PhilzatBerkely

Congratulations to everyone who got it! Obviously, it's a great opportunity. Unfortunately, I didn't get the fellowship. I was pretty upset when I first saw the email, but I'm feeling a lot better now. Will try to apply next year. Do you know if you can request feedback on your application from Boren? Would be curious to find out what I can improve going forward. Anyways, congrats again!!

Thanks, all! I can definitely relate to UnawareInGenera! Finishing up my first year of grad school is no joke - projects don't stop coming and the deadlines are approaching all to quickly!

Gee, can't wait to find out about Boren... anyways, wanted to ask if people here started working with their prospective foreign schools to get the letter of affiliation (paying fees etc)? I was kinda hoping to find out whether I get Boren or not, and then make my moves... What do y'all think?

People don't be shy to post things here The deadline is January 31st: I'm sure with our pool of common knowledge (and common sense) we can all submit solid applications. About me: grad student in my first year applying for a year long language study in South Korea. Good luck, all!

Hey there! I'm applying for Boren Fellowship. I was surprised that no one here talked about Boren. Anyways, how's the process going for you? What country are you applying for?

God bless your soul, my friend! I hope this will help everyone with finances!

@beefmaster and cynlest Because of my work schedule I won't make open house dates, but I already checked out UCSD. I liked the campus, staff and all. It still has IR/PS (previous name of the program) around the campus which I thought they would get rid off by now. In sum, I got good vibes, but the no funding thing really frustrated me. And to answer your question, cynlest, it was very generic - tons of qualified people applied, no money for everyone - we don't have money for you. But please feel free to borrow... I'm gonna try visit Fletcher before making my decision, but so far I've heard very good things about the school and all.

Thanks. How about language learning? Have you taken language courses at Fletcher? The reason I'm asking is that I will be exempt from the language exam as I speaker other languages, but I wanted to take Korean/Japanese/Chinese. I'm not sure when would the next opportunity that I would get learn another language, and I feel like time at Fletcher might it. However, from what I've read on the website, the school wants students to concentrate on other classes. Do you think it will be pretty difficult to balance the coursework in addition to language learning?

Totally agree with you. I was surprised and upset. I was considering going there, but now I will most likely go to somewhere else. Kinda expected more from them in terms of money. What other schools are considering?

Wasn't asked to attend prep program, but I've heard good things about it.

Hi Policykid, Thanks for volunteering your responses here. Much appreciated. How does your coursework look for specializing in risk management? How many quantitative courses are you going to take? Secondly, are you working on campus? Do you know people who do? Finance remains an issue. Thanks again for answering questions.

Got an email from financial aid people - no funding...

I posted this on UCSD/GPS thread, but I'll share it here too. This pretty much summarizes how I feel. Georgetown said no. Fletcher (barely any funding) and GPS (no word on funding yet) said yes. Hi, all. Still waiting on the funding info as well. Can't decide between Fletcher and GPS... Reputation and network from Fletcher will put me into 80K+ debt. GPS will be around 10k-20k, if that...I'm leaning towards GPS because of the following reasons:1. Strong quantitative skills will be acquired (some schools, I feel, can let you bs your way out of it, but not GPS). GPS will make sure you understand numbers, data, etc;2. Language training (whatever you region of concentration is you have to speak that language). Other schools are happy as long as you speak additional language besides English. 3. Money/debt. What are you guys thinking about reputation vs money issue? Personally, it is hard to give up a dream going to top-tier school because of money. I went to a great undergrad school, and it's always nice to hear when people recognize and respect the name of the university (don't mean to sound pretentious or anything). GPS is just not that well-known yet: people in the field know about it, but general public not so much. I won't be attending Open House event, but let me know if you do. Would love to hear your thoughts and comments.

