internationalaffiars88

@Ana89 Back before I applied and thought I probably wouldn't even be accepted I made a post in the "am I competitive" forum you can look at. In all honesty, I really did not expect to get such a generous award, or any award at all really ... maybe they made a clerical error and mixed my application with yours or someone else's? I really don't know. But I think I did make a really big effort to overcome the one glaring negative I had (my undergraduate GPA) which perhaps they saw as commendable. Anyway, best of luck, I hope you find the means to make it to NY!

@marco_p Congrats on also getting the award!

Two $56k awards and the opportunity for a teaching assistantship in the second year (subject to fit and availibility). The letter said its "the most generous fellowship package offered." @rrrruoyao thanks so much and good luck!!

Accepted with 100% funding ... Im 100% shocked and 100% going! Honestly I cant believe it. Best of luck to everyone still waiting for a decision on funding. Cant wait to meet everyone who decides to go this fall!

@kasbah @happygomucky I did also!! But what does it mean?? haha Was your email something along the lines of "knowing it can seem like a long wait for an admissions decision... I personally reviewed your file and I really enjoyed (mentions specifics from my application so it couldn't have been computer generated)... I help students throughout the admissions process... let me know if I can be of any help.. etc. etc." Is this like a "its not official yet, but you'll be accepted (wink wink)"?? Or maybe I should just relax and try to not read between the lines... How are you guys interpreting it?

@went_away Thanks for the feedback! I have plans to apply to several programs, the three you mention in fact, as well as a few lesser ranked programs (despite the very encouraging feedback I am getting about my viability at a top-tier program like SIPA). And understood on the essays, I hope those tones didn't come off in my hastily written profile above! If they did, I am not very surprised. I will obviously be much more thoughtful with the essay I submit on a formal application.

@StyLeD @Ben414 Thanks! I saw the 40% acceptance rate, but without context it is hard to interpret. It's like if you didn't know anything about the NBA or Kentucky and were told about 50% of Kentucky players reach the NBA, you might think it were easy to make it to the NBA. But knowing that both of you think I am a viable candidate and definitely have a shot at admission is very encouraging. I will definitely focus on my LOR, SOP and other essays as you both suggest. Thanks for the comments!

