Byrek
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Posts posted by Byrek
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So I got an email at the beginning of March saying my application “couldn’t be recommended for admission” but then ultimately I was waitlisted. Confused how that works, I was denied but they changed their mind? I might ride the waitlist to see what happens in the next month or so just to keep options open, but that’s really weird to me.
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On 3/16/2020 at 8:02 AM, ab1987 said:
Im leaning towards SAIS Europe for now due to higher aid, strength of program in my area of interest, a full year in DC and lower cost of attendance during the year at Bologna. However, I really like the flexibility offered by the MALD program in contrast to the mandatory economics concentration at SAIS, especially as I want to explore other career sectors before finalizing one. Also the tight-knit community of Fletcher, its strong alumni base, and its collaboration with Harvard Graduate Schools seem important to me. I will be requesting both schools to reconsider financial aid and I will factor that in as well before taking a decision.
Thanks for that.
I’m in at the 2 year bologna program and fletcher. Honestly I will probably be fine regardless of which I go to, but it’s still hard to come up with reasons.
I can’t decide if the Econ focus is a plus or a non factor. As a person it would round me out, as a professional I’m not sure. With my aid package at fletcher they come out to roughly the same costs tuition wise, however, being American I could work while attending fletcher whereas in Italy I am not sure that is the case. I am also unsure of the internship opportunities provided by the europe campus.
not really sure what to make of the impact of the virus on this as well. Virtual classes would defeat the point of either of these schools, but especially bologna.
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On 3/10/2020 at 2:39 PM, ab1987 said:
Received admit with a $10k financial aid per year. Have a slightly higher aid from SAIS Europe but am super confused now. Still waiting to hear from Harvard and Columbia.
Curious to hear your thoughts on SAIS europe VS. fletcher. Same boat tho I have no funding at sais Europe
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How’s everyone feeling about Fletcher as a whole?
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In! With some money, enough to make the decision harder for sure. This was my sweetheart school and school I was most excited for, but it’s not a cheap one.
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Welp is today the day? I’m gunna be glued to my email all day ?
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4 hours ago, jdkrieje said:
Hey! Did you take the econ requirement exam??
Oh no sorry I realize that was vague, that’s just based off coursework as I took Econ and Stats in UG.
I was advised in my interview to study on my own to prep/refresh for non intro courses but they didn’t mentioned anything about the exam itself.
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8 hours ago, pau188 said:
Would you mind telling me how the call went next week?? I actually need more funding in order to attend.. and I guess I'll have to renegotiate as well.
Also, does anyone know if admitted students can change campus?
I also called admissions before applying and they said you could change things after acceptance. Later I was told in my interview that this was possible and it didn’t sound like a huge deal, so if you’re considering it doesn’t hurt to ask
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11 hours ago, thediesel said:
Well American SIS just offered me double what SAIS did. Time to try and negotiate more funding.
Yeah SIS gave me a coverdell scholarship. SIS is cheap if you’re comparing dc schools, but about the same as the MAIA program I was accepted to. Hopefully this give me some leverage.
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6 minutes ago, jdkrieje said:
does anybody know the tuition for the sais preterm???!
https://sais.jhu.edu/admissions/pre-term/tuition-sais-europe-pre-term
looks like it’s here. I’m most likely going to preterm (I passed the Econ requirements, I would go to help get settled/ learn Italian )
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3 hours ago, policywonk12 said:
The class size of I-DEV is 25 people, with near equal representation from developing countries. Since students have to do a year-long capstone in their second year, the chances of those getting converted to job offers is quite high. SAIS' proximity to headquarters of many well-known think tanks (they share a wall and a canteen with Brookings!) and multilaterals (being in the city centre) is far more advantageous than Georgetown's, which is on the city outskirts. Many SAIS alums I know are well-placed at Carnegie, J-PAL/EPoD, the World Bank etc. in both operations as well as research. Their Econ coursework is quite highly valued by students and from what I've been told, they also invest more in professional development of students. The entire program team is very hands-on with the career services team. So, when it comes to I-DEV, I'd say SAIS certainly trumps Georgetown
I actually used to live down the street from their dc building! It’s a good location but I think the move to the newseum will be even bigger, you’ll be having lunch at pret a manger with all sorts of interesting people
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7 minutes ago, middleeastgeek102 said:
It looks like they’ll be releasing decisions early this week (as per the latest update on the admissions). Good luck everyone!
