vanatrick

Anyone else get into the Keough School at Notre Dame?? Got an offer email today - comes with a full-tuition scholarship and living stipend! Looking to see if anyone else here got in.

I faced the same choice as many of you above and accepted my offer from NPSIA. Obviously it goes without saying that the dilemma between the two programs is a good one to have—either is great preparation for a career in policy. NPSIA does look to be on the decline (at least relative to other programs), but I decided to make my decision in part based on what is true right now—for the time being, NPSIA is still the most highly regarded program in the country, with the better-known faculty, and so I suspect it provides at least slightly better opportunities for scholarly engagement/interaction with leading scholars in the field. GSPIA does seem to place more of a structural focus on professional development with its internship and co-op offerings, though I think I saw a post from last year that stated that 90% of NPSIAns manage to land summer co-ops after the first year (not guaranteed, but still, not the most discouraging statistic either). To be honest what really drew me to GSPIA was the bilingual nature of the program - I spent a very long time learning French and a bilingual program would have been a great way to keep my language skills sharp, so I'll just have to work extra hard at NPSIA not to lose them! You really can't go wrong either way. In the end I think you just have to go with the program that feels right to you, the one that instinctually appears to be a better fit. Something about NPSIA's tradition, Carleton's campus, and the cohesiveness of the program and cohort made it feel right for me.

I would ask Tabbatha but I imagine so. I took my econ courses through Thompson Rivers University and they worked just fine.

My last name starts with C so that's a possibility.

I got an email from the FGPA. If you're still waiting on yours I wouldn't worry about it—the results from last year show that applicants who were all unofficially accepted the same day received funding notifications at different times.

Thanks @lew! I found the funding info on "Statement of Standing" page to be a lot more clear and comprehensible than on the "Awards and Funding" page, just FYI!

My formal offer for NPSIA just came in—$14k in funding! I will probably not be turning this down

I was accepted to the MIA but without funding. I probably won't be able to justify paying all of that $ when schools in Canada are offering me quite a bit of funding...

Just got into NPSIA as well! I hope word on funding comes in soon!

I'm having the same problem. This says that there should be a "view letter" option, but I'm not seeing it anywhere.

I'm still on "Recommended for Assessment" as well.

I'm turning down Munk. GSPIA is giving me until the 25th to respond, so hopefully I'll hear back beforehand!

That's how I kind of see it too. NPSIA and, to a somewhat lesser extent, GSPIA are great preparatory programs for careers with the federal government: a ton of their students get government internships, the people students network with are mostly government-affiliated, etc. That almost comes with the terrain—if you're in a professional program in Ottawa it will just naturally be easier to pursue a career within a federal agency. But that strong link between the Ottawa-based programs and the government is also its main limitation. A Munk professor told me that a student in NPSIA or GSPIA might find themselves having to take a federal job even if they would prefer working in the private or nonprofit sectors, that there's a risk of getting "trapped." So in the end it really does come down to what you want to do after graduation. If you're fine with working for the federal government (as I'd be open to doing, even if it's not necessarily my first choice), then turning down a great offer from NPSIA or GSPIA and paying Munk's astronomical tuition fees just doesn't seem like it would be worth it. But if you want to expand your options beyond government then going to Munk might be a worthwhile investment.

I'm sure that a U of T graduate degree would be helpful if you're searching for jobs internationally, but a place like, say, GSPIA opens the door to great Canada-based careers: GSPIA has a website with a list of alumni, most of whom seem to be in interesting governmental positions (and there's a few too who are based abroad). Since grads of the less internationally recognized schools seem to enjoy quite a bit of professional success, I'm not sure that the name "U of T" alone is enough to justify that high of a price tag unless one specifically wants to pursue a career in a large intergovernmental organization or international NGO.

Yeah that's exactly it. Munk's tuition is $20k a year. Two years of tuition fees plus two years of living expenses in Toronto.... I would really love to go but it's not gonna happen haha.

I hope that NPSIA gets back to us sooner rather than later! Last year the first decisions went out on March 10 but every other school this cycle appears to be sending out decisions earlier than usual... Then again it's also possible that they'll send out decisions later than usual. Looking at the thread from last year, nobody at this point was still on the "preliminary review required" or "review in progress by department" stages, but that seems to be where we're all at right now.

