Interview with SIPA MPA candidate, Danielle Schlanger COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

Interview with SIPA MPA candidate, Danielle Schlanger COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog Name: Danielle Schlanger Degree: MPA Concentration: Urban and Social Policy Specialization: International media, advocacy, and communication Danielle is a second-year SIPA student pursuing an MPA degree with a concentration in Urban and Social Policy. During her time at SIPA, Danielle has written for The Morningside Post, the schools newspaper, and has interned for CNBC in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. This summer, she worked in the Huffington Posts politics bureau in Washington, D.C. Before enrolling at SIPA, Danielle worked at the New York County District Attorneys Office as a paralegal in the offices Public Integrity Unit. She graduated with a degree in Urban and Regional Studies from Cornell University in 2010. What did you do before coming to SIPA? I graduated college in 2010, so I was one of the younger members of the class of 2014. After graduating from college, I worked as a paralegal at the New York County District Attorney’s Office in lower Manhattan. As an undergraduate I thought I wanted to become a prosecutor, but after working at the DA’s office I realized public policy and journalism was a better fit for me. What attracted you to SIPA? I was drawn to SIPA for two reasons: the location and the flexibility in the curriculum. As an aspiring journalist, I wanted to be in New York City for graduate school. There is an enormous media market here, and being able to intern while taking classes was important to me. I worked at CNBC during my first semester at SIPA, and I hope to freelance for some of the City’s papers during my second-year. SIPA also allowed me to combine my interest in public policy and journalism pretty seamlesslythe IMAC curriculum is fantastic. What kind of work do you hope to do when you graduate? Following graduation, I hope to work as a writer for a print/online news outlet covering domestic politics. Working at the Huffington Post this summer reaffirmed this for meI couldn’t have had a better experience working in their Politics bureau.    My experience at SIPA has really equipped me to better understand some of the most pressing issues facing society today, and how policymakers are able to work with the public to form solutions.