Oh man this is a heck of a week for me. Getting all my results in the span of 10 days
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In! To the MAIA.
No email yet I just started refreshing when I say that was a thing. In my interview they did say they try to release funding in different emails the same day as acceptances, so stay tuned.
Incredibly happy. This is up there for my choices for sure.
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1 minute ago, Anthony Lee said:
Hahaha they have already prepared the admitted students website since yesterday:
https://sais.jhu.edu/admit/congratulations-admitted-students/washington-dc
https://sais.jhu.edu/admit/congratulations-admitted-students/hopkins-nanjing-center
https://sais.jhu.edu/admit/congratulations-admitted-students/sais-europe
Well this is optimistic for today then
Good luck everyone!
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10 minutes ago, KIMAMS said:
@pau188 Yes I am. 2 years in Bologna. Are you too ?
I’m also Bologna applicant! Were you all planning on going to the open house day?
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46 minutes ago, MA2020 said:
Did anyone else do the video essay for MSFS? I know it was optional, but I didn't know if that meant it was encouraged or really just optional...
I spoke with the director of admissions and asked if it was “‘optional’ optional” or “actually optional” and she laughed and said “yes, very much optional. We judge you on the basis of what you submit”. I don’t have consistent internet which would allow me to upload a video like that so I didn’t do one.
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Yeah I’m waiting on Fletcher too. Probably my #1 but it’s kind of a 3 way tie. I applied Jan 10 so I’m not sure when to expect a reply. I would love before April 1 though (and certainly not on April fools day!)
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This is brutal! I didn’t get all my materials in till after the deadline (though I submitted my app by the deadline) due to the application not recognizing Pages so I’m hoping that didn’t affect my decision ?
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6 hours ago, KIMAMS said:
Now all of my data disappeared. No address, no submission list, nothing....only contact address of each campus there. Seems that they are preparing for the application result... I applied for 2 years of MAIA in Bologna, btw.
Also MAIA and my stuff is gone too! Man I love reading tea leaves I’m so ready for a decision.
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I like how schools said “mid March” and I’m taking that to mean I need to be refreshing every 5 minutes. In February.
Heard back from American SIS pretty fast and that fueled the fire. Applied Jan 7 heard back last week.
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In my MAIA Bologna interview they said theyre “shooting for the 6th” and that acceptances and finaid offers would be same day, which is super exciting.
Since were posting about interviews (and for future applicants who are looking for info on it) mine was very relaxed and more informative/getting to know me. In one of their blogs they mention that the key thing they’re looking for is a solid reason for attending SAIS Europe and that you understand how it fits into your career goals. Once I articulated that it seemed like a good interview. I was challenged on my GPA but that’s fine. I had a zoom interview and she was reading through my application and asking direct questions from it which was kinda cool as it gave me a chance to elaborate. The interview definitely increased where I rank this program, to me it’s a very exciting option and if the money works out I could see myself going.
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On 6/3/2019 at 10:11 AM, InMySwordITrust said:
I'm thinking about applying but honestly I'm not sure if I will or not. I'm a current Peace Corps Volunteer in Eastern Europe and I'd like to stay in the area to keep practicing my Russian. I just don't know if I can do another 9-10 months abroad or if I'll be able to afford it money-wise. I'm angling for one of the difficult to get international relations fellowships in grad school and I need to make up for not being able to afford to do anything in undergrad or move to DC for a 30k/year job after undergrad. I wish I had someone to talk to about all this stuff!
