alchyna

Congratualtions! I'm happy you have a safety net too!

Oh I didn't know that. I guess students abused it? Maybe thats why they changed the rules.

Since you live in London you can give me your opinion on UK schools What do you think of LSE for development studies? I applied for Development Management as a 1st option and Dev Studies as a second. I considered the MPA but it's so rigid, quant focused and with no intership for a 2 year program and the price! The name recognition is undeniable even if their strenght is in Economics. What about SOAS? I know they are reputed for their Dev Studies department but I've heard that the university as a whole is in a free fall in terms of quality and ranking. The main reason I am going back to school is to gain employment so I'm concerned as to whether it's still considered a serious program. UCL - I was accepted to the International Public Policy program. I have come to find out that UCL is a really good school in the UK but I mean no one has heard of it on this side of the world. I find that quite strange. I'm curious to read your thoughts on those schools!

Those are really good schools! I live in Southern California so I'm very familiar with USC and Pepperdine in particular. For me it's the same thing but in reverse... I've lived in the US for 10 years now and did my undergrad here so I'm looking forward to moving abroad. And like you cost of US universities was really a major factor in my decision to not even bother with the GRE. Yes some of the best programs are in the US but geez unless you are pursuing a very lucrative degree it doesn't make sense to get 80K+ in debt for a development related degree. I'm being realistic and not planning to make tons of money upon graduation and I don't want the debt to be a factor in what job I pursue because I have crushing bills to pay. I wish IHEID had an options for deferral too that would be great especially if a student doesn't get a scholarship and needs more time to save up.

Welcome doublebarrel, We're all here supporting one another it helps to know other people are waiting just as anxiously as you are. What other programs did you apply to?

mickun, I wish some of your optimism could rub off on me! Waiting is killing me I am very anxious to find out and as the date nears I get worried. Is there a Facebook page for this year's applicants or is it still too early for that for most applicants?

You make very good points! I was just talking about my concerns for actually providing proof that I can sustain my studies for 2 years to get the visa myself a few posts back. Without a scholarship I will not have enough to prove it either. That is a main concern, I think once in the program there is always a way to figure things out but it's the gettting there that is the hard part. I wholeheartedly agree with you about the one year Msc my concern is also if you do get much out of it in terms of internships and networking... 9 months is really short! If you want to learn French then yes Paris or Geneva will help you a lot! I guess I didn't get out of my comfort zone... I considered St. Gallen for a quick second but the German language requirement discouraged me. I truely hope your prediction comes true and we can all meet in Geneva! That would be so great! Are we sure that we are most likely to hear on the 15th I mean it's a Sunday... I'm not so confident that I will even have a response on the 20th. They said they will start notifying applicants, right? It doesn't mean we will find out exactly that day.

K_angie I totally understand your point of view and you are right it's probably the smart thing to do not to pick International History. At the graduate level you must have a clear career plan which like you I didn't have in undergrad, I just did Political Sciences because it was very interesting to me. I never thought about what I would do with that degree. This time around I have more clarity when it comes to career options. Where you want to focus on child rights I want to focus more on poverty reduction and women empowerment in Africa specifically.

Angie, Since you are a history grad did you consider International History at IHEID? I looked at the program and I was tempted the curriculum looked very interesting. I've always loved history they were my favorite classes in undergrad. I was just afraid of picking such a niche masters program, I mean what does one do with that?.

Hi Mickun, We're all in the same situation indeed. But I think it is too bad that you are ruling out London schools because you think they hardly give any scholarships to master students. It may be true that less funds are available to us but they are still there especially if your case is compelling and your profile really stands out. Reading your background info it seems like it does so if I were you I would still apply and see how that goes. Not that I need another applicant to compete with lol! And the UK has student loan options if it comes to that. And I don't think any of the scholarships cover everything even for IHEID you might be lucky enough to get a full ride but it will only be for the first year. I read it's really hard to get the same amount in year two you have to reapply and they favor incoming new students the following year. Be aware of that. So if your concerns are only financial I think every school comes with the baggage. About Sciences Po you are right their application fee was the highest.I paid and you would think that it would make the processing times faster. But Paris and Geneva are both expensive cities. I've been to Paris many times and I'm inclined to say that it's not as expensive as one might think. But then again I live in Los Angeles not the cheapest place compared to South America.

