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UCSD IR/PS


PeterP

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Same here, I was accepted into the MPIA program at UCSD (provisionally accepted for now, until I submit official copies of my transcripts). Still waiting for news on funding.

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Same here, I was accepted into the MPIA program at UCSD (provisionally accepted for now, until I submit official copies of my transcripts). Still waiting for news on funding.

Same thing happened to me. I'm wondering if this means that they never received my transcripts or that they just want me to send another set? In Jan. they had contacted me about my missing transcripts, so I called them and it turned out that they had received them, but they just hadn't processed them yet. The guy I talked to on the phone said he entered it into the system and everything was good to go, so I'm not sure what happened. I guess I'll have to wait until Monday and talk to them to see what happened.

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I'm glad to read about other people considering IR/PS; I can't find much information about the school on the internet.

I've also been accepted as a Provisional Admit.

Regarding funding, will that information eventually pop up on the Grad Apply website? If not, how would they notify people?

Does anyone know anything about the school? I'm just wondering what kind of doors their degree will open for me. The school website has very ambiguous employment data. I was hoping to get into a DC school because I want to work there, but that seems unlikely; IR/PS may be my only option.

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I called UCSD on Friday to ask about funding decisions and the very nice admin there told me that merit aid is currently in committee and they will be notifying applicants on their finaid packages in about two weeks.

As for the school itself, I'm mainly looking at the International Politics degree, the heads of programs there are full professors with research that aligns with my own interests. I had a pretty decent convo with a recently alum of the International Economics program right as he was graduating; he told me that the specifics that tipped him over to UCSD vs other schools were:

1. The curriculum. The core courses in particular are very professional-skills focused, and he said that the ID/NPM courses had a good balance of program management/eval theory and on-the-ground reality (he switched halfway through from ID/NPM to IE because he wanted to focus on finance).

2. Career services. He went to work for USAID right after graduation, and he said that if you take advantage of the career services center they can give you a big leg up, because they realize that as a West coast school without name branding, they really need to boost their alumni profile through career services assistance.

Also, he said that a lot of friends received pretty generous grant aid from UCSD. Running the numbers cited on their admissions webpage, $1.2M in aid for the top 25% of the class means $30K+ per top 40 students. So cross your fingers and hope you're in that top 25%!

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Yes, I really like the IR/PS professional curriculum blended with a regional studies focus on the Pacific Rim. They have some stellar faculty in my field of interest too doing really interesting research. San Diego is far away from the policy-making institutions of DC but I'm still undecided how important that really is. I'm living in DC right now but not specifically determined one way or the other yet whether I'd prefer to stay here for grad school or not. In many ways, living in San Diego for a few years sounds pretty awesome. But I don't want to think too much more until I hear back from all my schools AND hear funding info!

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Hah that's my exact same situation--originally from the Pacific NW, currently in DC, and torn between having the boost of local connections that DC schools have and the affordability/decent education of IR/PS, especially with the Pacific Rim focus (some of the faculty at East Coast schools still seem stuck in Cold War mode!).

One way to mitigate the distance from seats of power issue is to intern in DC during the summers, and if I do go to UCSD that will be the route I'll try to take.

Also, in case you do choose UCSD--I have a friend in postgrad there and he says that grad student housing is decent (lots of recent construction), more affordable than the surrounding area (~$500/mo), and very much in demand so you should fill out the housing forms as soon as you accept.

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The IR/PS info session is on March 29--I got the e-mail two days before I got my admit decision.

Dear IR/PS Applicant,

Thank you for your application to IR/PS. If you have not already, you should be hearing from us soon regarding your admissions status. Representatives from the IR/PS Admissions Team will be in Washington DC during the last week of March.

We would like to inform you of the following events in your area:

1. We will have an information session on Thursday March 29th from 5:00-6:00PM at the University of California Washington Center in Room 210. This event is an opportunity for you to learn more about IR/PS, hear about our Career Services, curriculum and housing options. Please RSVP by replying to Dustin (dclinton@ucsd.edu) by Sunday March 11th

2. Following the info session, at 6:30 we would like to invite you to a networking event held at the UC Washington Center put on by IR/PS. It is a networking opportunity and a chance for you to meet current students, alumni, and members of our faculty and staff. Please RSVP by replying to Dustin (dclinton@ucsd.edu) by Sunday March 11th

3. Our staff will be available for one-on-one meetings with prospective and admitted students on both Wednesday and Thursday. These appointments are not required but offer an opportunity for you to ask questions and learn more about our school. In order to book an appointment, please click here to find a time that works best. Please sign up for appointments by Wednesday March 21st. The location of the meetings will be sent out at a later date.

Please contact us if you have any questions or requests. We look forward to meeting with you while we are in Washington DC.

Thank you,

The IR/PS Admissions Team

Office of Admissions

School of International Relations and Pacific Studies

University of California, San Diego

9500 Gilman Drive #0520

San Diego, CA 92093-0520

tel: 858.534.5914 │ fax: 858.534.1135

irps.ucsd.edufacebook.com/IRPSadmissions

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Has anyone heard back from UCSD on funding? The wait is really getting annoying, and I do not like the idea of potentially hearing back on funding and only having a week to make a decision and send them $500. I would call them again, but I think the poor secretary can recognize my number by now.

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Has anyone heard back from UCSD on funding? The wait is really getting annoying, and I do not like the idea of potentially hearing back on funding and only having a week to make a decision and send them $500. I would call them again, but I think the poor secretary can recognize my number by now.

I'm still waiting...do you have an idea when they might be released? They didn't promise a certain time or even week did they?

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Also, did anyone else get told they are required to attend the summer prep program at UCSD? I got my official snail-mail packet yesterday and found out I'd have to either take coursework between now and September (not really feasible with my job hours) or go to the prep program and lose ALL my vacation (last day of contract is 31 July; program starts August 6 and ends 5 days before graduate orientation).

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Also, did anyone else get told they are required to attend the summer prep program at UCSD? I got my official snail-mail packet yesterday and found out I'd have to either take coursework between now and September (not really feasible with my job hours) or go to the prep program and lose ALL my vacation (last day of contract is 31 July; program starts August 6 and ends 5 days before graduate orientation).

Yup, I got told that too. I'd be OK with jumping through their hoops but funding's the kicker here.

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I'm still waiting...do you have an idea when they might be released? They didn't promise a certain time or even week did they?

When I talked to them last, they said that it was still in committee. The admin I talked to refused to give an ETA because "if I say the end of March, you'll all start calling then"... which doesn't give me high hopes. However, she did say that she hoped they'd be out sooner than that, she just didn't want to give us a specific timeline.

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