sypher2k3

You can try asking Maxwell for money to counter the GW offer. It has worked in the past for other schools. In any case, I had a similar dilemma for Security Studies, between GW with a full ride and Georgetown with a half-ride. The Georgetown program is much, much better for me, and there is a lot more I can do there, so I chose to go with the debt and choose Georgetown. There is not always sense going to a school just for money, if money is the only factor that makes it better than another school, and if you can handle the debt and would be genuinely happier at the more expensive school / more satisfied in the long-run with your education. You must always choose the school best for you! Sometimes not having debt can be best for you - sometimes not having debt isn't a factor. But do not feel obligated to go to GW over Maxwell just because they gave you money - it's only one factor. If you really, really like Maxwell more than GW, go there. You'll be in debt, but more satisfied with your education.

I think you should go to Denver. It's always best to go to the school that will enable you to do everything you want to do most easily. Hopkins has the nicer name, but if you want the financial freedom to be able to study languages, do internships, go abroad for some reason, etc., and if you also want to be setting up camp with a family, and if you are thinking about your happiness, it seems like it would be best to go to Denver. Hopkins is a better school, but if you are a go-getter and you are happy at Denver, nothing is stopping you from going farther than any Hopkins grad.

Congratulations on getting into SIPA as an undergrad! I didn't even bother applying there because they almost never accept people without work experience. If you can get into SIPA at this point, then you should keep in mind that if you work for one or two years and then reapply to lots of schools, you are likely to have a very good shot at all the big ones - georgetown, hopkins, columbia, tufts, gw, harvard. you are also likely to get funding from at least one of them. That said, going to SIPA now would be a great opportunity, and I would take it over GW, unless there is something about GW that really stands out to you and fits you well (I had to decide between a half-ride at Georgetown and a full-ride at GW - chose Georgetown because it lets me get an area studies certificate of 5 courses in addition to the M.A. in security studies, and because there is a thesis option which i think is better for long-term academic goals). But, if you are already in lots of debt, and you are worried about cost, working for a couple years might not be a bad idea. I would not be so worried about not having focus now though... through the internships, coursework, professors, connections, presentations, etc that you are going to have excellent access to at SIPA, i think you would come out of there pretty good to go. also, i am not so sure i'd be very excited about throwing myself out on the job market right now. it might be difficult to get IR-relevant work experience in this climate, esp. in D.C., competing with so many qualified people. I think, if I were you, I would go to SIPA. But take that with a grain of salt. Because it depends on whether there is something that really fits you at GW, whether you are in lots of debt right now, whether you think you can find a good job, etc. Congratulations though again on getting into Columbia as an undergrad - you should be proud of that.

Also, since the only core difference between SAIS and G'town SSP that I can find is SAIS's focus on economics, if you really wanted to balance that out, you could do "Economics and Security" as a concentration, which I am sort of considering. Having 4 or 5 economics applied to security courses under your belt would be pretty good stuff.

Sure! I PM'ed you my stats. Good luck!! Applying for grad schools sucks.

