thevillagersid

Yale Jackson does not currently provide scholarships for all students, but I would say that they seem to be quite generous overall. Many students not already financed externally seem to receive some sort of award.

Have you checked out glassdoor.com? You can search reported salaries by job title, organization, and location.

Current Jackson student here. Just thought I'd pop in to say that everyone at Jackson is super excited about finding out who our new classmates will be. Once decisions come out admitted students will be matched with current Jackson students to answer any questions they have, but I'm also happy to answer any questions that people have here. Best of luck to everyone who applied! (P.s. I know it's killing you, but I don't have any inside information on the decision process--so please don't make things awkward by asking. )

Syracuse (1 year!), UPenn Fels, and Michigan all seem like good schools that might be a bit less competitive.

Having personally squeaked into Yale with a 3.2 undergrad GPA, I'd definitely encourage you not to think of that as an automatic disqualification. It might need a bit of explanation, but I would also recommend applying to all the schools you think would be a good fit for you, as long as you have the time to do the apps.

I think Yale is perfect for people who are trying to work across multiple fields, but I second the advice you got about making sure that your plans seem focused--they don't want people coming in and floundering around trying to figure out what they're doing.

As Gov2School suggested, work experience is pretty important for the American schools. Even if you're certain you want/need to get an MA, having 1-2 years of experience working someplace relevant before you apply will make your application *much* more competitive at US schools.

Many people are coming back to graduate school to change careers, so it won't seem unusual at all. As Kaneisha, mentioned, you just need to make a convincing case as to how your experience and educational plans fit in with what you hope to do.

If your work experience is relevant and your GRE scores and GPA in your current program are good, I don't think there's any reason you shouldn't be able to get into some or all of the schools you mentioned. That said, I'm not sure that another two years for an IR degree would be particularly worthwhile after having done an MPP. This is especially true if your goal is working in the federal gov't, where they seem pretty indifferent about what schools people graduate from and not particularly concerned about MPP vs. IR. (Maryland's own website suggests that grads there have gone on to work in most of the same places that people graduating from Georgetown, GWU, etc. go to.) The Pickering seems to be a great "in" for the foreign service, but it's definitely not going to be any easier than getting hired through the regular FSO exam process.

Also, the Yale student blog has been moved onto the Jackson website. The new address is: http://jackson.yale.edu/blog

The Jackson program is a bit unique in that it has only a limited number of core courses (3), which leaves students free to put largely together their own program around their interests. Being able to take courses at all the other schools on campus means that you also have full access to the full range of 'superstar' faculty members and fellows that Yale attracts. If there's anything that defines the students at Jackson, it would be a passion for making a difference in the world--but each one of us has very different aspirations for how we'd like to make that happen. But I imagine your real question was about the perception of Jackson amongst employers. The small number of graduates and youth of the program also made me a bit worried that it might not be recognized by the people hiring me later. This concern has proven to be entirely unfounded. Speaking with potential employers and observing the second years as they begin to job hunt, it seems the more important factors when it comes time to get a job are: It's backed by the Yale brand, which employers *do* respond to. (I don't personally believe that alma mater is necessarily a strong quality signal for a person, but such is the world we live in.) You're one of only 30 Yale Jackson grads in a year. Most public policy/IA types gravitate to a few sorts of places, and there are honestly a glut of SIPA, SAIS, etc. grads applying for the same jobs. Small program size means easy access to Jackson's Senior and World Fellows, and several people each year seem to get internships/jobs with incredible organizations through those on campus connections. And, finally, we have an awesome career services director (Elizabeth Gill), who takes an active interest to meet and strategize with all of the program's students. Long post short, no one seems to have any difficulty getting a great job after Jackson.

A couple of Jackson students have recently begun a blog offering a look at life in the Jackson program and on the Yale campus in general. There are also occasional posts with practical information for those thinking about applying, so I highly recommend it to anyone interested in coming to Yale Jackson. Link: The Jackson Journal - Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs Student Blog

Yale Jackson is also about 50-50 domestic/international, and there seem to be excellent opportunities for those who want to go abroad after graduation. Many of the top programs (Yale included) are quite good about offering funding in the form of scholarships or teaching assistantships, so I'd encourage you to apply to all the schools you think would be a good fit for your interests and worry about funding later.

Take a look at Yale. Jackson allows students to design their own concentrations, and if you know that you're interested in Asia it would be very easy to put together a concentration with a regional focus. You would have access to courses in all the other graduate departments on campus to choose from. Offerings on China and Japan are especially good.

Working as a foreign respondent sounds prima facie like excellent work experience for I.R. and won't need to be justified. Many students are also expecting to change or better define their career paths after doing an I.R. degree (this student included), so that's not usually a problem either. The key is just to put together the pieces of how your prior experience motivated and prepared you for the career change, and then explain how your studies at school X fit into your plans.