Oh so sorry this happened to you! You know what Sciences Po was also the one school my referees had trouble with! One of them was unable to create an account but you know I didn't have the same experience you did. I sent them several emails about various issues a few weeks before the deadline and they replied to me the very next day. I was even surprised because I was prepared for a wait after reading the criticism about them being so slow. I'm glad everything worked out for you though!

If I may ask, what sort of problems did you have with the the French reps? I emailed UCL like I said yesterday and they replied promptly that I have until basically the start of the program next year to accept or refuse the offer but since I need a visa they recommend to decide no later than June to leave time for the visa process. And they also said I should receive a letter in the mail. *relieved* I'm breathing a little easy that I have UCL to fall back on and I'm coaching myself that if I see 'refused' on my IHEID status page it's not the end of the world...

Yes I knew about the 6 month rule forgot to mention it. But how do you manage the first 6 months without internships and how do you even get a visa without proof that you can sustain yourself financially for the 2 years. No matter the country UK, France or Swizterland you have to have financial proof before they grant you a student visa. So thinking it's ok I will work when I get there will not get me a visa that's my worry about not getting a scholarship. I thought April 15 was for U.S schools didn't know it was universal. I read that scary thread about Sciences Po's administration nightmare but keep in mind that those people complaining on the thread applied in March/April right before the deadline and that's why they had to wait last minute I mean what did they expect? I have no sympathy for them they can't complain about an institution being slow when most of them waited until the very last minute. Now of course if you apply early and they push your decision until May or whatever that's unacceptable. I'd be right there complaining too ha ha ha

I was referring to the AFD-PSIA Scholarship but for this one you can only apply once you have been offered admission. It is on the list of scholarship on the PSIA page. Well I received the admissible email less than 10 working days ago so at best I will hear back mid week but I feel like that is very unlikely. For Sciences Po I'm expecting an answer at best late December early January. I already wrote to UCL asking for a clear deadline to refuse or accept their offer and asking for a confirmation since I received no email. Their offer said I have 4 weeks to decide but that I may take longer. But I'm not sure how much longer is ok. I haven't even appllied for their scholarship scheme because it's tedious and involves references yet againi. I'm waiting to hear from my top choices first. I attended the last half of the info session with the time difference it was 6:30am here so yeah missed 30min of it but I was able to find out tidbits. They did confirm that we should hear a decision before christmas. But he did say that some may not be offered a place right away and be pushed back to the March deadline for a decision. That's what I'm most afraid of! And like you said angie we will find out scholarship decisions along with admission. Also he said the international students are able to work up to 12h in Swizterland during class terms and full time during vacation periods. He also said that students are able to do full time work/internship during summer and part time ones during the terms. And students do on average 2-3 internship during the program. This is great news for me exactly what I need.

Sanfan, I lived in Beijing for 4 years when I was a teenager. Feels like forever ago! lol Unfortunately I don't speak chinese I remember remnants of it and basic words I went to an international school surrounded by french speaking kids so no practice.

Angie, I didn't apply for Eiffeil I just applied for Boutmy. I started the Eiffel process but then I researched it and came to find out that they mostly give them out to students with under represented nationalities in French unis and my country is not on the list so very little chance of being picked. Besides I was looking at the stats of students the French government Eiffel scholarships going to Sciences Po compared to other schools and it's quite low. So I thought what's the point? It helped that french is my first language so I was able to read all the stats and reports on the Eiffel site. I didn't want to spend the extra time writing another letter just for that since I was working on all my other statements. If admitted though there are other scholarship options so I'm waiting on that. It is why I applied early I'm not about to wrack my brain trying to find funding for each school to then be rejected waste of time. I'll see what offers I get and then find funding. Well unless like for IHEID it's part of the application process then of course I applied. Now you got me scared angie! You think It's not a formal offer from UCL until I do get a paper letter or an email notification? Then why would my status change and I have an offer letter in my inbox on their tracking system... As for the exchange programs I have heard the same thing... super competitive Thankfully Im not really interested in leaving yet again back to a US university after picking up my whole life to move to Europe. Not only is it expensive to do that but chances are slim. This will be one very long week. I was reading last year's thread of applicants on a forum and the early application decisions were pushed back for many students I think it was for 2012. They received their decisions much later in March. I pray this does not happen because I put so much pressure on myself and my prof to have everything done by Nov 15. I feel like my essay to the other schools with a later deadline were much better because I took my time. I will sign up for the info session as well yoy never know I might learn something new as you did angie..

