PTiger0627

Hi, I graduated from HYP in 2008 and have been working at a thinktank in DC since then, working on East Asia related policy issues. I would greatly appreciate if some of you could tkae the time to give me some advice on which school I should attend in fall 2010. So far, what I have are PhD offers with funding from Georgetown ( IR/ 5 years + 18500 annual allowance) and Cornell (IR), and Masters offer from Chicago CIR ( half- tuition funding). Personally, I don't think this year went too well for me because I applied to the wrong field. Eventhough I speak Korea, Japanese, and Chinese and my primary research interest is in how domestic politics impact economic and security policy of China, Korea, and Japan I applied to IR instead of CP. I think it was primarily due to my lack of knowledge in the boundaries of these subfields. I thought since I am doing foreign policy I had to apply for IR but apparently -- according to my friends who already have a phd -- that's not the case since I have a clear regional focus which is more CP, and I am more interested in domestic-level analysis than systematic IR one. Just because I made a major error in my application, I am leaning towards attend Chicago CIR for a year and reapplying to PhD program for 2011 cycle. I am also worried that Georgetown and Cornell might not be the best places for me since I might want to switch to CP. But is choosing MA over a funded phd offer a wise thing to do? My parents keep telling me that Chicago CIR could easily end up being a waste of my time. I would be very grateful If you could share your take on this with me.