ForeignFish

Hello @Merantau, great to hear from you and what an insane coincidence it is to see that you and i are facing the exact same situation! SIPA is also my dream school but i think i have come to terms with the fact that I will not be going to it - and i'm okay with that. All the other schools we applied to are, in my opinion, of the same caliber and prestige so I personally think we will get the same quality of education regardless. I've narrowed down my choices to Tufts Fletcher and DU Korbel. May I ask why you're considering Fletcher over Korbel (disregarding NYU coz i did not apply there)?

Hey Turkish Coffee! Great reply, thanks! Definitely lots of stuff to consider! I think i'll take up your offer on discussing and bouncing ideas off each other. Will be messaging you soon!

Thanks for your reply! With regards to BU, to be quite frank, I wanted to go to a different school because i wanted to learn from different professors, experience different parts of the US, meet different people and make different connections. As a Pardee alum, I would highly, highly recommend BU to you. I established great relationships with my professors, most of whom were always willing to help me out whether it's a problem I had with classwork or future plans. They're knowledgeable and professional, and for that alone, I would say go for it. Me personally - i wanted a change in scenery and the schools/programs I've applied to were chosen based on not only my own careful research but also past input from my professors at BU (although one of them did recommend me to apply again to BU because they do have a MA program in global communications, which suited my interests). A few other reasons were I was travelling abroad over end of Dec/early January and came back only to have emergency surgery on my stomach so I also just did not have the time or will to work on an application and rush it to meet the deadlines. As for SAIS, i also have heard that they're heavy on quant/econs and I agree that I might struggle a little with the curriculum there, however, it also the highest ranked out of the 6 programs/schools and I'm wondering if the reputation+DC location would be worth it to pursue. Again, of course, SAIS didn't give me financial aid so between SAIS and GWU, i'd feel more comfortable within my means to go for GWU if i was going to go for DC connections. What do you think of the rest of the schools/programs? Good luck with your application to BU!

Hi everyone! I've recently received admissions notifications for grad school and decided to turn to The Grad Cafe for help and/or input in deciding which school I should attend. Hopefully i get some feedback soon, considering the deadline is on April 15! Anyway, a little background on myself. I am a 23 year old female person from Malaysia. Got my Bachelor's in International Relations from Boston University (Class of 2015) and am currently working as a researcher at a foreign policy think tank in my country. Hoping to go back to grad school this Fall 2017. I applied to all IR MA programs, 6 in total, and all 6 accepted me. The 6 schools and programs are: Columbia SIPA (MIA) Johns Hopkins SAIS (MA) University of Denver Josef Korbel School (MA in Intl Human Rights) George Washington Elliott School (MA in Global Communication) UT Austin LBJ School (MGPS) Tufts Fletcher (MALD) I honestly did not expect to get into all 6 programs, which is why I am having trouble deciding. I've created an Excel spreadsheet to look over all the relevant details in order to help me make the best choice but what do you guys think are the programs I should give more weight to? All of the programs i've applied to are of the international human rights/humanitarian policy with a global communications/public service/policy orientation. I like these programs because they are all interdisciplinary and most emphasize on practical applications of knowledge rather than theoretical. For example, rather than complete an MA thesis, some of these programs require Capstones or practical internships instead. My weaknesses are economics and numbers. Some of these schools have also offered me scholarships/fellowships - the only two who haven't are SIPA and SAIS. What i'm taking into consideration when picking schools/programs are mainly cost of attendance, scholarship/fellowship offered, reputation/ranking and cost of living (since i'm guessing i'd most probably have to live off campus, self housing). Prior to receiving admissions notices, I had my own personal choice ranking but now, some of it has shifted. For example, NYC cost of living alone is a number that i am not sure I would be able to afford (let alone cost of attendance of 80k per year) so Columbia has moved down slightly on my list. I am going to apply to government scholarships from my country that would cover cost of living etc, everything total but the problem is i have to make a commitment to a school soon and scholarships here generally have 3-4 rounds of interviews so it might not work out in my favor soon enough. That's pretty much the basic gist of it! Looking forward to any and all input, opinions, first hand knowledge and experiences that you guys can offer!

Hi everyone! I've recently received admissions notifications for grad school and decided to turn to The Grad Cafe for help and/or input in deciding which school I should attend. Hopefully i get some feedback soon, considering the deadline is on April 15! Anyway, a little background on myself. I am a 23 year old female person from Malaysia. Got my Bachelor's in International Relations from Boston University (Class of 2015) and am currently working as a researcher at a foreign policy think tank in my country. Hoping to go back to grad school this Fall 2017. I applied to all IR MA programs, 6 in total, and all 6 accepted me. The 6 schools and programs are: Columbia SIPA (MIA) Johns Hopkins SAIS (MA) University of Denver Josef Korbel School (MA in Intl Human Rights) George Washington Elliott School (MA in Global Communication) UT Austin LBJ School (MGPS) Tufts Fletcher (MALD) I honestly did not expect to get into all 6 programs, which is why I am having trouble deciding. I've created an Excel spreadsheet to look over all the relevant details in order to help me make the best choice but what do you guys think are the programs I should give more weight to? All of the programs i've applied to are of the international human rights/humanitarian policy with a global communications/public service/policy orientation. I like these programs because they are all interdisciplinary and most emphasize on practical applications of knowledge rather than theoretical. For example, rather than complete an MA thesis, some of these programs require Capstones or practical internships instead. My weaknesses are economics and numbers. Some of these schools have also offered me scholarships/fellowships - the only two who haven't are SIPA and SAIS. What i'm taking into consideration when picking schools/programs are mainly cost of attendance, scholarship/fellowship offered, reputation/ranking and cost of living (since i'm guessing i'd most probably have to live off campus, self housing). Prior to receiving admissions notices, I had my own personal choice ranking but now, some of it has shifted. For example, NYC cost of living alone is a number that i am not sure I would be able to afford (let alone cost of attendance of 80k per year) so Columbia has moved down slightly on my list. I am going to apply to government scholarships from my country that would cover cost of living etc, everything total but the problem is i have to make a commitment to a school soon and scholarships here generally have 3-4 rounds of interviews so it might not work out in my favor soon enough. That's pretty much the basic gist of it! Looking forward to any and all input, opinions, first hand knowledge and experiences that you guys can offer!