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maxzee

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  • Application Season
    2015 Spring
  • Program
    IR

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  1. Hj2012 and IRToni - these are excellent points and extremely helpful; thank you very much. I had a great degree of reticence toward this program for two of the reasons you've outlined (the respectability of a DL degree, and the respectability of KCL generally [when I say the name of KCL to other Americans they seem to have a hint of recognition in their eyes, as though it's something that they may have heard somewhere before, but you're right that British universities other than Oxford, Cambridge and LSE aren't all that well regarded]) and I think you've confirmed them for me and I'll be looking elsewhere. I had also looked at the Cambridge IR program that is organized around eight residential sessions, however, their intake is only every two years which may not work with my time schedule. That said, I'm not looking for industry connections or anything like that, I don't need them. But the other reasons you've outlined are more than sufficient to convince me a DL program is a bad idea and the wrong direction. Thank you very, very much for your time and forthrightness.
  2. I appreciate the input. Honestly I think what will be of most use to me is having a degree with the most recognizable school name attached to it. I know that might sound trite, but it's where I'm at. I'm afraid no one in the U.S. has probably ever heard of the University of Essex outside of people in academia, a circle in which I do not move. Anyone looking it up would see it was founded in the 1960s and group it into the same category of institutions as Fresno State University. Maybe it's an unfair or undeserved characterization but it's what will happen. Also, I have absolutely no interest in political economics and it would be an extra struggle for me to successfully complete a program in a field I disliked than in a field in which I actually had interest. Maybe that's an issue with my work ethic, I don't know; but, I'm cognizant of my own intellectual limitations.
  3. Thanks for the input, Molly, and good question. I have no desire to work in academia, but - at the same time - don't want to spend the time or money on a degree that would be so poorly regarded that the possibility of continuing to the Ph.D. level wouldn't even be a possibility (even if I don't necessarily have any plans right now to do that, nor could I imagine ever having such plans). I currently work in a niche of public relations that might be equivocated to public diplomacy, though we don't use that term and are in the private sector. I've looked at PD-specific programs at the few schools that offer them, like USC, but it's become very clear after talking to a number of people that PD graduate degrees are about as useful as master's degrees in journalism are to working journalists. I've been strongly encouraged to look at IR programs and am generally interested in the topic anyway.
  4. Thanks, I'm sure LSE has a fine Political Economy program, however, I'm looking for an IR program. Also, 2 pieces of assessment per course seems pretty typical across all UK schools in postgraduate IR classes (see at LSE, for example: http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/calendar/courseGuides/IR/2013_IR436.htm). Never heard of the University of Essex; it is a plate-glass university or something? I'm not sure I'd really want to invest the time in one of those, in all honesty.
  5. I'm very interested in the IR program at King's College London, however, I'm located in Los Angeles and can't relocate to the UK for a year to complete it for a variety or personal and professional reasons (I could probably leave the U.S. for 6 months at most). I noticed they also have a distance learning option with a slightly different name (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/prospectus/graduate/ir-war) - my question is, should I avoid it? I work in an internationally focused private industrial sector, not the government, and my interest in the program is to increase my own marketability - not to work eventually work in academia. That said, while I have no plan to eventually pursue a Ph.D., I would hate to spend the time and money obtaining a MA that could not be used to subsequently apply to a Ph.D. program if - for some reason - I had a sudden and drastic change of circumstance in the future and wanted to go that route. Would a DL MA preclude that as a possibility? (If they had an option to do a term on-site in London and the rest via DL I would feel a lot less reticent about the perceptual legitimacy of the degee, but it doesn't appear that's an option. As a second choice I'd also been considering the accelerated, 9-month program offered at GWU.)
  6. Hello all - I'm planning on eventually (not in the next 18 months but probably immediately thereafter) applying for a MA program in IR. However, my undergraduate degree is in an unrelated field. To make my application more attractive, I was considering take 1-2 online classes from the DiploFoundation (diplomacy.edu) as a demonstration of commitment to the field and some grounding in basic ideas. To anyone who might have either first-hand perspective, or non-experiential insight ... (1) Would this actually be of any benefit in making my future application more saleable, or would it have no real effect? (2) Is the DiploFoundation well regarded, poorly regarded, or a non-player in the field of IR? (my suspicion is the latter but it's just a gut feeling with no informed insight) Any other insight others might have one way or the other would be much appreciated. Thanks!
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