I am really desperate for some brutal honesty from strangers please!! Like everyone, I want to know if I am competitive for top international affairs masters programs, and if I am not, I would really appreciate some recommendations on safety schools where I definitely would have a good shot at admission that I could consider! My first choice is Columbia SIPA MIA, concentration in Int Finance and Econ Policy, and since I know it's tough to get into Columbia even if you have the perfect profile (just a matter of space), I really also like Fordham's IPED program. I feel like my background is a bit of a mixed bag (some very positive aspects, and a few particularly negative aspects ), so I am really unsure how I stack up. Thanks in advance for taking a look and any advice you can give! First Undergraduate Degree: Univ of Delaware – Graduated Jan, 2011 -GPA: 2.6 (Might as well not beat around the bush and start with the most obvious blemish, but I think (and hope) that what follows below will help make up for this.. again don't hesitate to let me know if I am wrong!!) -Major - Mechanical Engineering -Minors - Mathematics, Economics, and Civil Engineering -Extra-curricular activities/ awards: none If goes without saying that I was not very mature while in college, only doing the bare minimum necessary to pass my classes. I will address this immaturity in my application in the “extra statement paper” option, but I don't have a good "excuse" (like a serious illness or hardship of any kind), I was just foolish. I hope that the admissions committees at least take into consideration that a 2.6 in mechanical engineering, in my opinion, is still a more impressive GPA than a 3.0+ in many other majors (I won’t name which ones as to not offend anyone’s sensibilities). Any thoughts? Agree? Disagree? "A 2.6 ? fugetaboutit..." All comments are welcome. Work Experience: -Following graduation lived and worked in Mexico City for 4 years on a financial technology start-up. It wasn't my idea and I am not a "founder" but I played a major role in getting the venture off the ground and I'm still the 4th largest stakeholder today (in the beginning everyone was paid in equity since we had very little funding, and I invested some of my own money as well). The company was nothing when I moved to Mexico City (the team was a very small group of entrepreneurs between 3 and 10 depending on at what point in time you measure, and who qualifies as "part of the team"), but has had some impressive accomplishments since, including a $10mm Series A financing with a group of high-profile angels led by the former CEO and Chairman of Citigroup, and most recently an executed $10mm Series B term sheet with a $2billion publicly traded company in our space (still in due-diligence process). -During a period of time when the company was particularly financially stressed (there were many moments of financial stress in the beginning, but this period was really bad), I returned home for about 6 months to take a job as a senior financial analyst at a local medium size non-profit (about a $20mm dollar non-profit), but it was basically a second full-time job because I never stopped working for the start-up (as is typical in the world of start-ups, I was broke and simply needed the cash). Once the startup regained a financial footing, I quit (amicably) and moved back to Mexico. So my work experience I believe is pretty unique, impressive, and very in-line with what Columbia’s SIPA seems to look for in their applicants, significant (4 years in my case) real-world international experience, no? Thoughts? Agree? Disagree? Second Undergraduate Degree: Rutgers – Expected graduation Aug, 2016 GPA – TBD (but it should be very good, let’s say 3.7+) Major – Economics Extra-curricular/Awards – Model UN, Debate Team, and Economics Honors Society. (I have made a point to get involved at school this time around). No awards yet, but hopefully I will have some soon. So realizing my undergraduate GPA was clearly going to be an issue, I decided the best way I could prove that I have significantly matured was to return to school and prove it. I moved back from Mexico in august to begin school this fall semester and because of the economics minor at Udel, I can complete the economics degree in less than a year (using transfer credits). When I apply this winter, they will have my fall semester results which I believe will be, barring any disaster on my finals, straight A's (or very close). I am taking 6 courses, 18 credits, and they are not in "basket weaving" type classes: two 400/300-level courses in math department (probability theory and linear optimization), three 300-level courses in econ department (econometrics, int econ, and comparative econ systems), and lastly Stat II which, and hopefully I don't come off as arrogant, is rather trivial but is necessary to complete the degree. It could have been worse but luckily I was able to talk my way out of having to take Stat I, even though I have never taken any formal statistics course. They won't have my spring results, but they will see another 6 course, 18-credit course load, 5 of which will be challenging senior level math and econ courses (the sixth will be a "breadth requirement" necessary to complete the degree). Of course, if I am accepted, they are likely to check-up on those results once they become available (which is fine, I have no intentions to slack off whether I am accepted or not). Thoughts on the second degree and a high GPA kind-of/maybe/sort-of making up for the dismal results the first time around? Maybe just a little? Or maybe there is simply no making up for a 2.6 GPA? GRE 12/2014- Verbal – 166 (96%), Quant – 165 (90%), Writing – 4.5 (80%) 11/2014- Verbal – 164 (94%), Quant – 164 (88%), Writing – 5.0 (93%) I am taking it one last time in early January because I think I can do better on the quant. A lot of what I have learned this semester in school is actually very applicable to what they test on the GRE, so it should help. Hopefully I can get the quant into the 95%+ percentile. Any thoughts on submitting multiple test scores? Columbia says on the website that they will consider the best score from each section, not just the best single set of scores from one test, but I find it hard to believe. I don’t mean to say it is a lie, just that it’s impossible to ‘un-see’ things. We’re all human. For example, would it make sense to submit the 11/2014 results, just so they see a 5.0 on the writing (which is generally considered to be the least relevant section), but risk them seeing (and not being able to omit from consideration because they are human) the slightly worse scores on verbal/quant? So my scores are definitely in "the range", no? Or would I need a 180 (not a typo) on both sections to make up for a 2.6? Language I lived in Mexico for 4 years so my Spanish is quite good (native speakers often tell me I am fluent, but I don’t know if I would say fluent just yet). If you have read this far, wow, and thanks!! And if you go as far to lay some brutal honesty on me, it will be so incredibly appreciated. Also, I realize that even if my background was perfect, it’s kind of a crap-shoot with these top schools because there are just too many good applicants, and too few seats. So, if anyone has some safety schools they would recommend, that would be great as well. Thanks!! And best of luck to everyone!