Kalaba

Did anyone attend the Open House?

Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Large state school, not known for anything. Previous Degrees and GPAs: B.A. Political Science, 3.75 GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 164/158/5.0 Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): Admin work for over 1 year, 3 years Peace Corps, and 2 years (by the time I start) in a field directly related to what I would like to do long term. Math/Econ Background: Nothing in college, advanced math in high school, took Micro and Macro before applying to strengthen my app. Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): Intermediate French, taking classes to brush up before school starts Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Development, Humanitarian Assistance Long Term Professional Goals: Emergency Response Schools Applied to & Results: Denver, Korbel (Accepted, $20k a year); Fletcher MALD (Acccepted, $18k a year), American SIS (Accepted, 6 credit tuition remission a year); GWU Elliott (Accepted, $24k a year). Ultimate Decision & Why: GWU! It has the concentration I want, I can keep working, it's convenient to where I already work, and I can graduate debt-free. What more could you want? I thought it would be a hard decision, but honestly, the fellowship made it pretty easy. Advice for Future Applicants: 1. As everyone else says, start early! I started researching schools really early and had them picked out by summer. Wrote my essays over the summer and had time to sit on them and come back later to review. I took the GRE later than I would have liked, but it worked out. I had a goal of submitting everything around Thanksgiving but vacation through me off, so I had everything in between Christmas and New Years. At that point I specifically turned it off and pretended I hadn't applied at all. 2. Once you've applied, forget this forum exists. I had to stop coming because everytime I saw someone post, "I got an e-mail from so and so at Fletcher!" I freaked out that I wasn't getting in because I didn't receive anything from Fletcher. And once admits start coming out, you see the forums updating with people getting responses and freak out if you didn't get your result at the same time. Seriously, just run away. 3. Take this website with a grain of salt, as others have said. I was convinced I wouldn't get in anywhere, because of the profiles I saw from other students. My results were pretty good, and I almost wish I had applied to other schools (this forum convinced me Georgetown, JSU, etc were all out of reach). However, I am glad I had a targeted search, it saved me time and money only sending out a certain number of applications. 4. Know that you don't really know anything. I applied to American mostly because it was free and I thought they'd give me the largest amount of aid that I could use for leverage (I do like that it's a practical program, but they don't have my concentration). They gave me the smallest amount. It was not the outcome I was expecting. I also wondered if I'd be rejected, mainly because it's not a great fit for me. I NEVER expected that sort of money from GWU. I expected a few dollars. Just go along for the ride, and know that you do have choices (even if it's applying again next year). Good luck!

Kaseyleigh, that's interesting about GWU's funding. I received a hefty chunk of funding, but since my job is directly related to what I would like to be doing I plan to keep working. I'm planning on 3 classes plus 80% time, I guess I should check in with GWU to ensure I'm not going against any policies that could endanger my funding. And for what it's worth, even if my job weren't related I would keep working. 1) it will allow me to graduate without any debt and 2) I like to be busy. I think it's doable, but you have to expect to have no real life, except on breaks. I anticipate spending most of my time in working, in class, or studying (with some time carved out for the things I need to keep me sane and relaxed). I've had friends who have done this, and I think it's worth it to still graduate in 2 (or 2.5) years and gain hard skills. It's definitely not for everyone though.

That is awesome news! I had read it as that amount of funding over the whole year. I've e-mailed the department, just so I can have it in writing, but thanks for sharing!

Regarding funding, I got a call Friday telling me I received a merit scholarship but my letter today has the May 2nd decision deadline as well. Not sure that date means anything for sure about funding.

I got a phone call Friday afternoon. They told me I was admitted with a merit scholarship (though couldn't tell me how much). She said official decisions will be sent early next week. She said they called because "we wanted you to be able to enjoy this information over the weekend" So everyone should know really really soon!

I have a similar situation. I was accepted last week to a very focused program, but I've been asked to make a decision by March 10th. I've only heard back from one of my four other schools (international development programs generally release decisions in mid-March). I'm planning on e-mailing the one school today to ask for an extension, though I'm not really sure how to word it. I also plan on emailing my other programs next week if I haven't heard by the end of the week to see where they are. Any advice? Thanks!

I just received my acceptance by email, including funding notification. I applied for the Human Rights program. Anyone know when we're supposed to hear about the Updike Global Health Affairs scholarship?

Hey everyone, This thread (and the entire forum) have been so useful to me as I've begun my search and prep work. And now, of course, I want to know if I'm qualified for the programs I'm looking at. Applying for: International Development, hopefully with a concentration in human rights/human trafficking/humanitarian affairs Prospective schools: University of Denver (Korbel, human rights and human trafficking), American, Georgetown Global Human Development, and all the usual others. Undergraduate institution: Big state school, decent but not known for anything Undergraduate major: Political Science Undergraduate GPA: 3.75ish GRE: I haven't taken it yet, I expect average-to-slightly-higher scores. I'm taking an intensive study class over the summer. Work Experience: 1.5 years as an Executive Assistant (not related), 2 years as a Health Education Specialist in Peace Corps (West Africa), 1 year as a health systems strengthening advisor/program manager on a maternal health project (Peace Corps, Southern Africa), 1 year as a program coordinator for an international public health consultaing firm. Clearly I have a health background, but it's just more accesible and where I've fallen. I am quite interested in this, but it's not where my main interest lies. Overseas Experience: Peace Corps (3 years), plus travel throughout Europe and Africa Language: Beginner/intermediate French, a local language from my first PC stint. I plan on taking French classes this fall. Quantitative requirements: I just finished an online community college micro class (A) and I'm taking macro now (A expected). Aside from Denver, which is my top choice (at the moment, anyway), I'm still trying to identify schools that offer what I'm most interested in. It only seems to be the top schools, which may not offer any funding, and places I'm not interested in (mainly for weather reasons: Minnesota, etc). Thanks for any advice!