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Ditto

Also rejected. Good luck everyone.

UC Berkeley Extension and UCLA Extension would be good options to look into (I can't speak as to whether they have the specific courses you're looking for, though I'd be interested in hearing about it if they do). Their courses run between $500-$1000 each, I believe, and are accepted by at least some of the IR programs.

I got the same e-mail a couple of hours ago. I'm not 100% sure what to make of being "nominated for admission" either, but I have seen posts on here recently about similar procedures at other schools if you want to look around. I should probably do that myself but just haven't had time this morning.

I would definitely re-take if I were you. I'm no expert on any of this as I'm just applying this cycle myself, but from what I've read, bumping up your quant score would definitely improve your chances of being accepted and also offered a scholarship (significantly?). I've had good success taking a practice test and then re-taking it again a few days later to kind of reinforce what you learned about how to approach the problem from solving it the first time. Good luck!

I can't really speak to your chances of being admitted with your current scores, but I will say that, in my opinion, the GRE is quite beatable with the right kind of study. Did you prepare much and take timed practice tests before you took the test the first time? Have you thought about re-taking?

I'd also be interested in hearing from anyone who was able to attend. I couldn't attend because of the time difference between here and New York.

Anyone else still not received an e-mail?

I haven't received an e-mail either, unfortunately.

That is quite helpful. I submitted a resume with a specific travel section for Columbia (since it was requested) but will try to mix it up a bit for other schools, as you've suggested. Thanks!

I just tried and was able to log into my SIPA application. Perhaps the problem is something else as I am also in Asia (Seoul, SK) at the moment.

Thanks, that really helps a lot. My travel experience should be relevant since much of it is in Asia, which is the region I want to focus on. I've just never seen a travel section on a resume before and wasn't sure if one was standard, even though I understand what you mean about trying to create (or continue) a narrative through one's resume. I'm more on the fence about the GPA. I have a very strong graduate GPA and weaker (3.4ish) undergraduate GPA, and the latter is something I don't think I should emphasize. Both degrees were in non-related areas and I don't have much space left on my resume, if I want to keep it to two pages, but there was an international bent to my graduate studies and I'd like to emphasize that I performed well there. In any case, I appreciate you pointing out what you did about resumes and for taking the time to offer advice on this board in general. I'll keep what you've said in mind going forward. Thanks!

I'm trying to finalize my resume and was hoping you all might know the answers to a couple of questions about what to include. First, is it a good idea to include a Travel section and, if so, what form should it take (i.e., should I list just the country? how many times visited? for how long?)? I've seen this type of section recommended elsewhere, I think, but I'm just not sure where and would really like to double-check before including it. Second, and this may be a stupid question, but should I list my GPA on my resume? I'm also applying to law schools and have been told to leave my GPA off of that resume (for redundancy reasons), but I'm not sure the same advice applies to IR resumes. Are you all including yours? Thanks!

Probably going to apply to 9-10 IR schools and about the same number of law programs. My wallet is going to be screaming in pain.

Cool, thanks for taking the time to help. Really appreciate it!

Thanks. That was my thought process in regard to the stats course as well. That is, I'm going to have to take it anyway regardless of where I go, so I might as well get started with it now. I am still hoping that my work experience will give me a boost if I can come up with a good narrative for my statements of purpose, but also figure a good grade in a quant. course like stats might dispel any concerns adcomms might have about my math ability due to my previous grades. Can I ask what kind of institution you took your course through, by the way?

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. Considering my weak background in quant. courses, do you think taking a Statistics course or the like instead would provide much of a boost? Like I said, I'd prefer to save money wherever possible but also want to give myself the best chance possible of getting into a good school with funding funding (i.e., I don't mind spending money now to save money).

I'm trying to decide whether I should re-take macroeconomics online now or just take it later if I happen to get into Georgetown. I took macroeconomics in university around ten years ago and got a B- (), which is unfortunately lower than the B that Georgetown requires. I haven't seen any grade requirements for other schools and hope you all will let me know if I've just missed them, but regardless, would taking the course now up my chances of being accepted at all? Considering all the expense involved in applying to schools, I'd prefer to save money wherever possible at this point. Thanks!

