ZebraFinch

Gently, you'll just have to be very persuasive that you understand what you're critiquing. You're not "holding a discussion", you're asking to be admitted into a cohort of professionals and possibly get funded. The "hoop" to jump through is higher. I'm writing all this as a person who took a similar approach in fellowship/grad apps some years ago and today cringe when I remember what I wrote.

I think it could be challenging to criticize the field, while not having much experience in said field, and not be seen as someone who doesn't understand what they're saying because they've been the person outside looking in, if that makes sense. If you're taking a very critical approach, then imo there should be professional experiences in your life that add weight to your criticisms. Perhaps taking a stance more of questioning, curiosity, and wanting to learn different approaches, rather than "this all sucks and here's why", in your SOP would be more beneficial. I read your other post and that's my impression.

This was my thought....

If you want to stick to IR, don't get a JD. I mean, I'm not convinced an MPP/MPA/grad school is an answer for an IR job either, but still better than a JD. I've met two people with JD's only, and they both had a ton of experience elsewhere before getting an IR job.

If your employer will pay for it, why not? I have one and found it to be fairly useless in terms of grad admissions. But, I learned a lot and would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to get one for free to do it.

If you have already decided on MSFS, apply for MSFS.

There's enough course overlap in the various SFS programs, I would say that the academic rigor is about the same (except with the examinations particular to MSFS) in these programs. SSP seems to attract more folks with some military background than MSFS. Given the costs of these programs, between the two, I'd pick SSP. But also, why not the Arab studies MA program? If you're looking at reaching the highest language levels you can, I'd 100% go for a regional program.

There is no question at all when there's a full ride at SAIS vs having to take out loans of some kind at Georgetown. Furthermore, if you're competitive enough to get full funding at SAIS, I think you'll be able to shape your career as you want quite well. State Department, at least for the Foreign Service, also does not care where you went to school.

I had a hilariously bad Q score, same V score as you, and a high AW score. I got in everywhere I applied, with funding. I had a good econ/quant background from undergrad and work experience. So, I think you have a shot. Re-take if you want as you have time to prepare, but don't lose sleep over it.

Exact same experience here. The lower-ranked school offered almost nothing, while the other programs I applied to were much more generous, and effectively were then cheaper to attend in the end.

In my experience, it's extremely hard to get into that without prior military experience, for a variety of reasons. I've yet to meet anyone who managed it without prior military experience, but I'm not going to say it's impossible. If you really want to go for it anyway, I would advise to at least go for a more reputable program that's at least more competitive for other positions in the very likely scenario the military analyst thing does not work out.

Would also include specific programs. Georgetown funding varies by program, for example.

RE: age. Lots, if not most, Pickering fellows are on the older side. Youngest I've ever known was 25 at the time of the interview, and the rest were all at least 27-29 at the time of being awarded the fellowship. This was different, of course, when the undergrad fellowship existed, but not anymore. So, you won't be that much older than the many or most of the finalists. I do believe you can't get a degree abroad with the program, though.

The aid figures are meaningless without the cost of tuition. Georgetown seems like a decent deal, but the cost of living in DC can increase expenses by a whole lot. From these figures alone, I would say Duke looks like the cheapest option. But, as was already said, go for the one with the lowest cost of attendance.

@ExponentialDecay saying it like it is. I couldn't agree more. I want to yell at people when they say they have no work experience but are willing to take on this amount of debt for a chance to maybe improve their job prospects. I'm also doing a regional program and am pretty happy about it, but still wouldn't have gotten this degree with no/little funding. I think the general degrees are not the best idea. Also, jealous you got into the Harvard regional program... I didn't apply as I was not willing to move again, but have heard amazing things about it.