I got into Munk this morning as well - 5k in funding. Will probably turn down because it's still soooo ridiculously expensive.

Thanks @Pri02 and @alyshim!! Nah, I'm still waiting on the other schools that everyone else is applying to but it's reassuring to have one acceptance!

Received an acceptance from GSPIA today! Seems like they're pretty quick after they acknowledge receipt of documents (which they take forever to do) - Infoweb showed my file as complete on Feb 18 and I was admitted today (Feb 28). No word on funding yet.

I see "review in progress by department." It's been like that for around 2 weeks I think.

I wouldn't worry about it. I mailed my documents to GSPIA in late November and only yesterday did Infoweb update to show that they received the documents. If you sent yours in, you should be fine. They will probably take forever though

I applied to NPSIA, Munk, GSPIA, and Balsillie (as well as IHEID in Geneva). I was freaked out about not getting into grad school so I applied to five programs haha. These are going to be two long months...

Thank you! I figured as much, and will definitely try to involve myself in some local nonprofits in the upcoming year. Hopefully I'll even get a job in the nonprofit sector. I'd hope that a commitment to advancing the public good would help the application!

Hi everyone! I just graduated from a Top 20 U.S. university with a degree in Political Science and Theology. I've been hoping to apply for Fall 2016 admission to a Master's program dealing with international issues of some sort, and don't have anything immediately planned until then. I've mainly been looking at programs in Europe (IHEID, Cambridge, Sciencespo and Central European University) and have been wondering about work experience. My academic profile is strong—I have a 3.99 GPA and won a good handful of distinctions, but didn't write a thesis or do any research during my time in undergrad. And I have a good bit of international experience, having studied abroad for a year and learned French to the C1 level. However, my professional profile is weak. I spent a summer in a developing country teaching English last year, and the year before that worked at a summer program for high school students. The conventional wisdom on this forum is that work/internship experience really does matter, but I'm in a position in which I don't know how possible it would be for me to pursue relevant work experience over the coming year. I need to support myself, basically, and though a lot of internships are open at international organizations it looks like the vast majority are either unpaid or do not pay enough to cover basic living and travel expenses. I am also geographically restricted: for personal reasons I have to stay in my hometown next year, which, though a major city, doesn't really boast many international institutions. So I think that the likeliest scenario would be taking a job in an industry completely unrelated to international relations. Would this be a problem for admissions/funding? How important would it be to have more work experience in an internationally-related field, or would any kind of professional experience be enough to satisfy admissions/funding/scholarship committees? Do the European schools not care as much about this kind of stuff as the American schools? Thank you in advance!

Hi everyone! This is my first post, I'm really happy to have stumbled on this site! I just graduated (literally three weeks ago—still mourning the loss of my undergraduate lifestyle), and I just wanted to gauge my chances. I've not been very focused in terms of work experience or internships and I'd been debating which field I wanted to go in, but I think I've decided that an international career, perhaps in an NGO, is for me. Would greatly appreciate any and all feedback! Program: MIA Schools considered: my top choice is The Graduate Institute, Geneva; I'm thinking as well about Sciencespo Major: Political Science, Theology GPA: 3.99 (one of the top ranking students in the graduating class) GRE: Since I'm mainly applying to European schools, I won't need to submit GRE scores. Will still be taking it in a few weeks anyway, though. Undergrad school: Notre Dame Study abroad: Spent a full year in France Years since undergrad: just graduated Work/internship experience: Definitely the weakest part of my application. I spent two months teaching English in a developing country. Other than that I've worked at a summer camp. Coursework: Roughly one-fourth of my classes were Political Science, one-fourth Theology, one-fourth French, and one-fourth general requirements. I took really easy math classes to fulfill my schools' graduation requirements, and haven't done micro or macroecon. Language: advanced-level (C1) French SoP: I have a history of writing really strong statements of purpose. LoR: Professor who specializes in Irish politics, plus the director of my study abroad program in France. I also know a lot of theology professors who would recommend me, but I'm not sure if their letters would help an application in International Affairs. Concerns: Definitely think my strongest asset is my GPA. Wish I had done more internships/been involved more in advocacy during undergrad, but I didn't think to do that during most of my undergraduate career—I was mostly testing the waters, trying different things (theatre, church work, singing, etc) to see which one I'd want to go into. I don't regret that but my lack of focused internship/work experience does put me at a disadvantage.