TX2015

Thanks @ReinventOneself, I do appreciate the kind words. They definitely make me feel better. I hope you get into where you want to go! I see you're applying to really great schools. Best of luck!!

It's all right, I will take it as a sign from the universe that I was not ready for graduate school. Yes, I actually do remember asking. One said early March (so, I'm guessing the second week of March). That seems to fit the timeline that others have had their decisions in the past.

So, I think I may have been a bit more unlucky than you, @AMNBAKER85. Prof. Mcnamee's questions caught me completely off guard, which I should have known would happen as soon as he said "I will not be doing the conventional interview". For starters, he asked me to do a 30 second elevator speech about myself without mentioning the things I had on my resume, personal statement, transcripts, etc. (he said 'I already read through all that'). Fair question, but I just sat there blabbering about my life like a moron. It was not a perfect answer to his question, but it was not terribly horrible. Then everything just went downhill from there. My neighbor's dog was let out and was barking like a maniac, and he kept telling me he could not hear me due to the dog. Cue nervous breakdown. He then asks me to name a Head of State, a dictator, a person I admire (could be anyone), and someone else that I forgot, and tell him what I would ask them. Should have been easy right? Well, I was stumped. I don't know if it was just because the dog was barking or because I was already very nervous, but I completely blanked out. In the end I managed to mutter 4 names, after being asked to repeat myself about four times because he could not hear me through the dog's barks. He asked me a few other questions that I wish I could remember but I could hardly hear him on the other line. I think he just gave up on trying to hear me and asked me what questions I had. He seemed very unhappy with my responses, and as upset as I was I do not blame him for thinking I was a complete dimwit. I sure seemed like one. Needless to say, I do not think I will be accepted into A&M after that professor shares my terrible interview skills with his colleagues. Though I was very upset with my horrible performance on my first interview and contemplated just not answering the phone as it rang for my next interview, I thought to myself it can't get much worse than that first interview and picked up. My second interview was better. I asked my neighbor to put his dog away so that helped. Prof. Castillo asked me what I was interested in studying at the Bush School, what other schools I was applying, why I didn't apply to UT Austin's LBJ school as it has a much better Latin American studies program, what I knew about the concentration I wanted to pursue, what I knew about the Bush School. He asked me my GPA and majors. He spent a lot of time asking me why I wanted to come to A&M if I was interested in Latin America. I don't think I convinced him because at the end he told me he still didn't understand why I'd applied to A&M. I can't believe I had such a difficult time explaining why I wanted to attend A&M. I thought I had good reasons. He then let me ask him questions. I felt much more comfortable with him, but I don't think he considered me to be a good fit for the Bush School. Overall, I do not think I will be accepted to A&M. My GPA, GRE scores, background, and language skills (I feel) are competitive, but based on those interviews, I consider my chance of admittance 1%. BUT my loss is y'alls gain and I do hope you get in, AMNBAKER85 and others. I hope my experiences make other applicants feel a little better about their performance. I don't mind you guys laughing at me

Of course! I will be as detailed as I possibly can. My phone interview is in about two hours (bad weather prevented me from driving up to College Station for the physical interview), so I'm trying to connect my personal statement with the concentrations I am interested in. My career goals make sense in my head, but I am afraid the professors won't feel the same way. I feel that your interview was much more in depth than for others. You were the first to say that you got foreign policy questions. I was looking through some past Bush School blogs in 2009 and 2012 and they said they were mostly asked questions on why they applied to the Bush School and what their career goals were. The professor that interviewed you seems to have been testing you on current events!

I have Prof. Richard McNamee and Prof. Jasen Castillo. I noticed some people are getting interviews with career services personnel and MIA assistants. I wish I had gotten at least one of those. Just checked out Dr. Shrifinson's profile on the Bush School website though. Seems intimidating. Thanks for the advice @AMNBAKER85. Foreign policy is the topic I am most worried about, just because there are so many possible topics they can bring up and my focus was Latin America while in undergrad. And kissing up huh? Oh man. That's never fun. Not that I don't like A&M, but there are definitely some things that I don't like about the program (how young it is, lack of diversity, etc). Thanks for the help though. I really do appreciate it.

Oh man. Remembering that this is such an important interview is making me freak out haha. I don't think you all will read this in time, but how long was the interview? I have mine today later in the afternoon. I didn't think they would ask current global policy questions, but I should've known considering I am going to be interviewed by two professors. @AMNBAKER85, I know what you mean about being caught off guard by the depth of questions because you're going to the Bush School to learn about Global Policy. Any tips to stay calm? If all else fails I suppose I still have next year to try again!

I am attending the MIA interview conference this Friday! Very nervous. Not sure what to expect for the interview. @Mumble- how did you feel about it? Any tips for what I should prepare to answer? Thanks in advance. I know it must have been daunting. I hope your interview went well!

Thanks for the reply. Right now I am leaning more towards an MA in Marketing for sure because it seems more closely related my bachelors field compared to Economics or Engineering. However, I want to make sure that I do not get a masters in something that very few employers want. Getting a post-bac would be too expensive, you are right- I do not want to do that (and can't afford another four years with no scholarships this time). As much as I would love to call myself an engineer, I doubt that I will be able to jump right into engineering programs. In terms of programming, I honestly have no idea. I do not know much about it, but now that you mention it I will look into it. Do you mean a Masters in say MIS? Right now I obviously have no idea what I'm doing haha. Like I said above, originally I was going to law school (but that's a LOT of money). Then I was going to do Public Administration (but I'm not sure if that major is desirable in the job market). So I really do appreciate the input!

I recently graduated from a good public university in my state (ranked in the 50's nationally) with a double major in Government and Latin American Studies. I graduated a year early and am currently looking to work full-time for a year before attending graduate school. Despite being a liberal arts graduate, I have been able to get a few job interviews here and there. Of course, they do not pay as well as say an engineering or business degree, but I am fortunate in that I was granted a few interviews. Anyway, as much as I love my majors, I do not want the same uncertainty of not being able to find a job after getting my masters (especially since masters programs are much more expensive). I was wondering what your thoughts were on pursuing a masters program in a field unrelated to your bachelors. After obtaining my masters, I want to live in Houston (where my family and fiancé reside). Originally I wanted to get a masters in Public Administration at Texas A&M. However, I can't lie and say I'm not concerned about getting a well-paying job once I graduate. I am worried that a degree in Public Administration is not as valuable as say an economics, finance, or engineering masters. Because I have family to support, I want to make sure that my masters degree is a desirable one in the job market. I was thinking about pursuing a more sensible masters in Marketing, Economics, or even an engineering field. However, I'm worried that I will be weeded out once I am in the masters programs considering that I am just a little liberal arts major with no math/science courses. If anyone has ever decided to pursue a masters in a different field than your bachelors, how did it go? Is it possible to be successful despite my liberal arts background? Thanks in advance P.S. I was accepted into a few law schools this upcoming Fall semester, but I decided to opt out of a J.D. because taking out 100k in loans just for tuition was just not possible for my family and I.