My my you guys have been chatting away lol angie good to know that the average age is not that low I was worried about being surrounded with younger students only. SOAS is reputed for its Development programs more so than LSE's but to be honest if I got into both I'd pick LSE over SOAS because of name recognition. They are both 1year programs but at least people outside of UK have heard of LSE I hate to say it but it matters. But of course if I get into IHEID hands down I'm going there, although I'd be torn between IHEID and Sciences Po. Dec 20 can't come fast enough I guess it will determined if I have a great xmas or not. The worst would be waitlisting I can't wait until March to make a decision so I hope to find out before the New Year. I know I said I'd stop checking online but I check anyway. I didn't get an email from UCL my application status simply changed and there was a page with an offer letter, so I don't rely on getting an email in my inbox. I heard that exchange programs especially to the US are very competitive but it sounds like a great opportunity. But I'd rather stay put and get internships under my belt since I dont have much development experience. Ha ha I don't want to jinx myself and talk as if I'm in already. Everything is still up in the air. Some days I think I have a good chance and other days I seriously doubt there is no way I will get in. Sanfan, what about Sciences Po? Angie and I are also applying there. You are only considering the Netherlands?

Hi! Glad to see a new person join this thread for a whle there I thought it would be just Angie and I worrying about our chances. Sanfan yes Mdev and MIA are the 2 biggest programs and I went to a fair but I dont remember the class size tfor each interdisciplinary masters but I do know that the acceptance rate is about 30%. MIA is the most popular masters program if I'm not mistakem. Angie can probably give more details since I did not attend an info session. It's much better than LSE which is around 10% for their Dev programs. I am originally from West Africa but I've been living in the US for over 10 years now but my goal is to eventually move back and work for an NGO. And I like to travel and live in different places so working in an international capacity was always something I wanted to do.

Oh wow! That's a lot of schools! I get the compensating because only 1 school was unreasonable but aren't you spending time and ressources applying and researching these programs you know you don't want to attend? To me I didn't see the point of applying to schools I know I won't be going to no matter what. I focused on my top 3 IHEID, Sciences Po and LSE and really combed through the curriculums and professors. There was no way I could do that for every school! I'm curious to ask why you are so set on going to IHEID? What makes it your dream school? Well the kick is that I am not a U.S citizen I'm just a resident so I'm not eligible for all these grants. I just plan on putting my residency on hold to attend a European program. That puts me in a more difficult position when it comes to access to financial ressources for Americans.

Thank you! I will let you know as soon as I find out anything or anything changes on my status. I didnt apply to Kings College, it was on my list but again it's too security focused and I'm very specific I want to study development issues in Africa. Even UCL to be honest is more about public policies so it''s not exactly what I want to study but it will do if I'm rejected everywhere else. You applied to many more programs sometimes I wonder if 5 was enough.... Try not to go crazy and make yourself stop checking for a couple of days it helps to take a step back. Good luck to you too!!

Hello I would like to know where you ended up going and if you liked your choice?

