Kadisha

Keep your head up. Pinkman got rejected. I don't think not receiving notification has to do with decisions.

Wow... despite the fact I already got accepted into the GWU MIA program knowing that the results are out and I haven't received anything is driving my crazy.

Yeah I did... nothing there. Don't know what's going on.Hopefully I'll hear something soon.

You're not the only one. Did you apply to the MAIA program or the MA?

I haven't received anything for the MAIA program yet :/

Alright guys. I have a very simple question that I can't seem to find the answer to. I don't know if it's cause I'm exhausted from a stressful week or what. But can some one please explain how the Yellow Ribbon Program works?

Admitted! I can breathe now. Waiting on financial aid info.

So the graduate admissions asked people on Facebook what questions they could answer. All they've gotten so far was when will the decisions be posted. I hope they didn't expect any other kind of questions haha

For the MIA guys out there. Last year ESIA released the decisions on the Friday of the first week of March, so we just might hear something today. Keeping fingers crossed.

I agree. If you've decided to commit the next two years of your life into researching, you might as well do the financial cost research before committing. You owe to your future self. FYI, Yes I'm still losing my damn mind. Haven't heard from a single school yet. Maybe this Friday? Don't know.

Exactly. Why are you selling yourself short? I've applied to MPP and MIA/MIR programs, and I highlighted my experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, and what I would be able to bring to the table from my experiences overseas. The practical experience that we have as veterans is incredibly valuable when it comes to policy making. How many members of congress have military experience? And of those that do how many have actually been deployed and served in combat. I don't know the answer of the top of my head, but I know it's a very small percentage of those. WE know what works and what doesn't work on the ground. We've seen the successes and failures of the State and Defense Department's policies. We've also literally felt them. When a member of the taliban blows up an IED 100m from my compound something is wrong. When a taliban member has the balls to RPG my convoy, it shows that something's not working. And when the town loves us and hands us intelligence it shows that we're doing something right. These are only a few examples and apply to you regardless of MOS/Branch.

Why don't you call admissions tomorrow instead of just speculating. I know I would.

5k to help out with a bunch of cadets. Sounds too easy haha. Let me know how things go with you since you're way ahead of me with the ETSing. My friend himself was a 35P. He's going there for undergrad though, and apparently got a really good score on his ACT. I'm in the same boat with the GRE. Got a mediocre score of 157/170 on both sections. I'm sensing a trend here since I got a 570 on both the sections of the SAT 9 years ago (that just made me feel real old) lol. It's a long story but I work with SOCOM too. SF though. Has to do with my fluency in Arabic. I actually got my TS because I was about to reclass to 35P last year while I was in Afghanistan. They had fat bonuses. I think $40,000 for reenlisting for 4 years. The only reason I didn't was because my DLPT was expired, so they wouldn't let me reclass before I retested. Best thing that ever happened to me to be honest. Either way we seem to be in the same boat. Let's hope we both make it At least you've been accepted into one school already. I'm still waiting on all 5.

Taking 4 day passes at a time for the last year since I got back from Afghanistan has been a pain. I haven't been able to truly relax like I've wanted to, but just like you said now it's turning out to be worth it. I doubt anything should happen to your clearance. I've got one myself, and from what I understand you keep it, and might even have to renew it if you're still within the 4 year IR commitment. I guess all of us in the military tend to become over-planner because everything is on hold right now until I find out where I'm going as well. I'm going to do it and use a "friend told me" source, but according to him veterans are highly respected at Columbia. I've also personally met the VA representative when I visited last March. I can't remember her name, but she was incredibly nice. I wouldn't discount the fact that vets aren't anything special to DC schools, but we'll find out I guess. I'm honestly keep it as a last resort. I'm tired of my MOS aka fighting-an-unconventional-war-in-a-conventional-setting-is-not-working, and I don't want to go through the hassle of reclassing right now. I might bite the bullet(no pun intended) and do it, if I find myself in desperate need of funding.

It could be because they were closed today. DC was hit by a snow storm.

My terminal leave starts on the 6th of June. Still haven't gotten it approved since I'm talking 75 days. I'm planning to be a beach bum till I have to move to where I get accepted haha. I'm an 11B. During my entire time I've only known one person (an officer) whose ETSed and gone to grad school He's at HKS right now. I'm making that GI Bill do work! Although it's too bad that SAIS's Yellow Ribbon program only contributes $2500. Better than nothing I guess, but it's a very small contribution compared to other programs.

When do you ETS? I'm looking at the beginning of June. Edit: annoyed by typo

Columbia had the most complicated application out of all the schools I applied for. The "educational resume" bit still boggles my mind.

I wonder if they automatically had them released this morning since according to facebook GWU is closed today. Hopefully us MIA applicants hear later this week.

At least they're open about it haha. That blog post got me more nervous and excited at the same time.

Damn... the Harvard PHD PP applicants took a beating. haha those cats. I was told by my friend it's cause the university president is a cat lover. I know HKS has a summer internship there if I remember correctly. I'm going to try to get in on that if I get in. Hit two birds with one stone.

Sounds like you've had your fair share of adventures in the Middle-East as well. Impressive resume as well. I was in Lebanon during the 2005 revolution and in 2006 during the Israeli bombing campaign. What year did you go to AUB? I have a feeling that you might have met a few friends of mine.

Lol what is with Columbia? In my SOP for SIPA i spelled it as Colombia for one of my "Columbia"s. Almost had a heart attack when I saw it, but then I told myself, if they're going to reject me because of a typo then it's not worth going there anyway. Too bad I'll never know.

Considering that the 15th is a Friday I wouldn't be surprised at all.

It would be nice if ALL schools did that. At least SIPA said the 18th.