Current Korbel Student

Just curious - is anyone else applying for this scholarship and if so - in what language? I will be submitting my application soon for the beginning Turkish language scholarship.

Whatever anyone decides I wanted to take a minute and congratulate you all on the process you've undertaken and to tell you that the odds are highly in your favor that in the end - it will all work out. I know it doesn't seem like it now, when you're in the midst of writing SOPS and gathering recs and transcripts and then the hellish waiting for acceptance or rejections, but it will And you know what? It really is all worth it!

Your verbal is excellent, your quantitative a bit low but I was in the exact same situation you're in when I applied last year and my scores got me into both Korbel and Fletcher. Retaking the test or not is really a personal decision but to be quite honest the schools to which you're applying all value verbal and writing over quantitative. And your GPA and verbal would qualify you immediately for a $15,000 scholarship at Korbel if you were admitted.

Hi Brian, The MA in ID is a great program - I have friends doing their focus in that area and they love it. Financial aid is dependent on a number of factors, the most important of which is need. Beyond the guaranteed scholarships there are numerous scholarships awarded by both DU and Korbel, some based on field of study and others on merit. Almost everyone at the school takes out loans, Stafford, PLUS and Perkins, to pay for school and in addition to scholarships people pay for school with work-study as well or they apply for research assistantships, which many professors use for their own work. The school does accept people who do not have a background in international studies. I personally know people who came to the school without any background in IR at all. I know each department provides a summer reading list for students who don't have an IR background to help them prepare but even without that everyone seems to do fine. The most important quality the school looks for as far as admission is academic excellence and intellectual fortitude, which includes (among other things) a good GPA and GRE scores. Let me know if you have any other questions and good luck in the process of applying. If you get a chance please become a fan of our Facebook fan page where you can keep track of everything happening with the school

Hi - thanks for the question. The area around campus is good, residential with a number of businesses catering to students. It's a nice middle-to-upper class area with a mix of houses and apartment buildings. I don't believe being outside DC impacts internship opportunities in any way. Because most everything relating to internships and jobs with the federal government is done online being close to the Department of State or CIA isn't going to help - it's not as if someone can drive up to Langley and ask for an internship which would then be given to them but not to the person who put off a random trip to CIA that day. Every major agency of the federal government as well as NORAD and NORTHCOM recruit at the Josef Korbel School, extensively. In addition our Career Services department runs trips to DC, NY and Boston where students can visit all the agencies and conduct interviews if they need to. Our students do internships with CIA, FBI, DOJ, State, DHS, NATO, NSA, DIA, DEA, NORAD and many NGOs and private companies. Because Korbel is so well known and respected the reputation really opens doors for us. Internships are required for some programs (like International Security) but not for others. I'm not as familiar with the Maxwell school at Syracuse as I am with Fletcher because I applied to Fletcher. But we share a campus with Maxwell and Pitt in DC where our students can do the Fall semester. I know I've generally only heard positive things about Maxwell other than the weather in Syracuse being a bit harsh. Let me know if you have any additional questions and in the meantime please join our Facebook fan page.

All sections of the GRE matter but each school puts more emphasis on one portion more than another. Personally I think the quantitative portion shouldn't be required for IR candidates because we don't use geometry or algebra for anything, other than basic statistics. Candidates certainly should be quantitatively conversant but it's not necessary to be fluent. Certain programs are considered "terminal" programs, meaning you're ending your education with an MA, while others are designed for a Ph.D track.

