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acm14

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  • Location
    (American in) Pakistan
  • Application Season
    2015 Spring
  • Program
    MPP / Intl Affairs

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  1. I"m probably going to get flak for this but here goes.... I quote directly from a current SAIS friend I skyped last week, with whom I studied foreign affairs as an undergrad: "It's way easier to do well here than undergrad, and some of the students here just aren't that smart. I had to try a lot harder in undergrad to stand out against the other students. But really, that ends up being kind of an advantage in the end when it comes to the job market" Clearly there are many, many bright, ambitious, intellectual, and heavy hitting SAIS students. I also think it's a big class, and when you have a massive class size, you get some people who....aren't. Obviously though, I think the program is worth spending a lot of money on, I think there's incredibly high quality faculty / professional opportunities at SAIS, and I'm excited to be a part of the program next year.
  2. Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Top tier private university known for its foreign policy and government programs Previous Degrees and GPAs: BS in International Politics, 3.71 GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 168/ 157/ 6 Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 1.5 federal consulting in the international affairs / defense space. 1.5 years as a fellow at a university in Pakistan working for the university president and a university-affiliated development org Math/Econ Background: Micro/Macro/ITrade/IFinance (non required calcus). No for-credit math, but did take a Coursera calculus course for my grad school resume Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): Modern Standard Arabic (2 study abroad stints in the MidEast, passed undergraduate proficiency exam). Beginning level Urdu Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Affairs with a security studies focus Long Term Professional Goals: Public sector foreign affairs/national security policy....State Dept, esp Conflict & Stabilization Ops or something like that, NSC staff, intelligence community. Haven't ruled out foreign service. Schools Applied to & Results: Accepted: Fletcher ($50k over 2 years); SAIS ($15k first year funding, potentially renewable); Georgetown SSP (no money). Rejected: HKS, WWS Ultimate Decision & Why: SAIS. Honestly, I'm not suuuuuper excited about SAIS because I feel like it's big and impersonal and the quality of the student body is very uneven -- but I recognize that it's a fantastic stepping stone to get where I need to go. I love so much about Fletcher, but at the end of the day, it feels irresponsible not to be in DC for the networking / internship opportunities when what I want is a public sector job, and I want to build my public sector resume. Plus, I'll need to brush up on my language skills, and it seems easier to do that at SAIS. Moreover, while Tufts offers better flexibility to tailor your own academic interests, the STRAT concentration at SAIS seems to be really strong and to deliver a strong sense of community at SAIS, even if the broader SAIS program lacks it. I'm going in with the attitude that I'll have to really focus on networking / classes to get what I want out of SAIS. Gtown SSP was always my least favorite program (I think there's value to having two networks, which you may have realized from the above information wouldn't be the case if I went to SSP. Plus, I felt like it was designed more for people with day jobs going to school at night on the side, and I generally get the sense that the student body there isn't as intellectual)....so when they didn't give me money, it was a very, very easy decision to say no. Advice for Future Applicants: Talk to as many alums as you can about their experiences with the program BEFORE starting your apps, both to get a better feel for how to write an SOP for that school, and to weed out any schools you wouldn't actually want to attend if you got in (for me and my professional/personal goals, this was SIPA). Start your SoP's early and have many people read them. I completely messed up my first round of essays, but luckily it was ok because I had over a month to rework all of them. Also, this has been said so many times, but DON"T GO STRAIGHT FROM UNDERGRAD. I cannot fathom what the advantage is to going straight from undergrad, when all of these schools tell you that they strongly discourage it. Even if you get in (with funding, which is practically a pipe dream from undergrad), you'll be applying for a job in a notoriously competitive field/crappy funding environment, but with less work experience than all of your classmates -- i.e. your fellow job competition. I guess if what you want is to go into academia and you want to get an MA in advance of a PhD, then maybe go straight from undergrad. But otherwise, just get some work experience!
