Where I was when I got into Harris: Tiffany Kwak

It was late and I was at work, I think on a Thursday or a Friday. Busy season at work was picking up and spring was showing its first signs. I was thinking about what to eat for dinner, and I received a notification that my application status had changed. This is it, I thought. I took a deep breath, signed into my Harris admissions account, and clicked the link to view the posted letter. A few seconds passed and I saw the word - Accepted - and I read on.

My graduate school admissions journey had finally ended. I was relieved.

My research into graduate programs prompted me to really question what my career goals were in the short- and long-term and what I really wanted to be doing. I initially thought about going to law school, but I knew that my career interest in law had changed since the time I graduated college and that the tempo of law school and the legal profession was not for me.

I was close to taking the dive into applying for urban planning programs but came across information about graduate programs in public policy. Intrigued, I contacted some alumni from my undergraduate program who had knowledge of Harris. I conducted other outside research into what public policy programs were all about. I decided to apply to public policy programs over urban planning programs because of the quantitative bent to most policy programs; much of policy informs planning, and I wanted to mold my public policy experience to become versatile enough to work with both government officials and in urban planning spheres.

I only applied to four graduate programs in total - three public policy programs and one public administration program. After visiting the different schools during admitted student days, I was thoroughly impressed with each program and the weight of making a final decision became heavier than I initially anticipated.

Ultimately, I chose Harris because it was the most academically challenging and in a city that I loved. The students I met here were honest and down-to-earth, which was an added bonus. There is a lot of work to be done in Chicago in terms of policy and planning, and I can’t imagine being anywhere else.