Nico Corr

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I started out at a local Community College and earned abysmal grades my first three semesters. I spent six years going to school part time and working full time. Left CC with a 2.5 GPA, transferred into a prestigious state school and graduated two years later with a 3.8. My decade old grades have not held me back in any way, shape or form, and I even got in to every grad school I applied to. Employers and schools are usually not fazed by decade old awful grades if you show an upwards trajectory in later semesters. It's certainly something that can be overcome.

Are you a native English speaker? I've always felt the AW was there more to gauge the reading/writing skills of international students. It behooves to prepare and do the best you can on all sections of the test of course, but I think good verbal and quant scores can compensate for a mediocre writing sample.

Could OP have meant Point of Contact when they said POC? Seems likely.

Simply put, the debt in most cases isn't worth it.

FWIW, I was told by one of the schools I applied to that if funds are available, it is possible to receive additional funding after you have enrolled.

SAIS' Conflict Resolution program is relatively new so it doesn't have much of a rep within the con.res field, from what I've heard. Not having prior experience with the econ courses isn't unusual for SAIS applicants. You'd just have to fulfill those before attending. Have you talked with people at State, UN, Etc. that have the job titles you eventually want after graduation? Find some on linkedin and reach out to them to ask what they think is the best route to go as far as whether it matters where you go for grad school. Personally, I've heard from numerous people in that field that George Mason has the best Con.Res program in the nation, and schools like SIS, Korbel aren't too far behind.

Thanks for the reply Woolscarves. I actually have over ten years' work experience in a different field, and was hoping to use the degree to help me segue into another career. I've had some serious misgivings about my path since I've applied however (not least due to all the horror stories posted on this site) and am seriously reconsidering my path and goals.

I'm thinking of declining all of my offers and trying to get a job in the field/ some other sort of relevant experience and reapplying next year in order to get more funding, or find an employer who will help me foot the bill. One of the schools I applied to offered me a decent sized funding package however, and I'm worried that I may not get offered the same amount of funding if I reapply next cycle. I also won't have enough time to get my econ pre-reqs out of the way between now and when I would start grad school.

I applied to three grad programs in IR with the expectation I wouldn't get in my first try, but to my surprise I got in to all three and even got some funding from one school. I was over the moon at first, but since talking to others on this board, and discussing my education plans with a close family friend who is currently in my desired field, I'm starting to reevaluate my decision to even go. This coupled with the fact that I don't think I can pay the deposit, plus tuition for the two prereq econ courses I'd have to take between now and when I start in August makes me think maybe I should decline all my offers and try again next application cycle. I might even want to cast a wider net and see if I can get into some higher ranked programs as well. I'm not sure however how to break this to my LOR writers. Anyone have experience with this? I guess I'm just afraid maybe if I let them know I'm having second thoughts they won't take me seriously If I ask them to write me LORS next time around as well. I'm also thinking about retaking the GRE to get better scores as I've seen people in my field get far superior scores than myself, and am afraid I won't be able to get in next time with them as well.

Definitely reach out to people who are doing the jobs you want and get their 0.02 on the matter. I've done so on Linkedin, and found them to be extremely helpful.

I'm in the same boat. Iv'e even looked at going in to an alternative career in something like business or data management, and using the skills learned in that field to transition to my desired field. It's certainly seems like a slippery slope. I never thought I'd get rich going into the field I want, but I have no intentions of becoming insolvent because of it. Lower ranked schools could offer some value. I've talked to some people in my desired field who've stated all they really care about is you either have the skills or "have the box checked". Doesn't really matter where from. I guess it all really depends what you want to do. Have you talked to people doing the jobs you want to eventually do? I'd try to get in touch with some and pick their brains. Who knows, they may be able to give you more than just advice.

