Do You Need a Policy Background to Apply to SIPA?

One of the most common concerns prospective students share is simple but heavy: “I don’t come from a policy background. Does that put me at a disadvantage?”

It’s an understandable question. When you picture graduate study in international affairs or public policy, it’s easy to imagine everyone arriving with years of government experience, policy memos already under their belt, and a perfectly defined career plan.

But that picture doesn’t tell the full story of SIPA.

In reality, SIPA is intentionally built for students from diverse academic and professional backgrounds - including those who never expected to study policy until something in their work, research, or lived experience made them ask bigger questions.

To show what that actually looks like, we asked two current SIPA students who did not come from traditional policy backgrounds to reflect on their paths to SIPA, and how their previous experiences shaped the way they engage with policy today.

Arthur Vryghem (MPA’ 26) worked in finance before coming to SIPA, here’s his take:

“I had always been interested in politics, geopolitics, and the way public decisions interact with private business and financial transactions. But before SIPA, the policy world felt opaque. I didn’t fully understand who the key actors were, how decisions were made, or where real leverage for change actually sat.

Coming from an investment banking advisory and investing background, the conventional next step would have been business school. But if I was going to invest the time and money to go back to school, I wanted to do something meaningfully different. I was looking to step outside my professional comfort zone and learn alongside people with very different experiences and perspectives.

Since arriving at SIPA, I’ve had the opportunity to engage with ministers, ambassadors, journalists, central bankers, and advocates working across a wide range of societal issues. What SIPA really offers is a toolkit: analytical frameworks, exposure to institutions, and a shared language for engaging with public problems. Coming from finance was not a disadvantage; in many ways, it provided a useful lens on incentives, institutions, and trade-offs. You don’t need to arrive as a policy expert. Instead, SIPA helps you discover where your background fits best and how you can apply your skills in a public or policy context.”

James Owen (MPA’ 27) transitioned from the film industry to SIPA - here are his thoughts:

“Before SIPA, I was working in the film industry in Los Angeles. I no longer wanted to work in entertainment, and having always had an interest in geopolitics, SIPA was the perfect transition for me. However, I did not know how I would fit in, as I assumed most students would primarily come from policy backgrounds. I was pleasantly surprised to find that coming from the film industry turned out to be a major benefit rather than a hindrance. 

I have found that my perspective coming from the entertainment business has been beneficial in many of my classes. I have had many meaningful conversations with professors and students about how the policy world and the entertainment industry intersect. Furthermore, many of the essays and presentations I have made here at SIPA have focused entirely on the film industry or film history. This freedom has been great for me, as I feel I am using my current knowledge and experience rather than letting them go to waste, and that my unique background adds value to the conversations and projects I complete here, which is not what I was expecting coming into SIPA. 

I have met people from a wide array of industries and all three sectors during my time here. Having so many different perspectives gives class discussions and group projects a richness that would not be possible if everyone came from the same background. While we have many brilliant policy experts here at SIPA, it is certainly not a requirement to do well at this school.”

What these stories show:

If there’s one takeaway from these reflections, it’s this: policy doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

SIPA classrooms are stronger because students arrive with experience from journalism, business, science, tech, healthcare, arts, advocacy, and countless other fields. Those perspectives don’t dilute policy discussions - they deepen them.

Coming from a non-policy background often means you:

• Approach problems with fresh frameworks
• Bring real-world insight into theoretical debates
• Connect policy decisions to lived, on-the-ground experience

In many cases, it’s precisely not having a traditional policy path that helps students see gaps, assumptions, and opportunities others might miss.

Your background, whatever it may be, is part of what makes your perspective valuable. The key is being able to explain why your experiences led you to policy, and why now is the right moment to take that next step.