starrylanterns

I'm really enjoying the program. There's always something interesting going on, the career services are pretty fantastic, and interacting with fellow people interested in the same field as me is really inspiring. Regarding funding, aside from the fellowship, I think you can qualify for funding based on merit, but not too many people will get an offer. However, there are a good amount of TA/RA opportunities around and that will help out a lot with reducing how much fees are. For my application, from what I remember the advice I was offered was keep it as short and to the point as possible. My SoP was three pages max, and my second essay was two pages (roughly 600 words). If you have any questions I'd be glad to answer them when I'm able!

I actually haven't had dating experiences while in my undergrad (long story short, juggling classes and internships + study abroad for a year), so I'm kind of looking forward to the potential dating prospects in my grad program. Though I must admit the stories in the thread are simultaneously funny and fear inducing.

I was admitted March 8th. Not a veteran, and never had more than part time experience working during school and volunteering at NGOs, and about to graduate from my undergraduate in May. I did have amazing letter of reference, and a very clear and concise statement of purpose I spent a month and a half on with help. My focus is intl politics with a specialization in China, and I'm currently interested in intelligence especially related to East Asia conflicts, though the whole field fascinates me and at this point working at a three letter department would be a dream job experience.

I've got no funding as well.... I'm still going to go since I heard from current students that there are good opportunities on campus to work and help with the fees if you look for them.

I got an email letting me know I had a new message in my UCSD application, and when I logged in and checked my messages there it was. It seems like UCSD is staggering the messages they send out to applicants, since someone at the top of the post got their message at the beginning of last week I believe, and I got my message at 1am last Friday (maybe it was computer automated?) Anyway, don't stress, the wait is almost over! Regardless of the decision, you did your best and that's all we can do as potential graduate students.

Just got my nomination for admission from UCSD's IRPS on Friday! Now I'm dying for funding news while I search for scholarships and fellowships Congratulations to everyone who got in so far!

Anyone got advice on approaching the second essay for MPIA? I'm a bit worried about mine.... I'm approaching it as how the US's approach to the Senkaku-Diaoyu dispute changed my views on initiative and the role of leadership and actions taken by countries in leader roles like the US...

Hey all, SDSU undergrad applying to graduate schools here. I was wondering if any of you have heard of this undergraduate attitude or mentality that UGs tend to have. I've run into this term online a few times, and from another professor. They mentioned there was a difference between a UG mindset and a graduate student mindset. Anyone heard of this and would like to explain? I'm really curious Thanks and happy new years!

Anyone still up for sop swaps?

Congratulations! Time to celebrate and take a breath of fresh air

IMO I thought college was the place to learn to think more critically and grow some thick skin.

Hey all, happy new years!

Applied for intermediate mandarin, fingers crossed (options for placement are Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi'An, hoping for Beijing )

Thank you I emailed my professor from abroad one more time last night, and she responded this morning!! Apparently a lot of her students complained in November about not receiving emails back, and it turned out that almost all of her emails have been getting sent into spam! She apologized for what happened and promised to write my letter post haste (tomorrow) and send it out!! Luckily for me, I always remained respectful and at most curious about the lack of response, and it paid off in the end!!! Seriously excited, sorry for the long post. I've been grappling with another professor for that last letter before I heard back from my study abroad prof, and he has been belittling me slowly over the past week. But yes!!! We can do this! Whether it's this fall, or next year, or the year after, I will keep applying until I'm accepted or find a decent job I enjoy lol Good luck kind poster, your attitude is refreshing!!

Applying to UCSD's MPIA program, anyone interested in an SOP swap? I would love to receive and give some critical feedback, feeling lost and really worried about the upcoming application deadline and feedback would help immensely. PM me if you're interested!

Deadline Jan. 15th, one out of five essays done, two out of three letters done, and freaking out immensely. At least I'm there with you, completely stressed and anxious ridden. My last letter was supposed to come from a professor in my study abroad school, but three months ago she stopped responding to my emails and has flaked on me. Now this professor I'm asking is playing email tag and questioning whether my records are strong enough for admission and whether this is the right fit for me. Trying hard not to feel defeated and cry over this...

