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I'd say UCSD will definitely try harder for you, as Columbia is pretty impersonal. With that said, the Columbia name will, in my opinion, take you further if you're looking to work outside the U.S. after graduating and might be worth the extra $30k because of that. The USCD brand is still not very well known outside the U.S.

Hi mouraq, After making that post, I ended up being accepted, with a moderate amount of funding, to Georgetown and subsequently attending one of its alumni lunches in the hope that doing so would help me make a more informed decision. I think it did, in that it showed me that I might not be headed in the direction I thought I was by attending a graduate program in IR, at least given my options at that time. I decided to take a chance and turn down all of the offers I received so that I could try out some new things for a year and also have the chance to re-apply and receive more funding. I did not end up re-applying this year, however, and don't (yet?) regret turning down the offers. None of them felt right to me, even though objectively each represented a great opportunity, and that gave me a lot of pause. Because much of my decision came down to my own expectations and preferences, I'm not sure the above will be very helpful to you. However, I can tell you a bit about my thoughts on the schools (I admit these are just opinions, opinions from my past no less, and should be taken with a huge grain of salt) and their offers before making my decision: - Georgetown, if an option, is an amazing institution offering amazing opportunities--and it can take you wherever you want to go within the IR world. If I had attended an IR program, I would have gone there (but that's probably just idealism/romanticism on my part). - UCSD, although not as prestigious, will give you the chance to learn the quantitative and technical skills you need to succeed in a typical IR job. You might have to work a little harder to network from San Diego, though, and even with what seems to be a more close-knit community, you might not be challenged by professors and students like you would at Columbia, due to the latter's more competitive atmosphere. - Columbia is extremely expensive in comparison to UCSD and doesn't offer the strongest institutional support (I had a lot of trouble getting answers to questions from several different departments there, whereas Georgetown and, to a lesser extent, UCSD were extremely helpful in answering questions). My overall impression was that it was a place where you would be presented with many opportunities--but that you'd probably have to deal with a lot of institutional frustration to take advantage of them. With that said, the faculty there is amazing. More generally: - Having the financial freedom to do what you want after graduating is HUGE, especially in the IR world where "entry-level" jobs often do not pay much, or in some cases anything - Each school has its own focus, and it's a good idea to check out alumni profiles to see if previous graduates have gone in the direction you hope to go - As coffeeandtravel mentioned, check out the curriculum and course descriptions to see which institution is going to offer you the education you most want If you have any more questions for me, I'll be more than happy to answer, even though I don't have the inside scoop you were probably looking for. Hope that helps!

I'd do option 1 while taking the courses you mentioned online (MPP and IR programs should look upon this favorably as long as the courses are through an accredited institution) in your free time. Option 1 will give you real-world work experience, language skills, and, presumably, some income--and IMHO it will help you think more clearly about your career goals than another year at school will. The best part is that you don't have to forgo the benefits of option 2 to enjoy those of option 2; nowadays, you can study microecon and stats anywhere. Note: I don't know much about MPP programs and am looking at the questions mostly from an IR perspective.

Thanks, I really appreciate you going into so much detail in your response. One of my big concerns was debt, and it's a relief to hear that it really can be worth it--though I realize you're not quite ready to give it your full-on endorsement yet. If you don't mind me asking one follow-up question, what are the great jobs the seniors you mentioned were able to attain--and what kinds of higher-level work are they now set up for as a result? It's been hard for me personally to get a good idea of the career tracks that people follow upon graduating. Thanks again for taking the time to answer questions here. It's already helped me a lot--and I'm sure other posters on here appreciate it as well!

Thanks, traumerei! If you don't mind, I'd like to start out with the following questions: 1) Do you think the degree is worth taking on a significant amount of debt (over $100,000, for example) for? 2) How hard is it to find a decent job upon graduating? How much help do students get from professors, alumni, or the career center in the job search? Thanks again for taking the time to do this.

Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Top 20 U.S. university, distance program through a state university in the U.S. Previous Degrees and GPAs: B.A. in English (3.4x), M.A. in Humanities (4.00) GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 170/163/5.0 Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): ~10 years of overseas' work experience Math/Econ Background: Limited - calculus and economics (macro- and micro-) with B-level grades Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): Professional proficiency in Korean; some knowledge of Japanese and Spanish Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Relations Long Term Professional Goals: Overseas work dealing with security, human rights, and/or diplomacy Schools Applied to & Results: MSFS, Yale Jackson, SIPA, HKS, GWU, USCD IRPS, SAIS - accepted to all except HKS and Yale Ultimate Decision & Why: I decided to wait and re-apply next year, both because I didn't get the funding I needed from the school(s) I wanted and because I have some personal projects I want to pursue before committing to graduate school. Advice for Future Applicants: - Start early. Like one of the above posters, I started preparing in summer and still felt overwhelmed with all I had to do to get my applications in on time. - Have a back-up recommender. One of my recommenders basically vanished into thin air a couple of weeks before the application deadline. - Apply for outside fellowships and scholarships. Many of these schools do not have a lot of funding to give out, even if you try to negotiate. - Only apply to schools you would attend. I spent precious time applying to schools that I knew I probably wouldn't attend and it just made everything that much more complicated. - Don't give the admissions committees a reason to reject you. I read this in a book, but it's good advice. In my case, I think I would have had a better chance at HKS and Yale if I had taken a couple of quant classes before applying. - If possible, gain experience with various kinds of IR-related work before applying.

