MsFutureDiplomat

Hi Everyone - I'm happy to add my input as it was very helpful for me while I was applying last year. Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Top 25 National University (Private research university in the USA) Previous Degrees and GPAs: BA (3.75) in History GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 169/162/6.0 Previous Work Experience (Years, Type):3 years as a research assistant (law and history) in undergrad. 1 year in private sector after graduation (HR). 1.5 years working abroad in the country of Georgia (teaching English, college counseling, volunteering for political and humanitarian causes - i did not go with Peace Corps or any other organization, just went independently, which I think helped my application stand out) Math/Econ Background: Nothing. I knew this was the weak point in my application, so I studied hard for the Quantitative section on the GRE and got a good score. I'll have to take an online econ class before starting at SAIS. Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): Russian, intermediate to advanced (took 3 years of Russian in college and studied abroad in Moscow, also it's a major language in Georgia) Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Affairs and Finance Long Term Professional Goals: World Bank or Private Sector (credit risk analysis in ibank) - would like to live in Europe. Schools Applied to & Results: Accepted at SAIS (MA-IR), Yale Jackson, Georgetown MA-russian, GWU, Columbia, and Fletcher. I had about half tuition funding at all of these except Jackson, where I got 0$ even after appealing. Ultimate Decision & Why: SAIS!!!! I like the quantitative focus, it's very well respected in Area Studies, and the opportunity to study in both Europe and DC is important to me for networking reasons. I might have gone to Jackson had they offered a comparable financial aid package; really loved the program. Advice for Future Applicants: Come up with a "theme" that unifies your application, rather than trying to tell your whole life story and throw in anything that might not be totally relevant to your degree. Grad schools want to see FOCUS in applicants, not necessarily the most "well-rounded" applicant. My theme was my love of the former USSR - I had taken a bunch of classes on this area as an undergrad (although my ugrad years were anything but laser-focused!) I had founded a Russian club on campus, studied abroad, etc. So my decision to move to Georgia seemed random to many people, but made sense in this context. Georgia was where I got very politically active after meeting a certain politician during a major transitional period, and this was the focus of my personal statement. I asked him to write me a recommendation (even though I never formally worked for him) and to my surprise, he agreed and asked what he should emphasize! So I spoke to all 3 of my recommenders (Politician, Professor, and Current Boss) in depth and made sure they knew what to emphasize in their letters (basically the fact that I have this passion for the area, I'm driven by my curiosity, and I'm very independent in my work and my decision to move abroad). I'm sure they added other stuff; I never saw the letters, but you definitely should give as much guidance to your recommenders as you possibly can - don't just email them with a quick request!!!!! The letters are an important part of your application's "theme." I was thrilled with my acceptances, and would like future students to feel the same, so I can recommend the following: Don't apply straight out of undergrad unless you have amazing internship/work experience, especially if it is international. Dedicate at least 3 months to the GRE, it means a lot when funding is allocated....maybe even more than UG GPA! I didn't take classes or anything, but I did get the Powerscore books and Manhattan Prep online tests, which were very challenging and prepared me really well. Other than that I just memorized a crazy amount of vocab. For Analytical Writing I approached the essays as I did on the SAT (Look up Shaan Patel's SAT 2400 for an essay template) and I just wrote as much as possible with a lot of big vocab words. My essays were far from perfect but somehow received a perfect score! Then, I decided to apply very early - I wrote my personal statements in June-July 2014 and spent the whole month of August perfecting them. I showed them to my dad, who is a professor at the graduate level, and he gave me good suggestions.....BUT I will caution you against showing them to too many people for editing, because you don't want the letter to lose your own voice and unique character! I sent all my apps off in September-mid October, which I think helped me? In December, I received acceptances from Fletcher and SAIS, then I visited all the campuses in January (you guys should really try to do this, not only to judge which ones will be a good fit for you, but also to show your interest to the admissions/financial aid folks!). For Prospective SAIS-ers - don't worry if you lack an econ background, just nail the Quant on the GRE and they will consider you. I also wrote a little note after my personal statement indicating that I understand my lack of econ background is the weak point of my candidacy, I explained why I didn't take econ in undergrad, and I promised that I would take it before starting if admitted. Maybe this helped me too. Also, the analytical essay for SAIS is really open - which made it difficult for me! I ended up writing about a broad topic related to Russian Area Studies, and my own personal experiences with it (feel free to PM me if you want more details.) Hope this helps!

Made my final decision; I'll be attending SAIS Bologna this fall! See you all soon!

I am planning to do the EES concentration as well, and Kathryn was able to switch my acceptance to the Bologna campus almost immediately after I emailed her to request it. It didn't affect my funding at all (I just have institutional funding, no outside scholarship or anything)

right - thank you for your advice and best of luck in your decision!

