doglover5

@3eyes I applied for a Masters. And to be frank I think it's pretty weird to follow around everyone who has mentioned applying to American asking them to decline their offer, as you seem to be doing. This is a big decision for me and I'll take the time I need to make sure I'm making the right one.

Unrelated Elliott question... does anyone have an exact number for tuition? On the website it's by credit and there's no total cost. I've calculated to around $35/36,000 but I want to be certain that's correct as I'm comparing offers.

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): IR/IA Schools Applied To: American SIS, GWU Elliott, Georgetown MSFS, Georgetown SSP, Tufts Fletcher MALD Schools Admitted To: American SIS, GWU Elliott (45% funding), Georgetown MSFS (60% funding), Georgetown SSP, Tufts Fletcher MALD (45% funding) Schools Rejected From: none Still Waiting: none Undergraduate institution: Top 50 US university Undergraduate GPA: 3.75 Undergraduate Major: International relations, French GRE Quantitative Score: 168 GRE Verbal Score: 165 GRE AW Score: 5.0 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 5 Years of Work Experience: 4 years full-time (plus some extra part-time/consulting/volunteering since graduating) Describe Relevant Work Experience: I've been living abroad since I graduated (5 years) which I would count as relevant experience on its own. 2.5 years as a security analyst for a large INGO in West Africa, other work and consultancy positions for smaller/local NGOs in the same country. I also speak a second language fluently and am conversational in a third. Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I guess they were good? Everyone on this forum talks about how you have to write distinct SOPs for every school, but to be honest mine were very similar. All of these programs pretty much emphasize the same values, have similar structures, they all have excellent professors... I obviously didn't send the same essay everywhere but that part was less important to me than people made it seem for these programs. I think my SOPs got better even within the 10 days between the first deadline (GWU on Jan 5) and the last (American on Jan 15) and I ended up looking back on my GWU SOP and wishing I had made some minor changes. So definitely start as early as possible, the editing process never ends. Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): Probably not the strongest part of my application. I decided to submit 3 LORs for every school (even those that only required 2) because while I knew my professional LOR would be very strong I wasn't very confident in my academic one, so I wanted to bolster my application as much as I could. I didn't do a thesis or research in college so I wasn't close to any of my professors. I had to send some awkward emails and remind people of who I was (my French professor asked for a picture of me to jog his memory... that felt awkward). I used a French professor for every application and an IR professor one of them, but neither of them shared their letters and I can't imagine they could have written especially strong ones. I asked my current boss who wrote me a lovely and very detailed LOR. I also asked a former colleague who was in a somewhat supervisory role to me for the remaining slots, and her letter was very nice but not very specific so I kind of regretted asking her afterwards. Other: Will likely choose Georgetown MSFS. They were my first choice going in and I was surprised to have gotten the best scholarship package from them. I'll have to take out some pretty hefty loans but still within the limits of reasonable amounts for this type of degree. I'm happy I don't have to make the decision between a top school with more loans and other schools with better scholarships, I know that's a really hard choice to make.

Admitted but with no funding. I'll be declining, @L'Enfant maybe you can have my spot!

I took the intro to microeconomics online course at UCLA. It has the option for online proctoring through your webcam if you can't go to a proctored exam location for the midterm or final. Otherwise I've heard it's much cheaper and the same quality to take classes at your local community college, either in person or online.

Yeah, I thought the offer I had was great until I looked at their estimated total costs. I have a $30,000 scholarship for $50,000 tuition, but they estimate $25,000 in additional costs for living in DC which seems high to me. Meanwhile, the $16,000 scholarship I have from another school is for only $34,000 tuition so that would end up being a little less in loans (though not much, this school is in DC too). Still waiting on one more result and I'm just hoping they'll offer me a crazy scholarship so I don't have to make this hard decision!

It may be too late for this year, but any suggestions? I didn't apply for Rangel/Pickering/Payne because I'm not positive I want to work for the government after graduation, and also I don't think I'm that competitive. I do have quite a bit of international experience that I think helped my applications. Where else should I be looking? I haven't managed to find any other relevant fellowships/scholarships/grants despite researching it for months now.

Seconding this question. I'm pretty excited to have a 60% funding offer from my top school and when I first received the offer I thought great, I'm all set. But after looking at the school's tuition + estimated costs I'll still need to take out around $70,000 in loans. That seems high to me, but this is the best offer I've gotten.

Today's blog post from the admissions office says decisions will be out within the next week. http://sites.tufts.edu/fletcheradmissions/2018/03/12/decision-guide-2-the-flavors-of-admission/

There's a few people that have posted in the results referencing SSP acceptance. Can anyone confirm they've received a decision?

The former dean of AU SIS has a good thread on the rankings.

I've been accepted to the GGPS program and would also be considering the security track. It's disappointing to hear that it's more academic than policy focused. I have a few years of international "field" work in security but not so much experience in the policy realm so I'm leaning toward this type of focus in an MA program to balance out my experiences. Do you think the academic focus of the program has been particularly advantageous to you in any way, or has it been a disadvantage compared to other programs (within SIS or other MA programs) that focus on policy?

