CurrentJackson

I graduated from Jackson in the same class as Bombaygunner. I chose Jackson over schools in DC (and Boston) and don't regret my decision at all. The benefits of being able to take classes in other professional schools, having ample opportunities to develop relationships with senior fellows, etc. outweigh any drawbacks. Plus, if you plan to spend the rest of your career in DC, it's a good idea to at least spend two years in a different city to gain a different perspective. The Jackson senior fellows and professors are highly connected in DC. I worked in DC after graduating and others in my class did too. I used the policy writing and statistical analysis skills I developed at Jackson in both of the jobs I've had since graduating. Good luck to all applicants.

"jackson is IR and Global Affairs focused, interdisciplinary to all background and jackson has better funding. IDE is development, more technical and requires pre econ knowledge, narrower syllabus." Jackson is much more flexible than IDE and allows you to blend business school, law school, global affairs, econ, anthropology, etc classes to tailor your schedule to your interests. You can also really get to know senior fellows, whereas IDE doesn't really have anything analogous. Also, you can take IDE courses as a Jackson student. IDE students tend to be younger, almost all are international students, and were mostly econ undergraduate majors. Take a look at the Jackson student bios and IDE student bios (both are on our websites) to get a sense of the difference.

@kbui, Sorry for the delay in responding. Yes, my experience is that many of the admitted students are offered funding.

Hi @kbui, for the reasons you mention I suggest looking very closely at programs that fully fund a large portion of admitted students, like Yale Jackon or Princeton WWS.

Hi paxi, take a look at the Yale Jackson institute. A number of my fellow Jackson students were offered generous fellowships. I encourage you to consider applying, especially with your interdisciplinary interests.

Hi tigertigertiger, I'm a current Yale Jackson student. I imagine the admissions committee will be understanding if you supply an explanation of the situation. Your background and interests seem like a good fit for Jackson - feel free to shoot me a message so we can discuss more about the program directly.