leon32

Your stats are good, and you would probably get into at least one or two of the top programs, and maybe get some money. That being said, I think waiting a while is a good idea, and not just for the professional experience but for the life experience. I can just about guarantee you that spending a year or two not in school doing anything will change how you think about things, and I think that you would appreciate the grad school experience more. That's just my opinion, as someone now at one of the schools you mentioned, knowing how different I looked at things while I was in undergrad compared to now.

If you don't get in, don't worry too much about it. I applied early notification, didn't get in then, but am now a current student at Fletcher who got admitted during the general intake.

From what I've heard most people try to be an RA with one of the institutions associated with the school, or for a professor.

Previous Schools Appalachian State University, UNC Wilmington, 2 grad classes with American Public University System Previous Degrees and GPAs: B.S. Political Science 3.11 GRE Scores: Verbal - 166, Quant - 156 , Analytical - 6 Previous Work Experience: 6 months working as a leadership facilitator in Singapore, 6 months as an intern for Organizing for America, 2 years teaching English in Korea and currently about a year and a half as a system administrator for an education portal in Australia where I work with people and companies in India, Nepal, Singapore, China, etc. on a daily basis. Math/Econ Background: Intro to Macro, research methods Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): Advanced Korean, Intermediate Spanish Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Affairs, Security Long Term Professional Goals: Think tank or consulting Schools Applied to & Results: Korbel (10,000) accepted, Seton Hall, Fletcher (5,000), SIS, GWU, USCD MPIA all accepted, UGA rejected Ultimate Decision & Why:Fletcher, best program and reputation of the schools I got into, and seems like it is where I would enjoy spending two years the most Advice for Future Applicants: If you have a low undergraduate degree, you can still get in to good schools, but perhaps not great funding.

Not really related, but where did you see the work study info from fletcher? I'm going there but didn't see any info about that, or any other fafsa stuff.

I'm about 80% set on going to Fletcher. I'm taking some time to consider Elliott, as per my other thread, and to decide where I want to be for the next two years. How are people plannning to find housing for Fletcher? I won't be able to go up there until the second week of August and am a bit concerned about finding a good, affordable, place near a subway stop. Also as someone recently married I can't take the cheaper route and just find roommates.

I've decided that I will go to Elliott or Fletcher over the other schools I got into. I'd rather go to Fletcher because I like Boston, like that I can take classes at Harvard, and it seems like a more collegiate experience with a stronger community. I'm not sure that I should give up the DC location though. At Elliott I'd be going into the security studies program, at fletcher I'd study security and human security. If I choose Elliott it will be because of the location and the ability to work during the day. Do those two factors trump Fletcher's ranking and reputation? Also, SIS would be about $4-$5,000 cheaper than both, I'm I wrong to not consider it? Thanks for any help/advice.

Oh, it's in my application page, not my resource center. Now I see it.

Nope, nothing. Very frustrating.

Today I got an email that said congratulations from SIS, and it had a link to the admitted students page, but no admissions letter. The email made it sound like I should already have gotten a letter earlier. I logged in to check, and on the site it said it was still under review. Confusing and annoying. U emailed to ask about it, but of course have to wait two days for the weekend. Anyone else got this?

They have their own program for sure. They help pay for your loans each year that you met the criteria, but I'm not sure how many people qualify, and how much of an award it is. It seems like it could be an important thing to consider as I'm thinking about how much of a loan I'd need to go to Fletcher. http://fletcher.tufts.edu/Admissions/Financial-Aid/Loan-Repayment-Assistance-Program

Hi, I was looking at their website and saw something about how they have a loan repayment assistance program for students who take public or non-profit jobs, and it sounded like it was pretty easy to get. Anybody know more about this, or how much it usually is. The idea of taking out a loan is less intimidating if I know they will help me pay it back if I get a lower paying job.

Can anyone comment on the likelihood of finding good paying work in DC while studying at Elliott. I'm in there and at Fletcher, but with very little funding at either. If I can work during the day at Elliott, and it's not just all unpaid internships, that would make paying for everything much easier.

In at UCSD MPIA, GWU Elliott for Security Studies, Korbel with $10,000 a year, and Fletcher with $5,000 a year. I am not really considering Korbel. I haven't heard about funding from USCD, and I would love to live in San Diego. I'm worried their program is too business focused, plus not well known/ranked. Unless they offer lots of money, not sure I can justify going there. Gwu is Washington, so I could work and internship while I study, but not sure I want to always be involved in the DC internship scene and taking evening classes, plus it's expensive and they didn't offer any money. Fletcher is my top choice, but with only $5,000 offered I'm nervous about taking out huge loans. Any ideas/ pointers?

I'm in with 5k. Didn't think I'd get in either. Does anyone know if there is any aid available in the second year, or is it limited to what you get offered initially. I want to go, but it's hard to pay that much.

I'm currently working for a company based in Australia. I lived in Australia for 6 months, and when I left they let me continue doing the job by telecommuting, so I'll be working at least 10-20 hours a week while I'm in school for them. It's great though, because as long as I get all my work done in a timely manner, my working hours are up to me, so I can just do like 30 mins of work a few times a day so it doesn't seem so hard to fit in. I'm working a full time job currently on top of the Australian position, so I'm sure it won't be any harder than that.

In for international security, didn't think I'd make it, but now just have to see about funding.

Me too, I wonder if it's done by degree paths, anyone else apply for international politics?

Not yet. The email said that they would start considering funding decisions for admitted students this week, so hopefully that means pretty soon. Good luck.

Mine said that as well, but I found out I was admitted through the messaging function of the application page. Try looking there. I also got an email from the school saying I had a new message, maybe they aren't done with all the applications yet.

Admitted, pretty sure I will go here unless I get into American or Fletcher with lots of funding. Happy with this, out of all the programs this is the one I'm most interested in, but not sure if I should go to a higher ranked program if given the chance. Anyways, just happy to know that I got in, and hope that I get some funding from them as well.

I think it was about two or three weeks ago that Whitehead got all my letters of rec. in. They are fairly quick. As for SIS, not sure but I think it's harder than Korbel, but not so hard to get into either.

So far gotten in to Korbel and Whitehead, my two safety schools, now waiting for Elliott, Fletcher, SIS, MPIA, and UGA. Especially waiting for Fletcher and SIS.

I saw about this on their admissions blog, and will do it soon. Has anyone already done it, and knows what kinds of questions they ask?

Anyone else get deferred to March? I'm glad they thought I was good enough to not outright reject me, but it's annoying all the same.