Cornell07

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Ke ... ram_alumni http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fletch ... ent_alumni http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodrow_Wi ... ble_alumni http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_H._Ni ... ent_Alumni Etc...

http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworl ... wow_terror :wink:

Just take at look at last year's profiles versus where we got got in. That should ease your worries somewhat. viewtopic.php?f=15&t=16905

Quickie reply as I am busily prepping my first big class presentation. Riz can't fully appreciate how knee-deep I am for another few months :shock: 1) Yale would probably be impressed by someone who has published as this is program historically has been more research oriented than most (though they are trying to shift away from that) 2) Funding is not great at Yale. I got zilch, just like 70% of the people here. Consequently, a large number of people have outside funding like the Peace Corp volunteers, a Pickering fellow etc... Among those who got $, I think 2/3 tuition is the most anyone got but I cannot say for certain. I hope there will be more funding next year because our tiny tiny program just got a $50 mil. donation. There are gobs of funding for summer internships. 2nd years can get merit based funding. TF (aka TA) pay is very good -- 4k-8k-10k per semester depending on the role (i.e. grader vs. section leader).

Well, in this economy I'll sum it up as such: "People, who know people, are the luckiest people in the woooooooorld!"

At Yale's grad program, quite oddly, our grades are: Fail, Pass, High Pass, Honors -- which ROUGHLY correspond to F, C, B, A but even that is highly imperfect as it is up to the professor's discretion, so HP can equal an A- in some classes. To graduate you need all high pass, two honors, and an extra honors to counterbalance each pass. Ultimately, this means that we don't have formal GPA's.

Well, some schools definitely do not like it when you say you are considering a PhD. I got into GWU, but when I sat down with the head of admissions and told him my plans, he said, "This is definitely not the school for you." You can, also, ask the program indirectly. Just email them, "I am interested in pursuing a PhD after HKS. Would HKS be able to help me achieve this goal? How many students continue on to further study after HKS? etc." If you are really paranoid, you can use a dummy email account and not give your last name, or something to that effect.

*bump for the 2009-2010 crowd*

Just get cracking on your personal statement ("I love helping people!"), statement of purpose ("I am somewhat qualified to help people for the rest of my life!"), and policy memo ("Some people have a problem and this is how I can help them!". There may be a leadership essay ("My group had a problem and I helped by giving them the tools to solve it!"), depending on where you apply. The rest is just a few hours of paperwork ("Embark\Applyyourself, help me, help you!").

I'd think that while the 550 is pretty low, you should be ok as English is not your first language. As for the Q, that probably needs to crack the 700 mark if you want to study finance and other mathematically inclined topics.

Fes_alum, which masters program did you do at Yale?

I agree with the above. Both options sound good though I would make sure you thoroughly look into Americorps so you are really sure about what you are getting into. On the plus side, having a record of public service can pay off in the form of scholarships and play well with public service schools like WWS, HKS, and Tufts (? I don't fully remember their app).

Yale is very open to people who are interested in both history and international relations. However, with 14 years of experience and a desire to teach, I would probably push you towards a PhD, which Yale does not offer in IR, and simply leapfrog the MA.

Well, from personal experience, I can tell you Yale is very stingy. Only about 30% get a drop of funding and very few of those people get more than half tuition. Hooray for loans! I expect that the amount of aid will increase because of the recent $50 million gift the department received to create the new Jackson Institute. ($50 MM spread amongst a couple dozen professors and about 23 students a year goes pretty far) WWS is the extreme opposite and every person gets full funding: tuition and stipend.

Living on Chapel St a couple blocks west of the Architecture school, moving furniture in this weekend, and moving in permanently the week after that. Lord parking is a pain in downtown New Haven. I'm getting a spot at the parking garage, but, still, what outrageous prices for street parking!

Mmm. That does make things harder, considering your background. Some quick thoughts... If you know specifically what you want to do with an IR degree, that will go a long way in helping you develop a cohesive application package. On a similar note, think about a way to tie your personal story into a desire to become involved in public service and/or international relations.

Are you looking to go into the academic or practical side of things?

I worked on the Obama campaign and I got into a ton of grad schools for IR (see below). If you are really interested in the campaign work, DO IT.

Take a look at the final decisions thread where you can see what GRE's, GPA's, work experience etc. people had and what schools they got into.

I hope everyone is having a great summer, gearing up for starting your apps (or for first year classes in my case! Yay!). If anyone has a particularly specific question, feel free to shoot me a line. Please, don't ask anything general that a little internet sleuthing could solve or that you really should ask a department/school admissions officer. My stats are available on the Final Decisions thread. Also, please check out my new international relations blog, "You Might Be Mistaken" -- http://youmightbemistaken.blogspot.com/ . Best of luck to everyone in their pursuits!

What a fabulously interesting idea! It makes me think of this Financial Times article I ran across a few weeks ago: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b873413a-51ea ... abdc0.html

Two ideas: 1) A general jumping off information thread that is stuck at the top with links to the threads for the various schools and links to the threads below. 2) Just stickies for the more generally useful threads such as: * GradCafe: Networking and Beyond - viewtopic.php?f=15&t=17964 * Poll: What Work Experience Do You Have? - viewtopic.php?f=15&t=15148 * Which Gov't Affairs Areas Do You Plan to Study in G School? - viewtopic.php?f=15&t=15142 * I'm going to ______________ and this is why! - viewtopic.php?f=15&t=13797 * Wrapping It All Up: Int'l Relations -- Final Decisions? - viewtopic.php?f=15&t=16905

I wish there was a way to lock some of the more helpful treads at the top of the page, such as the "final decisions" thread. With about 25 respondents, it is a sufficiently large sample size to give most applicants a means to compare their own stats to people who have been admitted and gauge their chances. I would have killed to have had that thread during my admissions process.

If I had to posit a guess, I would say "No, it does not stack up against American two year programs". LSE offers the most purely academic curriculum of any school, which essentially entails writing 6 modestly sized research papers (30-40 pages) and attending a few guided reading seminars. It is my impression that the program is largely self-taught. Do not expect to do crisis simulations, policy memos, or any of the other trainings that are entailed within other American two year programs. Even Yale offers all of the above. Furthermore, one year programs seem to not carry very much gravitas in academia. For example, if you ever wanted to apply to a PhD program and you hoped to place out of the Masters degree portion of a PhD program, you will not be able to do so because most programs require a TWO year masters to qualify for advanced standing. Still, having a masters from LSE would not hurt you as it shows that you can do graduate level work and perform substantive research.

Woo! Goooo fellow OFA alums!