Hi, all. Still waiting on the funding info as well. Can't decide between Fletcher and GPS... Reputation and network from Fletcher will put me into 80K+ debt. GPS will be around 10k-20k, if that... I'm leaning towards GPS because of the following reasons: 1. Strong quantitative skills will be acquired (some schools, I feel, can let you bs your way out of it, but not GPS). GPS will make sure you understand numbers, data, etc; 2. Language training (whatever you region of concentration is you have to speak that language). Other schools are happy as long as you speak additional language besides English. 3. Money/debt. What are you guys thinking about reputation vs money issue? Personally, it is hard to give a dream going to top-tier school because of money. I went to a great undergrad school, and it's always nice to hear when people recognize and respect the name of the university (don't mean to sound pretentious or anything). GPS is just not that well-known yet: people in the field know about it, but general public not so much. I won't be attending Open House event, but let me know if you do. Would love to hear your thoughts and comments.

Hi all! Thanks for starting this thread. The school does look really good, and SD location is amazing. I received nomination from GPS a few weeks ago, so I'm still waiting on official acceptance letter and financial aid/fellowship offer. I also got admitted by Fletcher with a small scholarship. So now I'm debating between top-tier school (Fletcher) that will hit my savings pretty hard, or go with a good school (GPS), and not get myself into a huge debt... Would love to hear your thoughts and comments!

Hello everyone! Got into MALD as well with 16K over two years. Definitely sharing the sentiment that it is an amazing school, but the price tag is incredible. Plus, living in Boston is very expensive too. Got nomination from UCSD (GPS school) few weeks ago. So now I'm waiting on their offer, and decision from Georgetown.

Greetings, folks! I was filling out online application for one of the universities, and it asked me about what other schools I'm applying to. And I think this is pretty weird question. Why do they need to know this?Here's my thought process: if I tell them that I have other options, they will look at it as I don't care for them that much, and they will get other students who REALLY want to go to this school. Or (scenario 2) if I tell them that I'm applying to them only, they'll see it as me being unambitious and without other choices, and will be less likely to accept me. Any thoughts...? Appreciate your comments.

Hey, Tiber Great job on GRE scores. I studied abroad in Universidad de Belgrano. I think the fact that you got your degree there would strengthen your application a lot. Good luck to you.

Hello, folks! I'm pretty excited to start applying this year. Let's just hope it's worth the pain. After few years after undergrad, I can definitely say that I miss reading about International Relations, Security and Diplomacy etc. Right now, I'll be applying for masters in IR. My top choices are Georgetown, Stanford, Tufts, and UCSD. GRE is scheduled for Oct. 17 (9 days from now). Cheers!

Kostya (if I may), You might want to take a loot at Georgetown. The best school in international relations (as far rankings go). Plus, Angela Stent is a pretty famous academic in the area. And department overall looks pretty good (The Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies (CERES). Hope this helps. Alex

Dear all, This thread is incredibly useful and valuable, so thanks for great questions and amazing answers. I was curious if naturalized U.S. citizens (like myself) face more obstacles during application process. Have you met a lot of FSO's who are naturalized citizens? For example, how often do you hear FSO with a slight foreign accent? How slight you might ask? Tourists/visitors think I'm a native speaker, but people from hear can, naturally, spot that I wasn't born in United States. It does give me advantage in regards to having foreign language under my belt. Anyway, it would be nice to hear your thoughts on this.

Hi, good people! I found some solid advise while reading through all your posts. I'll be applying for Fall '16 for master's in International Relations. I think I have good chances of getting into schools I want (Georgetown, Fletcher, Stanford, and UCSD with Georgetown being #1 choice). And, as always, the biggest concern remains DEBT. That's why I listed UCSD as one of my top choices. The program seems pretty rigorous, and they ranked #13 in FP recent poll (not great, but at least it's there). But I didn't see people commenting on the school, nor their program much on here. So I would love to hear your thoughts/comments/rumors etc., especially about hiring prospects in DC.

Oh man... great choices! Congrats on all of them. Personally, I'll be applying to schools this semester (pretty hard to balance full-time job, studying for GRE, and application process). From what I researched, Tufts seems like a great opportunity, especially considering that they will be funding you. And according to one of my professor in UCB, combination of Law and International Relations can make your degree stand out.