parkjun888

Well, I've pretty much accepted the will of the gods and signed my name on a dotted line to a school that is WAY too expensive for me. Hopefully my soul will not languish in hell forever. Don't think of this as "debt", think of it as an "all-in" at a Hold'em game

I emailed them yesterday regarding that and they said they would send out the results in two weeks.

Unfortunately, the scholarship I received from Korbel was kind of small. UCSD is definitely more quant heavy. A buddy of mine who does NGO work told me that the majority of the first year at UCSD is quant based. While Korbel does not have that many quant based classes, its curriculum focuses very much on analysis and intelligence work. That's my reasoning at least.

Nice man! Looks like we're all in the same boat. Korbel is my top choice so far, especially for Security studies. At first I was looking at UCSD but after looking at its curriculum, I moved it down a notch.

Got my acceptance an hour ago! Small amount in scholarship but better than nothing!

I noticed on another thread that you were accepted into Korbel. Congrats! I'm also waiting on Korbel. But, ya I wish GSPIA would include their funding with the acceptance.

Just got accepted into GSPIA. WOOP-WOOP!

Let me ask you all a question. Unless you are independently wealthy/getting a HUGE scholarship, how are you NOT taking on loans that end up in triple digits? Let me give you a scenario (a scenario for at least 1/3 of all students seeking their Masters, regardless of study): ~Assuming that you will NOT be working (aka full time student; also not being RA/TA because the gods wouldn't give you one) ~have to pay rent, spending money for living expenses. ~And let's say that the scholarship your school offers you is a small amount each year but nowhere near enough (because you clearly didn't make the necessary blood sacrifices to the gods). ~Sure there are lots groups and organizations throwing out money, but let's be real, $1000/year will only take you to the door of your classroom. ~Oh ya, add a 2 year program into this scenario because paying off a one year program is a completely different matter (a lot easier to manage). ~I understand that the salaries people could make after graduation differ greatly due to... whatever reason. But let's assume that all salaries start at $50,000/year. So basically, how does a normal human being finance an out-of-state, 2 years master's program, full time with/without a job that doesn't pay enough, cover rent, and pay for living expenses? And how would one do it by simply taking on a loan $20,000-$50,000? I know I sound like a dick right now, but I feel like I'm missing some huge memo about financing my graduate education. I agree with all of you that having massive debt is a TERRIBLE idea, yet you all fail to mention how you're doing it by only taking on $20,000-$50,000 in debt. Chances are the school's full cost is going to be $40,000/year (on average) for public and around $60,000/year for private. It's like that scene in "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope" when they talk about blowing up the Death Star and a pilot complains that it would be impossible with the little means that they have and then some snub nosed brat named Luke chimes in, "It's not impossible. I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home, they're not much bigger than two meters." (As you can clearly see, I prefer Star Wars over Star Trek). If I'm wrong, I'll shut up. I apologize for my tone in advance.

I was accepted into Maxwell last week, but from the looks of it I will not be attending. But I'm still waiting on their decision regarding my financial aid. So if they give a lot of money (aka the Robertson Foundation Fellowship) then yes I will attend. Mpamppquestions, Based on what is happening to me so far, the earlier you apply (aka early decision) the sooner they notify you. However, that only works if your record is stunning and they desperately want you. In this scenario, schools will notify you immediately. In my case, my academic record was not great yet I had a stellar resume. I applied to all of my schools early last year and am now starting to hear back from them (basically means that my application wasn't good enough for early decision so they moved me to the first round of applications). Out of the eight schools I have applied to, only three so far have accepted me (all happened this month, no rejections yet, knock on wood). Also, based on other forums, most graduate schools send out their first round of acceptances in February and second round in March. Yet, most of the rejections also go out in March..? So don't worry too much yet.