I believe I read that at least an evaluation grid will be included. I'm not sure about whether they ask specific questions in addition to that, though.

Okay, thanks. I wasn't trying to be contentious in my question--was just genuinely curious as to the benefits of knowing both over knowing Korean and another language. I've studied a bit of Japanese in the past, and the transition does seem quite doable, with many shared words, similar grammatical structures, etc. I just didn't go any further with it for the reason I mentioned.

Could you elaborate a bit on the part about picking up Japanese? I've been wanting to do so but have had trouble justifying it to myself when I could be perfecting my Korean or picking up Chinese instead. Would love to be convinced that learning Japanese is the way to go, though.

Sorry, by GUCL, I meant Georgetown SFS.

Try UC Berkeley Extension. GUCL at least accepts credits from there. There are some other online programs out there as well, some of which you can find through a forum search here.

Thanks for your encouragement. I'm struggling a bit with how I'm going to bring everything together in my personal statement, but it's good to know that I'm not in a bad position if I can get it taken care of.

Hi, everyone. I'm planning to apply to IR programs this coming cycle and was hoping to hear from posters here about how I might best present my experiences and about which schools I might reasonably expect to get into. Thanks! Considering applying to: Georgetown (MFS), NYU (IR), SAIS, UCSD (IR/PS), Tufts (IA), Yale Jackson, SIPA--as well as T14 law schools and joint degree programs Undergraduate Institution: Top 20 university Undergraduate Major: English Undergraduate GPA: 3.43 overall, 3.72 for major Relevant Undergraduate Coursework: Intro to Macroeconomics (B-), Intro to Microeconomics (B+), Intermediate Microeconomic Theory (Withdrawal); Math: Pre-Calculus (A), First Year Calculus I (B-), First Year Calculus II (B+)) I don't think I'm necessarily bad at math, but I did not know how to study for these types of courses back then and it shows in my grades. I'm considering re-taking the economics courses online, if there are any available and it would be beneficial for me to do so (assuming better grades). Graduate Institution: A state school in California (distance program) Graduate Degree: MA in Humanities (with a "focus" on English) Graduate GPA: 4.00 *Note: Completed this program while living and working in South Korea because it was one of the few options available to me at the time I started and was affordable. Unfortunately, I completed the program at a very leisurely pace (6 years), taking just one or two courses per semester. Relevant(?) Graduate Coursework: The Individual & Society (A), which looked at different political philosophies, and my thesis, which discussed displacement, transnationalism, adoption, and the immigrant experience in the novels of a Korean-American author GRE Score: 170 V 163 Q 5.0 AW Work Experience: I've been working in South Korea since 2004. I worked for a year as a teacher and six months as an online tutor; enrolled in a full-time Korean program at a university for a year while working freelance as a translation editor for large corporations; and have been working for the past 5-6 years as an editor for an international English testing company and its non-profit subsidiary, which donates a lot of money to universities to help fund their Korean programs/institutes and otherwise tries to promote Korean literature abroad. I edit newsletters, annual reports, presentations, test forms, correspondence, etc., and have also advised on cultural differences in negotiations with international business partners, etc., though in a very limited fashion. Along with my GPA, the above is my biggest concern as none of my work experience feels that substantive and it's hard to come up with a good narrative for my IR candidacy outside of an interest in education policy. Volunteer Experience: I've edited journals and websites for human rights organizations here, including one popular North Korea-focused newspaper, and also tutored North Korean refugees. Language Skills: Korean (Advanced), Italian (Lower Intermediate in spite of lots of undergraduate coursework), Spanish (Lower Intermediate), Japanese (Beginner) Overall, I have a lot of experience living overseas, but I worry about how admissions committees will rate my work experience and want to do whatever I can to improve my chances of admission over the next fifteen months. Thanks in advance for any feedback/advice!