Hi Everyone,
I'm fairly new to the IR scene, having recently, late last year, decided to pursue a career change and would appreciate any input on whether I have a shot at some of these programs. I'm primarily interested in international development (I'm in the process of doing a lot of researching and reading to tighten up my understanding of what that entails and, right now, envision myself being forward posted in a developing country to assist with development projects) and, while I'm still trying to finalize a list of programs to apply to, I will likely be taking a look at SAIS, SIPA, Fletcher, Georgetown, HKS, UCSD, & WWS among others.
Undergraduate Institution: UCSD
Undergrad GPA: 3.69
Undergrad Major: Management Science (Math heavy with a lot of Micro and Macro economics and econometrics)
Grad GPA / Major: 3.9 / Master's in Accountancy
GREs: 168 Verbal & 159 Quant
Work Experience:
My work experience is generally unrelated and a bit all over the place. I did two years in the Army before college and another year deployed overseas with the National Guard as part of a NATO peacekeeping mission after my first two years of college.
After completing a degree in Accountancy, I worked with a Big 4 accounting firm for 2 years in their Assurance practice and I have a year in my current place of employment in the Internal Audit dept of a publicly listed corporation. I am also a licensed Certified Public Accountant.
I guess I'm a bit concerned as I don't really have any work experience in the field and I'm a bit older, being in my early 30s (not sure if that will be a hindrance).
I was also looking at the Master's in Development Practice degrees and would appreciate hearing anyone's thoughts on that particular degree as it seems to be relatively new and there doesn't seem to be much information out there regarding what careers people have eventually matriculated into.
Also, wondering, if people don't mind sharing, how many programs do people typically apply to in an application cycle?
Thanks for the help!