Thanks, it's good to get the perspective of someone who actually has the degree. I've gotten into a couple of good law schools, but the total cost of a joint degree program is huge. Considering what you've said and what I've heard from others, I'll probably just pass on the law school side of things unless I get a significant scholarship. That's awesome to hear about your friend. And about career services, as I know people at some other schools receive little hands-on attention. I'm also concerned about the quarter system and would prefer to operate within the semester system. I did read a post by a professor (at another school) online, however, and he/she praised the quarter system because it let professors focus on the most important aspects of the subject without including filler. Great for breadth and perhaps poor for depth, like you said. I was looking at that earlier as well. Great information to have, and it made me like Elliott even more.

The housing doesn't sound bad at all. I'll have to look into it more. I think the LinkedIn tactic is great for getting a general idea of what types of work people end up doing. It just makes me a bit nervous that UCSD doesn't provide the type of detailed employment information, such as the unemployment rates for each class and a comprehensive list of its employers, the other schools do. I imagine the IR/PS places pretty well actually, at least based on what I've heard; it's just one of those things you'd like to know for sure before making a decision. I've been really encouraged by the academic reputation of UCSD and their strength in quant and professional skills, which are the skills I'm really wanting to develop as a graduate student; I've written enough "fun" essays for one lifetime, to reference what Kosmosis707 was saying earlier. Also, I know you said you're lost, but as someone currently considering joint degree programs (JD/MIA), I'd actually be really interested in hearing anything you find out about what doors are open to someone with both degrees. Thanks again to both of you.

Thanks, Facade19 and Kosmosis707, for giving those of who couldn't make it an idea of what all went on. Did you have a chance to check out the student housing at all? If so, any thoughts on them? I was also wondering if one of you would be willing to elaborate a bit on what the career services people had to say? I'm really curious how they make up for the distance and also what kind of employment figures the program has (the figures on their website aren't as detailed as those other schools release--both in terms of where graduates end up working and how many end up finding full-time work upon graduating--and that worries me). Thanks again!

Though I'm not positive it's the right approach, I've been reading a selection of books from the following two lists: http://www.ypfp.org/top_10_foreign_policy_booksand http://foreignpolicy.com/2009/04/09/my-top-ten-books-every-student-of-international-relations-should-read/. None I've encountered so far could really be called an overview of U.S. foreign policy, which is something I would also like to read, but all have been relatively interesting. I'd also be very interested in hearing what to expect from classes in terms of reading, essays, and exams, if anyone happens to have some insight.

This was the first I had heard about the summer prep program as well. It seems like the earliest of the classes, besides the ESL classes, starts August 17: http://irps.ucsd.edu/programs/admitted-students/summer-prep-program.htm. I'm not sure what's required or not but did find this UCSD PDF saying that your letter of admission will tell you whether you are required or recommended to take a prep course: http://irps.ucsd.edu/assets/038/11406.pdf. It looks like it might be outdated though.

Thanks for running those numbers. It does seem like there is quite a difference between the schools, though I'm sure a lot of it can be explained by the foreign:domestic student ratio. You do get a feel for how relevant that is when looking at the individual profiles. I'm also glad to see others interested in working overseas. I lived in Korea for about ten years on and off, doing various types of work and study, and in Japan for around 5 months. It'd be great to be able to spend even more time in one of those two countries, or in China, after graduating; I'm not sure how well I would hold up in a D.C. think tank.

Sorry, meant to say I was mostly interested in East Asia. Glad to hear UCSD is placing a relatively high percentage of their graduates in your region of interest. It's encouraging for me as well since I'm much more interested in working on site in Asia than in D.C.

Thanks for the link and suggestion. I'll give it a shot in just a few minutes. I'm mostly interested in East Asia, but out of curiosity, did UCSD fare about as well or better as the D.C. schools in SE Asia?

I wish I could attend but am in Asia at the moment and just don't have the money to fly out. I'm hoping to get in touch with an alumnus in Japan or Korea instead though. In regard to the Career Services discussion, have you all heard how well UCSD alums do overall in Asia compared to graduates of the East Coast programs? Since it's their focus, I assume they do quite well. There just doesn't seem to be a lot of detailed employment information on their site, and I'm curious what kinds of positions most of their graduates get.