cool_uncle

I have a bit of a conundrum that I'd like someone's opinion on. I applied to the Pitt program in Communication way back in December, and was quickly reached out to by a professor (late January) who expressed an interest in my application, basically saying that they were keenly interested in my application and were trying as hard as they could to get me in, etc. I email them back the next day, but the next time I hear from them is when I get my notice of acceptance only a couple of days ago. The letter mentions a welcome weekend event that I was never invited to. Should I be concerned about this? Could it be that I was waitlisted but never told? I really like their program, but it seems like a red flag that they either don't want me there very badly, or that they would let me know with just over two weeks to decide. Perhaps there are current Pitt students who've had a similar thing happen? Help!

Thanks for the responses, everyone! Things will become clearer come March, but until then I appreciate all the thoughts. I'm surprised at the suggestions that I toss out MIIS - I've been told by many faculty at my undergrad that it's a great school, even if it's not as plugged in as the DC schools. Granted, I live in California so perhaps it's more well known on the West Coast than elsewhere.

I appreciate the response! SAIS seems to be the choice among most people I spoke too. I'm more interested in security issues, but I'm willing to have an open mind. I saw that American has exchange partners with Taiwan for undergraduate, but I need to speak with them more about those options for graduate study. Frankly, I don't have a great reason for not applying to Georgetown - for whatever reason I didn't see myself as competitive at all, and I'm pretty broke so throwing down the extra money for an application fee didn't seem worth it. I shoulda just put it on the credit card. Lesson learned, I suppose!

From the sounds of it, the Middlebury Institite of International Studies at Monterey might be a good fit. They have an MA in Terrorism and Nonproliferation Studies which is pretty well-known, and I've been told second-hand that the NSA and CIA recruit from MIIS. I'd give them a call and feel it out.

I've applied to several MA programs in international relations, and I'd love some pointers from people who anything about the following schools:Johns Hopkins SAISGeorge Washington U (The Elliott School)American U (School of International Service)The Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (International Policy and Development)I've already been accepted into MIIS and they've offered a free Summer language program at the Middlebury campus in VT as well as a (small) scholarship grant, which is attractive to me because I don't have a working knowledge of Mandarin, the language I'm interested in, and MIIS's focus on language learning seems to be unmatched by other schools. The thing that worries me is that MIIS doesn't have the prestige of the other schools in DC, not to mention that DC is obviously far richer in job/networking/internship opportunities than Monterey. For what it's worth, my interests are in China-Taiwan relations, and I'm not super interested in development.Assuming I get into at least one of the DC schools, which school is the best? I'm confident that I'll get in, but I'm not confident that I'll receive any merit-based aid like I did at MIIS (meaning I'll likely go into a larger amount of debt).