treegirl109

Previous Schools Poorly ranked state school Previous Degrees and GPAs: BA in Political Science and International Affairs 3.51 GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 154/154/4.5 Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): Fulbright Scholar 1 year (also internships at U.S. embassy abroad, with a U.S. Senator, and at the U.S. Peace Corps). I also have extensive work with a nonprofit. Math/Econ Background: Very little. Just macro and micro econ classes. Foreign Language Background elementary French and Turkish Long Term Professional Goals: concentrating in European Studies Schools Applied to & Results: See signature Ultimate Decision & Why: SAIS. SAIS was actually my dream program after reading about the various classes and programs. I like the idea of living in Washington, DC in order to intern while attending graduate school. I feel I'll be better connected to future employers and alumni. Furthermore, I have a friend who currently attends Tufts who was having trouble finding an international paid internship for the summer. She also complained about being overshadowed by Harvard and MIT in the area. Neither seem to be a problem for SAIS students. SAIS seems to be better for European Studies as well. Finally, I recently attended a conference, and upon mentioning both schools I got far better feedback for SAIS than Tufts. For instance, I was told, "Oh! Both are excellent schools, but honestly, SAIS graduates are the most prepared students for the real world." I didn't give much consideration to American. I felt Tufts and SAIS were better programs. Although Tufts gave me more money than SAIS, I see graduate school as an investment. I'd rather make the right investment than the cheaper investment. Advice for Future Applicants: My current Fulbright roommate was accepted to Princeton's WWS with a lower GRE scores than myself. Don't write yourself off from a program due to your GRE scores. Schools are looking more for your experience AND a comprehensive narrative (I mean, do you have a clear vision of where you are going?). Cast a wide net. I didn't get into a program I thought I was going to for sure be accepted to (Notre Dame), but I had so many other fantastic options that it didn't end up mattering too much.

I opted to interview as part of my Fletcher application, and since then, I have had a great relationship with their admissions office.

Honestly, Foreign Policy magazine names University of Denver as having the 11th best Master's program in the world for IR. Sure, maybe you'll have to work a little harder, but there can't be so much difference between no. 11 and no. 2, can there? Free is extremely difficult to pass up. If you want to get your PhD or go into academia definitely choose University of Denver. If you want to work for a big company, organization, or government SAIS MIGHT be worth the investment. Link to FP magazine: http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/03/top-twenty-five-schools-international-relations/?utm_content=bufferabf1a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

I see a lot of you were also accepted to both SAIS and Fletcher. I'm torn between the two. I feel like SAIS has a better reputation. I also like SAIS's focus on quant (even though I'm a little scared at the same time). I like the idea of living in D.C. where I can easily get an internship during the school year (already think I have a phenomenal part time internship in the bag, in fact). What I don't like is the size of the program (too large), but maybe I don't have a firm grasp on what the different cohort sizes are actually like. Also, I'm worried about the language requirement. You must have proficiency in a foreign language taught at SAIS. Although I have previously studied at French, I'm worried about getting my level up to a proficient standard. I absolutely love Boston (even though there seems to be less networking/internship opportunities in IR in the area). I also like that you can cross-register for classes at Harvard and MIT. I like that the program size is slightly smaller, and the alum network seems to be extremely tight-knit. Also, the language proficiency can be in any language (and I feel like I can take a proficiency exam in Turkish). I don't like that many outside of the IR field are not familiar with Tufts. Furthermore, Tufts seems to be overshadowed by Harvard and MIT being in the same area.

It's really great seeing that even though so many people were rejected they have some amazing school/program on their accepted list. I need to keep reminding myself that I'm one of those people too. It's hard getting 3 rejections in a week, but I keep having to remind myself that I got 2 acceptances a long time ago that I can't forget about! Congrats for those who were admitted! For those feeling rejected, think of something awesome you've accomplished this year! I bet you've all done something amazing.

So my friend was accepted to the Woo last year. She received a "YES!" email from an admissions counselor on March 12th. Most people seemed to have been notified last year on March 14th. She did receive another email on March 14th that seemed to be her official email. She thinks she received an early notification because she has a personal relationship with the admissions counselor. However, there was no "YES!" in the official email (the one that came on the 14th). Maybe I'm just going crazy with all of the notifications coming out and 2 rejections under my belt, but does everyone who gets in receive this "YES!" email? Does it come early? Freaking out now.

I had not sent my official GRE scores to Princeton, and they emailed me asking to send them as soon as possible. So I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Although my transcript arrived on November 5th, I am worried the same thing might have happened to my application as nss302. I emailed them about my completed application (I do not live in the United States so calling isn't easy for many reasons), and I received this message in response: Thank you for your inquiry. Due to the high volume of the applications received, we unfortunately cannot provide any information on the status of individual applications at this point. We will be in touch about the status of applications in the coming weeks. I'm just going to call next week. Hopefully all issues will be resolved, and worst case, I have to wait until March to find out like the rest of my schools. At this point, I think that's what's going to happen.

On the voicemail, they said they will be out of the office for the holidays December 30th and January 1st and 2nd. I think the voicemail is mistaken. I think they meant December 31st and January 1st and 2nd.

Still nothing for me either. I guess I'm going to call later.

Would you be willing to share more info? Like what campus you applied for, etc? I'm banking on the batches thing too, and I'm dying.

Where? There doesn't seem to be anything different on my page? Am I the only one with no decision yet?