I got the same email and am also reading into it way too much. Mine was personalized with a detail from my supplemental essay which was nice. Was yours?

I did a microeconomics class online through UCLA's extension school. It was the only online class I found that had options for "online" proctoring for the midterm and final, which was necessary for me because I'm also living abroad.

You're posting in the wrong forum, this is the government affairs forum.

Hi all, posting again since I didn't get replies to my last post back in August. Program: MIA-type programs with a security focus Schools Applying To: Georgetown MSFS & SSP, American SIS, GWU Elliot, Tufts Fletcher, Uppsala Masters in Peace and Conflict Interests: Conflict analysis and security studies, but I'm not sure I want to pigeonhole myself with a security-focused degree Undergrad Institution: Top 50 university Undergraduate GPA: 3.75 Undergraduate Major: International Relations, French GRE: 165 V, 168 Q, 5.0 AWA Quantitative Courses: 3 honors calc classes (A, A-, B+), stats for polisci majors (A-), intro to economics (A), intermediate microeconomics (C), taking an intro to micro course online for credit at the moment to replace the C Years of Work Experience: 4 years full-time experience Age: 26 Languages: English (native), French (fluent), random West African language (conversational) Work Experience: 2.5 years working in West Africa at a large well-known NGO in the security department, supporting security management and doing analysis of regional issues (terrorism, organized crime, civil conflict). I've worked my way up from an intern to an important member of the office. Before this, I worked with small local NGOs in the same country in various development sectors (health, microfinance) for 1.5 years. I've been living in West Africa for 4.5 years. LORs: 1 from my current supervisor who is the director of the security department. 1 from a French professor in college that I was somewhat close with during undergrad. A third for Georgetown SSP from an IR professor I didn't really keep in touch with but who still agreed to write me a letter. SOPs: Exploring a link between poverty/underdevelopment and conflict through my various experiences working with refugees, in the development sector, and with the current conflict contexts that I work on in West Africa. Concerns: Is this a good range of schools? Am I reaching to high here? I'd like to include at least one school where I know I can get decent scholarships in case nothing else works out. Any schools I should add or remove? I'm also getting a lot of conflicting feedback from my recommenders and friends on how the structure and format of my SoP should be. Some say it should read more like a basic job cover letter, discussing experiences and qualifications, others say I should talk more about my academic and research interests and career objectives. Since many of these programs have such short word limits for SoP, I find I can't really do both of these effectively. Any advice from anyone here?

Hi all! I'm applying for fall 2018, and I would really appreciate some advice! Program: MIA-type programs with a security focus Schools Applying To: Georgetown MSFS & SSP, American SIS, GWU Elliot, Tufts Fletcher, Uppsala Masters in Peace and Conflict, possibly Columbia SIPA? Interests: Conflict analysis and security studies, but I'm not sure I want to pigeonhole myself with a security-focused degree Undergrad Institution: Top 50 university Undergraduate GPA: 3.75 Undergraduate Major: International Relations, French GRE: 165 V, 168 Q, 5.0 AWA (no possibility of taking it again because I'm living abroad and not going back to the US again before the end of the year, I hope this is good enough!) Quantitative Courses: 3 honors calc classes (A, A-, B+), stats for polisci majors (A-), intro to economics (A), intermediate microeconomics (C but taking an intro to micro course online for credit this fall) Years of Work Experience: 3.5 years, 4 years at submission time Age: 26 Languages: English (native), French (fluent), random West African language (conversational) Work Experience: 2 years working in West Africa at a large well-known NGO in the security department, supporting security management and doing analysis of regional issues (terrorism, organized crime, civil conflict). I've worked my way up from an intern to an important member of the office. Before this, I worked with small local NGOs in the same country in various development sectors (health, microfinance) for 1.5 years. I've been living in West Africa for 4 years. LORs: 1 from my current supervisor who is the director of the security department, but a native French speaker so I'm not sure how to handle that. 1 from a professor in college that I took a couple classes with but probably doesn't remember me so I'll have to do the awkward polite email 5 years later thing. The last I haven't decided, either from another director at my office who worked with me for a bit but is also a native French speaker, or the former director of the office who really liked me and has since moved on to another organization. SOPs: Haven't written it yet, but will probably write about how my interest in "development" from when I was younger has evolved into an interest in conflict in sub-Saharan Africa, and my experience analyzing the complex conflicts in West Africa during the past few years for work and how that has differed from studying conflict in the classroom. Concerns: Several. Is this a good range of schools? Am I reaching to high here? I'd like to include at least one school where I know I can get decent scholarships in case nothing else works out. What do I do about LoRs from non-English speakers? I'm guessing if I asked my boss he'd tell me to translate it/edit his English before he sends it in, but that's probably not very kosher. Is there a standard process for this? For my academic LoR, I'm planning on reaching out to an IR professor that I never really got close with but took a few classes from and enjoyed. I could reach out to a French professor that I had a better relationship with, but the coursework wasn't as relevant. Which is more important?