In a different program at SFS, but I know people in both. I understand MSFS is a tad more quant heavy, but I wouldn't call it a quant heavy program overall. In terms of academics, I've yet to hear a single positive thing about SSP faculty in terms of their teaching ability. The students have a bit of a reputation for being snobs, but I honestly don't see how that should factor into anyone's decision about whether to go or not. I have the opportunity to take SSP courses, but am turned off from doing so because of what I've heard about the quality of instruction, and well I'm not too interested in it anyway. Of course, these people may (probably) have had a bias against that field. MSFS is the golden child program at Georgetown, at least based on the facilities/office of the program and its students. People seem more familiar with it as well. The more general nature of the program should allow you some greater flexibility about choosing classes. I would say overall, MSFS is a more general program, while the rest of the SFS programs have a specific focus. It's up to you to decide which way you want to go. With my previous work experience, I would advise people to save $$$ and go into a specific program. Between these two, I can't speak about which one seems to have better career stats, since the people I know in them had fellowships, so were not looking for jobs after graduation. I applied to both MSFS and my program, and honestly, my program people were so much kinder and more responsive, I'm glad I didn't go to MSFS in the end. If you have funding and no financial concerns, go with whatever you think will make you happiest. I am very happy at SFS, but honestly, I do not believe it's worth the cost if you have no funding. The career center is pretty active, which is great, but the coveted opportunities (such as informational interviews with recruiters of three letter agencies) are full within about 30 seconds of opening.

If you're not sure about the government, well, I don't know of others that don't have a work requirement with the gov Maybe the Truman scholarship, but I believe you have to be in your final year of undergrad to apply for that one.

If you're competitive enough to get that amount of funding, I would say you're competitive enough to get external fellowships, if you're interested.

Just to add on the "how much is 100k?". It's about a 20% downpayment on a small to medium home just outside of DC itself.

No. Because IR is a hypercompetitive, long-shot field (especially the Foreign Service or jobs of that nature), I would never advise people to get into that much debt for this degree. Here's a common scenario for people interested in IR: - move to DC - take entry-level job in DC (sometimes this comes before the first step, depends on the person). Note that "entry-level" can also mean "internship" (unpaid or paid) or "fellowship". But whatever the official title, it'll likely be either a short-term job, or a low paid one, or both. - Because you have a low-paying job in DC, and DC is expensive, you'll fork over a fair amount of money towards rent with roommates, or to live far away from the center and have a long commute. - And you still have to pay off the loans. The above is totally doable for a lot of people when they're young. But as you get older, if you're interested in marriage/having kids/home ownership, that large debt + little savings is a big obstacle to overcome. I know many people around my age (and I graduated undergrad quite a long time ago) who are "stuck" from doing things they want because they can afford to live in DC and pay off their debt, but little else on top of that. Since many of these types of jobs are sort of tied to DC, moving is not a very easy option. If you're getting absolutely no funding at all, improve your application (this also means "work experience") and try again next year. Apply for external fellowships too; Rangel, Pickering, Payne, the new State dept IT fellowship, Truman scholarship, etc. If you're convinced you must get an IR degree first, at least go to a cheaper school (I think this is still a terrible idea, but it's up to you). I can only speak for the people who want to enter Foreign Service/State Dept, but I've found work experience is more important than a degree, by far. No experience + fancy IR degree is not going to vastly improve prospects. Take whatever low-paying or temporary, but relevant, job in the field you want first, do that for a year or two, then go to grad school. Of course, if you're already well-connected, or have family that can pay your tuition or rent or whatever, that is different. But as a person from a very broke family with 0 connections who made it in, I wouldn't get that debt/degree for just a slightly bigger chance. I'm especially concerned that my school is accepting more people straight from undergrad with no experience.

Not at this program, but same university, depends on the year of the cohort/program. Some programs at the school now offer the same funding for both years if you get good grades the first year, but if they letter didn't say anything about it, don't count on it.

Am in one of these grad schools (DC-area) now. I love it, but no, I can't justify taking out that much in loans for it. I've lived in DC a few years before starting grad school and I haven't noticed a particular "edge" for people who have the most coveted IR degrees but no other experience. If you want to get an IR degree regardless, I would say the DC schools are more worth it because of the networking/internship opportunities here. Apply for external funding or work a few years and save some money up. I recommend working for a couple of years anyway, because you'll be a more competitive applicant, and thus it'll be more likely you receive more funding. Professional experience also means you'll have a better sense of what you want to do post-graduation. I would say getting an IR degree with a very specific position in mind is not a good idea either. If you're flexible, there's jobs in the field for you, but if you just want to join the Foreign Service (seems to be the top choice in my program), this is an expensive way to do it, with no guarantees. Running away to another country... great if you never plan to come back.

Nah I didn't go. Would love to meet up.

I'm around, doing my domestic internship at State right now at the Russia desk! Having a great time and still happy to answer questions or provide as much advise as I can.

Yay! I was worried no one from grad cafe got it! I'll see you in Georgetown! Congrats!