carpecc

Eh, I'd say no if you just look at the bottom line. People getting into SAIS and similar schools can probably make a lot more going to an MBA or law school. But that's not the point, these are completely different skills and prepare for different types of jobs. You should only be going to a place like SAIS if it fits in with your career: i.e. you want to work for the government, NGO, multilateral, or private sector relating to some specific IR areas. An IR MA teaches you how to analyze across cultural boundaries, work in a different languages and make informed decisions. The MBA is a focus more on administration, business and project management skills.

Just checked the site....and the decision is... waitlisted ....not too shabby! This was a long shot for me, so I'm happy that my app was even strongly considered. My app is a very uneven with poor grades, little quant background but great work experience. Now that I know I've got a chance, maybe I can strengthen up my quant coursework if I don't decide to attend grad school this year and reapply. Congrats to all of those who got in!

I think Columbia has slightly better name recognition since its an old Ivy Leager, but Hopkins is by no means a slouch. Hopkins has a reputation for the being one of the top, most competitive schools in the nation. While it might not turn as many heads in Germany, I'm sure among people in your field it will. SAIS is very quant heavy, sounds like up your alley. If you've been rejected by SIPA and you already know what kind of focus you want to take your MA then definitely go to SAIS. You can always supplement it with a one-year MBA in Europe or an exec MBA down the road. The main question is, do you want to be holding the positions an MA offers in two years (if you go to SAIS), or in four (if you wait to reapply to SIPA)? If you go to SAIS now, you can engage in more advanced, more meaningful jobs sooner. If you really have a NYC fix, just move to NYC after you graduate from SAIS. AND ITS FREE! 100k is 100k, regardless of how much money you're making. Do you have some pretty good job options if you don't go to SAIS now?

Good point. It can't hurt anything by sending them a follow up email if you want to.

Man, that's a tough call. I think having the better name and contacts of Fletcher would be worth it, but having all that debt taken care of would be really nice. I would examine the profiles of their students, get in touch with students from both schools, ideally ones studying the same things you would be, closely analyze their coursework, talk to or email any high level professional contacts you have and ask for advice and then make a big, detailed "pros & cons" list for both schools. Also take into account how much money you realistically think you can make upon graduation. Remember, you'll have that MA on your CV for the rest of your life, so 5 or 10 years of paying off debt might be worth it. At the same time, if you find that you can accomplish your goals by going to Korbel, then there might not be a need for the debt.

Got my acceptance last week to the MA, first school to hear from. Excited that I got in anywhere, interested to see how the other schools respond.

Uh, are you crazy? If it's free, go to SAIS now. If afterwards you still want to go to SIPA, then go to SIPA after SAIS and get another MA. I seriously question the validity of this post.

The SIPA blog says that decisions have been made for 60% of applicants, doesn't say anything about notifications. It looks like they're releasing their admissions in batches, especially since it doesn't seem like many people have gotten notification since last Fri. I wouldn't fret too much. They were sending out acceptances, rejections, and wait listings last week and continued to send them past March 20 last year based on older posts. We all still have just as good a chance as anyone!

I'm 99.999999999 percent sure that they won't let you update as a policy, it'd be unfair to the all of the other applicants and a major pain since they'd have to take you're new info and match it with you're already printed, filed, matched with LORs, matched with transcript, all in one folder, application lying somewhere waiting for review. Whoever checks the emails has no say on whether you get in or not. Besides if you got into Georgetown, then these recent achievements probably aren't big events in the scheme of your app. Phi beta kappa is probably no surprise, they can see you have good grades. You got into the foreign service, but that happens to a lot of people. Don't sweat it, you should be fine for the other two schools.

Unfortunately you'll have to retake since it's only valid for 5 years. Luckily your credentials are so good you only have to make sure you're in "the range" of the schools you're applying to. Someone like you should be able to study for it and get a top score.

dead head

Since you're single, I'd go with School 2, you'll be much happier. Hanging out with undergraduates when you're in your thirties is no fun. Plus it sounds like you'll enjoy being in one place cool for a couple of years with all of your moving. How big is the city School 1 is in? "Small" is a relative term, for some, a town of 20,000 is small, for others a town of 100,000 is small. Small towns (if it's a progressive, college town or academic community) can actually be a better place to meet people, big cities can be isolating. But this is only true to a point. If there's really nothing going on in that area, then you could be really unhappy. Which one will further your career more? If the difference isn't too dramatic, definitely go with 2. I'm 31 and have lived in a wide range of places in the past 10 years. I have some friends my age stuck in pretty isolating places and it can be really tough. Three years is a long time.