Thanks for taking the time to respond, it really helps

Some are really basic and silly XD Do you know the word count for the essays for the application? I'm going crazy over finding them. And what is the funding looking like this year? I would be applying this fall, and would be entirely dependent on finaid and fellowships/working to be able to go to grad school...and I know there is a deadline for admissions by the middle of January, but I also read rolling applications are accepted through April? Would submitting my application at the end of January or in February hurt my chances? From your experience in getting admitted to IRPS and taking classes at UCSD in general, do you think having a low GPA (3.09) together with average GREs (159/148/4) will matter more than my personal experiences, such as studying chinese polisci overseas for a year in Singapore, having some fluency in mandarin, and being an intern at the IRC? Sorry, worried about grad school and stressing over these things...

Hey! Congratulations on your first year at MPIA! I'm currently applying to the program and I've got a couple questions for you if you don't mind.

Thanks for the encouragement guys I spoke to a professor today about writing me an LoR, and he said he has written LoRs for less qualified people for the MPIA program who have gotten in, so I'm feeling a bit of a confidence boost. It helps that he mentioned he's worked at UCSD for 12 years previously and that should hopefully grab the IRPS people's attention? Ahhh, worried about applying, but now that the semester's out I'm gonna go full throttle to get this application done and done well for January. Good luck to everybody!!!!

What department were you accepted into? I'm a UG at SDSU at the moment so maybe I can help?

On a side note, I'm currently a student at SDSU, so if anyone has any questions I can try to answer them.

If by memo format, they mean the policy memo format that I'm thinking of, then the formatting would go like this (from what I was taught in ISCOR): The paper is broken up into three sections. First, a page devoted to the background. Then, a half page devoted to the stakes, broken down further into military, econ, and political. A page for three options for the policy, and then another half page or so fleshing out your recommendation. When my professor taught us this, he really pushed using active writing for the memo to be able to include as much information as possible. Hopefully this helps, and if WWS is referring to a different kind of formatting then....nevermind

I'm a long time lurker and first time poster, please be gentle :3 I read the "What are my chances?" post, and I'm hoping this post won't fall into that category... I do hope to get feedback, and I'm also hoping my worries and situation will help other people out there applying to grad school who are in the same boat. I currently am in my final year of university (5th year) at SDSU in San Diego, and want to apply to graduate school. I did poorly in high school due to family problems, and attended community college and transferred to SDSU in two years. Majored in Studio Art, spent one year at State, took on Asian Studies (Chinese Language) as a second major to study mandarin and spent my 4th year in Singapore taking classes learning mandarin and studying China's modern history/politics/foreign policy at NTU. I'm in my last year now back in the US at SDSU, and literally just solidified what I want to do, which is to study China's political movements and its relation to the US and SEA, hopefully in analytical positions with the government or research in academia. My biggest worries are my lack of experience working and basically all around low scores. I have a 3.09 GPA overall because I had no real aim or idea of what I wanted to do with my life until this past September, and 159/148 GRE scores. I am planning on retaking the GREs in January, and I'm currently taking 7 classes (and have no lower than a B+ in any of them!). I traveled and studied in Singapore for a year. My mandarin is intermediate, though I was able to travel and survive just fine on my own traveling in HK and Taiwan while studying in Singapore. I'm currently an intern at the International Rescue Committee, and I've applied for the CLS summer 2013 program for Intermediate Chinese. I am definitely passionate about studying China and getting involved in international relations/policy. I am determined to achieve fluency in mandarin, and move on to learning Cantonese Malay, Hokkien etc. I am looking at IRPS's MPIA, regional specialization/international policy tracks, or SDSU's Homeland Security program, though the lack of language at HLS worries me. I apologize in advance for the long post, and hopefully my information has relevancy for other people on the forum and can help them as well.