twoedge

As the previous poster stated, it really depends on what region you're interested in. Personally I would recommend French, as it is used as the official language of numerous international organizations, is very widespread (Europe, Africa, North America), and relatively easy to learn. If you're planned focus is, for example, Latin America, Russia, or China, then I would most definitely go with another language. The answer to what foreign language to study is not clear cut at all, unless of course English is one of the options.

Ditto. May not check it again. At least we'll always have march and april. lol

Only thing I can think of is maybe something like the International Security Journal or the Security Studies Journal having some sort of online discussion forum in their subscribers section. Probably not what you're looking for, and SS is pretty expensive. It is a lead though.

They could very well be fluid about changing degree programs...I really don't know. I was just curious as to how you had that option at this point. Just my opinion, but between the two I would go with the SPS over the IA IPS specialization. IA/IR has really turned into a popular pursuit the past couple of years, especially this year from everything I've read. In a couple years, that could leave you competing with lots of other people who have the more generic sounding MA in IA/IR. If you want a master's in security policy/studies, it seems like GT and GW are the two best places to do it. More narrow focus, more specialized career options later. Not discounting SAIS at all, but their strategic studies program has a much more military inclination than these two. Then again, if you think you might develop some other interests in IR, the IA degree might be the better option. As I've read someone on here say, that's just my .02. As far as language study goes, you can apply up to 6 units of language classes as part your electives toward the IA degree. So, while not required, you can still use these classes as part of your degree program. That's good for tuition purposes, as you wouldn't be paying in excess of the total 40 unit amount to take a coulpe foreign languages courses. For the SPS, you can only apply 1 unit of language study toward your total of 40 units. Obviously not required either. You can also go the econ tool route, and avoid language study altogether, but it seems like you want to avoid too much of that. When I asked Professor Spear what students in the SPS do regarding additional language study, her response was that she recommends students take language courses at the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Grad School. Classes are $375 each, as opposed to $3,195 for a 3-credit class at GW that's outside of your degree program. She also mentioned that the synagogue on campus offers free Arabic classes that are open to everyone. On a final note, as I was composing this post, I received an email from GWU thanking me for my deposit and stating that registration info will be sent out on May 14th.

I think the Bush School has a very, very solid reputation when it comes to national security and intelligence studies. Don't know much about their performance in other IR fields, but I can say that having enrolled in the Bush School's distance ed. certificate in Homeland Security program over the past year no doubt helped me get into G'Town and GW's security policy programs in the fall. They have some good professors there...David McIntyre is especially well known. I've seen him quoted in various books and journals. So if security is at all your interest, you're going to a good school. As far as what surrender said regarding life as a lefty from a big city going to College Station. One of my professors referred to himself, in homage to two of his great-grandfathers who were confederate soldiers, that in many ways he was an "old un-reconstructed rebel." I'm not really a lefty, but I have lived in L.A. practically my whole life, and this was a rather silly comment from my perspective. Then again, during my undergrad career at UCLA, I once had a history professor remark that it must sound funny to our ears that white settlers/colonists in Australia and Israel deliberately avoided using native labor because it must be hard to believe that there was a time that white people actually liked to work. So in conclusion, the Bush School is a great place to go...a new and up and coming school with a growing reputation. Both extreme rightist and leftist professors with tenure are prone to saying things that make them look like jack asses.

Looks like the SPS is more along the lines of strictly security studies than the ISP specialization. Two specialized fields, different core classes, maybe one less econ class, less emphasis on language in the MA IA. According to Professor Spear, you can only apply 1 unit of language to the SPS degree but up to six units to the MA IA. How is it that you can choose which one to be in at this point? Did you apply to both programs or are you planning on trying to change from one to the other??

In a way I'm somewhat relieved that I'm not the only one feeling completely adrift about what the next step is regarding incoming students to the Elliott School. I couldn't help but wonder what happened. They were in regular contact during March and the first couple weeks of April. Then I accept their offer of admission, send a deposit, and then crickets. I finally looked and saw that they had cashed my check. Then I logged into the original application and came across the tersely worded letter from Mr. Miles that included no indication of what's next. I also received a non-Elliott School grant from the university, which I accepted over 3 weeks ago and have not so much as heard a peep from the graduate student services office either. The process of applying for the loans had a really DIY approach that I found a bit unusual for a university too. The thing that really concerns me is that when looking at the fall schedule of classes, I saw that some of the classes were already filling up. Some of them might have even filled up completely in the last week, so once again, not sure where that leaves incoming students. Hopefully nadir heard right and we'll be receiving a packet of info toward the end of the month. I have to say that all of this stands in contrast to my previous experiences. Last year I accepted admission to the Ford School at U of M. As soon as I did, there were current students calling, emails about creating a school logon and email, all the info about my financial aid was soon available, and they created a mailing list forum for the incoming class to be able to interact with each other throughout the transition period. Pretty late in the game I was able to defer admission in the hopes of getting into a program more suitable to my interests. I'm also currently an online student in the Texas A&M Bush School Homeland Security program, and I must say that their office of distance education was also far more communicative in the post-admission process too. Anyway, all this is not to say that we won't soon be flooded with communication from GW, but so far there's definitely a feeling of not knowing/uncertainty that I didn't expect to have. Maybe this all has something to do with the larger than usual number of applicants and possibly admits. Still looking forward to seeing you all in the fall!