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magnoliuzz

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  • Location
    DC
  • Application Season
    2015 Fall
  • Program
    International Affairs

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  1. Here's my perspective, as someone who's currently working at an international organization in DC, and who plans to cut back to working part-time while attending GW in the fall: If your dream is to work for the State Department, or the IMF, or Brookings, or some other impressive DC-area employer, a master's degree from GW will be enough to get you into the door. Someone with a MA from Princeton isn't going to look significantly better on paper, unless they also have more impressive work experiences and language skills. The thing is, in DC, it's all about who you know and where you come from. I've met so many awful, inept people who have fantastic jobs because 1) they were introduced informally to the guy in charge of hiring or 2) they used to work for some impressive organization and will keep milking the hell out of that one job until the day they retire. And I've met tons of people with bachelor's degrees from no-name colleges who manage hundreds of people with MAs and PhDs while raking in hundreds of thousands in bonuses each year. In the end, where you got your master's degree is really inconsequential, unless you plan to pursue a career in research or academia. If I sound jaded, I don't mean to be. DC is actually a fantastic place to live and work. My schedule is packed every day with free lectures and panels at think tanks, free workshops and meetups at tech startups, free performances at the Kennedy Center, free tours and celebrations at museums, etc. All of which present opportunities to network with people who work at State, DOD, think tanks, NGOs and who are surprisingly open to passing your resume along to a friend or a colleague, or to grab coffee for an informational interview. I honestly can't see myself ever moving away.
  2. I made an account just to comment. I also got accepted off the waitlist today (for the IA program). Pleasantly surprised because my undergrad grades were, uh, lacking, but after I was waitlisted I managed to land a new job that looks really good on paper, so I wrote in to tell them, and I think that probably drove their decision. Going to mail my old college professor a nice card to say thanks again.
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