irapplicant1776

I got into SIPA and other good schools, and I think my quant was lower than yours. Given your profile I wouldn't rule out any school; the question will just be funding.

Certainly GW and Georgetown and the other elite IA schools are excellent, but how many tens of thousands of dollars more in debt are they worth? Getting into massive debt for a graduate degree at a fancy school is not a requirement for working at places like State or DOD. They actually emphasize this in their recruiting. Of course the schools in DC give you the advantage for networking and working/interning while going to school, and their reputation is helpful. But it's not get-into-debt-for-the-rest-of-your-life helpful.

I imagine not to the same extent as the government, but I'll let someone from the private sector answer that question.

Couldn't have said it better myself. These programs are not worth 80k, let alone 100k. The US government is just as happy to hire someone who got their MA from a cheap state school, and in any case that much debt will hinder your ability to get a security clearance.

I would try to leverage SIPA's funding to get a better offer from HKS. If HKS doesn't give you an offer I'd go to SIPA no question.

My first priority would be funding, as I don't believe it is worth it to get heavily in debt for an IA degree. My next priority would be living in DC, as there are so many opportunities here. If I were you it would probably be between SIS and Elliott. I chose SIS and have been very happy with my choice. If I had gotten a competitive offer from Elliott I may have gone there and probably would have been just as happy.

Maybe not even practitioners - it's mostly academics I believe. I spoke with one of the survey respondents (who coincidentally convinced his friend to put the survey in Foreign Policy years ago). He unsurprisingly listed SIS, none of the other DC schools, and four other schools he liked.

Hmm do you have any specific questions about the program? I can tell you that I've been happy with it in general. The professors are more than willing to help you advance your career outside of class. There's been some professors I've really loved, and a couple I'm not so happy with. I do wish some of the courses had less long papers and more practical writing. My first semester I completed a public diplomacy internship at the Embassy of Peru. I took over the position from someone a year ahead of me in the program. Last semester I was hired as a Program Associate at US-China Education Trust, an international exchange non-profit. I was actually interviewed by a woman who got both her B.A. and M.A. from SIS, and the professor I work for as an RA at SIS recommended me to the president, as they are friends. I work here part time now, and will work full time after I graduate.

Congrats! I'm finishing up the SIS USFP program this semester.

I wouldn't really call an internship or volunteering somewhere in NYC international experience. There are many opportunities to get experience abroad, including teaching English, or serving in the Peace Corps, or both. You just have to be willing to leave your job and "take the plunge," so to speak. Living abroad for an extended period will give you language skills that you can't acquire living in the U.S., more career/grad school funding opportunities, and of course experiences and memories that you'll never forget.

If you say that because you support dependents then I can understand. However, I think a lot of people tell that to themselves because they see Peace Corps as something getting in the way of career advancement, or too big of an opportunity cost financially. In any case, the Peace Corps does not cost have any direct costs besides the work that you give up while you are volunteering. There were quite a few people 30+ years old in my cohort. For me it led to a full ride at AU and a job working in international exchange with China thanks to the experience and language skills I gained living there. That being said, I would certainly never recommend serving in the Peace Corps just for the career benefits.

"I also don't have the luxury of spending two years on some foreign adventure with the Peace Corps to teach children in remote parts of Africa English, or help people in Rural Mongolia dig a well, as much as I would like to do those things." Why do you say that?

The USFP program in general is quite rigorous, with both practical and more theory-based classes. I want to work as a Foreign Service Officer, and there are two former ambassadors in the faculty, plus at least one former public diplomacy officer. One of the ambassadors and the public diplomacy officer helped me immensely with my personal narratives for the State Department after I passed the FSOT. I like being here in general. If you haven't visited, the SIS building is a really inspirational place to study and take classes. AU is definitely very liberal, although I do know some conservatives. DC is great, but EXPENSIVE. But you can always meet people to network, see top government officials speak, go to conferences, etc. It's also just a beautiful city with lots of distractions from grad school.

I can't really speak for the the Bush School's reach in DC, but one advantage to note with SIS and other schools located in DC is that as the classes are in the evening, most students spend at least some semesters (not just the summer) interning or working at government agencies, consulting firms, or think tanks during the day. Also, at AU you would be getting an MA in International Affairs (not MIR) with a concentration in GGPS or USFP (I'm in USFP). Happy to answer other questions!

First I would try to leverage your offer. Being in DC cannot be understated.

Definitely reach out to Gia at AU about the offer you received from Maxwell. The IPCR program at SIS is excellent, and there are so many opportunities here in Washington. But still, it's probably not worth the debt.

Currently attending American SIS. I would say that the importance of being in DC cannot be overstated. There are so many opportunities here. I would not worry too much about university prestige and instead attend the school that gives you the most financial aid. SIS is not as prestigious as SAIS but I have met American alumni working in all sorts of government and development institutions. Note that AU does have Mandarin courses to help you fulfill the language requirement, but if I'm not mistaken those courses will not count toward your degree.

Ha, it's appropriate that I'm reading your post right after I filled out SAIS's survey on why I declined.

I don't know details, I just have seen these kinds of offers (usually a full ride) on the results pages on this forum. I recommend scrolling through this year's and last's years results pages to see who got a full ride and at what schools. But yeah, I would say grad schools are concerned about their ranking relative to their peer schools. I don't know it for a fact, but I would guess that American thought I would go one of the other top DC schools if they didn't give me significant financial aid.

Re: Tufts Really? They say on their website they give very, very few full ride offers. From what I've seen they'll offer a good chunk of tuition, but not enough to save you from considerable debt.

I believe I've heard of generous offers from UCSD, Syracuse and NYU (American also gives a few very generous graduate assistantship awards). I would make sure to mark in your application that you are applying to the elite schools you mentioned above, and if you're lucky they'll give you a generous offer to try to "steal you away."

Elite as in top 10? Top 5? I think you're right that in general most of the top programs are stingy. However, if you are competitive enough to get into the top 5 schools like Georgetown/Johns Hopkins, then you can potentially get a full ride from a slightly less prestigious peer school. This was my way of avoiding debt.

I can tell you that when I was making my decision for what grad school to choose, I contacted Foreign Service Officers to give me advice on where to go. Every single one insisted that in the public sector prestige is not a huge factor. Here's what one said: I took a fairly pragmatic approach to my grad school, with cost being one of the most important factors. Prestige is a nice thing, but in a lot of cases (including throughout that Foreign Service Exam) it seemed to be mostly irrelevant. What is done with an education seemed more important, but there are a lot of industries where pedigree matters and I certainly wouldn’t discount the potential a nice degree opens up in other areas. And another: You are correct in your assumption that which university you go to doesn’t have much of an influence on hiring into the public sector. I went to the University of Maryland, College Park for grad school and I got into the Foreign Service. If I were you, I would not consider the Foreign Service too much when making your decision—I’d go with the school that you WANT to go to the most (taking into consideration what you would likely get out of the program and how concerned you are about debt) So to me, it seems that your skills and abilities and experience are much more important in the hiring process in the public sector than the name on your degree.

Thanks for this. You've made me feel better about my decision to go with the money, and not the dream school.

Congratulations on your admittances! I was accepted into both these schools and went with AU. I recommend asking people who work in the sector that you're interested for advice, and also asking to be put in contact with alumni of both programs to ask them how they liked the program and what they're doing now. Sarah Riley (sriley@american.edu) is the coordinator for your (our) program at AU who can put you in touch with alumni. In terms of the think tank approach, I recommend checking out the current and past practica that AU students do for their capstone to see if that is what you are interested in: http://www.american.edu/sis/practica/. Has either school offered any kind of financial aid?