WinterSolstice

They have a student create it every year. You'll receive an email about it. Today's the may deadline, so probably sometime next week.

It seems like you're very uncertain on the direction you want to take in life, but I think you're asking all the right questions. So that's good. It's hard to give advice without knowing the particulars of your situation, but what has stood out to me is that you have relatively little work experience. Do you have any? (regardless of whether it's not in the IR field). I ask because you mentioned concerns about finding work after the program without any experience in IR beforehand. I would say that it's not strictly necessary to have experience in the field, but I do think it's very important to have experience in general. In addition to demonstrating skills and that you are reliable in a professional context, working any job at all is invaluable in helping you figure out what you want to do. To answer your questions, your first concern was whether SAIS is "worth it". I think only you can know that, and it's of course all very wrapped up in what your personal debt tolerance is. For me, I decided I couldn't live with anything over 6-figures total (meaning both undergrad and grad loan burden put together). So I personally did not want to take out more than 70k in loans for any MA program, because I have 24k-ish undergrad loans, and I spent a lot of time saving in order to make that feasible, because I knew many of these programs are not super generous with aid. However, that is just me. Many other people have a much higher or much lower tolerance for debt. For me, I think my total debt burden is going to be somewhat high, because I'm right up to my tolerance level, but that's mostly due to my undergrad burden, which I can't do anything about at this point. Speaking more generally, do I think six-figure DEBT is worth it for a policy career? No. I do not. Six-figures is a law degree. It's a medical degree. It's an MBA. And while policy is just as WORTHWHILE as any of those things, it does not command the same salary. Not by a long shot. You are looking at 65k starting salary IF you go to the private sector (and you seem to have some reservations about that). Maybe you'd get lucky and get a bit over that, or maybe you'd get a nice holiday bonus or signing bonus. But it is a lot of loans with a salary that will make it difficult to pay off. So in short, I would say the cost is worth it, but not the debt, if that makes sense. In other words, if you have the funds to go, and you want to go, do it and don't look back. If it's your funding or your money, it's your right to spend it how you choose. I am a bit more hesitant to encourage doing it on borrowed money, however. Many other people on these forums don't give it a second thought. And if they have that tolerance, then more power to them. But I think many people also don't understand what it means to carry that much debt, so you have to consider it carefully. Your second question was about career. I think that's only something you can learn through 1. talking to people and 2. experience. ANY professional experience will help clarify what it is you want to do. Internships, jobs, talking with your colleagues. Those are all things that will help you formulate your thoughts. You seem to have some idea of what you might be interested in, and that is good! Be proactive and ask the career offices of your programs to get you in contact with some alums or current students that have worked in some of the places you're interested in. Talk to them about their internships and their experiences and what they learned, what made them successful. Evaluate their experiences against what it is you envision for yourself. Your concern about career has very clearly mirrored my own. SAIS is very econ heavy, so I began thinking about development, and business, and finance. Many people I spoke with said that I would want to leave the option of an MBA open. There is a SAIS dual-degree program with Tuck or Wharton for people who do want to go down the MBA path, and you can apply during your first year. It caused a lot of anxiety in me, because I didn't want to get a degree that wouldn't be worthwhile without an MBA propping it up. But after looking at my goals, I decided that I did not want to do finance. And while I'm interested in development, and emerging markets, I'm not interested in Wall Street. If that changes later in life, then maybe I will pursue an executive MBA program. But for now, that's not what I want. I think you're right to be thinking about this now, but remember that this is not the end of the road. You will have many experiences that change your goals. And I would recommend being open to that. For me, I know I am interested in development, and I am interested in emerging markets. At the moment I am open to whatever form that takes, and I am open to being influenced by my cohort and the classes I take in school. Maybe I will decide I want to do conflict management in Africa. And I'll go down that path. But I think it's good to go in with a clear, general direction of what you want, but to be open to being influenced by the experience that a Masters program at SAIS will offer you. As for location, I'll admit I find it a little puzzling. If you are interested in State, CIA, Defense, or Think Tanks...that is DC (and to a small degree NYC). Your self-professed interests are all located in DC, so I'm not sure why you're not interested in being IN DC, when the connections and people and opportunities for all your interests are there. If your worries are more that you don't want to be limited to DC, then I would mention that State department, for instance is all over the globe. Many US government organizations aren't based purely in DC. A lot of environment and energy things are based in Texas, for instance. I think you have a lot of mobility in terms of organizations, but it also depends on what you're interested in. If you are interested in certain jobs, then those jobs will probably be tied to a location, but I think that is true of ANY profession. You go where the jobs are. I tried to answer your questions as fully as I could, and I hope it helps. This is a very stressful time, so think about what you want and make your decision carefully. But once you make your decision, commit to it.

