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DevinMiles

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  1. Downvote
    DevinMiles got a reaction from Dwar in International Affairs rankings   
    I am sure there are many others who also feel went_away started this thread as yet another way to promote Fletcher by oddly claiming it is up there with SAIS and SIPA. Yes, it's a good school... but c'mon....
  2. Like
    DevinMiles got a reaction from S. A. Yeadon in Masters in Both Security and Strategic Studies Overdoing It?   
    Tairos said the same thing I would have said: AU is not known for security studies. Neither is Fletcher. If you are interested in USAID or NGOs, those might be good places to head. But of course, you do not have to focus on security studies or go to a top-ranked security studies program. In fact, you would save a lot of $ to go elsewhere, but you mentioned Georgetown so I thought you were only aiming at the top schools. Also, for graduate certificates there are some affordable IR-related ones at the Bush School at Texas A&M also. Good luck.
  3. Like
    DevinMiles got a reaction from S. A. Yeadon in Masters in Both Security and Strategic Studies Overdoing It?   
    Good decision for the graduate certificate. Besides terrorism studies, there are a few out there that you could pick up after your master's such as cybersecurity (UMUC) or geospatial intelligence (Penn State) fairly easily from other universities.
    For master's programs in security studies, Georgetown and SAIS are certainly outstanding. GWU is close to the same level and worth applying if you are interested in DC schools. Outside of the DC area, Korbel in Denver also has an outstanding program that is actually more demanding than many others. And GSPIA at Pittsburgh is well known for security studies. Avoid American University and Fletcher for anything related to security studies. Good luck.
  4. Downvote
    DevinMiles got a reaction from went_away in Masters in Both Security and Strategic Studies Overdoing It?   
    Good decision for the graduate certificate. Besides terrorism studies, there are a few out there that you could pick up after your master's such as cybersecurity (UMUC) or geospatial intelligence (Penn State) fairly easily from other universities.
    For master's programs in security studies, Georgetown and SAIS are certainly outstanding. GWU is close to the same level and worth applying if you are interested in DC schools. Outside of the DC area, Korbel in Denver also has an outstanding program that is actually more demanding than many others. And GSPIA at Pittsburgh is well known for security studies. Avoid American University and Fletcher for anything related to security studies. Good luck.
  5. Downvote
    DevinMiles got a reaction from ExponentialDecay in Unless you have a trust fund and never want to leave DC, these programs are a scam   
    You should take any comments by went_away on Fletcher with a very big grain of salt since he is known to make wild exaggerations about the school.
  6. Downvote
    DevinMiles got a reaction from went_away in Unless you have a trust fund and never want to leave DC, these programs are a scam   
    Reported?
     went_away, you aren't seriously trying to get a moderator to remove posts that disagree with your unusual efforts to promote Fletcher, are you?
    And personal attack?  This forum is intended to help applicants with objective views of schools. Obviously some former students may use it more for advertising to promote their schools rather than be objective about the pros and cons of their school, but it is an open forum in which other users can counter such opinions which many readers see as exaggerations.
     