Also a Europe PCV. Reaching the point in service where I have to actually think about the future and i don't like it. I want grad school (same as you, IR focus) I need to take GRE and start preparing applications, but I am also in the point of service where I am just exhausted mentally. I have really lost focus/ stock my skills and abilities and career desires. Really tempted to apply for a fulbright bc I feel some extra work exp (gotta make up for GPA a bit) would help my app and idk if im ready to apply now.
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21 hours ago, Artifex_Archer said:
Hey! Short answer, from my point of view, Magoosh is the gold standard when it comes to quantitative prep. [Long answer below.]
A few caveats to that:
- This holds for folks who have either already taken the GRE/know what to expect, and/or do best under a self-guided prep regimen. For those who haven't taken the GRE before or have limited experience with standardized tests in general, or have trouble knowing why they struggle with what they do, or knowing what they need to focus on [or focusing on it even once they do], I recommend some sort of in-person prep. That can, and perhaps should, always be complemented by a series of self-guided lessons. [The first time I took the GRE I used Kaplan, which I still recommend for those seeking in-person classes.]
- Note that I say 'quant prep'. In my opinion, Magoosh's verbal prep is not the best. Here I'm going to disclose my verbal score, only because it's relevant to the point I'm making: the first time I took the GRE [with Kaplan, without Magoosh] I got a 167V. The second time I used Magoosh, but almost exclusively for quant with little to no verbal prep, and got a 170V. [My official GRE score report indicated that I missed one verbal question on the exam.]
Now for the clincher: I really only used Magoosh verbal if I wanted a bit of a break from quant or by default, when taking one of its full-length practice tests. My verbal studying consisted only of watching the Magoosh verbal videos and doing maybe an hour, total, of verbal question sets [over a period of several months]. Several of these questions had 'holes' in them, if you will. For instance, a few failed to acknowledge the various, occasionally arcane, definitions for a single word; a few others tripped over the critical 'says vs. implies' distinction, to which Magoosh itself alerts students in its videos—same with the 'choose the two words that are closest in meaning and best complete the sentence' thing—etc. In short, its verbal questions are not as well-designed as its quant questions [which can't totally be avoided, since the verbal section is more subjective anyhow].
But at any rate, Magoosh estimated my verbal score would be about a 162. There's a big difference between 162 and 170, especially on the verbal. Its assessment of my quant performance was much more accurate—it pegged me slightly lower, but that's because Magoosh's quant questions are more difficult than the ones you see on the GRE, not because they're less well-vetted [as is the case with its verbal]. That, I much prefer.
So: if you want self-guided quant prep, definitely use Magoosh, figure out the areas where you struggle most, and continue to drill those on Magoosh while you also seek out multiple explanation/prep methods for those individual concepts via other media [in terms of rigor, I recommend Khan Academy, Varsity Prep, and Manhattan Prep to a lesser extent]. Above all, teach yourself, and force yourself to learn more than the GRE requires.
If, on the other hand, you're looking for verbal prep, I'd go with Kaplan, although I haven't poked around that much since I tend to do okay on my own there without studying. [Present tense because I'm taking the GRE again soon, for multiple reasons. I'm applying for a PhD and think my Q could still be higher; I want to qualify for tutoring both V and Q, which requires as close to a 340 as possible; and—nerd alert—I've come to really, really love the sense of mastery that comes along with quantitative prep. This was not always innate.]
- Part of the reason I really dig Magoosh quant prep is that it explains the more abstract, conceptual underpinnings of basic mathematical principles. That is, they don't just throw formulas and mnemonics at you. This saves you critical time on the exam that you would otherwise spend recalling material that, yes, you 'know,' but may not understand well ['wait, what happens when I have a fraction with a negative exponent but a radical in the denominator ogawdhaaaaalp me crap crap crap look at the clock counting down nooooo...'—none of that hot nonsense if you use Magoosh].
However, even given the fact that they push you a bit harder to truly grasp the material, it's easy to get 'lazy' and fall back on rote memorization once you've mastered the elementary concepts. You still need to make a concerted effort to guard against that.
- A corollary to the above: as a result, even if you 'get' things like order of operations—or if a part of you feels somewhat insulted by the videos explaining things like proportions or Algebra I or what have you [raises hand bashfully]—DO NOT SKIP THESE VIDEOS. Watch ALL the videos. I was chastened by the number of careless errors that I made in early practice tests that, upon review, I saw were the result of my stress-induced inability to properly differentiate something like the commutative vs. distributive property. That's just an example, but again: watch all the videos. Do all the practice questions. Repeat the practice questions. Watch the explanations for the questions that you answered correctly as well as incorrectly. Record 'lectures' to yourself on your phone and listen to them while running, driving, etc. Play with the GRE, and replace thoughts like 'here, the GRE wants to trick me by ____' with 'here, the GRE is giving me a hint that _____.' [It's sort of a Jedi mind trick that you have to play on yourself, but essentially, start to view the GRE as a friendly, tutelary entity rather than an antithetical one that's out to crush your grad school dreams.]
- Another Jedi mind trick: if you think you're bad at math, but you do well on verbal, I have good news for you. You're not bad at math. Math is a language. Practice it like a language: become fluent in it; learn 'synonyms' for different expressions; do 'close reading' [ayyy sequences—here's looking at you, again and again and agai(n–1)]; figure out 'grammatical structures' for equations, and [if you've ever learned a foreign language, you know this is critical], don't be afraid to go slowly at first. Work through the questions slowly. Take your time and get the principles right, and your speed will pick up. Above all, tell yourself you're good at math, and act like it. Do it when you're tired. Do it when you're stressed. Do it when you're distracted. Do it when you have to use the bathroom. Do it when you think you can't. Because you'll have to do math during each and every one of those scenarios come test day.
Anyhow, that's my long-form advice, which is of course worth precisely what you're currently paying for it. I hope it helps at least one person reading this.
How did you like the Kaplan Verbal stuff?
The more Magoosh verbal I do the more holes I see in their explanations and questions, so its kind of nice to see others echo this. Ill probably go through the ETS tests after I finish my magoosh course to get a better baseline
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Hi everyone!
Thanks a lot to those who post in here, there is a large amount of info which is incredibly helpful. I am a currently serving Peace Corps Volunteer in Albania and intend to go down the MPA/MPP/MAIA route once I finish my service. I haven't quite narrowed down which programs specifically yet.
GPA:
My degree is in Business administration with emphasis in International Business, Management with a focus on Organizational Behavior, and Business Law.
GPA is 3.3. I had one bad semester where I suffered a concussion during practice for my sport and my GPA suffered as a result of that.
GRE score:
Haven't taken yet. Once winter sets in here I will start studying and I intend to take it in June 19. I have a high LSAT score, so I am hoping that that somewhat transfers over to the Verbal side. Quant is a crabs shoot, but I will grind to try and get at least 160.
Work experience:
Current PCV, I work in a local government helping (or will help with) with tourism development, EU integration projects, youth development, and kinda whatever comes up. Before PC, I have some work in law firms and coaching high school sports. I interned in Spain for 6 weeks post grad in a management consulting firm which was working on a study for the EU on gender inclusiveness in ICT, and on how to increase the participation of women in the field. I helped create and draft a "best practices" labeling scheme which sought to motivate companies to implement policies to help women to enter and remain in the ICT field.
Language skills:
English (native), Albanian (intermediate mid/high), German (3 years, intermediate but rusty), French (7 years, very rusty)
Quantitative requirements:
Micro/Macro Econ, Finance, Stats, Business Pre-calc and Calc. These are all intro classes. I don't have good grades in them, but hey, I took em.
