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lalalacereza

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  1. I have a credit card that charges no overseas cash withdrawal fee and no currency conversion fee (Wizard, for any Australians reading). I will load it up with $ and then take out the cash and deposit it in my bank account. No fees!
  2. I did my honours year (like a pre-PhD year in Australian unis) in genocide studies, and almost went into a PhD in a similar field to what you're describing. Think about criminology departments. A friend of mine did a good bit of her doctoral research in criminology/genocide studies at Berkeley. Also check out Purdue, I believe that their PoliSci dept does lots around conflict, peace etc. Someone I know is doing his PhD in peacebuilding there.
  3. That's good. I commented on this because an Afghan friend of mine recently had a 20 minute grilling and an Indonesian girl I'll be studying with had a similar experience. Of the ten or so people I know who've applied for visas to study in the US, there's been a pretty clear split between those of us from culturally western nations and those from developing countries.
  4. They won't worry about the ties to home stuff. I think that's in place so they can weed out the ones who use some crappy tech certificate course to get into the country and then disappear. It's a horrible thing to say, but I'm sure that they look much less closely at those of us from western countries. When I went (UK citizen) they looked at my stuff, asked how I chose my uni, what expenses were covered by my scholarship, and told me they were approving the visa. One minute flat.
  5. Berkeley's International and Area Studies might be worth a look. Seems like a pretty customisable program.
  6. I worked my way through Sharon Weiner Green & Ira Wolf's How to Prepare for the GRE Test and it got me from 39th percentile in practice tests up to a 73rd percentile 710 in the real thing. That's not a very high score to most of you, but it was a major achievement for me -- I last did maths in year 10 in 1995! I spent about ten or twenty hours studying in the month before I took it. The best tip in it was to take your time with the first seven questions, as they determine most of what your final score will be.
  7. The best IR school in Australia is the Australian National University. Hands down, tops for IR/policy/politics. I'm pretty sure they have an 18 month coursework + thesis MA. Also look into University of Melbourne, Monash University, Uni of Queensland, Uni of Sydney, Uni of New South Wales, Uni of Western Australia. These are the top seven Aus unis. Others worth considering are Macquarie, Swinburne, Deakin, LaTrobe. PM me if you have questions.
  8. I have strugled for years with spellcheckers that try to Americanise my spelling. I am very fond of my own spellings, thank you, and I don't WANT to change them! So is this likely to be an issue in my Development Policy MA papers and thesis? I really, really, really don't want to change.
  9. Yeah, I'[m wondering about licences too. I have an Australian provisional licence, and I wonder if they'll make me take the driving test...
  10. Yeah, on my last Q practice test I was in the 53rd percentile, but the actual result the next day was 73rd. Luckily for me it can swing either way!
  11. Just got mine today. I hope that they put the right figure on the bit where they list my stipend amount, 'cos it's $2k more than I thought I was getting!
  12. I'm Australian, experience in community development at home and overseas. My undergrad degree is in international relations, and I'm doing a development policy master's. Why? Because IR tends to be theoretical. I've had four years of discussing why things are the way they are and looking at issues from different perspectives, now I want to learn how to DO stuff. I suggest looking at your choices' curricula, and seeing which offer vocational courses like project management, evaluation, managing staff in a developing country. I decided to go to Duke because the PIDP is so clearly aimed at preparing workers rather than academics. I also think that your classmates are an important factor. Networking is the only way to get a foothold in this sector, and a diverse class with lots of foreign students will be valuable.
  13. What are you guys doing about insuring yourself to get home in the event of illness? My school insurance covers my expenses while I'm at uni in teh US, but if I have an accident or get so sick I can't study anymore I'd like to know that my paren't won't be up for a $50,000 bill to get me home to our beloved universal healthcare system safely. I've been looking for policies that just cover this, with no luck. Any ideas? I'm Australian.
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