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Filmore22

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Everything posted by Filmore22

  1. This forum was incredibly helpful (and entertaining) as I went through the process of applying. Thanks to everyone before me and hopefully everyone after me will find it as useful as I did. Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): State School Previous Degrees and GPAs: B.A. Government and Politics Spanish Minor GPA: 3.59 GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 167V/155Q/5(AW) Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): At the time I submitted my applications, 2.5 working for a cabinet level agency. As a senior, I interned and then was converted full-time and have since worked in different capacities primarily in management (finance, procurement, and acquisition) but also in public affairs in the dep.secretarys office. Math/Econ Background: Just micro econ and some stats Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): Spanish (Proficient) Turkish (Terrible) Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Masters in International Affairs Long Term Professional Goals: FSO Schools Applied to & Results (funding over two years) Columbia SIPA-Accepted (65K) Georgetown SFS-Accepted (17K) Tufts Fletcher-Accepted (30K) Hopkins SAIS Bologna-Accepted (13K) Denver Korbel (40K) American SIS, Rangel-Accepted, Pickering- candidacy pulled after Rangel acceptance Ultimate Decision & Why: I have not yet officially accepted, I’m attending the admitted students days for SIPA, Fletcher, and SFS (I’ve declined the offers for the others), but based on current funding I will more than likely end up at SIPA. I had two goals going into applying: 1. Place/prepare myself on FSO career path 2. Incur as little debt as possible. Based on this, I doubt I would have gone through with graduate study if I had not been selected for one of the aforementioned fellowships. As for the school decision breakdown, SIPA and SFS were my top choices, with Tufts and SAIS a close second. After receiving the funding packages, I dropped SAIS. The blessing of significant funding from the fellowship and the certainty of a job after school altered the calculus for my decision a bit from most others on the government affairs forum. Personally (family in the area) and professionally (given the FSO path), I think Gtown probably is the better route but having been in the DC area for most of undergrad and for work after, the push for a change of scenery is too strong. I really loved almost everything about Tufts, the small flexible program, the faculty, and obviously the community. The few things I didn’t: while Boston is great, I just prefer NYC and DC, it is not as practitioner-focused i.e. you have to do a thesis (although I think you can get around it), and they grade on a curve. going to work hard in grad school but with the need to maintain certain gpa requirements for funding, this seems like a big potential for added stress. Ultimately, it really comes down to money (what doesn’t) and the opportunity to incur as little debt as possible. Between the fellowship, the funding from SIPA, and my meager savings, I can live and go to school in NYC with no loans and everything paid for at a well-established, professionally-oriented program. Arguably, while Gtown might be best for the FS route, I believe the difference is negligible and the other considerations of funding and personal circumstances more than make up for it. Advice for Future Applicants: If I could impart any advice to my six-months-ago-self, I would say apply to more schools and start early with everything (and stop being so lazy!). Apply to more schools: In the beginning, I would have been ecstatic just to get into one school. I found gradcafe late and with so many variables that go into the application process e.g., GREs, SOPs, recs, work experience, I had no way to scale my expectations. I thought my quant was way too low, my work did not directly relate to IA, and my recs weren’t big name professors or senior level officials. I actually started at a community college so when it came to applying, the big names really intimidated me. But looking back I wish I had more confidence and applied to more schools e.g., HKS, WWS. While I could not be happier with the way things turned out, I would advise others to, if they can, (financially and time/energy-wise) apply to as many as possible. You can’t have too many options. Start Early: You see it on here a bunch but it probably can’t be said enough. If I had to do it again, the timeline I would shoot for: Study GREs starting in Feb, GREs done by April/May, recommenders notified before June, start and work on SOP beginning in summer, finalize paper work (resumes, quant cvs, transcripts, etc.) beginning of fall, and everything wrapped up by thanksgiving. The actual timeline went something like, started studying for the GRE in April, did nothing all summer, went back to it in the fall, took GRE in October. After, used Nov. and Dec to frantically write SOP and cover all the paper work, and then submit everything pretty much day of deadline in January. The earlier the better. Especially, with many of the deadlines falling around the malaise of the holiday times at the end of the year.