Post-acceptance info doesn't really go out until after the May deadline. Anyone who didn't receive aid still has a couple weeks to respond, so they hold off on substantive information until then.

How much work experience do you have already? If you have a decent amount of work experience on the IR world already, and are just looking to do a track change, where you get your Masters will matter much less, and will be more ticking the box. If your relevant work experience is much less, then I could see the brand name mattering a bit more/helping you get your foot in the door. My only word of caution is that from your description, it does not sound like the school giving you a free ride would help you with what you're interested in. I could be wrong, but just going off of what you've written, it sounds like they don't have faculty that are experts in your intended field (do they at least have courses in that area? If not, definitely consider everything carefully). Even if you don't spend a lot of money at this program, it is still years from your life, and effort. I don't think it would necessarily be wise to sign up for a school that will not help you get where you want to go, regardless of how inexpensive it is. At the end of the day, if money is your concern, you can always take another year to build your resume, re-take standardized tests, and re-apply to programs with the goal of getting more aid.

The campus numbers for SAIS are: Washington ~675/Bologna ~200/Nanjing ~180. DC has all the year 2 students, and roughly half of the year one students (with roughly the other half being in Bologna), so the first year DC cohort is between 200-300.

That was only my experience, on that particular year, so take it with a grain of salt. This year's accepted students day might be completely different. The impressions I got from my particular day aren't universal, and doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad program or anything. But in any case, I went to the accepted student's day, and it just left me with the impression that it was a somewhat fluff program. At the open house, the only thing the Dean really talked about GW's location. Really kept harping on being across the street from the World Bank, but without really mentioning if students are ever able to obtain work there or articulating how it enriched life at GW. He seemed surly and uninvested, to be honest. He also went on to list types of people he thought wouldn't do well there, such as people who may want to get a phd, or people who aren't ready for a "serious commitment". It was pretty patronizing. The whole atmosphere was very uncomfortable and awkward. Some people brought their parents. It seemed a mix of kids fresh from undergrad and 40-somethings looking to get a mid-career masters. There were some panels from admissions, academic advising, career center and I believe someone from student affairs. The career center person seemed clueless. The person from student affairs was actually a recent GW Elliott alum, who started working at GW. She joked how she used what she learned from a negotiation/conflict management class to negotiate with her landlord. So I don't know, it just struck me as being a bit of a cash cow program. They didn't seem particularly invested in their students, or in actively trying to demonstrate why they would be the program for me. Now like I said, this is only my impression based off of a single day there. Many people go there and do well, and I'm sure get exactly what they're looking for out of it. I just happened to be looking for something different. Other people that year said that they had been left underwhelmed by the accepted students day, but I wouldn't necessarily judge the merits of a program based on my re-telling of an off-day for them.

SAIS is close to a metro stop (Dupont Circle) on the red line. It is very easy to live further away on the red line in cheaper (relatively speaking - DC is an expensive city) housing areas and still have a short commute. Or even on a completely different metro line, and transfer over to catch the red line to get to campus. Living in the more residential areas outside of Georgetown would mean taking the bus or driving. And living further outside Georgetown would also mean it's more difficult to get to internships, etc. in the city. That being said, commuting difficulties obviously won't be the make or break factor in deciding a school, so I wouldn't feel limited by the location of either school in making your choice.

