bonacia

Thanks for your comment. Oh, congratulations on the fellowship! Yes, I hear that the number of admitted applicants to the joint PhD program is very limited so that only few can enroll even from its Master programs. I am also considering other programs.

Hi, I am admitted to MIA but I have not been awarded a merit-base fellowship... Thank you for information about TA and RA. I hope I can work as TA or RA to compensate the tuition to some extent. I have a question about alumni's recent PhD admissions. According to an assistant director, some alumni each year go on to enter top PhD programs. Does anyone know to which PhD programs MIA alumni were admitted over the past five years? Because I pursue a PhD, I am intensely curious to know about that, but I didn't find such information on the GPS web page. I didn't get a reply to the question from the admission office, either . I have to compare several Master programs in terms of alumni's later PhD admissions to choose which program I should take. Thanks.

I am grateful to all of you. Information about the master program in the UK and Netherlands is instructive. In addition, your comments based on your experience of the two-year programs are persuasive. Taking them into account, it is far better for me to choose a 2-year program. I will be able to compensate my Undergraduate GPA and make stronger connections with professors. Slow and steady wins the race. Thanks a lot.

Thank you for your informative comment! As you mentioned, two-year program lets students have room enough to prepare for strong applications. This is especially applicable to international applicants who got no strong LORs written by well-known scholars. I am never sure I can be well-prepared a few months after the matriculation. But, to my surprise, a number of DPhil students majoring in Politics in the University of Oxford obtained a MSc degree (a one-year degree), suggesting that one-year program may enable students to prepare sufficiently. Maybe, the UK one-year programme is a bit different from US, or those students may have already had great potential, such as strong recos before enrolling to the MSc.

Hi all, I applied for several PhD programs, but, unfortunately, none of them have been accepted. Instead, I got some offers for MA programs: Master in International Affairs at GPS, UC San Diego; Master of Arts in International Relations at GSAS, New York University; and MSc in International Relations Theory at London School of Economics. I might be admitted to MA in PoliSci at Columbia University. Which program do you think best for my late PhD applications? My academic interest is in IR theory and security, and I want to pursue a PhD at a top school after finishing one of the programs above. I am an international student, and given that my undergraduate GPA was not good, I consider I should enroll in a MA program in US or UK rather than staying in my country and applying next year. As usual among MA students, I have not been awarded a fellowship from each department. In addition, more specifically, When considering later PhD admissions, which Master program is better, 1-year or 2-year? I guess this is a general question among students majoring in social science. NYU and LSE offered me 1-year programs. I am wondering if it is quite difficult to apply for PhD programs successfully only several months after matriculation; I will have only one semester to prove my competence to professors who may write recos and to the admission committees, given that the application deadline is December. Also, I have to retake IELTS and GRE before enrollment if I choose a 1-year program. On the other hand, if I choose a 2-year program. I may be able to prove my competence, for example, by being awarded as a Dean's fellow. Professors may write stronger recos. I can retake standardized tests next year. However, tuition double, and it takes two years. I hope comments made in this topic are also helpful to other international applicants who face the same situation. I look forward to your comments.