Thanks for your advice. I am leaning towards SAIS too. It's just hard to turn down the others :/

Hey everyone Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this. I have gotten great advice in different parts of this forum, so I thought I would ask this question of you all and hope for the best. A little about me- I'm American. I work in Eastern Europe, was considering a career in international development but now I'm not so sure. I went through phases of wanting to work for OSI and GMF. I am especially interested in development banking in the former USSR. With that said, my dream is to become a political consultant (it would be a possibility in Georgia, but it's not the most lucrative career here). Basically I have no set idea of what I want to do, but it would be nice to help build civil society in this part of the world while becoming more financially comfortable. I plan to figure it out in grad school and get the tools to do well in a variety of positions. Now my question!!! I was fortunate enough to be admitted to my top choice programs:Fletcher MALD and SAIS (Eastern Europe concentration - in bologna). Financial aid at both is exactly equal. Unexpectedly, I was also admitted to Yale, with no funding. It will be $40k more expensive in total than the others. The reason I mention this is that money is a big concern for me. I have on,y saved enough to cover my living expenses. The rest will be loan debt. So what I'm asking is, what would you do if you were me? If you're a current student at any of these 3, especially if you had to make this hard choice, your input is extremely valuable. I just have no one "in real life" to discuss this with.... Thanks for reading if you made it this far best of luck in your decisions!

Got in, no word on funding, like everyone else. I didn't get a call or anything so I don't have my hopes up about a fellowship. Ah well, happy to have been accepted almost everywhere I applied, just not looking forward to the amount of debt I'll be in at graduation

Got half-tuition funding (the US Bologna fellowship) for the upcoming year, but no mention of the second year. What does that mean for second year funding? If I have half-tuition for both years, well, SAIS would be a serious contender against Yale for me.....

wow, your funding has been AMAZING!! congratulations!!

This is kind of a weird question but I'm just looking for other opinions. How much debt would it be reasonable to go into for a Jackson degree? I can cover living expenses, but I'll be on my own for tuition. I have no undergrad debt. What would you do in my shoes?

I am 24, but I have been out of undergrad since 21. So I feel ready to go back to school with this amount of work experience. A little nervous about re-adjusting, but ready.

Check your email... You will find another message with attachments. My "official" offer letter was attached, and unfortunately, I was not awarded a fellowship So, I wrote to their office to inquire about FLAS and other sources. We will see what happens. Hope your news is better!

I'm in the same boat. Since I'm interested in working in a developing country in the public sector, I don't want to be too encumbered by loans. With that said, I'm studying a language that should qualify me for FLAS funding (although I know it's not 100%) so that will help a lot. But still, it feels like this process never ends can't wait to see what's in that letter! Best of luck to you for funding; they seem pretty generous with it based on the website anyway...

Agreed! I was rejected by WWS too, and as cliche as it sounds, in my case it came down to the right fit. Will you be attending Jackson?

accepted!!!! i have no words!!!!!!

I was admitted EN but they haven't mentioned funding yet. They said my funding decision would be out in "mid March" - whenever the RD decisions are released. So I don't think you guys will need to wait until April 1. I am sure that my GRE scores played some role in my offer of admission, but after visiting campus and speaking with admissions officers, I learned that work experience is even more important for MALD (international work especially, well depending on your professional focus)....Some people are accepted right out of undergrad, but it's very difficult and they have very high GRE/GPAs plus internship and travel experience. Good luck!

First Rejection! My GRE and GPA were within or above the average for admitted students, but I don't think my sop or policy memos were very strong for them. Moreover, not sure my regional studies interest was ever a great fit to begin with. But I had to apply out of curiosity Congrats to everyone who made the cut!!

I think so. I was already admitted to SAIS in December through Early Notification, but I didn't get any notification either way about funding. I asked the financial aid office and they said the EN and Regular admits funding is released around the same time. They told me my funding decision would be available on the 13th. So I would assume it's the day Regular decisions are released. good luck!

Glad to see I'm not the only one who is absolutely going crazy with the wait/ glued to my phone checking email....

Just got my second letter (didn't come as an email just inside my application portal). $35,000 scholarship because of my interest in Russian area studies. I'm thrilled and honored. Best of luck to everyone else .

I'm in to the MIA program!!!!!! Beyond excited!!!!! Anyone hear about financial aid yet?

Hi everyone, I just got an email from the director of the Russian/Eurasian studies MA program (MAERES) at Georgetown, notifying me of events and contacts for admitted students. I also noticed that on the survey several people have posted that they've been admitted to the MAERES program with varying amounts of funding. I eagerly went to my application and saw no status update!!! What could this mean? They wouldn't send me an email for admitted students if I wasn't admitted, correct? But then, where is my acceptance letter? Or maybe I am wrong... Anyone have any insight on this? Thank you!!

Haven't seen any official statistics on it but I am sure it helps. I didn't indicate a preference and they assigned me to the DC campus. So I think it is worth a try on your part. I have a feeling they chose DC for me because I've been living in Europe since finishing my BA and I never had the chance to work or study in DC before (my undergrad college was in my hometown on the west coast,) but again this is just conjecture. It certainly can't hurt!

Makes total sense. You should email them exactly what you wrote here, and I am sure they will understand. Yes, I finished the Jackson app, and it will be a long wait to hear back from them. The small size of the program really appeals to me! But I am realistic about my chances, I don't think I have a strong enough undergraduate transcript for them. Have you sent yours? Best of luck!

I don't think they care much about spelling and grammar mistakes by recommender as long as they are not extreme or pervasive. Source: i work in admissions counseling for all types of masters programs. My students are from Eastern Europe and the recommendation letters tend to have mistakes here and there. The adcomms know that English is not the writers first language, and they aren't judging the rec writer for admission, so the content is much more important. Not waiving your access is not necessarily kiss of death, but it's not good. You might want to email adcomms to let them know that you selected that by mistake and couldn't change it, and that you haven't reviewed your rec letters, if this is the case.