10Daphne

I went to a top 10 university and studied International Relations- I was really excited about the Boren at first and was under the impression it was like getting a guaranteed job after college. But upon graduation I realized I didn't want to work in government - especially not the Asylum Officer or DoD jobs that I kept seeing advertised, while meaningful jobs in the State Dept are few and far in between. I have career ambitions and want to go on to work in the private sector, so going back to the country I did the Boren in to teach English would be a hurdle and a waste of a year career-wise. When they say "exhausting all opportunities," it means spending months and months on end applying for government jobs, being told to just take another job in the meantime and to drop it when a gov job finally comes through - which isn't how you build a career. You're also told that if you can't find a gov job you can do an unpaid internship for a year, which would probably cost more than paying back the 20,000. 

I was a Boren Scholar and HIGHLY ADVISE you to think very carefully before accepting a Boren- I was under the impression it would be easy to fulfill the service requirement, but a few years out after graduation I have sent countless government applications with no reply, and am faced with either having to put a lot of life plans on hold or paying back $20,000. It's more like a loan than a scholarship, and has a lot of strings attached. The Schedule A status is oftentimes meaningless, and this has been one of the most frustrating experiences I can think of! 

I was a Boren Scholar and HIGHLY ADVISE you to think very carefully before accepting a Boren- I was under the impression it would be easy to fulfill the service requirement, but a few years out after graduation I have sent countless government applications with no reply, and am faced with either having to put a lot of life plans on hold or paying back $20,000. It's more like a loan than a scholarship, and has a lot of strings attached. The Schedule A status is oftentimes meaningless, and this has been one of the most frustrating experiences I can think of! 

Thank you both @Flou and @happygomucky! To answer a few more questions, I do speak intermediate French and would have to take some classes over the summer to brush up, but I'm not so worried about that as I am fluent in other Romance languages and can pick it up pretty quickly. Coming away with high quality French skills is a draw of Sciences Po, but I have read all the negative reviews...

Another thing to consider about the costs of the second year at LSE is that the first year at Sciences Po would give me some time to look for more funding, and I believe there is a scholarship for Sciences Po students about to go on to the second year at LSE. An internship between the two years could also help me with securing a job post-grad. I'm also worried about the cost of living in London for a year without a job, since I lived there two years ago and it was very expensive, but my boyfriend does live there so that could make rent a bit easier.
I think my biggest issue right now is that I really fell in love with Cambridge and would have such a hard time turning it down and might regret missing out on that experience for the rest of my life. It's just hard to figure out if the Fulbright/PSIA/LSE scenario is worth so much more to override my own personal feelings about quality of life. It looks like it might be....

I was selected as an alternate and then 5 days later got promoted to finalist- it does happen!!! Very pleased

I was selected as an alternate and then 5 days later got promoted to finalist- it does happen!!! Very pleased