A.

Personal Statement (Please structure your essay in paragraphs and limit your response to 250
words, single-spaced. Essays that exceed the word limit are penalized in the scoring.)
Tell us about yourself and your goals including the following:
 Why do you think your background and/or interests make you competitive for this
particular institute (please be as specific as possible)?
 What will you contribute to the group?
 How do you expect this experience will affect your future academic and professional
career
“If you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead, no matter where you come from, what
you look like or who you love.”—Barak Obama.

When I get dissatisfied that I came from backward and poor sanitized areas this quote gave me courage
to stand. Being born in an rural background family and getting enrolled in one of the prestigious
institutions of Pakistan seems like a dream but hard work and leadership qualities of my teachers
inspired me and I embarked on this stage.

I’m a student of BS Economics programme. I’m always ready to take initiatives to participate in co-
curricular and volunteer activities to improve my expertize, knowledge and skills. These includes
membership of Blood Donor Society, membership of Rover’s Club includes scouting activities, Member
and General Secretary of Mehbub-Ul-Haq Economics Society, Member of Horticulture Society and
various other societies related to my field.

I have participated in case study competition and got 2nd Position. I won the National Policy Making
Competition which was held 1st time in Pakistan and 75 teams from all over the Pakistan appeared in the
Competition. I got 3rd Position in Poster competition which was held on Research Day at my home
institution. I spent one week as volunteer scout in Islamabad and got training of Better World
Framework. These activities of mine motivate me to apply for this programme for one of the same.

If I got selected in this program, I’ll contribute to the group by moderating the sessions, hosting of
seminars, trainings and conferences. I’ll integrate my knowledge of basic policy making and expertize my
skills.

My professional career is concerned with economics includes Public Policy targeting the problems of
public. In U.S the research culture on Economics is very wide and have high standard. Majority of the
great work in economics is done by U.S individuals and all the renowned economists were from U.S i.e.
Adam Smith, Milton Friedman, Paul Krugman and many more. About 44 out of total 51 Nobel Prizes in
Economics gone to U.S. therefore, this research climate and leadership program will help me in shaping
my research skills, awareness, American culture, upgrading the work-environment in my country and
encouraging my village fellows.

B. Short answer questions

The short answer questions are an essential part of the selection process. Please structure your
response using paragraphs and limit your response to 150-250 words.
1) How do problems get on the public agenda? How does this process work in Pakistan?

In Pakistan, problems get on the public agenda through media and some other factors are also
contributing. It’s a process of policy cycle and depends on different stages. It may include agenda
setting, policy adopting, formulation, implementation and at the end evaluation process of public
agenda. In our area, every public agenda lies in carefully working out the first stage but
unfortunately, in Pakistan, it is mostly neglected and hence most of the public agenda failed being
implemented. In a number of ways problems are defined and reason of agenda setting are taken on
stage that is most important. Researchers and analysts conduct different studies about the major
reasons of the problem and provide different preliminary intended needs and previous efforts to
sole identical problem.

2) On a government level, what are the major barriers in implementing a policy in Pakistan? If you
were able to address those barriers, how would you do so?

On a government level, the major barriers in implementing a policy in Pakistan are lack of
agenda setting and policy adopting including its implementations. Furthermore, there are some
other factors also contributing includes, delay in policy implementation, delay in funds, and
institutional delays. If I got a chance to address these issues, I shall prepare a mitigation
strategy to identify barriers and prioritize them. Then, most important strategy will be
implemented which can achieve the target of policy implementation in a better way.