ursusinopinatus

These forums helped me a lot when I was applying, so I'll share my information here in case someone finds it useful in the future. Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Best or second best school in Mexico (depending on who you ask).Previous Degrees and GPAs: B.A. International Relations; 3.89 Cumulative GPAGRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 167 V/158 Q/5 AWPrevious Work Experience (Years, Type): Over 2 years of corporate consulting in areas related to social risk, corruption and ethics.Math/Econ Background: Minored in finance, so took a lot of math and econ classes.Foreign Language Background: Spanish – native; English – advanced; French – intermediate; Russian – beginner Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Relations.Long Term Professional Goals: First option: diplomacy. Second option: risk consulting.Schools Applied to & Results: Applied to "only" five schools since those are the only ones that I really felt were a good fit. I really tried to bring myself to apply to more, though other schools never motivated me enough. In order of priority: Georgetown MSFS – $18.5k per year. Princeton WWS – Rejected. NYU GSAS – Full tuition. American SIS – Tuition + stipend. George Washington Elliott – $14k per year. Ultimate Decision & Why: Georgetown MSFS. It was always my first priority, so it was impossible to turn them down even if they offered me less than NYU and American. Through conversations with faculty and students I realized it would be nearly impossible to find a school that was a better fit for me. It also helps that I'm not sure I'll want to become a diplomatic once I graduate, and I think the Georgetown name would serve me well in the private sector. NYU tempted me for a while (I've always wanted to work in the UN), but current students didn't have many good things to say about the program. Advice for Future Applicants: I'll present my advice in the form of my thoughts at the end of this process: I think I maybe should have applied to other schools that weren't necessarily a great fit. I feel like I should have applied to other top schools (SAIS, Columbia, Stanford, maybe even other MPAs and MPPs like Harvard's and Yale's) regardless of fit. I regret applying to both GW and American (my "safeties") since I wasn't going to go to any of those two schools unless they were the only ones that accepted me. One of them, i.e. American, should have been enough. I also regret applying to NYU before talking to current students; I eliminated Columbia from my list early on since it didn't seem a good fit and it has a reputation for providing very little funding, but in light of what I learned after my applications I now know I should have applied to Columbia instead of NYU. My most important piece of advice is therefore to talk to current students before applying. About Princeton WWS: I don't think I've seen anyone with experience exclusively in the private sector get admitted. Despite this, I still applied because I really liked the program. I had subconsciously decided I wanted to go to Georgetown at the very beginning of this process. It was the only university that never moved from my list. Studying for the GRE paid off big time for me (big increase between the first and second time I took it). My LORs came from two not well-known professors that know me very well, and from my direct boss, who also knows me very well. I think this worked to my advantage. Lastly, try not to stress to much about all of this. If you're reading this forum, you're probably an overachiever and way above the average applicant.

Seconding this. I've already accepted Georgetown's offer, but I really want to know what people saw in the open house!

I finally got the email today. $14k per year, which is the least I was offered from any school, so I'll be promptly declining. Congratulations to everyone!

@irapplicant1776 It does, in fact, seem like we're on the same boat. My goal is also to become a career diplomat (though I'm not from the US), so I called a couple of friends who are already in the Mexican diplomatic service and they told me the same thing you were told about university prestige. They did have specially nice things to say about GWU, though I'm still waiting to hear about funding from there. I estimate that, for Georgetown, I would need to borrow about $30k per year. It's definitely less than other people borrow, but since I'm an international student, I have less funding options available and I would almost certainly need to compete for government loans and other scholarships (and needless to say, there's a possibility I wouldn't be granted enough funding). I'd also like to not have to worry about paying loans after graduating! However, I'm still trying to find more information about NYU. I'll try and contact alumni during the next week and see what I can find out. In the meantime, I hope someone else on this forum knows anything about the program. And thank you for your reply! Talking to other people about real life career prospects is helping me break away from this sort of bubble I've been living in where Georgetown seems to be the best school that has ever existed. Edit: just saw your reply on the Georgetown thread. It seems we even got the same amount of funding! I typed $20k on that thread out of emotion, but it's about $18.5k.

I'm currently very torn about which school I should attend. I got a full tuition waver at NYU GSAS, an assistantship plus nearly full tuition waver at American SIS, and a (relatively) small scholarship at Georgetown, and I have absolutely no idea where I should go. (Of note: I have an external scholarship worth $25k USD per year, but I would still need to go into debt to pay for a part of GU's tuition and living expenses.) Additionally, I can barely find any information regarding one of the programs, the MA in International Relations from GSAS. Nobody on these forums seems to have applied this year and it is almost never mentioned when comparing schools for international affairs. I applied there because it seemed like a good fit, and since I'd like to work at the UN but I never really liked SIPA. But now I'm also worried it may be seen as the second-best program in New York, after Columbia's. Could anyone help me making this decision, maybe give me some pros and cons? Is Georgetown really all that great? Does anyone know anything about the MA in International Relations from NYU GSAS? Thanks!

Yes, the second paragraph of the letter stated that I had received a financial award. More details came in a second letter about financial aid at the end of the letter about admission.

I'm in! I got $20k in funding, so I'll have to think hard about where to attend. I'm not too eager to get into debt for this kind of program and I got a full ride at NYU and at American. Good luck to everyone!

Hi everyone, I'm in the same boat you all are in –I was accepted but I haven't been told anything about funding yet. However, today something weird happened. I got an email from a member of GWU's faculty congratulating me for being accepted and inviting me to go to the admitted student day or to go sit in on a class. That person also said I had expressed interest in working with him/her (unspecified to maintain anonymity), but I never did so! Is this common practice in the US? He/she specializes in the region I'm from, so maybe that's it. Or could it be a simple mistake? By the way, I made this account in order to post this, but I've been lurking here for a long time now. Thanks everyone and good luck!