TeeCo10

That's awesome that you got such a good feel there! I'm frankly surprised! My interactions with the administrative staff and the one current student they put me in contact with have been absurd. I'm very very glad to hear that's not reflective of the school as a whole. If they do so happen to come back and give me some solid funding, I will definitely give them a second glance despite my experiences with them to-date. What program were you accepted into? Have you settled on AU or are you still entertaining other options?

You can e-mail the SISGrad account and request reconsideration. Super easy. Can you tell me a bit more about the sense you got from AU at the visit? The students, professors, the general vibe?

Oh good! I'm hoping I hear from them really soon. BU ended up offering me the scholarship yesterday. I told American and requested that they evaluate the competing offer in their reconsideration. I said if they matched it, I'd attend American. If they can't, I'm out. I also told the I was accepted to, and will be attending, a Russian language immersion program over the summer that will greatly improve my language skills. Hopefully they'll come through for me. I'd love love love love love to be in D.C. Good luck to everyone re: funding reconsiderations!!

Congrats on accepting! I was also accepted straight out of undergrad and was rejected to other DC schools. I'm totally lacking on professional experience--short of summer internships. I agree, DC is the ideal place to close that experience gap. SIS didn't offer me any funding, but I did submit a request for reconsideration. I don't think that'll render any different results, but you never know! Because they didn't offer me any money, I've put down the deposit but I am still waiting on funding news from Boston University that would make them cheaper than AU. Definitely interested in hearing from people who attended the open house too. Since I couldn't make it to the open house, I contacted my degree coordinator at American and he put me in contact with a current student, but the student hasn't responded to any of my questions yet. Not cool. Especially because the BU student I talked to was so personable and such a great resource.

Has anyone accepted their offer at American yet? I'm still deciding between BU/AU (comes down to money--and I have to wait to figure money out until mid-May per BU's aid round dates). I will be putting my deposit down at AU next week unless I hear from BU early. Even if you haven't accepted at AU yet, did any of you make it out to their visit day this past Monday--or heard things from people who did? Very interested in getting your insights as to how the campus felt, things (good and bad) that stuck out to you, etc.

Rejected here too! Not surprised in the slightest! GT was a long-shot and a half for me. Glad they FINALLY got around to shooting out the rejection e-mail Letter said 9,000 apps for their M.A. and PhD programs--that's insanity! Congrats to all the admits! You lucky few!

If you look at your letter and you follow the directions at the bottom, you should be able to access your financial aid package. You have to log in to your MyAU, go through the password process, and once you get in for real there'll be a bunch of drop down menus on the right. Click the Financial Services --> My Financial Aid Award --> select the term --> It'll show up...hopefully! If you didn't have any information about merit awards in your letter, it means you didn't get one. I didn't get one, but that section in my MyAU shows they've assigned me loans.

I wish they'd reject me already! Not feeling very optimistic based on 1) my track record this cycle and 2) how they haven't even updated my portal yet (and only admits and wait-listers have been notified). I'm sick of refreshing the page! GAH! Congrats to the admits and the wait-listers! MSFS is an incredibly prestigious program and, basically, ya'll are awesome!

Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Grinnell College (Small private liberal arts college) Previous Degrees and GPAs: B.A. Political Science, ~3.57 GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 164/156/4.5 Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): Part-time job in high school, part-time job sophomore-senior year of college, summer full-time unpaid internships for the Iowa Senate Democratic Research Staff and Democracy for America (PAC), abroad 6-week full-time internship in the House of Commons working for the Scottish National Party Math/Econ Background: calculus I, stats, Principles of Economics (how Grinnell does intro econ, one semester combined macro/micro), Intermediate Microeconomics Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): Intermediate (though fallen by the wayside) ability in Spanish, one year into Russian which will be my focus in my career (attending immersion program this summer and will be taking classes in grad school), one semester of Danish Intended Field of Study in Grad School: M.A. International Affairs (or some variation) Long Term Professional Goals: State Department/Foreign Service/private sector working with Russia, United States foreign policy, and defense policy Schools Applied to & Results: SIPA (reject), SAIS (reject), Elliott (reject), GT MSFS (assuming r), SIS (A), Boston University (A), Fletcher (W). No funding, yet. Ultimate Decision & Why: Decision coming between SIS and BU. SIS better fit, far cheaper than BU. If BU offers me a grad assistantship with a good faculty member in a later round of aid, I'll choose them. If Fletcher, in a timely manner, admits me off the wait-list and offers me aid to make them the cheaper option, I'll choose them. Money is guiding me, but I will be evaluating whether or not I'm willing to go into more debt for a better program. Advice for Future Applicants: If grad school is your dream right out of undergrad, you can do it. 1. Start early. 2. If you're right out of undergrad, barring some amazing achievements (experience/GPA/GRE/language), don't expect funding and apply to as many outside sources as you can as early as you can. 3. You might get some pretty harsh R's, but none of them mean your life is over--even if they're all R's. 4. Have as many people as you can read over your personal statement. 5. You may not have the amount of experience that others do going into the cycle, but it's all about how you frame and sell yourself to the AdComm. Be realistic (because this process costs a lot of money, time, and mental energy), but don't be entirely self-defeating. However, if you are by all objective measures grossly under-qualified for some programs (as I was for many), be realistic about it. If you think you can sell it, go for it. But if you can't, apply somewhere else where you have a better shot at admission--and ergo, funding. 6. Don't waste money on applying to schools that aren't a good fit (GT MSFS/SIPA) just for the name. You can make your program work for you and reflect as a high a quality education as you would receive at another school.

I'd also be interested in hearing this from those who've been admitted already. Where did the update/decision show up on your portal Dashboard? Mine still says "submitted." For the #1 (depending on your perspective/program) school, this decision roll-out sure is late/messy/confusing/AGONIZING. Congrats to all the admits so far!

I think this is definitely pretty late for them. The Results Search shows that too. They released around this time (16th-18th) last year, I think. Hopefully they'll extend their response deadline so their admits have some time to weigh options/get information/figure out money. Good luck to you, @prestomanifesto! I hope this year goes your way!

See forum: Apparently, other sources just say within the week. So, essentially, no one knows. Seems like the case with AU as well.

April 1st seems miserably late for a decision release... Especially because, in my letter, the response deadline is April 15th. Hopefully if GT releases "very very soon" as they're supposed to, American will match them or follow by a few days maximum...

@CarefreeWritingsontheWall I'm a long-shot too... Hope "very very soon" means today. It'll be nice to finally check off the last school on my list. Even if it's a big fat no!

Thank you in advance! I haven't wanted to contact the schools themselves with these questions because I feel like they could be taken in a disrespectful/shallow way--and I don't mean them to be either. *I don't know much about the APSIA, so let me just preface this post with that fact in mind.* I've been accepted at one member school (American University), one affiliate school (Boston University), and wait-listed at another member school (Tufts). The APSIA guidelines read like this --> See: https://www.apsia.org/ Members schools exemplify all these qualities. Affiliate schools exemplify most, but not all, of these qualities: an educational program of high academic quality; a substantial and demonstrated commitment to the study of international affairs; a basic commitment to graduate professional training; and significant autonomy within a major university, e.g., as one would expect to find with a Law School or graduate Business School. I was wondering two things. First, specific to me, what you would you assess to be the differences between American University (M.A. in USFP and National Security) and Boston University (M.A. in International Affairs) in terms of these guidelines? I've reached out to the APSIA with the same question, but I'm interested in seeing some of your insights because I think you're all smart and perceptive people. Second, to what extent do these tiers (member vs. affiliate) impact graduates in the job market--private, public, and non-profit? I don't mean to dig into the debate of "does the Name of your school matter". Rather, I want to know if the APSIA tiers are only of use for the school as a competitive institution or if the tier of the school you graduated from will matter when you submit a resume to future employers post-grad. Are employers even aware that the APSIA tiers exist and will they dock me for going to an affiliate vs. a member school? Does it matter only in certain circles?