Sorry on the no funding :-( - that is shitty. But maybe once there, you can look for different fellowships within Georgetown for the second year? The key thing for us I think is the job placement rates. Looks like over 90% of SSP grads get jobs within three months, according to their website. Lots of them are in private-sector consulting firms, lots of them are in the federal government, lots of them are in non-profit. Here is the official report, lots of people working for different private sector firms as well as federal gov: http://cpass.georgetown.edu/documents/SSP%20CAREER%20PLACEMENT%20REPORT_Jan09.pdf I also got in touch with alum in D.C. who went to these schools from my undergrad institution, one of whom works for State and is on the NSC right now (e-mail given to me by advisor). He says tons of G'town people are in foreign service - I, like you, really like the idea of a potential Foreign Service career. And the bottom line from most of them, in any case, was that it doesn't matter that much which school you went to if you are at the level of Georgetown, Hopkins, Tufts and these types of schools - they will all get you a job, and once you get that job, it's about performance. Though one Georgetown grad I talked to said the name-recognition she has gotten for her Georgetown degree at companies outside of the D.C. area is very valuable. I think the bottom-line from that information is that the answer to my original (and your original) "Is Georgetown SSP limiting?" question is an obvious "no" - in fact, it's probably just the opposite, that it opens up tons of opportunities and is a great school (in some ways better than SAIS - all depends). As I said, you'll know more about economics at SAIS - but you'll know more about security at Georgetown, and be just as well-placed to get a job and still have access to excellent faculty and an alumni network and so forth. And yes, if you are still thinking about business, maybe SSP isn't as good as SAIS - but, look at the job placement rates, you can still get into a private consulting thing fine, and if you end up going into national security, you are pretty set. To answer your question: I am looking at the U.S. National Security concentration. It seems to be best for me... I like how they have economics applied to security courses there, and there are courses about the defense industry that can get you into a consulting position if you are interested in that. One thing i like about the applied economics courses is that whereas at SAIS you just have a course on, say, International Finance Theory, at Georgetown you instead of a course on National Security and the International Finance System - it's more applied to the field, it seems like (same with, at Georgetown: "Economic Instruments of National Security Policy" or "Economics of Sub-state Violence" or "International Arms Trade" - all economics applied to security courses on public and private sector issues, rather than economics for the sake of economics). I suggest planning out your ideal curriculum at g'town based on their requirements and course availability. That's what I did. Keep in mind, too, for your free elective you can take MSFS course "Analytical / Statistical Skills" - which would make up for alot of lost quantitative opportunities at SAIS and be nice for a private or public sector career. If I were you though, I would probably go to Georgetown. I've been on the fence like you, too, although I have funding so it's a bit different, but I think the opportunity to go to a school like Georgetown is a great one and that you can use the resources there to your great advantage. I always try to remember that no school itself will do it for you - you yourself have to take advantage of that school's resources and make it work great for you. I don't see that being hard to do at a place like Georgetown, with exceptional faculty, career resources and great placement rates. And with those thoughts, I stopped acting irrational and tried to wake up and realize I am going to one of the best IR schools in the country, even if it might not be number 1 in every area and I won't be an expert on Monetary Theory. Lots to think about...Hope that helped. Maybe see you in the Fall!

I found out earlier this week via e-mail... After some more thought and examining the coursework, I think the main difference between a program like SAIS and a program like Georgetown SSP is in focus. Georgetown MSFS or Hopkins SAIS are sort of more international relations in general degrees - economics, area studies, and security, a broader package. Georgetown SSP, however, is probably better than both of them as far as getting a national security job is concerned - but not as good if you see yourself possibly working for some financial firm and having lots of options beyond the security field. The thing is, SSP is just not designed to be as broad as SAIS. That does not mean it's not as good - it means it is focused very deeply on security issues, and you are going to know a shitload more about international / national security coming out of a program like SSP than if you came out of SAIS, but more about economics if you come out of SAIS. This stuff about "MSFS being the peer program to SAIS, not SSP" is a bit misguided - MSFS and SSP have totally different goals, and both are within one of the top 3 I.R. schools in the world. Given all of that, my advisor at my undergrad institution seems to think programs like SSP are better than programs like MSFS or SAIS for someone who has a straight up international relations B.A. - because SSP gets you more focused, whereas SAIS or MSFS keeps you really broad. But, it depends on your aim, you know. To figure this out, I planned out all the courses I would take, reading through the descriptions. SSP looks very satisfying and worth it for me at this point - but only because I really want to go into national security, and the fact SSP has analytical methods and a thesis built into its core coursework is pretty good for PhD prospects. So, if SSP is worth it for you might depend on how broad you want to me, how good your I.R. background from undergrad is, and what career you are looking for. If it's a national security career, or even a private sector consulting career, I can't imagine SSP not being worth it. That thought process has sort of made me decide to go for SSP.

I have been accepted into Georgetown SSP for next year with a heavy scholarship (turned down at Fletcher and SAIS). Fletcher and SAIS both rejected me for lack of professional experience, and I am sure Georgetown MSFS would have yielded a similar result. However, it is clear that Georgetown MSFS gives you a much broader range of skills than Georgetown SSP - plus, it's longer, has electives and is more flexible, and has a much wider range of full-time professors. I guess I am wondering if it's worth it to go to Georgetown SSP, given the above, rather than getting some professional experience, and reapplying later to MSFS, SAIS and Fletcher, maybe just concentrating in security at MSFS. I want to do MA programs because I have career goals - but, simultaneously, I want to be competitive for a PhD program, and I feel like MSFS would be much better for that. Do some SSP students go on to PhD programs later on? Are they competitive - do they get into top tier programs for international relations? Is Georgetown SSP looked down on as sort of JV? Are there good opportunities while at SSP for publishing in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs? Would it be better for me to skip the funding, suck it up, get some work experience and reapply for other programs? I want to work in security in the public sector, but my academic goals make me wonder if Georgetown SSP is a dead end. Thoughts?

