robinsoncrusoe

I assume those numbers already include those who choose to pursue further studies/PhDs and such? I'm also going to assume that the 6-9 month figure is largely due to students working internships after graduation that turn into fulltime offers? Would be nice to have more info...but that is up to the school's discretion. From what my friend tells me, pretty much all of her classmates were satisfied with their outcomes, so that's a good sign. Right now, I'm down to either SIPA (no $) or IRPS ($$$). Trying to get as much info as humanly possible before making a decision, but IRPS is making me decide by early next week if I want to claim my scholarship.

yep, as facade says, the most important factor for me is also securing a job after the program ends. my best resource in helping me make my decision is definitely my friend who graduated from IRPS a few years ago and is now working a job she loves. it seems career services really does everything they can to help (they have it broken down by sector...so each advisor specializes in a particular sector, like NGOs, private/public). the second big factor to me is the emphasis on the quantitative skills. my math/econ isn't particularly strong, but i'm excited to be gaining some hard skills that are useful! the only drawback (personally) is their quarterly system. what would normally take a full semester to learn is crammed into 8-10 weeks, which detracts from deep understanding imo. especially with languages in particular (and difficult ones, like Mandarin, for example).

I think funding just might be the decision-maker or breaker for me. I worked jobs I really didnt like in order to pay off my undergrad loans and do not want to be in such tight financial straits again. So I'm currently looking at: *SIPA (no $ but most prestigious program I was accepted into, although I don't really care much for prestige) *Fletcher ($, but Id need more to offset cost of living in Boston, not sure about Fletcher's reach in Asia, where I want to return post-degree) *IRPS ($, and second year I can get in-state tuition rate, strong focus on Asia, but SD also has high COL. *Elliott ($$, in DC, good networking/interning possibilities, but also unsure about its reach in Asia) As the title of this thread so adequately puts it: Decisions, decisions...

I'm gonna run up quite a bit of debt regardless of which program I choose, and I know the big money post-degree is going to be in the D.C. think tanks/consulting, but I feel the same way as you...just don't think I'd be cut out for it. But a chance to head back to China with an interesting job would make it all worth it. Well, maybe

Hmm... I guess these numbers make a lot of sense when you also factor in the nationalities and backgrounds of the students coming to these programs. IRPS accepts quite a lot of international students from China/Japan/Korea who can (and often do) go back to their countries of origin after the program.

You don't have to go one after the other in my opinion. There's nothing wrong with doing the ETS or Manhattan while using Magoosh online. I think it also helps to get as much experience getting used to testing on a screen, so familiarizing yourself with Magoosh through constant use would probably be helpful.

1. Are you still working while attending school? 2. How would you describe the general makeup of your classmates? Their backgrounds and such? 3. Any clear ideas what you want to do after graduating? 4. How's the workload? On the Easy - Manageable - Kicking My Ass scale. Thanks for doing this.

I will vouch for the Official Guide to the GRE, particularly the writing sections, which was my weakness. They give great sample responses to the prompts and do a fantastic job explaining the reasoning behind the scores. From reading their 6-score responses, you can deconstruct each paragraph to create a basic template for how to write your essays. I got a 6 on both essays, and my weakness is actually in writing essays. Well, that and maybe a few reading comp questions I took the computerized version of the test, so the PowerPrep CD that comes with the book was particularly useful.

I'd like to find a graduate program in international studies with a focus on Asia. Are there any MA programs out there similar to maybe UCSD's IRPS?