Ashlee

Has anyone heard anything from American SIS about when they may start sending offers? It seems like last year that they only sent them by snail mail, is that likely to be the case this year too? Anyone know? I applied for International Development there.

Also, on the results board, some people have found out about MALD already...

I can get into the application management system (still no results...) but also can't see the admissions blog.

Program Applied To: MPA, MALD, MAPP, International Development Schools Applied To: WWS Princeton Tufts Fletcher American SIS NYU Wagner Mundus MAPP (European joint university masters degree) Will also be applying to Australian National University soon. Schools Admitted To: None yet Schools Rejected From: None yet Still Waiting: All! Undergraduate institution: University of Technology, Sydney (including a semester abroad at University of Westminster, London) Undergraduate GPA: N/A but guesstimate from WES was 3.7 Undergraduate Major: Communications (Journalism) GRE Quantitative Score: 680 GRE Verbal Score: 580 GRE AW Score: 5.5 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3.5 Years of Work Experience: 4 Describe Relevant Work Experience: 1.5 years working in Indonesia on a newspaper, 2 years working at a local newspaper in Sydney on political and urban development rounds, 6 months on another newspaper, more than 1.5 years volunteering for community and non-profit media Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I think my statement of purpose was strong, linking my experience working in Indonesia and my journalism background to my desire to study the field, but I think my policy statement for WWS was a bit weak because I've never done one before. There was so much more I could have said in the SOP, so I hope I chose the right things to focus on. Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): One from the head of my former uni's journo school, two from former editors. I think they all would be strong, all three know me well and are very awesome people. Other: Indonesian language to intermediate-ish level

Ahhh same! Such a long wait!

I'm already a journalist, so I think in five/ten years, I will either be a hopefully more skilled and better educated journalist, or working for a large NGO in international development. I'm also interested in pursuing an academic career, but probably not until I'm older. Here's hoping...

In the comments of this blog post, they said they had around 1800 applicants for Fall 2010: http://news.fletcher.tufts.edu/admissions/?p=1429#comments

Being a journalist/newspaper copy editor, I spend a bare minimum of 9 hours a day absorbing, editing, sourcing or writing news. And that's just at work, then there's the stuff I read for fun.

Ya I applied for Wagner as well, by the December deadline in the desperate hope for some funding, because I simply won't be able to attend without it even if I am lucky enough to get a place. On the admissions forum, it sounds like Wagner masters applicants didn't find out until around mid March last year... (but of course, I always want to know my fate asap!!!) It's good to read that those who have visited the school in person have positive impressions. I pretty much based my decision to apply from the Web, being an international student. I'd love to attend NYU and live in New York, just don't know how financially realistic that is...

Thanks for the feedback, yeah I am applying for International Development at American. I was surprised as well to get that response from Duke... didn't seem very fair to me

On my online Fletcher app, I got notifications immediately that my recommenders had submitted their letters... I know this, cos one was my boss who sits right near me...

Ok, one thing I forgot to mention in the above post is that my undergraduate degree was only three years, which is the norm in Australia for a BA... I'm kinda having a freakout that this is going to be looked upon badly. I got my GRE writing score (finally... Indonesian postal system is so BAD!) and it was 5.5. I've applied for Tufts (no early acceptance, my app has been deferred to next round ), WWS, NYU Wagner and American. I've also applied for a European Eramus Mundus program. But I'm really worried about how my three year degree will be viewed by American universities... Anyone gotten into school in the states with a three year undergrad degree? There were other places I was going to apply to, like maybe Duke and Cornell, but they require a four year undergrad degree. Duke told me flat out that my application would be rejected without a four year undergrad. I'm umming about whether I should apply for some other places or whether it would be a waste of cash and I should just wait it out and see what happens. Any advice? I'm so clueless about my chances...

Thanks for the tips! Really appreciate it.

Hi all, I'm just wondering if people could give me some idea on what my chances are of acceptance into a good PP or IR course. I'm an Australian (currently working in Indonesia). I don't have any policy experience but have worked as a journalist and in the media for nearly 4 years, covering politics during a large part of that time. Undergrad degree was a BA Communications (Journalism) from Australia's top media school, graduating Dec 2006. Distinction average. We didn't get GPAs, but using the world conversion site my GPA is apparently roughly around 3.7. I undertook a 6 month exchange to London as part of my degree. My undergraduate degree was only three years, as is the norm in Australia, and I understand some universities in the states don't like that. I didn't study anything quantitative in undergrad degree... only political economy subjects and some political science with lots of media studies. GRE scores were Q- 680 V- 580. Still waiting on writing result. Not as high as I had hoped- test happened right after pretty major earthquake. Professional experience includes being a local government reporter in Sydney for two years primarily covering urban development issues, as well as mental health policy, the environment and a State and Federal election (among stories about school plays and other 'community events' haha). I've been in Indonesia for more than a year working as a copy editor on the Web desk of a English daily newspaper. So that's involved editing and working on breaking news coverage for this year's legislative and presidential elections, two major earthquake disasters and of course the July terrorist bombings in Jakarta and subsequent terrorism raids. As for volunteer work, it's all mostly media related- community radio during university (worked on a nationally broadcast community radio current affairs program as a volunteer), worked as an editor on a national student publication which is now unfortunately defunct, worked on the start up of a newspaper for an African refugee community in Sydney, etc. Should get three good letters of rec, one academic and two professional (from my media work). Oh and I read, write and speak Indonesian to an intermediate-ish level, and also have basic Japanese knowledge (but very out of practice), and have travelled extensively. I really want to go to a "good" school... one that I can drop the name of anywhere in the world and people will likely know it. Otherwise it's just not worth the difficult financial situation this is going to be for me and I will just have to go study in Australia. I'm particularly interested in developing world issues, such as voter education in emerging democracies, women's education, human rights and media development, as well as policy analysis and international relations. I've looked at WWS, NYU Wagner, Fletcher, American U, Georgetown, Michigan. The trouble is I really need to be able to get some sort of financial aid, whether it's a scholarship or assistantship or whatever. There aren't really any scholarships available on the Australian end for overseas masters study, just PhDs. Does anyone have any advice on my chances of being accepted to any of the above schools, or any other suggestions about programs I should look at that might suit my profile. Any help at all would be most appreciated!