Atlas445

What programs are you applying to, and what are you career goals?

That's a good point. I feel like many of the individuals motivated enough to find an online community like this and utilize the knowledge and experience that can be derived from these forums are individuals that are generally of an exceptional quality, which is why you may see so many great offers for funding accompanying the acceptances reported here. Also, there is a large community of individuals pursuing PhD programs on this site. PhD programs really are their own category as many programs can and will offer substantial funding for individuals admitted to them because they are generally far more selective, taking on significantly fewer students than most MA programs. PhD programs that don't offer funding would represent a much larger financial burden than most MA programs without funding considering the time necessary to complete a PhD. Lastly, I think it's important to note the title of this forum - "Government Affairs". While I'm sure not that everyone perusing these threads is applying to graduate school with the intention of seeking employment with the U.S. federal government, many probably are as that is a very logical career outcome for people that study things like International Affairs. Many federal agencies offer tuition assistance to help repay student loan debt for individuals that become direct-hire federal employees, as do many larger companies in the DC area working on federal government contracts. The price tag on your graduate study doesn't necessarily translate into direct cost to the individual depending on their career outcome. People seeking employment with agencies like the U.S. Department of State, if successful in attaining a job there, could have their outstanding student debts taken care of without having to make obscene loan payments every month.

I feel like brand/prestige are good things, but the real question to ask yourself is what value you're deriving from a given program. You could go to any school in the DC area and do well for yourself by virtue of the networking opportunities that will be available by being in such close proximity to major federal government and non-profit entities. I would think it should depend more on what your end-goal is in terms of career, and what the professional background/experience of your future professors is so that you can gain better insights into how to break into that career field, and also for the networking value those professors will pose to you as they will undoubtedly have contacts in that field and at the places you potentially would like to be working at post-graduation.

I'm still waiting to hear from Georgetown's SSP program, as are the other SSP applicants. So that's really the only x-factor for me. I was rejected at Harvard's Kennedy School, and Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School. I was waitlisted at Columbia's SIPA program so that pretty much equates to me not going there even if I were to miraculously get accepted off the waitlist seeing as waitlisted students generally receive no funding consideration. Uprooting to New York would mean quitting my job, breaking my apartment lease, and moving to another equally expensive, big city (I live in DC right now) that is further away from the places I'd want to be working at post-grad (Washington, DC ) I was accepted at American University's School of International Service, but with no funding consideration. I was also accepted to George Washington's Elliott School with a decent merit scholarship. Thus the decision becomes pretty easy. Though there seems to be some people on here that cast GW's Elliott School in a rather negative light, I feel that one could be successful at either American or GW in their IR MA programs and the Elliot School is a literally a 20 minute walk from my office. Also, I plan to work full-time and attend full-time so that kind of proximity is a nice bonus, plus their classes all generally start after 5PM, which is also great! Just waiting to hear from Georgetown to see if I get in/receive a better offer.

I feel the same way. I need to know the extent of my options so I can wrap this up and move on!

I'm sorry to hear that man! Now if only Georgetown's SSP program would release decisions already!

I imagine the admissions committee for their SSP program reading this thread and laughing maniacally

I know! I'm so tired of waiting!

I think last year it was around March 27th when SSP released the results, so I'm thinking they're probably aiming for that same date again. The waiting is brutal... too brutal.

I received my acceptance letter on the 16th and I applied to the Elliot School's Security Policy Studies program. It's probably less about the program and more to do with the large number of applications to sort through. Good luck friend!

And don't be afraid to look around in the Northern Virginia areas either. Sometimes there are some great deals to be had, and even if the commute is long you could still end up saving yourself a lot of money every month on rent, which can make it worth your while.

You assume correctly

Hey kingthearab here's something for you to check out. It's a DC area rent heat map. Gives you an idea of what's possible and where it is. As someone living in the area, I would strongly suggest not living in the blue areas of Maryland, just trust me on that. In any case the rest is a mixed bag and I'm sure you could find something affordable either with a roommate or without one.

I PM'd you some thoughts!

What kind of work are you looking for. Maybe a better question is - what are you wanting to do post-graduation?

I'm in the same boat. I was accepted at American's SIS and GWU's Elliot School. I'm already living and working full-time in the DC area, so it's my intention to work full-time and attend full-time (my scholarship offer at GWU is contingent upon this also!). Obviously it's not ideal to have to work full-time and attend full-time, but I'm fairly confident that it's possible as I know several co-workers that have done it. Also, being 27 I like being able to pay all my bills on time lol. I feel like as you get older you start thinking about things like - will I be able to buy a house in the near future? The thought of racking up a lot of excess debt isn't very enticing or conducive to my future financial goals so I feel that in spite of whatever obstacles juggling full-time work/school poses are just things I will have to overcome, but I'm interested to hear feedback from others who have been in this situation, and how manageable it was.

So much waiting...

I applied to their SSP program and no news as of yet. No email, and my application has no updates... the waiting continues...

Kasey also offers good advice here! And you're completely right about the commute. Many not currently living/working in the beltway think that the location differential is not that big of a deal, but if you're going to be working full-time like I will be it's considerably more manageable when you're not having to commute a long distance. This especially saves you money on things like metro cost, which is expensive as a heads up for those of you from out of town . Also, a major concept that is absolutely crucial to finding jobs, getting hired, and developing your career is networking. While it's entirely possible to network successfully at either school, being in really close proximity to State Department, USAID, Federal Reserve, etc. can help in the sense that networking doesn't just take place at events, but in everyday life; at a coffee shop, restaurant, bar, or wherever. Being in proximity to these places increases the odds that you'll run into people currently working at these places that you can network with, and could potentially lead to a job.

I think you should focus on the faculty and classes in the curriculum, and think about what you want to be doing career-wise post-graduation. One of the biggest factors for me is evaluating the faculty, their current and previous research/published work, and their previous work experience. This will give you insight as to what their networking value is, the instructional direction/content you'll receive in their classes, and ultimately - whether this person either through instruction, networking or both will be able to provide you with information and resources that will help further develop your career. While having a "friendlier" atmosphere in terms of your fellow classmates and faculty is a good thing, the most important thing is whether or not this experience is going to significantly contribute to bringing you closer to the job you want to have, or further develop your career enough to justify the time and expenditure that you're going to be putting into one of these programs. Even with significant financial assistance it's still going to represent some cost to you, not just in money, but in time and energy.

Haha, wasn't it just the worst to read through? I thought for a minute that I wasn't reading it correctly or just kept missing some key piece of information. It is worthy to note that GWU's Office of Graduate Admissions was quick to get back to me and answer my question. Some on these forums have said that they aren't terribly responsive so I had low expectations, but they got back to me within a few hours, which given the time of year, is a pretty good turnaround time. 12k per semester is an amazing offer, congrats asaretrede!

It looks like you got into some good schools though, so you'll definitely have some options to sort through in the coming weeks! Congratz on getting into SIPA, I got waitlisted there so for me the Ivy League unicorns were just a bit out of reach hehe.

Emailed the office of graduate admissions and they confirmed in writing that it's per-semester so "you will receive $ 5,000 to be applied toward tuition in Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016 and Spring 2017" means $20k total for the program, which is excellent news! Congrats to everyone that has been accepted!

So much waiting...