SAISDC

I'm a current SAIS MA who took micro and macro last year during preterm, just thought I'd give my two cents. I had done intermediate micro prior, but not macro and therefore found doing both pretty manageable. However, quite a few people who tried to take both without much econ ended up dropping macro within the first week or so - without a good background in econ it would be a significant amount of work, and will certainly prevent you from having as good a time during pre-term as others. In hindsight, given my prior experience, I would've waived out of micro and just taken macro. If you're on the fence as to whether to attend the pre-term or just take the classes during the semester, I highly recommend attending. It's a great month. You meet lots of people, there are lots of social events and there's a really great vibe. I had the impression that those who started in September missed out somewhat, particularly as all the pre-term folk had already spent a month with each other. I don't know who's teaching Macro, but I think the Micro teacher is the same as last year. If it is, he is fantastic - just won the SAIS teacher of the year award. Happy to answer any questions.

For what its worth - I would go get 2-3 yrs work experience regardless whether or not you find a program. It gives you a much broader perspective on work/study, give you some real world experience, and will likely help you decide what you really want to do. I've been working for 2.5 yrs and am about to start a Masters - and can't believe how much more I know now than i did with only 2 or 3 internships/TA/research jobs under my belt. Am confident it will add exponentially to what I get out of further study.

Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): University of Toronto; University of Melbourne, Australia Previous Degrees and GPA's: Music (Jazz), 3.3; Public Policy (Hons), 3.7ish. GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 740, 800, 4.5 Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 2.5 yrs government foreign policy, 1 yr research assistant/TA, 1 yr teaching ESL China (also 16 years living overseas). Math/Econ Background: College stats, calculus, intermediate micro and macro. Foreign Language Background: Basic Mandarin, French, low-intermediate Indonesian. Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Asia, Int'l Econ Long Term Professional Goals: International org - Asia, conflict prevention, peacebuilding, Econ/development. Schools Applied to & Results: All accepted - Georgetown, SAIS (w/funding), Harvard KSG, SIPA, Graduate Institute, LSE. Ultimate Decision & Why: SAIS - was my top choice starting out, great reputation/faculty, allows me to seriously pursue my econ interests, located in DC. Hope it works out! My approach? GRE - studied for 6 weeks intensively, it was almost all I did outside work. Flashcards, word-lists, books, etc. I bought pretty much everything there was to buy - varying results. Didn't focus on AW, which clearly shows. SOP - again, spent a lot of time on this, many rewrites. My approach was to write something that provided a good outline of myself, as well as something that was interesting to read (the odd anecdote). Recs - with my work and academic background this wasn't too much of a problem.

Program Applied To: Masters Int'l Affairs - Johns Hopkins SAIS, Columbia SIPA, Georgetown MSFS, Harvard KSG, London School of Economics, HEI (Geneva). Schools Admitted To: Johns Hopkins SAIS ($$$), Columbia SIPA, Georgetown MSFS, Harvard KSG, London School of Economics, HEI (Geneva). Schools Rejected From: n/a Undergraduate institution: University of Melbourne Undergraduate GPA: 3.6 Undergraduate Major: Public Policy and Management GRE Quantitative Score: 800 GRE Verbal Score: 740 GRE AW Score: 4.5 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2.5 Years of Work Experience: 2 years Gov't foreign policy, 1 year teaching China, 6 months research assistant/tutor. Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I felt it was strong - spent about a month rewriting. Started with an anecdote - covered overseas childhood, explaining how I've ended up where I am, how I developed my interest in the field. Clearly articulated goals and why further study is the next step towards achieving them. Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): Two academic, one professional. Didn't see the academic references, though have good relationships with both so was confident they would be strong. Professional reference was very strong - a good means of highlighting the work I do now. Deciding Between: SAIS was my top choice, and they've given me funding...

I'm also very interested in views on this - what are the pros/cons of each? particularly for an international student..

Agree with Jerry - I don't think this is a negative at all. I think it would be refreshing to read something that's more personal/sincere. Not sure what you're concerned about - put yourself in the admissions committee's shoes...