SAIS language courses are included in the tuition. Most people take four classes plus a language course. You aren't charged extra for language courses which is a big plus, in my opinion. There's also a really wide selection of languages to choose from (though some concentrations specify what language they want you to have proficiency in). If I were to pick one major plus that MSFS has over SAIS is that its career services is known for being pretty hands on and supportive. Which makes sense, because it's a bit smaller of a school, but I think you get more individual attention.

These are all spot on points. I understand wanting to attend a dream school, but it's really not wise to take out six-figure debt for a degree that does not command the same salary as an MBA or JD. It is true that people can and do attend very expensive schools all on loans, and I personally do not judge people who make that choice, because I don't know their career plans or the factors that went into their decision. But for me, I personally could not take that high of a loan burden. Debt is an unfortunate reality of education today (at least in the US). Most people will have to take substantial debt. But I think it's important to take the time to figure out how much debt you can handle, and what having that amount of debt means for your career and lifestyle. I personally have found repayment estimators to be very helpful. It's also useful to estimate what your expected starting salary (hard to know, given employment data at a lot of these schools are almost certainly inflated to some degree) would be after taxes, subtracting the loan burden and looking at how much you would have left to live on. Grad school is an investment, and for me, I want to know that investment is going to get me to a better standard of living than where I'm at now. Here is a repayment estimator: https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/mobile/repayment/repaymentEstimator.action and a salary calculator: http://www.adp.com/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-tools/payroll-calculators/salary-paycheck-calculator.aspx for any who might find it useful!

I would agree with this assessment. Elliot probably is seen as being more prestigious than SIS, and it is better located. BUT, I do not think it is a significantly better school or program. I have heard mixed reviews about Elliot and I don't think it's reputation is so amazing that it trumps money. Elliot and SIS are similar enough where it is not worth going into significant debt for (especially when you say that they gave you no funding). When looking at similarly ranked schools, I think it's worth it to go where the money is and to focus on distinguishing yourself. Not to mention, American clearly wants you and is willing to invest in you. To me, that definitely counts for something.

Switching to the DC campus is difficult, but do-able. The formal policy is that it is not allowed, but it has been done. It depends a lot on what your funding status is, if you have outside scholarships, etc. Much of the institutional aid is tied to your location. As for African Studies, do you plan on doing a dual-focus or uniquely African Studies? It is tricky to do in Bologna because there are limited course selections and the center as a whole skews towards Euro Studies (unsurprising given the location). It is possible to spend time fulfilling requirements, but at a certain point, you will have completed pre-reqs and may end up in a situation of having to take courses you are not quite passionate about, which would not be a fun position to be in given the costs. I strongly recommend looking at course listings/descriptions (can be found here: http://www.jhubc.it/ACADEMICS/ACADEMIC-PROGRAMS/). As you can see, there are a fair number of courses that are cross-listed under African Studies, but there are only 2 to 3 courses that are uniquely under the African Studies Program. Take the time to do your due diligence of courses you are interested in and professors you want to work with. Grad school is a considerable investment, and it's worth it to take the time to know what you're signing up for. @n8t - If you want to do Security, SAIS is a great option. Strategic studies is known as being one of SAIS's best programs, and Eliot Cohen is a big name.

You can usually transfer to any concentration except IDEV. You have to specify IDEV at the time of application.

Currently 24, graduated undergrad at 21 and have been working for the last 2.5 years. My quant. GRE wasn't the best, but I think work experience and GPA made up for it, thankfully!

I'd probably contact the Financial Aid office and explain the situation and see what they say.

I probably wouldn't go about it from the route of bringing up a deferral (for most schools, financial reasons aren't sufficient to receive a deferral anyway, unless it's tied to a medical or family emergency). But it doesn't hurt to reach out and say that while you're very excited to attend Fletcher, that the aid you received is short of what you would need to feasibly attend and ask politely if there's a way to have your aid package re-evaluated. If you ask politely and respectfully, the worst that can happen is that they say no. It's probably more difficult to get more money without another school's offer to use as leverage, but it doesn't hurt to try.