DCB

Just received an e-mail informing me of my acceptance off the waitlist for the Security Studies Program. Not sure if it's going out for everybody, but I have received mine. Tough deal. Just deposited at American.....but the lure of GW is real.

Weird. I too was surprised by the April 15th date, especially considering that in the past waitlist decisions have come in May. But she seemed very sure about that April 15th date. And, I mean, they asked us to respond by April 1, compares to SAIS who asked me to respond by May 1. I would think that would mean they're making a quicker decision, but who knows.

You're allowed to, you just lose your deposit. They may not be happy with you, but ultimately your priority needs to be on you. Hedging your bets by doing exactly what you speak of is the wise move.

Called today and the lady on the phone said around April 15th. Much sooner than I expected.

It's that and the fact that credit hours at Georgetown cost more. The price of one credit hour at GW/Elliott costs $1,600. At Georgetown it costs $1,989.

Any feedback from people that attended the Admitted Students Day today?

You'll find a decent amount of lukewarm to negative reviews for SIPA on this forum, I know that much. Take that for what you will.

Was that off waitlist or had you just not heard back from them until now?

Nope. I believe April 1st was the deadline for waitlist to respond so hopefully we'll see some movement soon. Thought it was kinda strange they used google forms to accept the waitlist spot. I was waitlisted at SAIS and they had me personally email them and subsequently they confirmed.

Welcome to the club. If you want any saving grace, I would think GW has the highest waitlist-to-acceptance rate just because of how many other people that get in go to SAIS/SFS and other programs.

Also, I think one thing that gets neglected on this forum is personality and the ability to network. Outside of test scores, work experience, GPA, etc. And that's something that, if you're confident in, can render a lot of the debate about whether you can make it in DC or NYC null and void. If you're confident that you can come in and make connections quickly then that's a giant part of the cost-benefit analysis of grad school that, objectively, people on this forum can't judge.

Yeah, it's easy to get discouraged because they're are so many people here that have worked or been in the military and are able to amass considerable funding. For those of us straight outta undergrad, it's not as easy as "just work for a bit." The job market doesn't really work that way anymore. I'm with ya in that I don't wanna go through this process again, it was bad enough one time. And I don't see myself doing anything remarkable enough in the next year or two with just a Poly Sci BA that'll get my funding way up. I'd rather just head into my Master's now while I'm motivated and young enough (23) that I can make things work with relatively no strings attached.

Absolutely, and by no means am I against people putting finances at the forefront. And, as one of the above posters mentioned, it isn't wise to turn down significant funding at a Top 10 school in favor of no funding at, say a top 5. That being said, if somebody has a 10K per year difference between Fletcher and Georgetown and they REALLY wanna go to GU....in that case, thats where I say just go for it. I'm not saying throw all caution to the wind, but if you do your research and think you can swing it if things even go moderately well then by all means, shoot.

Alright, I'm not sure this place is exactly representative because, at least from my perspective, this forum is EXTREMELY cost and risk averse. There are so many people on here that fret over the financials and debt and rightfully so. But, at the end of the day, you have to decide whether you're going to make decisions based upon saving money or taking risks and actually going for what you want. Those who are married, have kids, have large debts from other sources- those are different circumstances. But if you're moving to either DC or New York and you've got the option to go to your dream school then just DO IT. Y'all gotta believe in yourself more. Go in with the attitude of "I'm taking on this debt, but I'm gonna work my ass off, get a killer job, and in time I'll pay it off. And I'll know that I did things my way." And, you know what, if things don't work out exactly to plan, I'm sure you'll find a way to make it work. This forum is filled with extremely smart people and the last thing I want to have at the end of the day are a bunch of people, 10 years down the line, wondering what could have been if they just went for it.

Would you mind elaborating on exactly what was so bad about their accepted students day? Trying to decide between Elliott and others so I'd like to hear what went so poorly about that day when you went.

It's clear to me, at least, that your heart is already with American. Don't overthink it.

I'm in a position of no aid from either GW or American and I'm honestly starting to lean towards American. I applied with the mindset of going to GW, but after looking over professors and the program a lot (Security Studies), I'm starting to like SIS more and more for a few reasons. 1. The people have been awesome so far. From the Director of the GGPS personally contacting me and the staff who have answered every question I've had in great detail, it's just been very impressive. They're clearly ambitious and motivated to improve their name and their program. They have a lot of people who did their undergrad at GW and so they can give a great perspective on the differences between the two schools. They never badmouth GW, which I appreciate a lot, but merely point out things that they've noticed in comparing the two programs. 2. Clarity. SIS has been really great at laying out everything on their website, making the curriculum easy to understand and plan. They even have the Fall 2015 courses up with professors and faculty links, which was great for me researching potential professors to work with. GW does have some of this same information, but it's extremely difficult to find and a hassle. This isn't a dealbreaker either way, but it factors in for right now. 3. SIS just gives me a vibe that I could be extremely successful there. Again, it's not like I think I could not succeed at Elliott, but the support and vibe I've received from SIS in only two weeks speaks volumes. I know their currently going out of their way and wanting to make good first impressions, but if this type of support lasts two years, it'd be very hard for me to turn their offer down.

That's a really good point, I hadn't thought of that aspect of networking but that's definitely true. Nothing is really out where American is, as far as I understand. Starting to feel like I'm gonna have to go up for the Admitted Students day and compare the two. Pros and Cons for each one, although I feel like people generally seem to think GW has the edge because of a lot of the reasons mentioned, in spite of its flaws.

^^^this might sound like an over simplification, but if you can go to Harvard...go to Harvard. I think thats one of the few schools that justifies the incredible cost.

Yeah, GW definitely seems big on pushing their location and proximity to big institutions. Which, by all means, is great and really convenient. But all other things considered, it's not a dealbreaker either way.

This was just posted by SSP Admissions Twitter (12:42 ET) SSP Admissions ‏@SSPAdmissions 45s45 seconds ago Almost done digging our way out of applications! Thank you to all who applied. Decisions coming end of March/early April. Good luck to all!

In a somewhat similar boat. Money isn't as big a difference as it is for you, but I like a lot of what I see from American so far. I just never hear of people straight up choosing American over GW so I'm hesitant to do it myself.

Just got mine, waitlisted for Security Studies. At this point, almost morbidly hoping for a Georgetown Waitlist so I can have a simultaneous trio of Elliott-SAIS-SFS waitlists.

Yeah, considering that there are multiple people here who've been admitted to Fletcher/SAIS/SIPA, I'm confident it isn't just a reject batch coming out.

Called admissions and the guy said that they release decisions on a "case-by-case basis." They hope to have all decisions out "sometime this week." Dude I talked to didn't seem particularly helpful, maybe somebody could try to get more out of em than I was able to.