  3. I've been accepted to Fletcher with $50k over 2 years, and SAIS with $15 first year funding, which may/may not translate to $30k over 2 years. (I can't find anything in my paperwork that says it's renewable, but everyone on this forum has mentioned that SAIS funding is renewable for the second year....I've got to email for some clarification), and I'm having similar problems to everyone here, though I'm less worried about the prestige thing because my goal is to work in Washington (or internationally in a government post) Just like chelaylay, I went to undergrad in DC and I thought the location was invaluable (gtown sfs undergrad...if it wouldn't be totally redundant for me, I would kill to go back there for MSFS. I can wax poetic about SFS all day). The internships and exposure 100% contributed to my network, industry knowledge, resume, and professional opportunities. So now, after I've decided I definitely want to work in public sector foreign / security policy, I feel like it would be irresponsible to turn SAIS/DC down. Because my goal is to work in security policy, and I worry that turning down SAIS and its Strategic Studies program for Tufts is a misstep. From everything I hear, the Strategic Studies program is incredibly strong, Eliot Cohen does an amazing job of securing resources for STRAT students, and STRAT does have a sense of community, even if SAIS doesn't. Plus, the department is overflowing with former practitioners, who I feel are generally more valuable than academics when it comes to leveraging professors in the job search. Meanwhile, Fletcher seems like a fantastic education, but if we're being totally honest, their strength seems to be in humanitarian relief, human rights, and post-conflict development in developing countries (does someone want to argue with me here? I would love to hear another opinion on this ) But.....like everyone on this threat, I have never met a Fletcher alum who hasn't gushed about his/her love of Fletcher and about how amazing the program is (for all the internationals on this thread-- that includes the Pakistani Fletcher grads I've met here in Lahore/Islamabad). Meanwhile, back in DC I met a ton of SAIS grads who were having difficulty finding jobs, and fewer who gushed about their love of SAIS. Most SAIS grads seemed to like their program and viewed it as a savvy career stepping stone, but their level of enthusiasm paled in comparison to Fletcher grads. Plus, $50k over two years from Fletcher....that's appealing! Anyhow. I know that this is a great choice to have, and that I can't really make a wrong choice here. But if there's anyone who's attending Fletcher or SAIS who also has a U.S. national security policy focus, or who has any advice / responses for me, I'd love to hear from you.
  4. Totally agree. I would never send out a job resume more than 1 page, but my grad school resumes were all 3 pages. I did that mainly because HKS suggested resumes be between 2 and 4 pages (not that I got in, but I at least got in elsewhere with that resume ) See HKS's post on resumes: http://hksadmissionblog.tumblr.com/post/95704372921/2015-application-long-term-planning-series-post
  5. Admitted to SAIS DC campus with 15k in first year funding....I kind of like SAIS the best, but with 50k guaranteed funding to Fletcher....I'm not sure I like SAIS THAT much better!!
  6. Yeah, so I got $25k per year, so $50k total. Which was unexpected and very welcome! In terms of negotiating funding and the AdCom "seeing right through it" -- you have to frame it differently. You're not tricking them out of money. Once you're accepted, the school genuinely wants you. If you tell them (honestly, because they'll probably ask for proof) that you would really like to go to their school, but someone else offered you more money, they might be willing to match/revise the offer because at this point, they want you to attend. And if they say no, they're not going to rescind your acceptance / funding at that point. The worst that'll happen is that they say no....so what's the harm in nicely asking? Obviously you should only negotiate if you genuinely would attend their school with better funding. Don't be an a-hole and waste their time, just to see what they'd be willing to give you. (I'm sure you wouldn't do that, but it's worth noting for the many readers )
  7. Thank god for god news, after a brutal day from HKS and WWS yesterday. Admitted to MALD with $25k in funding
  8. Obviously if you called, your information should be good. But when I check the results page, I only see results from the Asian Studies MA program and the Eurasian/Russian MA program. What am I missing?
  9. I applied to Georgetown MA SSP and haven't heard a thing yet either. When you say you "got word", do you know of someone who's been admitted?
  10. Also got that email from Fletcher, with the same phrasing of "enjoyed reading about" my work experience. Same feelings as you -- appreciate the gesture, would love to read into it as a good sign, but know that it's almost certainly just a nice gesture that was sent in identical fashion to every applicant, meant to placate us and calm our nerves rather than imply good news. Womp.
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