What was the application process like for you? (i.e. how long did it take you? what kind of road-bumps did you run into?)
It's a process of about 7-8 months. If youre applying for fall, start in about August. Narrowing down the schools to apply to and the preliminary work of reading about the schools themselves takes time. Plan for that time.
Was there anything that surprised you about the process?
Statistics don't matter as much as you think. Try not to get to hung up on rankings and average GPAs etc etc. Don't remember an average GPA of say 3.3 means there's some people with 3.9s and if the average is 3.3 there have to be some 2.7s in the mix somewhere.
Also I was surprised by how different programs within the same school, let alone among different schools, can be. For example, even though they're both International Relations, development at SAIS is NOTHING like Foreign Policy at Georgetown.
Anything would have done differently?
Applied to a few more programs. I only applied to 4 total. Probably one more safety, and one of the more elite schools in DC. Apply to at least two top top elite schools if the programs are appealing (with a qualification which I'll explain below). Apply to 2 safeties, and to about four schools that are out of your comfort zone.
What advice can you give regarding SOPs, GREs, gaining work experience, etc?
SOP--Go all in on the SOP. Start drafting it early. Don't have too many people reviewing it, it's unnecessary. You want it to be YOUR voice, the extra eyes si just to verify that it makes sense and to steer you straight. I stuck to one person through the entire drafting fo the Statements of Purpose. Be BOLD and demonstrate that you know where your career is and show how the school will help you get there. It's cliche advice, but its very important. I was told too many statements of purpose are to generic. A good statement of purpose can only have been written by you, and shouldn't be able to be used for more than 3-4 programs (there might be ane xception if your'e applying to two Middle East Studies programs, but if you're applying to a general IR program for example, and you feel the same SOP can be used for 10 different schools, it's too general).
Recommenders--Give an outline of your SOP to your recommenders, and do all the gruntwork for them--only thing they should have to do is write and print the letter. Also this will be controversial, but if you ahve work experience, get more of them rather than professors. If 3 recommendations needed for example, get 2 or all from work. Better effective letters from work (assuming your'e working in the broader field) than neutral ones from professors you haven't seen in years.
Work experience--definitely helped me, I didn't have a strong undergrad GPA at all, which was way below the median GPA of the school I was accepted into. However, i work at a major multilateral organization, not even a big shot at all, basicaly an admin, but I expressed with conviction what I've learned here and how it's given me insight into how the world works and where things will be in the future.
Misc advice:
- Study the programs, more than the schools. The top schools in NYC, Ivy League, and DC are all reputable. Study the degree programs, not the schools.