  2. I asked all of my schools not in DC if they had funds available to defray travel costs. Some said yes resoundingly others said no but it definitely does not hurt to ask. Plus all the schools understand you're just trying to make the best most informed decision possible. Don't ask, don't get.
  3. Thanks! Not to sound like a broken record but I was shocked to find out I was selected. I know it is insanely competitive so I was ecstatic.
  4. Thanks! I consider myself very lucky. It's incredibly competitive to get into the top schools, including places like SIS and GW and not just the ivys.
  5. For what it's worth, in deciding between the two, I decided to apply to American over Elliot because of the little things. While American did not necessarily do anything to distinguish itself, I found my first impression of Elliot and all of my following interactions to be really lacking. I attended a graduate fair in DC and the differences between the Elliot and the SIS booths were, imho, pretty stark. While I wasn't necessarily blown away, the SIS booth had knowledgeable, friendly, and professional people on hand. Perhaps I caught them at a bad moment, but the Elliot booth seemed pretty uninterested and not nearly as knowledgeable especially on specific questions about courses and programs. I also attended an info session for both, pretty much back to back. Again it is probably a case of bad things leaving more of an impression than good things, but the documents produced by Elliot were amateurish. They had a document outlining employment prospects with charts and graphs that were sloppily done and poorly formatted—off-kilter axises, typos, etc. It might be pedantic but if I’m considering dropping significant sums of money into your school, I would hope for a higher degree of professionalism. And finally, when I reached out to the schools with questions about funding, the response I got back from American was far more comprehensive and prompt. That’s not to say Elliot told me to go screw myself, but it was a noticeable difference. I only wanted to apply to one of the two schools because to me they seemed pretty equal in terms of prestige and on actual program merits. In the end, I just felt like American had their stuff together more so than Elliot.
  6. so much waiting... making the sfs applicant portal my home page until they issue decisions
  7. Surprised but in at SAIS. I did not select a preference for site and got placed in Bologna. I'm still undecided, but I'm not sure I see myself in Europe next year. Good luck everyone!
  8. Just checked my status on the Fletcher applicant portal and I'm in with 15k in funding, which makes my decision more difficult. Good luck everyone!
  9. hey in the same situation. So no funding in terms of money from SIPA but that doesn't include financial aid? I recieved an email from them this morning with a reminder to fill out a FAFSA and to enter in the Columbia Univ. Federal School Code.
  10. Just received my acceptance as well. No funding but still excited, SIPA was my top choice.
  11. I received my acceptance by email just now. Good luck everyone!
  12. Hi alloy, Thanks for doing this. Are most of the professors full-time, what would you say percentage wise for those that are working in their field and at SIPA in an adjunct capacity? How many students would you say are in the MIA vs MPA, are they split evenly? Are you familiar with the Management specialization and if so, what are the classes like? Whats been your favorite course so far? Much Appreciated!
  13. Hi mbrose thanks for doing this. what is the workload like? Did you feel like your previous experience adequately prepared you for how hard the study is? Any surpises or anything you weren't expecting, negative or positive in your experience thus far? Any background on academic area of focus and what field you hope to work in/do after school would be awesome too!
  14. Schools: Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, NYU, Johns Hopkins, GW Elliot, American, University of Denver, Cal-Berkeley, Syracuse Career goals: Hope to be an FSO Institution: Top 25 US State school Major: Poli Sci/ Minor Spanish GPA: 3.6 (3.79 Major) Years out of undergrad: 2.5 years GRE score: 167 V, 155 Q, 5.5 AW (will take again to try to up quant) Work experience: At the time of application, 2.5 years as a program analyst for large cabinet level agency. Language skills: Spanish (Proficient) Letters of Recommendation: Current high-level FSO who taught at undergrad institution, tenured professor and director of my half-year long study abroad program in Spain, tenured professor, current Executive Director and current supervisor Concerns: 1. Low-quant GRE. 2. Work experience not directly related to international relations/global affairs. I interned senior year and was hired straight out of undergrad to stay with program as an analyst. have extracurriculars e.g., joined foreign policy related professional organizations, tutored LEP but afraid its not strong enough. 3. LOR: believe I have one strong rec from current FSO that was faculty at undergrad, unsure how strong other recommendations will appear to a selection committee Am I in over my head with the big-name institutions? Thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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