I have been accepted into Georgetown SSP for next year with a heavy scholarship (turned down at Fletcher and SAIS). Fletcher and SAIS both rejected me for lack of professional experience, and I am sure Georgetown MSFS would have yielded a similar result. However, it is clear that Georgetown MSFS gives you a much broader range of skills than Georgetown SSP - plus, it's longer, has electives and is more flexible, and has a much wider range of full-time professors. I guess I am wondering if it's worth it to go to Georgetown SSP, given the above, rather than getting some professional experience, and reapplying later to MSFS, SAIS and Fletcher, maybe just concentrating in security at MSFS. I want to do MA programs because I have career goals - but, simultaneously, I want to be competitive for a PhD program, and I feel like MSFS would be much better for that. Do some SSP students go on to PhD programs later on? Are they competitive - do they get into top tier programs for international relations? Is Georgetown SSP looked down on as sort of JV? Are there good opportunities while at SSP for publishing in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs? Would it be better for me to skip the funding, suck it up, get some work experience and reapply for other programs? I want to work in security in the public sector, but my academic goals make me wonder if Georgetown SSP is a dead end. Thoughts?

I've wanted to go to Georgetown SSP since I began the application process, and I was accepted to both Georgetown SSP and GW Elliott Security Policy Studies. GW, also a great school, offered full funding on tuition, and Georgetown has yet to offer any money. If Georgetown offers nothing, what would the best course of action be?

I think it's a no brainer to go to Georgetown, even without funding. I applied to Georgetown, GW, Tufts, Hopkins this year as an undergrad (got into Georgetown SSP and GW Elliott), and I had been looking at the IWP program, until almost all of my professors told me it's not really a legitimate school. It makes no appearance in any rankings I have seen - not even top 20 or 30. And if you can get into a top 5 school like Georgetown, probably makes no sense to waste the chance for that kind of name recognition and those kinds of faculty to go get an M.A. at IWP.

Trouble is, M.A. in political science would probably not be as good in getting me where I want to be career wise

Here is my question: While both schools are about equal in terms of career prospects - and while both schools are very careerist in focus and strive to get you a job - does it matter which one you go to if you want, eventually way down the line, to apply to top 5 PhD programs?

gre verbal 700 gre quant 640 gre writing 5.5 gpa 3.81

rankings prove a bunch of old scholars like georgetown more than they like other schools, but they are terrible for measuring the quality of the schools in comparison to one another. the ranking system you showed does not take directly even try to measure: - student satisfaction - course offerings - job placements - how well the school prepares students for careers through skills development - responsiveness and quality of career services center etc. My undergraduate methods coursework teaches me to write off a study like this that so obviously does not actually measure anything at all that makes one school better than another school. I got into both GW and Georgetown, but there are many obvious areas where GW beats Georgetown, making the decision very difficult, although Georgetown has always been my top choice. A - Very diverse selection of professional 1-credit skills courses, one for every semester there (unmatched by SFS) B - Two specialized fields instead of one (at Georgetown you must pick between International Security and U.S. National Security - at GW you can choose both!) C - Unique specialized fields like Security & Development (which no other M.A. program in the U.S. offers) D - A highly practical Capstone course instead of a Thesis seminar - which has students work in teams, like in the real world, to solve a problem, present a paper on it together E - No comprehensive final at the end, which one Georgetown alumni told me is there only to make the program look more rigorous Generally, it would be easy to argue that GW prepares its students better in terms of range of skills to be used in careers. So, sure, the rankings put Georgetown at number 1. BUT KEEP IN MIND that these rankings are NOT based measurements of anything that makes one school better than another school. Also - Dean of Elliott School founded and directed security studies program at SFS. Just saying.