inkstain

Hi MJA87, This advice may be too late but I personally feel the cost of living you're estimating is a bit much. As a graduate student at Duke you could easily live well below that as long as you're willing to make sacrifices (living with roommates in a group house vs. studio, not going to happy hours every week, finding places to find free food, buying used books, etc.) The cost of living in places like Durham is very reasonable: Say your rent is $500 a month - for a year's rent that's $6000. During the summer you could sublet the place (save $1500) and depending on the field you want to get into, your summer internship may pay as well. Plus remember the work study job - you could probably make ~$500-$600 a month during the semester. That's more than enough for food. I guess what I am trying to say is that there really shouldn't be a need to get $20,000 in debt just for living expenses during the school year as long as you're willing to make sacrifices. But then again, graduate school is stressful so maybe you want to live more comfortably.

Congrats Turab. Actually I had the same question as well - how flexible is CMU with switching tracks after admission? Do they allow one to switch between the different tracks before/after enrolling?

I got in and I'm really happy about it! To top it off I even got 50% scholarship which is amazing! I am now going to apply for financial aid - hope I can make it work financially...

I got in today, but no funding either....

Congrats! Hopefully soon...

Did anyone hear back? I'm eagerly awaiting!

http://www.american.edu/cas/clear/tor.cfm Could any AU masters students give me an idea of how difficult this test is? Apparently it is a simple reading and multiple choice test? Are the questions in english? What Spanish level course do I need to be in enrolled in to take this test and pass? Thanks!

Hi there, I would like to begin applying to schools next year. Do I have a chance? GPA: 3.1 (a bit higher for major, better grades in higher level courses) GRE: 164 verbal / 159 quant (estimate) University: Top 30 private university in the northeast Major: International Affairs Work experience: 1 year of internship experience post graduation on Capitol Hill, lobbying firm, trade associations, plus between 2-3 years at an international development consulting company as a FT project management staffer prior to matriculation Degree sought: MPP or MPA programs, with an international focus Post-graduation career plans: Consulting firm working with public sector clients (USG) I expect pretty average letters of recommendations but I generally write baller statements. Schools interested: UVa, American, GWU, Syracuse, W&M, Duke