Yes it is! Yes I was with the caveat that I attend fulltime which isn't an option for me. Even with funding, I'm worried that the burden carried by my undergrad debt, and my grad debt will be too much to bear if I don't get a decent paying job in my desired field. I was told by someone that it's best to calculate your entire debt and if your projected salary for your first job out of grad school does not exceed the debt, it is not a sound investment. I'm leaning towards paying off what I have now, apply for more funding next go around and like you said, try to snag a job that offers tuition benefits.

How many people make anything that even comes close to the $70K-$100K range? As someone who not too long ago thought nothing of spending $100K on one of these degrees, I've had major doubts about spending even half of that. I'm not too great at anything quantitative, but I'm thinking about sucking it up and just getting an MBA or something else technical and going that route.

I second this. As long as it isn't too big a financial commitment to make it to the interview, I say do it and get the experience.

Of all the programs in IR, I have never heard a single negative thing about Yale Jackson. Sure it's fairly new and out of the way of the "traditional" IR hubs like DC and NYC, but it's got distinguished faculty, a huge and prominent network and funding is allegedly abundant. I am very tempted to decline all the offers I have in hand and apply there next year.

With what little I know about the realm of conflict resolution, I can say that Gtown's program isn't well known for placing too many of it's grads at many of the "sought after" employers (State, USAID, USIP, etc.). George Mason has a more esteemed Con Res program than Gtown. Seton Hall is a lesser known program, but they have tons of connections at the UN from what I hear. I would try to connect with people that work at the agencies/NGOs you wish to work for and ask them what they think. Seton Hall may not have the pedigree of Georgetown, but you may want to go where the money is.

Many of them I don't believe post the total cost of attendance, just how much it'll cost per credit. Looking at the tuition & fees website breakdown, it also says that there is a $900 per semester fee for attendance, so you have to factor things like that into total cost as well.

I work for a small municipal government in the DC area as well, and can confirm it gets you a lot closer to the "action" so to speak. Whether the work has put me in a better position to get scholarships I can't say given that my academic and career interests are not closely aligned to my actual work experience.

It doesn't hurt to reach out to SUNY and request funding. I have discussed this a few times with people on this board, and many have had success calling up the admissions officers at schools and giving them some iteration of: "Your program is my top choice, but It would be really hard for me to attend without funding. How can we make this work?". Of course every field is different, but from what I have heard from IR, Public Policy, Poli Sci and Anthropology Majors, this is something that can be done.

As recently as five months ago, I was gung-ho about applying for grad school, and getting in to my desired field (IR/Security Studies). It was grad school or bust for me and I couldn't imagine not going. After talking with many on this board, and reading all of the threads authored by people warn against attending, I'm starting to waiver in my conviction to go and to even pursue a career in this field at all. I was elated when I got accepted to all three schools I had applied to, including my dream school. I had always assumed you needed a graduate degree to not just excel but to even get your foot in the door, but that seems to not be the case at all. I just can't justify ponying up $70K+ for a degree that gives me worse than a 50/50 chance of getting me to where I want to go. Sure I love the subject, and I could study it for the sake of studying it, but being unemployed or working at retail or waiting tables afterwards would make me feel differently afterwards I'm sure. I debating whether to to decline all of my offers, and either apply next year with better GRE scores/volunteer experience of some kind to get better funding, wait to see if I can get an employer to foot the bill for my degree, or just not go to grad school or pursue this field anymore and figure something else out entirely.

Do private sector employers share this sentiment?

These are realizations that I am starting to come to.

Congrats! I too got in to Elliott without funding as well, although i'm in no place to attend without any kind of funding. I think for the most part it's a solid plan, and if you for whatever reason don't land the job you want, your fall back to your current career sounds like a sound Plan B. You'd be considerably better off than many if not most other grads. Just from conversations I've had with others on this forum, I'd highly discourage anyone regardless of their financial situation from taking on such massive debt if they didn't think it would considerably increase their chances of breaking in to the field.

My understanding is that most positions within anything IR related in public sector don't even qualify for PSLF.

I've found the fact that these programs are more of a business than anything else a little disheartening as well. Now that I've been accepted I get about two or three emails a day urging me to put down my deposit.