visited Chicago in 2009. University of Chicago is a wonderful school with amazing reputation. On top of the reputation and the world-renown education, David Axelrod is starting Institute of Politics in January 2013. It will expose the students to the real political world through speaker series and lectures. I’ve met people that I’ve never dreamt of meeting since I’ve been in Harris. Coming to Harris is a decision I do not regret!

I realized that if I wanted to further advance my career as a policy advisor in the years to come I needed to strengthen my quantitative toolkit. As a result, after becoming familiar with the graduate programs available, I came to the conclusion that The Harris School has the best combination of faculty and courses for those seeking to build a solid theoretical background as well as firsthand experience with researchers and policy-makers. I also chose the MPP program at Harris because of its diverse student body, with which I have been able to discuss and gain important insights on current issues at the domestic, regional, and global level. Daily contact with students from around the world has allowed me to learn from their experiences with policy and reform.

Harris offers me the opportunity to develop my quantitative skills and observe policy-making and policy makers in action. Chicago is an incredible city, and being at Harris allows me multiple opportunities to interact with the city.

Born and raised in Mexico City, I went to College at The University of Chicago and entered the Harris School as part of a dual BA-MPP program. Before entering college, I spent a gap year in Israel taking classes and doing community-service work. My policy area of interest is social policy, with a focus on poverty, human capital and education. I am currently a part-time research assistant for the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy (CHPPP) and a staff writer for the Chicago Policy Review. My hobbies include films, reading and writing, going to music festivals and biking.

Harris provided me an amazing opportunity to combine my love of Chicago with an academically rigorous policy program. When I am not avoiding STATA errors in the computer lab, I am exploring new restaurants in Chicago or attempting to play water polo again.

Coming from an anthropology and human rights background, I felt it was important for me to challenge myself and build quantitative policy analysis skills. Given the Harris School’s great reputation for policy analysis and emphasis on quantitative skills, I felt Harris was the best place to do this.

I came to the Harris School to obtain the skill set I need to formulate and analyze policy while learning about my specific policy interests. Getting a grounding in topics like microeconomics, statistics, and political economy is invaluable for those seeking to work in the policy sphere, which is why the Harris Programme is so unique.

I chose Harris for the analytical rigor, the strong ties to Chicago politicians/leaders and the renowned professors. In my free time, I am involved in leadership positions on campus, running Chicago races and community service.

I decided to study public policy at Harris to bring together my interests in scientific research and political advocacy. Upon graduation, I plan to work as a Policy Analyst.

I chose Harris because I wanted to study at an institution that challenged me to think more critically about issues surrounding the intersection of government and the private sector. My interests lie in public private partnerships, public investments, and entrepreneurship.

As an Auditor of Japanese Government, I am pretty confident that Harris gives you a variety of chances to learn highly qualified quantitative and analytical skills. The skill definitely helps you maximize your value in an organization you would belong to through reporting persuasive data in addition to well-organized logical context. In addition, I can guide you in how to practically take advantage of your experience into your work in the future.