Georgetown was originally my first choice but I didn't apply after visiting the program, which I really felt was designed more for mid-career professionals. Madeline Albright, who teaches at Georgetown and is a big supporter of the Korbel school (it's named after her father) told me at a fundraiser for Korbel this summer that she felt my observations were correct. Her quote was something like "those guys are all mid-career and really want to get in and get out with their MA." I also felt Georgetown's program was more political vs. allowing students to spent time on theory and substance. One of the great things about graduate school is the camaraderie amongst fellow graduate students, the chance to spend time discussing issues with people who care about them and are as passionate about them as you are. I didn't feel I'd get a chance to experience that at Georgetown. All of their classes are held at night because most students work during the day, usually for the government. It just seemed more like a professional, mid-career program to me. Fletcher is a great program, no doubt about it. I really enjoyed my visit there and the application process. In the end though what it came down to for me was the security program and comparing Korbel and Fletcher's security programs - laying out first and second year class schedules for example - I just really liked Korbel's class list and the variety and scope of offerings we have. So far I've not been disappointed. Whatever you decide I'm sure you'll make the right choice. Best of luck as the process gets underway!

Because the admissions process is so opaque no one really knows what the red lines are for GREs and GPA. That being said there's a general feeling, at least among the top 20 school for IR, that verbal matters more than quantitative. However some programs are more quantitatively focused, MIT's program for example. You should apply to schools in which you're interested and let the pieces fall where they may. Personally I know someone whose scores were pretty much the opposite of yours (much higher verbal GRE, much lower quantitative) who got into the Fletcher School at Tufts. So apply at the schools you're interested in and hope for the best.

I'm a first-year graduate student in International Security at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. The Josef Korbel School was ranked 12th in the world by Foreign Policy magazine this year and 10th in the United States. I wanted to post here to answer any questions anyone may have about the school, our programs (in particular International Security) or anything else as everyone gets ready to send in their applications for the 2010-2011 academic year. Last year at this time I was in the same shoes as everyone here, readying my applications and getting ready for the GRE, which I took in November. A little on my background. I graduated from a well-known private east coast school with a 3.6 in International Studies. I received a 610 on the quantitative portion of the GRE and a 630 on the verbal with a 6.0 on the writing. I applied to the Fletcher School at Tufts and to the Josef Korbel School. I chose those two after visiting a number of other schools, both in DC and on the West Coast. I was accepted at both schools and chose Korbel because I felt the Security program was the most intensive and focused. In addition Korbel has a guaranteed scholarship program which was very attractive to me considering the debt I took on for my undergraduate education. I have to say my first term at the Korbel School so far has been great. I'm taking 15 credits - International Terrorism, US National Security Policy and Security and Defense Analysis Methods I. Each class is taught by an experienced professional including the current CIA officer-in-residence on campus, another who helped the German government setup GSG 9 - the anti-terrorist unit of the federal German state and a long-time professor at the Air Force Academy. In the two months I've been on campus I've met the Deputy Assistant Secretary General of NATO as well as representatives of CIA, FBI, NORAD, DIA, NSC and more. It's been an awesome two months. So I'm here to answer honestly and forthrightly any questions any of you may have about our school, the applications process, Denver or anything else. Feel free to leave any questions here or send me a private message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

I'm a current 1st year graduate student at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. My concentration is in International Security. I had a 3.6 GPA and on the GREs I received the following scores: Verbal - 630, Quantitative - 610 and a 6.0 on the writing. The other school to which I applied was the Fletcher School at Tufts. I was accepted to both schools and chose Korbel because of the scholarship I was given and because the security program is one of the best in the world - bar none. The International Security program at Korbel is intensive in its focus on the real-world problems currently facing our country and the world. In combination with events like the recent colloquium on intelligence in the 21st century held with representatives of CIA, FBI, NIA, DIA, NORAD, Homeland Security and the Geospatial-Intelligence Agency students like myself get a thorough grounding in the theretical and practical aspects of the field. We have some of the best and most recognized instructors in security issues in the country including current and former employees of CIA, FBI, NSA and all branches of the military. Many of our graduates work for the same agencies and have authored some of the most current scholarly articles and books on issues related to terrorism, international relations, insurgency and counterinsurgency, civil military relations, intelligence analysis and more. You'd be a great candidate for the school and I'd urge you to take a look at it if you get a chance. Or send me a private message if you want more information.