john29

Greetings! To make my life story as short as possible, I graduated from a small liberal arts college with a degree in Political Science. My overall GPA was 3.76, with major GPA of 3.92. I had okay GRE scores (verbal/quant) and a relatively high writing score (5.5). All of my professors in the department thought I should go into a PhD program, and I've long thought about the academic route. That said, reading about the academic job market put me off some. I fear the diminishing returns that come with getting a PhD from programs down the "ranking" list, as the placement stats seem to fall off steeply after you get outside the top 25 programs. With that in mind, I applied to a bunch of masters programs in International Relations (which, if I did a PhD program, would be my subfield of focus). I got into Johns Hopkins SAIS and will be attending this coming fall. I realize these types of programs are more "professional" in nature. My main question is whether such programs are ultimately beneficial or harmful to any potential future PhD applications. My line of thinking is to attend SAIS, perhaps try to find a research intensive job for a year or two, and then evaluate whether a Political Science PhD program and academic career is still something I want to pursue. I'm just curious if that kind of masters and experience really adds anything to a graduate application for a top program or if my odds are roughly the same as they would be now, with only my undergraduate degree. I'm excited to attend SAIS and all that comes with it, but if I really was set on an academic career and SAIS wouldn't really help my eventual application to graduate programs (or, if possible, even harm it), then perhaps I would need to reconsider the cost (financially and the years spent) of such a program. I realize programs like SAIS aren't meant to feed into PhD programs, and at the time that I applied, it wasn't my intention. I'm just considering some different options, and I was looking for advice with the path I've outlined above. Thanks!

Greetings! I realize this is late to the game, so I'll try to be as brief as I can. I'm 24 years old, and I've been out of undergrad for a few years (~2.5) with relatively little experience to show for it (and certainly none related to IR). I did do some additional studying in Italy between graduation and now -- beefing up languages (I speak Italian and Spanish at intermediate levels now) and taking additional economics works -- but otherwise, I don't have any real world experience. I graduated with honors in Political Science with a 3.76 GPA (though I got I think a 3.91 or something if you only looked at my last two years and/or Major). For the GRE, I got a 154 on Quant and a 159 on Verbal, both lower than I wanted. I got a 5.5 for the analytic writing section. I had strong recommendations, but otherwise I felt my application was decent in some places, lacking in others, and by no means extraordinary. I ended up applying to American SIS, GWU Elliot, SAIS, and a few lower ranked schools. I honestly thought my odds of getting into anywhere we relatively slim, but I somehow ended up accepted into all. American and GWU weren't a shock to me, but I was a bit surprised at SAIS. I know none of these schools boasts a 10% acceptance rate or anything, but I still thought my lack of experience would have hurt me. All that said, I got no funding assistance from any program I applied to (including the much lower ranked schools). I originally saw myself working within someplace like State (I know, 80% of people probably say that at some point), Defense, CIA, etc or doing work with a think tank, but as I come down to the wire on committing to the program, I find myself with a lot of doubts. This is a decision I personally need to make, but I was curious if anyone on here (I've been reading all the threads for a long time but never posted) has some advice on a few questions that are causing me anxiety: 1. Is SAIS worth 90k plus living expenses for two years for someone without any experience (at least going into the program) in the field? Through a set of unfortunate/fortunate circumstances, I wouldn't necessarily need to take out loans and have them hanging over my head after graduation, but it is still an incredibly large sum (by their own admission, SAIS estimates total program cost is just over 70,000 a year so potentially 140,000 total leaving the program, depending on how one budgets living expenses) to swallow for a policy career. 2. When I look through SAIS placement stats, I see a lot of people going into private consulting and banking. I've become more interested in business since applying, but I wonder, should that be the path I ultimately go down, if an MBA or Masters in Finance or Economics or something wouldn't be better suited. I think this is where my lack of experience shows through. I had a general concept of what I wanted to do, but I haven't spend any time actually doing it. I'm terrified to take the offer without a clear picture of what I'm going to do, but I'm equally terrified to not take the offer, be unable to get any experience in the year or two before applying again (assuming I'm still interested) and being rejected by these programs on the second attempt. 3. Lastly, since applying for the programs, I've grown less and less interested in the area of D.C. while still maintaining my interest in the policy aspect of the programs. I've lived (albeit very briefly) in D.C. before, and I fear the lack of geographic mobility coming out of the program. I'm not sure if anyone knows if people coming out of SAIS (or the other similar programs) have any luck finding positions outside of the normal D.C./NYC box. Apologies for the length. I always end up typing more than I mean to. If anyone can offer advice on any of my questions, I would be incredibly appreciative. I've been going through a sort of quarter life crisis with all of these questions