Hi Angie, Oh thank you so much for the info about IHEID! I meant to attend one of the info sessions and I did watch an info session replay months ago but the questions asked then were so basic I had done quite a bit of research already so I knew the answers. But this is most helpful! Starting Dec 10th I will start checking like a maniac! It's good that they are giving financial aid info alongside the admission decision. It's hard to decide without all the facts! Good you already know about Sussex I was thinking of Sussex but like you I am more focused on IHEID, Sciences Po and LSE more so than SOAS because I've read a lot of threads talking about SOAS in a bad light (except for languages) and since the UK is more expensive I'd like to attend a school with more name recognition. In other news I applied to UCL International Public Policy program and I already received an unconditional offer, just read the offer letter 10 minutes ago I'm so relieved that if all else fails I at least have one school to fall back on even if it isn't my top choice..So you are applying to IHEID, Sciences Po, SOAS, LSE, Oxford and Sussex? We have the first 4 in common. As for me I am done with all of them... unless I throw in Sussex now but I told my professors I was all done so I don't want to impose on them anymore and quite frankly like you Sussex is not a dream school I'd much rather be in London. I'm finding it hard to find outside scholarship for internationals. i went to a grad fair and IHEID reps said that they gives out quite a lot of scholarship to first years. Sciences Po has the Boutmy scholarship and another one you can apply to once you are admitted specifically for International Dev students. British schools however so far in my research only LSE kind of gives out money and not that much in pounds it gets so expensive. Thank you for reassuring me about my IHEID chances it's so hard to tell since it all depends on the caliber of students applying this year. I keep telling myself I should have written this or included that but it is out of my hands now. Like you said it doesn't really matter at this point! I did my best!

The replace button? On the Geneva application? No I don't have that option I just have the option to upload more relevant documents like graduate transcripts (which don't apply to me) or are you talking about another application? For Sciences Po I have received the 'admissible' email notification last week so I guess that's a bit reassuring. My guess is that it just means that you meet the most basic requirements and they are sending your application to be assessed. I would have been crushed to be rejected so early in the selection process. Did you receive it as well? For scholarships I know we won't find out until much later. Unlike you it's my first time applying for graduate school and I am not confident AT ALL about my chances mainly because I graduated so long ago (in 2007) I was a good student but I'm afraid that might play against me. And also I've been working in a totally unrelated field. I've done some volunteering to improve my profile and I explain in my statement why I want to go back to school but who knows if that will be enough to explain my career change. I'm trying to stop checking until the end of the month, now I'm just focusing on trying to find outside financing options and that's stressful too. Without some kind of scholarship I won't be able to go to Geneva or Paris. You should consider LSE or I've come across another school I'm considering but didn't apply, Sussex Institute of Development Studies but they have a relevant work experience requirement I'm not sure I can meet. About the word limit I'm sure you will be fine since for IHEID we had to scan and upload it as a pdf so it's not like they can count how many words. But the general advice is to never go over the limit and write a little less even. It shows that you can follow basic guidelines that they set. But I'm sure it won't penalize you for IHEID. I fell short of 800 by a couple of words. They said admission decisions would start Dec 20th do you think they will stick to it? Did they last year?

Hi K_angie, I'm not sure why I wasn't notified of your response even though I'm following this thread along with the Sciences Po one. Sorry about the late reply! It's good that you didn't give up and are trying again to get into the school of your choice. Did you only apply to IHEID last year? As for the letter of motivation trust me I think it's the hardest thing I've ever had to write! I started in August and I was making changes up until I hit the submit button. And for IHEID i had no idea about the 800 words limit so I had to cut so much stuff! My status changed on the online application for IHEID it now says 'under consideration' and I am so nervous! It is like you one of my top choices.I still have doubts about what I should have said in my statement but I tried to be clear and concise and explain what has lead me to apply. I have not applied to Oxford or Cambridge because their program looked too academic and theoretical for me. I did apply to LSE, SOAS and UCL. No US universities for me, I did my undergrad here in the U.S so I'm looking to have a European graduate degree and to be honest money is also a factor. European schools are wayyy cheaper and no GRE is a bonus. I'm trying to stop checking online status everyday and it's impossible! Realistically I know that nothing will change until late Dec or early next year but I check anyway...

Hello, I have applied for the MDev program for 2014 myself and I'm glad someone started this thread to share experiences. I submitted my application before the Nov 15 deadline and now it's waiting time.