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Original501

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  1. Thanks! That's very sound advice. I'm going to wait it out and focus on my career for now.
  2. Thanks to both of you. I'm going to focus on getting more work experience and prepping for the GRE.
  3. I have been out of school for a year and am thinking of going for a master's in international affairs or security studies. My focus is European security. However, I want to be realistic and would like to apply to programs I have a realistic chance of getting into, since I don't have the best grades. I majored in European politics at a strong state school (e.g., Illinois, Wisconsin, Washington). I have a 3.2 GPA and managed to gradaute with honors because I wrote an honors thesis. My grades are mostly As and Bs, as I could not truly focus on academics because I worked through college and didn't have enough time to study. This is what makes me most insecure. I work in international development in DC and many of my cooworkers have master's degrees from HKS, Georgetown, SAIS, Tufts, LSE, etc. This also makes me feel insecure, since I feel as if I have to get a master's from a school of that calibre to stay competitive. In my previous position, I wrote about European security for a news agency. Although my GPA is rather low, I managed to pull of an "A" on my honors thesis and in the thesis course, which was taught like a graduate seminar. I have international experience as well. I am a European national and have lived in European countries and speak a handful of European languages proficiently. If I manage to do well on the GRE and get good recommendation letters, what types of schools should I be aiming for? I plan to work for a few more years before going back to school. I don't want to waste time and money applying to a school I have no real change of getting into.
  4. I am a junior this year majoring in political science and European studies. One of my political science professors is encouraging me to write an honors thesis my senior year. However, I am not sure if I really want to. If I write a thesis, I would have to register for an honors class each semester of senior year. I am also thinking of using up those extra hours to take up a new foreign language. My school offers accelerated language courses, so I could pick up a new language like Arabic or Farsi in lieu of writing a thesis. The problem is, I don't know what would be the better investment for me. I plan on finding a job after college, possibly with an NGO or think tank. I know these jobs are highly-competitive, which is why I am unsure of what to do. I have some internship experience but I don't know if it will be enough to secure a job. I have also taken a few accelerated language classes at my university so I already know what to expect. Although these languages are outside my area of specialization (Europe), I speak a few European languages but I would like to venture out into the Middle East as I'm really getting into Middle Eastern politics but it is too late to switch my focus. Also, I feel like I won't get another opportunity to learn another language. My mind is telling me to write the thesis, but my heart is telling me to learn a language. I want to eventually go to graduate school in political science or international relations, but I know for sure that I want to work right after college. What do you guys recommend? I wish I could do both but I can only pick one!
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