In case you were wondering about planning aspects of your schedule while you are pursuing the MPA, I thought I would give you some input, based on my experience.  

First, when in doubt, talk to your academic advisor. Even though they are super busy, they are very competent, and always make it a point to try and reply to questions, understand your situation and work with you. You can e-mail them, meet with them during their walk-in hours or just schedule an appointment at the front desk of the MPA office. Everyone in the office is great about helping students .

Just don’t do what I did–which was wait ’til the last minute, and then send a million questions over e-mail to my advisor on a Monday morning. But thank goodness for Keri Ledezma, my academic advisor. She blogs, too–on the MPA admissions website. Check it out at http://blogs.mccombs.utexas.edu/mpa-admissions/). She really helped meme out with stuff. So based on my experience, I can guarantee that the MPA advisors will try their best to work with you. But by giving them a timely heads up, you have the best chance of getting a schedule that works for you.

Second, do your research to avoid making careless mistakes. So what mistakes am I talking about? Well, one possiblity is not realizing that the CPA requirements vary from state to state. So make sure you know exactly what the requirements are for the state you are interested in. And ask if you have questions. For example, I found out from Keri that the requirements for NYC were way easier for me to meet than the requirements of Texas. So I didn’t have to take courses that students planning to sit for the exam in Texas would have to take. The ideal thing would be to do your share of research before starting out the program. That way, during the initial advising appointment, you can tailor your course schedule for the fall semester. So prepare before you meet your advisor! He or she will be there to help, but they can’t help if you don’t know what you want.

Another possible mistake is not knowing when your start date is with the firm you are planning to to work in. Sounds kinda obvious, but sometimes, there can be miscommunications between you and the company that wants to hire you. So make sure you ask! That way, in case you get a job during the fall, and your start date is earlier than anticipated, you can talk to your counsellor to see if there is any flexiblity in your schedule. If there is none, then you sitll have time to figure things out before accepting the offer. You have to graduate before you start working, so knowing what can be done ahead of time really helps in the planning process.

Third, after your initial meeting with your advisor, look through the courses recommended, for all semesters. Dont work semester to semester. You need to plan ahead to make sure you have a course schedule that is balanced the entire year. Talk to alumni and friends who have already taken the courses so you get a feel for course loads. In case you are not comfortable with something, you can always go back to your advisor and get things fixed.

Fourth, make sure you are aware of course add/drop dates. They are usually on the 12th day of class, so try to attend classes that you think you may be interested in so that you can add them without being behind.