informatives

What website did you see this on?

Which website did you see that on?

I'm headed to DC this week for an MA interview at SAIS. I think this might be a new thing, as I searched the forums and was unable to find any previous topics about it. Apparently it's just half an hour, with second-year MA students. I'm not too worried about it, but I'd like to make a good impression (obviously). Has anyone gone through the process this cycle?

Looking for some advice on what schools I might consider applying to! My overall application isn't terrible, but my GPA is basically non-existent. I mean, I'd be better off just not putting it on my application. I'll explain below. Undergraduate Institution: Top 50 US Undergraduate Major: Sociology and Political Science Career interests: U.S. Foreign Policy, International Security/Intelligence, working with NGOs, State Department, US Foreign Service, etc. GRE: 168V/154Q/5.5AWA Work Experience: Two years teaching at an elementary school, two years working as a research assistant for a professor (area of research was politics and sociology), one year AmeriCorps program working for the Red Cross Volunteering: Several years of extensive leadership roles in various non-profit organizations as an undergrad, been volunteering at a food pantry for the last 6 months Languages: Portuguese (conversational), several semesters of coursework in Japanese and Mandarin Coursework: B+ in Stat 100, taking macro/micro Econ in the Spring (should definitely be getting an A) Overseas: Didn't get to study abroad in college, but traveled extensively in elementary and high school (spent several months in India/Nepal in jr. high, lots of time in rural southeast Asia, and an exchange program for a summer in the UK). Will be working this into SOP. LORs/SOP: Confident about these. One from the professor I worked for/took an independent study with, one from the principal at the school I worked at (she's known me since I was in 7th grade), and one from the supervisor at the food pantry that I work at (also knows me very, very well). I know my SOP will be my saving grace if they can look past the GPA, so I'm working my ass off on it and will be having everyone I know look at it in about two - three weeks. Basically I'll be talking about how my experience working with NPOs has given me a lot of insight into how I want to be able to have more influence than just direct action, and how working in schools has driven me to be passionate about education now in a way that I totally wasn't as an undergrad (hence, the terrible GPA). GPA: Okay so here it is...2.1. I know. Doesn't get much worse. Basically, I switched majors a few times, and had a few semesters where I more or less wasn't in school due to working a ton and family issues. I retook several courses, and although it doesn't show up as my "official" GPA, if factored in they would bump me up to a 2.7. Still terrible though. Programs: I'm planning on applying to most of the "good" schools - SIS, Elliott, SIPA, SAIS, SFS, Korbel - but know it'll be a reach with my GPA. Can anyone recommend schools that might actually look over my whole application instead of just throwing it out when they see how poorly I did in undergrad??

Thank you!

Hi! I've been browsing the GC's GA forum for months now but finally have a reason to post. For any of you that are attending American's SIS, I was wondering what some of the differences are between the US Foreign Policy and the Global Governance program. I understand that one concentrates specifically on US relations while the other takes a more international focus, but the coursework seems fairly similar. I'm interested in working in foreign policy, either with the State Department or with NGOs, but would also be delighted to work overseas (i.e. with non-American organizations). Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated!