Poli92

Check out Chris Blattman's blog/site. He is a prof at SIPA and frequently posts useful info and media recommendations.

Yale came in around the second week of March last year.

@kbui I would guess that the Fulbright had a lot to do with it. Of course your mileage may vary, but the possibility of not being granted a deferral is something you should keep in mind.

I'm assuming this is for Fall 2017 admission? Are you out of the peace corps now? What are you doing in the meantime? Tbh, I think you've set your sights a little high. There is nothing exemplary about your app at this point, but if you add to your relevant WE and maybe retake the GRE then you could be pretty competitive.

Last year I was in a similar position. I got into my top choice program at JHU but I didn't receive sufficient funding, so I considered deferring. This is basically what their admissions director advised me: 1) Deferring probably won't happen. Schools are extremely reluctant to grant deferrals for anything other that extreme, unforseen circumstances. 2) If you decide you are going to wait a year anyways, you might as well work another year, improve your app, and reapply entirely. If you get accepted to a school now, chances are you won't do worse with more experience. If anything, you may get better funding offers. You can also apply for fellowships more selectively given your confidence in being re-admitted to a particular school.

I'm neither a current nor former student, but I would advise waiting. If you accept their offer now, you will give away your bargaining position. Offering a larger funding package is a way for the school to incentivize you to come there, and if you commit at this point, you are signaling to the school that you will go regardless of what kind of funding you get. Also, waiting gives you the opportunity to leverage any other offers that you might receive.

If you can get into the high 150's or low 160's then I think you could be a really competitive candidate. Any work experience beyond that certainly couldn't hurt.

If you'll be more focused on servicing your debt than on your education. Don't take on the debt.

I'll also start things off. Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Top 100 LAC Previous Degrees and GPAs: BA (3.9) in Political Science (4.0) and Economics (3.93) GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 163/162/4.5 Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): Fresh out of UG so zilch. Though I do have a few months of study abroad experience, some tangentially related internships, and a boatload of independent and assistant research experience and presentations, which I think sort of balanced things out. Math/Econ Background: Loads of econ courses, stats I & II, math for economists (applied calc I-III + linear algebra in one, accelerated course #smallcollegeprobs), some accounting stuff Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): Basic Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Affairs w/ emphasis in development and/or conflict res Long Term Professional Goals: World Bank or development NGO working in strategic planning and impact analysis for economically-oriented conflict prevention and post-conflict recovery programs. Probably PhD in Econ down the road. Schools Applied to & Results: Accepted at SAIS (IA-IDEV), American SIS (IPCR), and GWU (IA). Rejected from Yale Jackson. Ultimate Decision & Why: I'm probably going to wait a year or two and try again with the hopes of getting better funding. Ideally, I won't have to go 100k in debt to get my MA. Advice for Future Applicants: Work experience matters. I've heard it straight from the mouth of admissions counselors that my lack of WE is what kept me from good funding offers. Also, make sure you decide what you want to do early. I flip-flopped between MA and PhD programs and/or a gap year until almost December and really shot myself in the foot. If I would've gotten things together earlier I could've applied for more external funding opportunities. Furthermore, I still have no good idea of what I want to do with my life, which definitely showed in my applications. Ultimately, if you're coming straight out of UG, don't sweat it if things don't go exactly how you would've liked. You're young and you have time do explore and/or try again. Fortunately, I have a number of job opportunities available because I hedged a few months ago by applying to a ton of jobs, I would recommend doing the same.

Hey everyone, though there are still some results coming out, it seems like a lot of people are already making decisions about where they'll be in the fall. Tradition has been to pass on a little info to the next pool of applicants, so I figured we could go ahead and get that started. The following template has been used pretty often, though if you want to do something else, feel free! Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Previous Degrees and GPAs: GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): Math/Econ Background: Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Long Term Professional Goals: Schools Applied to & Results: Ultimate Decision & Why: Advice for Future Applicants:

You are applying to really good schools and I would say that for most/all of them you have below-average scores. Given the amount of time you have before the application season, I think you should definitely retake. Your UG GPA is alright but I think you could really do a lot to help yourself by trying to get closer to 160v/155q or better.

You should take some bonafide comm classes. Otherwise I fear that you will be hard-pressed to demonstrate your preparedness to schools. Also, it will help you decide whether you might like it and how to narrow down.

There could be a number of reasons: different interest rates, loan caps, miscellaneous accounting requirements on the side of the university.

Sorry to ask the obvious question, but what kind of background in comm do you have?

I am in the same position. I'm leaning SAIS though, but that is largely because they have a more quant options/emphasis (at least in seems that way for the IDEV program). I want to do something that will prepare me to do my PhD in econ down the road if I decide to. I am torn though because I have no idea how if I will be able to afford SAIS without likely being able to work full time. Maybe this is soft and mushy of me, but I also feel like you should go with the program that makes you feel like you belong there.

Do you have a regional emphasis?

I have what may be a really stupid question, but isn't that what anonymity is for? Is it appropriate to inform potential employers of your intention to pursue graduate study while working? And if so, how? I'm going to need to work full time to afford school and the cost of living in DC. I would think that being accepted into "Good Program" with the intent to attend could send a good signal to employers. On the other hand, I could see how it might come across as arrogant and/or presumptuous. Do any of you have experience with this?

I called. They still have more to come!

For honors I just did the title of the award, the granting institution, and the date.

Yeah, for mine I actually consulted with a number of people on the professional HR side and the adcom side. By and large, I've heard that the 1 page resume rule is bunk, at least in academia. I agree with clockworkcoder on the general points to include in a resume as they pertain to the job/school to which you are applying. The only thing I would nix generally is the summary section. If you're applying for a school, you've submitted an SOP, which should be a much more elaborate, exhaustive version of the summary. Whereas for jobs, I hope for your sake that you sent a cover letter, which should include the same kind of info that you would put into a summary. The most crucial piece of advice that I was given for resumes was that you should rarely send the same one twice. If you are applying for a fundamentally different job/program/etc then your resume should reflect that. This could mean adding or subtracting entire sections, changing the jobs you've listed, or changing the duties you list for each job (I try to list to around three duties/descriptors per job). By and large, if you don't customize your resume for the appropriate role each time, you're not taking every opportunity to illustrate your potential fit. In terms of formatting, I've gotten the impression that LaTeX sends a weakly positive signal in academia but doesn't yield a lot of benefit for most jobs. The most important thing for formatting is that it is tidy, consistent, and draws the eye to the key points you want to emphasize. If you are proficient with formatting in Word, this should be very easy to do. If you are a master of LaTeX, knock yourself out. The tool is less important than the finished result.

Just found out that I'm in! No word on funding yet.

Still no word. I'm not holding my breath for good news. Bummer.

In for IDEV! straight out of undergrad!

I've got nothing in mine.

You would think that as late as they notify, they would be able to do it all at once.