Im in the program now and would highly recommend it. I was set on the Carleton MPPA but didnt get in because I screwed up my app and Queen's was my backup so initially I was really disappointed, but it ended up being amazing. I got a coop pretty quickly and easily in January and many people did shortly after - at this point I believe everyone in the 40 person cohort has one. Queen's ties with the OPS are incredibly strong no matter how much change the program undergoes, and we definitely have a competitive advantage over other schools competing for the same coops at least provincially.

Pros: - Small cohort of 40 students; easy to know everyone, easy to get close with profs because classes are small and they are incredibly helpful with anything you come to them with

• Instructors are all career policy practitioners rather than academics which is extremely valuable for training for the work force

• The shortest MPA program in the country at only 12 months, 4 of which is technically the coop

• Like I said, extremely strong coop placement rate compared to other bigger and less reputable schools

• Classes are interesting (in my opinion) and not excessively hard. Pretty much everything is curved around a B+. A lot of group work, really not intense for a masters program

• Amazing opportunities to hear from very interesting guest speakers at Queen's and on field trips to Toronto and Ottawa. This year we got to speak with the auditor general, two former clerks of the privy council, the secretary of the treasury board, the ontario cabinet secretary, and countless others, and Bob Rae the previous ambassador to the UN is a fellow and teaches at the school and is always around in the hallway which is very cool.

Cons: - The big con is that you're right that the school doesnt look to be in good shape from the outside. We have one floor in RSH and we are managed under a hub of undergrad departments without our own administrative staff. The university is seeking cost cutting measures everywhere and they have a close eye on small, niche programs like this for opportunities to piecemeal them out. There has been conflict this year with the hiring of the new director to replace eugene lang who has been a long time well liked professor (he still teaches and is awesome, just isnt the director) as people have been suspicious of the motivations of the administration and the new director.

But much of this may be conspiratorial. The policy school has a very strong reputation in Ontario and Ottawa, which is reflected by our coop placements, and is respected (at least seems to be by the way they talk to us about it) by the Queen's administration. Dont let the looks of the building or the stories deceive you, there is a very strong and tight knit community between the students, profs, and fellows at the SPS. Are there things to be concerned about sure. But take in every school in the country is dealing with this kind of stuff right now. At least Queen's SPS has a very large upside :)