MeganSaraS

Hi! I've been a longtime lurker on this forum, and I'm hoping to do my grad school applications in September/October. I'm about to take the GRE for the second time this August (first time scores: Q: 150, V:165, AW: 5.5). The first time I took the GRE, I went in with very little studying, which is very clear based on my quant score. I'm also a Peace Corps volunteer in Mongolia, and I have other work experience abroad and some nonprofit work experience. I was planning on applying to HKS, SAIS, Fletcher, WWS, GW, Georgetown, and Korbel (I graduated from DU in 2015 with majors in IR and Journalism). I really want to work in the IR field, especially international development, but I'm also pretty flexible about what this career trajectory could look like. Basically, I was pretty set on this path until I read something that made me stop and think. Someone mentioned that in the IR field, people with JDs tend to be paid more. For me, it's not so much about the pay as it is about the flexibility to find work. Would a JD give more flexibility in terms of finding a job or give me more opportunities to advance? What's your experience with people that have JDs vs MAs/MPPs/MPAs? Any insight would be appreciated!

First time poster. Currently serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mongolia. I have about a year before I apply to grad school Program: Masters of International Affairs and similar programs Schools Applying To: Fletcher at Tufts is my first choice. It's really my dream school because I think its coursework best fits what I'm looking for. But I'll also give Georgetown, SAIS (although I'm worried there aren't many funding opportunities at SAIS), Korbel, American, and maybe SIPA a chance. Interests: I'm interested in the intersection of international security and development. Basically, I am interested in how community development can offset the influence of militant organizations, especially in the Middle East. Fletcher's flexible coursework is best suited for this line of study. Undergrad Institution: University of Denver Undergraduate GPA: 3.62 Undergraduate Major: International Studies (area GPA 3.9) and Journalism Studies, also minors in History and Hebrew GRE: 165V/150Q/AWA 5.5 Quantitative Courses: I took Calc 1 my first quarter of my freshman year and got a C. I never took an economics course because I scored a 4 on the AP Macroeconomics test. Age: 25 (will be almost 27 by the time I finish Peace Corps service) Languages: English (native), Hebrew (high proficiency), Turkish (basic proficiency), Mongolian (intermediate proficiency, hopefully high by the time I complete service) Work Experience: I had an internship with a newspaper in Jerusalem, Israel one summer in college. Most notably, I wrote a feature piece for the magazine section about the Syrian refugees receiving medical treatment in northern Israel. The piece included visits to two different hospitals and interviews with refugees, hospital staff, and hospital directors. I was 20 years old at the time. I studied abroad in Turkey for four months, and then I stayed to teach English at a summer program for Turkish children. I had a 6-month marketing internship with a Denver nonprofit. The nonprofit works with the State Department to bring visitors (preferably emerging leaders) from other countries to the US, and they also bring speakers to Denver for monthly programs on global issues. I also interned for the Aspen Institute last summer. I had the chance to extend that into a job opportunity, but I accepted a Peace Corps invitation instead. I've also done some volunteer work tutoring immigrants and refugees in English and for the US citizenship exam. My experience abroad includes a total of 7 months in Israel, 7 months in Turkey, and (by the end of service) 2 years in Mongolia. Currently, I'm an English Education Peace Corps volunteer in Mongolia. I'm in my first year. I work at a secondary school and I am also working to identify contacts for community development projects. LORs: One will be from my Hebrew professor. I studied with her all four years of university. One will be from my Media Law professor in the Journalism department. My third recommendation will probably come from someone at the Aspen Institute or from my Peace Corps service. SOPs: I haven't started it yet. I'll probably focus on my deep interest in finding longterm solutions to terrorism and militancy. I'll talk about my experience in the Middle East, and how my interest in these issues go back to being a high school student religiously reading publications like The Atlantic and Foreign Affairs. I haven't thought it through quite yet. Publications and Honors: Publications: a few published articles in the Israeli newspaper during my internship (including the refugee one), and some articles I wrote for college news sources. Honors: I was an ambassador for the Media, Film, and Journalism Studies department my last year of college. I also helped to start the Model Arab League at my university (I was also the treasurer). I also helped start the Spoken Word Poetry club at my university. I was a member of the Honors Program and I received a very generous scholarship from the University of Denver. I was also a Cherrington Global Scholar, which basically means that DU helped pay for some of my study abroad expenses. Concerns: I'm really concerned about my quant GRE score. Honestly, if it wasn't so low, I wouldn't be concerned. A 150 just seems like a terrible score considering I don't have much to show for quantitative coursework. The verbal and AWA are really high, but I'm not sure it's enough to buffer that quant score. All of my practice GRE work demonstrated I was strong in data analysis, but I fell short in geometry and algebra (I was never strong in geometry, and I should have put some more work into remembering properties of high school algebra). I'm in a difficult spot right now because finding studying materials is difficult and there aren't many testing dates available in my country's capital. Plus, I can't take any online economics coursework right now because I'm not allowed to enroll as a Peace Corps volunteer. If I decide to retake the GRE, I need to start working on it pretty soon so that I'm prepared for the limited testing dates.