Zagros

Is it reasonable for an aspiring FSO to take out 70,000 (over two years) in educational loans to attend a top IR master's program? Is he fooling himself to think that the degree would fetch him an extra $10-12,000/year under the current pay schedule (exceeding his student loan payments) and thus immediately start paying for itself? Should his only worry be managing a potential gap in between graduation and induction when the insatiable and jealous gods at SallieMae demand continuous sacrifices in times of likely penury? Should he temper his unshakable confidence that he will eventually be offered a job in the Service? Does the ratio of names on the register to actual hires vary so much from year to year? In other words, can't we make any generalizations ala "about half the names on the register are offered jobs in any given year"? And have you ever felt that you had to compromise your principles/beliefs in an outrageous or especially demoralizing way in service of our government? Much appreciated.

I'm in the same situation with essentially the same goals and considerations. Both schools are sufficiently reputable for my purposes. However, I want to work in the foreign service as soon as possible rather than "eventually", so the relative prestige of SAIS and its alumni connections don't sway me. I'm tempted to say that in our position choosing SAIS over Elliott would be solely an act of vanity--unless, of course, you're aiming for the economic cone.