I wouldn't write in for a decision unless there's no answer after March 20. Be patient, they'll get back to us.

Also your GPA is fine. As long as you're above 3.3 you're in the range of top schools. Apply to the best schools you can and ask for funding.

Then do what I did, sit down with admissions at some schools, either on the phone or in person, bring your CV and tell them your story. I had an uneven resume (low GPA, good work exp) so I wasn't sure where I stood. I happened to be in the area of some top schools, so I just went straight to the toughest school and asked them what they thought. The feedback was encouraging and changed my application strategy. Also many schools have admissions information on their website. Start studying or send them an inquiry email. These forums also have useful admissions info. As for the GRE, keep in mind you can raise your score dramatically by studying. If you start studying now, you'll no doubt be able to hit your target score. My quant score on the GRE was 180 points higher than my first practice test. That's a big jump.

crack fiend

seven seals

There's are some heavy pros Liesje! You're a shoe in. As for me: just the pros (applying to intl relations): One of my LOR is really, really awesome. GRE: 590V, 730Q 5.5 aw. I raised my Quant score 180 pts by studying. My issue topic was a DREAM, something that addressed my career on the money which I'd written about before professionally. Work exp: good part of a decade in China, worked for some real top NGOs across different fields in progressively better positions. Worked as a program manager, Set up and localized a project office for an NGO. Have a good job now, but cruising these threads and constantly checking my email will probably get me fired. Language: Learned how to speak read and write Chinese! People say my SOP looked good. Applied: SIPA, SAIS, GW, AU, Korbel Heard from: Korbel

I wouldn’t defer unless you absolutely have to or have a good reason. It looks like some people here have some good reasons to defer, but I think it’s better to get it done sooner rather than later if you can. With that said I’m thinking of deferring or reapplying, but still waiting to hear from my apps. I’ve just started a job that’s going well so would like to save some money. But the bigger problem is I’m working in China and it would be impossible to get my girlfriend to the states unless we tie the not, which I’m not *quite* ready to do. I really should’ve applied two falls ago when the timing would’ve been really good for going to school. Hopefully this job will continue to go well and I won’t get fired for wasting time at work writing on grad school message boards.

I just heard back from Denver Korbel, but their admissions has always been rolling. This is the first school I heard from and I was disappointed to be weight listed for their MDP. I reckoned Korbel would be my easiest win. So much for grad school! After mulling over the email as I got up this morning, I decided to check the email again. I was weightlisted for the MDP, but would be admitted to the MA in Intl Dev if I didn't get off the weight list. Huh? I reviewed the app I submitted. Turns out I planned on applying to the Intl Dev master's, but accidentally checked MDP on the application sheet. Doh! However I state very clearly, twice, in my SOP that I’m applying for the Intl Dev MA and wrote my SOP accordingly. So I guess this means they “caught” my error and decided to “let me in” despite my frak up. In reviewing my app I also think I left the SOP question from one of my other schools as the header of Denver’s SOP. Doh! Doh! For all of those out there applying for 2011: THIS IS WHY YOU DON’T WAIT TILL THE LAST MINUTE TO FILE YOUR APP! Still waiting to hear from SAIS, SIPA, GW and SIS.

Kawa, an MPA sounds about right and it sounds like you want to focus on domestic and government issues as opposed to international ones. With that in mind the MPA or an MBA sounds like a good fit. University of Michigan and University of North Carolina come to mind, both have great MPAs and MBAs. I believe Harvard Kennedy school also has a government focus. U. San Francisco also has a reputable MPA but is very US government focused. If you're really big on Colorado issues then going to school in region might be a good idea for the sake of work and networking with people in the region. U. Denver has a good international program but I'm not sure if they have an MPA. Check out Boulder and C. State, but I don't recall them coming up in national rankings.

I think a more interesting question is when was their app submitted. A friend of mine submitted his weeks ahead of me and already got results. Me, nothing...yet. I believe they said that they started the review process at the end of Jan. Likely it's accelerated at this point this some apps had to wait for extra material, be re-reviewed etc. I hope I hear in the next week.

No spouse.

Don't front on UNC or I will reach through the screen and hurt you.