Ahab

Congrats on making your decision. I'll see you at LBJ!

Congrats. That seems like a great decision!

I'm headed to graduate school. It's exciting to be moving back into a an academically challenging environment. The CLEA applicants for the new year are invited to the banquet for the outgoing Fulbrighters. Hopefully, a few of you make it out! Let me know if you have any other Taiwan-related questions. There was a lot of things I didn't know when I left the states.

I did not get a CLEA. I was an alternate. The people in my group that received the CLEA all had strong language backgrounds; however, they weren't necessarily the applicants with the most language experience. A few of the current ETAs that majored in Chinese did not receive the grant. The CLEA award is a nice way to get free language training and you get the opportunity to live in Taipei for a few months before the rest of the group arrives. At the same time, even without the award there are options for language development. You just have to decide how much time and money you're willing to invest.

I'm pretty sure CLEA notifications come out with the main packer but that feels like a long time ago, so I might be wrong.

Last year, everyone in Taiwan that received a CLEA was an ETA. There were only three awards given out and everyone else that applied for the CLEA was given "alternate status." My impression is that there is almost 0 chance that you'll receive a CLEA without prior Mandarin language experience.

I am headed to UT.

I'm a current ETA in Taiwan. If anyone has any questions, just ask away! Good luck everyone. You're very close to the end of this agonizing process!

+1

And congratulations! That's a fantastic offer from AU.

Not worth it! Take that money!

LBJ, particularly the MPaff, is known for being quant. heavy, which to me is a huge plus. I also think they try to emphasize it because incoming students are routinely surprised at the quant. emphasis (this is what I've heard). Thanks for the report nogone!

I've been leaning toward attending LBJ for the past few weeks; however, I was just offered significant funding for the Security and Intelligence Studies program at Pittsburgh GSPIA. My general interest is security (naval/territorial disputes and domestic conflict/protest) in East Asia and I'm concerned that this part of the world is not a significant focus at Texas LBJ. Pittsburgh seems to have more options for East Asian studies. The money is almost a wash. I received full tuition at LBJ and almost full tuition at GSPIA. What do you think? I also can't attend the open house events at either school. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Cheers.

I just received a funding decision via email.

+1!!

I emailed. It would surprise me if they'd given out many scholarships at this point. JAC seems to be an exception.

Funding decisions will come out next week via email, according to GSPIA student services.

One more thought. I received a lot of advice from undergraduate professors and most of it turned out to be well intentioned but misguided. Perhaps you're in a different position because you're in-state but it's unlikely that your profs have spent anywhere near as much time researching schools as you have. Unless they have maintained relationships with other professors are UT or A&M, it's possible that they are relying on old stereotypes. One thing is for sure, tenured professors did not go to graduate school in an environment as competitive as the one we now find ourselves. This is my second year applying to grad school and just about every school has made a point of telling me about freshly shattered applications records.

D-Lux raises a good point but I think it's worth pointing out that online classes are really kind of unreliable as a barometer of a school's worth (although, I would be pretty frustrated if I had gone through the same experience). I've heard good things about the Bush school in terms of Security Studies and nuclear non-proliferation. They're offering you pretty good funding package, so I wouldn't dismiss it too quickly. That said, I think either LBJ or Pitt would be a great option. Elliott is a better program but Washington is a difficult place to live if you aren't making much money. Even though their classes are at night it is difficult to find paying positions within the district. I think you have to seriously weigh an absolute (the additional cost of Elliott, which for me would be at least $50k) against a hypothetical hypothesis (the "DC is necessary for graduate school because you'll gain work experience"). The job statistic that you pulled is pretty convincing evidence, at least in my mind. Also, I wouldn't too quickly dismiss GSPIA. They haven't released funding yet, but if you get some kind of package it would be a step up from Bush and a chance to gain work experience in DC through the aforementioned semester program. I think LBJ and GSPIA should be considered peer institutions are far as rank within IR schools. Both schools also seem to have a really aggressive strategy for improving the international aspect of their programs. I expect the prestige of both schools to increase in the coming years (look at what LBJ has done with MGPS in just a few short years! - even though it is definitely NOT top 10 ... yet : ) I don't know if that helps you at all. This is part of the thought process I've been going through in the past few weeks. As much as I love Washington DC, I've decided to go to either Texas or Pitt for the reasons mentioned.

I was also named an LBJ Fellow with the same funding package. So far, LBJ is offering quite a bit more than the other schools that accepted me. It's tough to argue with free tuition. I can't attend any of the visitation days, so I'm hoping you guys all go and bring back good reports : ) Stats: 700v, 690q, 5 - 3.9

If your immediate goal is more schooling then CIR would probably be a better choice. I think their program is very quant. heavy, so it leverages well into a PhD program. Why go through a terminal MA like Korbel if you want a PhD or JD? As far as I can tell, CIR is way different from most MA programs. Your decision should really follow your long-term goals. Perhaps you should consider CIR and then a year in a quality job before you return for your doctorate. I didn't apply to SAIS. It's an amazing program but I stuck with programs/schools that carried at least the possibility of funding. Just some thoughts.

Indeed, $1000/month is about right, hence the roommates. Good luck with your decisions DbD. I'm hoping funding notifications will make life easier on all of us.

Accepted for CRS track with a small assistantship. A packet came to my parent's house (my perm. address) in the midwest.

I think CIR is a good program if you want to go for a PhD sooner rather than later. If you would rather work for a while and then return for a PhD I think one of your other choices might be better. For me, it would really depend on funding. Unless you need to build your academic record, it might not be worth paying full price at Chicago. On the other hand, I have a friend who went through the program several years ago and enjoyed it so much that she went straight into the PhD program.

I'm in the same position. None of the schools have let me know about funding yet, so I don't really have all my options in front of me. I was also thinking that we could get a bunch of Gradcafe people, like 20-30, and go in on a row house in Dupont