If you are an admitted student, you may already be thinking about how you can best prepare for the fall. We asked Hanna Seferos, an Academic Advising Specialist in Academic and Student Affairs, to share some key resources that will help you get ready to hit the ground running at Harris.

The Academic and Student Affairs (ASA) team looks forward to getting to know you better this fall! In this guest blog, Dean of Students Kate Shannon Biddle, explains the role of an essential point of contact at Harris: your academic advisor.

Many students, regardless of their academic background, choose to enroll in Math Camp as a way to connect with their peers and begin focusing on graduate school. Math Camp also prepares you for the math exam, required of all incoming master’s students.

Nora McConnell Johnson, MPP Class of 2021, and Chair of the Harris Student Government Social Committee, writes about what she is doing to maintain her social life at Harris as we transition to virtual.

As a continuation of our Day in the Life series, Sabrina de la Vega, MPP Class of ’21, writes about what a typical day looks like for her in the virtual format.

Thanks to Esha Banerjee (MA'18), for this post! 

You’ve filled out your name, academic information, and work experience, uploaded your transcripts and test scores, and requested letters of recommendation. Now you face the Herculean task of writing the motivation statement and questions race through your mind: What to write? How to start? How do I fit everything in so few words, or for some, how do I write so much about myself? Should I start with a quote or is it too cliché?

Alec Macmillen, Master of Science in Computational Analysis and Public Policy (MSCAPP) Class of 2020, writes about his experience transitioning to virtual learning at Harris just before graduation.

We are excited you are interested in participating in the Data and Policy Summer Scholar (DPSS) program! The 2020 program will offer rigorous academics and robust co-curriculars in a virtual format. There are unique benefits and challenges of virtual learning, and we are designing the 2020 DPSS program so that you will have the same immersive level of academic training and community engagement to fully explore the fields of data science and public policy.  

From our researchers to the dance program, we rounded up some recent news articles about UChicago’s response to COVID-19.

Looking for a short-term academic opportunity over the summer? In addition to our degree programs, Harris offers two summer programs: the Data and Policy Summer Scholars (DPSS) program and the PKU-UChicago International Policy Action Lab (IPAL) program. Both offer students an opportunity to improve their data and policy analysis skills in a short-term virtual program.

Are you an incoming student this fall? Hear from Brandon Kurzweg, Associate Director, Student Affairs, Student Life, on what your next steps look like. 

Whichever degree program you choose to pursue, here at UChicago, you’ll have the support and tools to succeed – and it’s not too early to start thinking about what your student experience will be like and what you can start doing over the summer to be ready on day one of class.

Harris recently released its fourth annual Career Outcomes Report, containing employment data for the class of 2019. In this post, we have included some links to key career outcome resources and facts from the report.

Hear from Derek Wu, fourth-year PhD student, about his Research Assistantship with McCormick Foundation Professor Bruce Meyer, who studies poverty and inequality, tax policy, and government safety net programs.

Many of you have expressed an interest in engaging with the Career Development Office as soon as possible, wondering how to make your LinkedIn profile pop; asking about opportunities in specific sectors and locations; and looking for guidance on what you can do over the next few months to be ready to hit the ground running before starting at Harris. In response, our teams have collaborated to make sure you have access to additional resources.

Harris School of Public Policy has been the home for global top talents to pursue academic excellence and diverse career opportunities since the school’s establishment. For over thirty years, Harris has recruited and trained students and professionals from China, and our Chinese alumni now work in diverse industries across the globe to tackle local and global economic and social issues. We are very pleased to offer a series of virtual panels with our alumni from China to create more learning and networking opportunities to Harris community members. These alumni are great representatives of the Harris culture and rigor. We sincerely appreciate their contributions in their work and to Harris.

This post is part of our “A Day in the Life” series, sharing what a typical day looks like in the lives of our students. Marvin Slaughter, MPP class of 2021—who recently participated in our Virtual Admitted Student Week’s Chicago 101 webinar, shares what a typical day at Harris looked like for him during Winter Quarter 2020.

Our alumni have been sharing their stories about how they’re addressing policy challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and we wanted to share their experience as an inspiration to incoming students. Carolina Rojas, MPP’06, Vice Minister of Mines at the Ministry of Mines and Energy for the Republic of Colombia, shares some of the difficult decisions her country is facing and how her policy training is enabling her to respond in timely and efficient ways to this unprecedented challenge.

The Harris Admissions team hopes you are staying safe and healthy during these unprecedented times.  Although there is a lot of uncertainty, we take comfort in the fact that researchers from across the University of Chicago have been rapidly planning key steps in the battle against COVID-19. We rounded up some resources to share with you about UChicago’s response to this global pandemic.  

Jordan Graham, MPP Class of 2021, previously wrote a post about his favorite class fall quarter, so we thought we’d check back in with him to see what his favorite winter quarter 2020 class was.

Learn more about the recently launched Center for Effective Government, a hub where scholars, practitioners, and students can investigate efforts to change the way our political institutions are governed.