Insider Advice from Florian Heintze

Crafting a Stand-out Statement of Purpose

According to Florian, the Statement of Purpose is the most important part of an MPP application, especially given the diversity of applicants in terms of academic and professional backgrounds (as well as location and culture). There is no right or wrong way of writing your Statement of Purpose, but according to Florian, it should highlight the following key elements:

• Well-organized, clearly written, genuine and personal.
• Show why you are a great fit for the program—what unique perspectives you bring, as well as your specific interests in the program (certain courses, faculty members, research areas)
• Avoid clichés—do not just say you want to "change the world." Instead, specify how you plan to make a tangible impact.

We want to be able to imagine how you will learn, engage, and contribute to the Brandt School community... This is why generic, AI-generated statements that just string together bullet points don’t work. We can tell.

Recommendation Letters and Supporting Documents

In general, applicants should provide documentation for any work experience they consider relevant to public policy. We provide a template for this, but employer reference letters are also accepted. However, we’re more interested in factual details (job responsibilities, timeframe, workload) than in subjective evaluations of performance.

Academic or professional reference letters are not mandatory, but they certainly don’t hurt. The same goes for certificates, training programs, workshops, or scholarships. However, as a rule of thumb: throwing in a random mix of relevant and irrelevant documents won’t make your application stronger—and it definitely won’t make the reviewers any happier if they read their way through dozens of additional pages.

What the Admissions Team Looks For

From a formal standpoint: completeness and clarity. From a content standpoint: meeting our admission requirements, demonstrating strong motivation, and showcasing excellent English skills. From my personal experience: we want to get a sense of the person behind the application and understand why they want to study the MPP.

Application System Update

The Brandt School continuously works to streamline the application process. Florian explains one major change: 

“…all legally relevant information and documents will be stored directly in the applicant’s account rather than sent via email. This is a significant advantage in terms of data protection. However, applicants will still receive email notifications about any changes to their application status or new documents available inside the portal, such as their admission letter. To ensure they don’t miss any important updates, we recommend activating e-mail notifications and adding the following email address to their whitelist: noreply@uni-erfurt.de.”

Life Beyond the Application: Student Life, Opportunities & Experiences

Career Development & Networking

The Brandt School is a gateway to international organisations, policy research centres, and career opportunities. Andrés shares his experience:

I have been able to meet incredible people working in my field and secured an amazing internship that would not have been possible if I wasn’t studying here. The professors, guest lecturers and even alumni and fellow students prove to be a valuable way of getting more involved in your topics of interest...the possibilities are endless! Make the most of your time here.

Campus and Student Life

Andrés describes the Brandt Schoolexperience as active, dynamic and diverse. The University of Erfurt has a centralized campus, unlike most German universities, which fosters a sense of community:

Interacting with other students and participating in different activities and student-led initiatives makes this an incredible studying experience.

Navigating Life as an International Student

Adjusting to life in Germany can be overwhelming, but Andrés emphasises how the Brandt School community was incredibly supportive to him when he needed it.

Every German batchmate offered to help out in any way they could to translate and make sure I had an easy transition into German life. I am very thankful to all of them for making my arrival so smooth. It truly made me feel like I was arriving at a place that was more than simply a school, it was also a family.

Most of all, Andrés advises open-mindedness: 

Be very open to new ideas. Your beliefs and view of the world are definitely challenged once you meet people from such different backgrounds. I know because it’s exactly what I went through, and I will always be thankful for having had this experience.

About the Author

Irene Osei-Owusu has over 5 years of experience working in Ghana’s Ministry of Finance, where she represented the government in the structuring, negotiation and appraisal of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects in the economic and social sectors. Also working as a budget analyst, she contributed to the development of national budget statements and economic policies of Ghana.

She is currently an MPP student at the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, specializing in Socio-Economic Policies and Global Public Policy. She is passionate about leveraging diverse data sources to generate insights for the formulation of impactful public policies.