     
  7. Downvote
    DevinMiles got a reaction from lanhoang in Unless you have a trust fund and never want to leave DC, these programs are a scam   
    You should take any comments by went_away on Fletcher with a very big grain of salt since he is known to make wild exaggerations about the school.
  8. Upvote
    DevinMiles got a reaction from lanhoang in Unless you have a trust fund and never want to leave DC, these programs are a scam   
    I am actually extremely surprised by some of the responses to Elmo Says. As someone who has worked several years in the DC area, I can say that the depiction of the work/life/post-graduation scene in DC is extremely accurate. Those who say, "nahh... it's not that bad.. " with a load of debt are not being honest. Yes, YMMV with your graduate degree, but this is overall a very truthful post.
    ExponentialDecay's rantings are not helpful. It portrays living in DC with debt as far easier than the reality. It portrays everyone as knowing exactly what the outcome of their degree will be. And attacking the person posting is certain never helpful. Having that rant as the first response took this thread into a weird direction since this is a very helpful post.
    Thanks a lot, Elmo Says. It's unfortunate that you had to put up with some odd behavior on here, but your comments are appreciated and will likely be of great help to new applicants.
  9. Downvote
    DevinMiles got a reaction from went_away in International Affairs rankings   
    I am sure there are many others who also feel went_away started this thread as yet another way to promote Fletcher by oddly claiming it is up there with SAIS and SIPA. Yes, it's a good school... but c'mon....
  10. Downvote
    DevinMiles got a reaction from went_away in Unless you have a trust fund and never want to leave DC, these programs are a scam   
    You should take any comments by went_away on Fletcher with a very big grain of salt since he is known to make wild exaggerations about the school.
  11. Like
    DevinMiles got a reaction from CakeTea in Unless you have a trust fund and never want to leave DC, these programs are a scam   
    I am actually extremely surprised by some of the responses to Elmo Says. As someone who has worked several years in the DC area, I can say that the depiction of the work/life/post-graduation scene in DC is extremely accurate. Those who say, "nahh... it's not that bad.. " with a load of debt are not being honest. Yes, YMMV with your graduate degree, but this is overall a very truthful post.
    ExponentialDecay's rantings are not helpful. It portrays living in DC with debt as far easier than the reality. It portrays everyone as knowing exactly what the outcome of their degree will be. And attacking the person posting is certain never helpful. Having that rant as the first response took this thread into a weird direction since this is a very helpful post.
    Thanks a lot, Elmo Says. It's unfortunate that you had to put up with some odd behavior on here, but your comments are appreciated and will likely be of great help to new applicants.
  12. Downvote
    DevinMiles got a reaction from went_away in Help finding Security Studies Programs   
    Whoa....Fletcher is certainly not known for Security Studies and would barely be in the top ten. It is certainly below SAIS, Georgetown, Korbel, SIPA, and GWU. Even GSPIA in Pittsburgh has a stronger reputation for Security Studies than Fletcher. If you want to switch to Public Policy, Fletcher would be a strong choice. Security Studies? Maybe if you are applying widely and need a backup.
  13. Upvote
    DevinMiles got a reaction from rheya19 in Why Didn't Anyone Want to be my Friend?   
    My advice is not to bother trying to socialize with your cohort at this point. Make friends elsewhere. The one thing that no one told me before I started my graduate studies is that it would end up being one of the most socially-isolating experience of my life. I went to a small college town for my undergraduate studies and had a great experience. My graduate studies have been the complete opposite. For one semester, I was enrolled in a social science program at a college town in the Midwest and I left after one semester because the program was a poor fit for my research area but the lack of any sense of community was a bit shocking. It was a small cohort with five other students and I arranged a brunch one day for everyone and they seemed shocked that grad students would actually socialize with each other. It was a bit of an odd program since it was not very selective and several of the students were in the program because they were locals, much different from a program where students come in from around the country without social networks established.
    I headed into my current program which is a much better fit for my research, but ended up being in a cohort of one. The department said this was very rare, but there were four other master's students from the previous cohort still in the program. One of them attended my orientation dinner and one of the questions I asked her was whether the grad students ever socialize with each other. She said that in the year she had been in grad school, it had never happened even once. She said not to bother trying. After meeting the other members of the previous cohort, I realized she was right. They were not unfriendly, but no one would describe them as friendly or welcoming.
    I have to admit I had high expectations for the social experience in grad school when I applied for graduate studies: dinner parties, happy hours, weekend trips. I was completely unrealistic for a small program. However, this is common with larger programs. I know someone who went on a ski trip over the winter with 100 fellow business students.
    One thing that I did differently from you is that I did not even bother attempting to build some sense of community with the previous cohort. I realized right from the start they were an unfriendly group and made friends elsewhere, especially through running groups on the weekends. It would have been a waste of time to attempt to make friends with the previous cohort.
    The funniest thing was when the weekend before finals of the second semester one of them sent out an email seeing if people wanted to get together. It was just bizarre. There was one more week before they were graduating and suddenly one of them decided he wanted to build a sense of community and get everyone together. Nice try, but nine months too late.
    So again, my advice is not to bother attempting to socialize with your cohort. Find friends elsewhere. Perhaps like me, you expected a strong sense of community in your graduate school experience. I certainly expected to build strong bonds with my fellow grad students and stay in touch with them for decades after my studies. Nope. They were an unfriendly bunch and finding friends elsewhere was the best decision I made. Six months from now I probably won't even remember their names. I found friends in other programs and through outside activities. Best decision I made.
     
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