Overseas experience (work, study and teaching):
Peace Corps (7 months in, will serve for all 27 hopefully), previously mentioned internship in Spain, study abroad in Germany, special studies course on business culture in Asia which then travelled to China and Korea.
My degree's curriculum was formatted so that "all Business degrees are International Business Degrees". I have a lot of specifically internationally focuses classes, and those that are not deal with international topics.
I don't know if travel matters, but I am very well travelled.
Statement of Purpose:
Basically I am going to try and establish that this is a logical path for me to pursue based on my background (shocker I know). PC helped remind me what like and want to be, whereas before service I had convinced myself I should take a different path (law) which was less satisfying. I will avoid asking the argument "omg I did this and I never realized this is what I wanted" as I think it ignores what good experiences/skills I have.
LORs: I will get a couple Albanian PC staff to write letters (one works for USAID here), they love me. I will also get a letter from my German professor. I might reach out to my Business professors as well. I am thinking that having strong, well educated foreign nationals write letters will demonstrate my ability to work well in other cultures. I figure everyone has LORs which speak well about a person's technical abilities.
Career: After my masters, I want to work for development NGOs or USAID, and then try to transfer over to foreign service and try to use my experiences to get into policy work later on. I really like what I am doing in PC, and I want to continue doing this, but with more resources.
Notes:
I will be applying in 2019. I haven't locked down which programs I want to apply to yet, but I am thinking SAIS is a good start (I lived around the corner, and DC is great for RPCVs). I think this will depend a lot on how my GRE goes.
Obviously, my GPA is not that great. I anticipate issues with the Quant section of the GRE, but I have a lot of time to study.
I am wondering if I should consider getting more work experience after service (probably with an NGO abroad). I am not sure what schools I am a good fit for, or if maybe I should get more experience to make myself more competitive.
Obviously all suggestions about specific programs are very helpful! I am new to this, and don't really know where I fit in yet.
Thanks all!
2020 ||||| Decision time: share your dilemma
in Government Affairs Forum
Posted
Thanks to everyone in this thread! It’s really helpful.
Coming from US, but recently served in the peace corps until a month or so ago.
Deciding btwn
American SIS (coverdell, 29k)
GW (in off waitlist, no word on funding yet)
SAIS MAIAA (2 hrs bologna, awaiting reconsideration)
Fletcher (15k/yr)
Waitlisted at Georgetown but probably not getting in nor would I get funding I believe.
Leaning toward
it’s btwn SAIS and Fletcher for me. The MAIA program is cheaper than the standard MA program. I would spend both years in Bologna so the cost of living is less. MAIA would require a fewer Econ courses and is a create your own MA while also doing a thesis/research paper. This is attractive to me because as someone who isn’t 1000% what they want to do and as someone who has multiple interests it would allow me to gain more knowledge in different areas while still finding an in depth focus area. I want to get up to speed on the different sectors I could work in in order to have a more complete education entering the work force as I am not coming from an IR background. being in bologna is a big plus as I am not really interested in working within the US, and being abroad for two more years establishes me an international and the career events SAIS offers would open more doors for me to work abroad. That said I would have the option to transfer to DC if I desired. Based on the open house, SAIS feels like they’re a little more interesting in helping you find what you want to do.
Fletcher on the other hand tugs at me a bit bc I have heard great things about the Fletcher community. The areas I would go into I am really interested in (human security and conflict resolution). I know if I went to Fletcher I would be fine and happy, whereas Bologna feels like a risk reward. The one thing I’ve gathered from this forum is that Fletcher is better if you know exactly what you want, and I’m not 100% (I’ll probably try to the NGO/Public/IGO) route). The panels I have seen for Fletcher tend to reflect this (most answers were “do you own research or “once you know well help you”). Their career panel also seemed slightly more domestic/government focused. The amount of networking opportunities is less than SAIS Europe (and the sais opportunities are more interesting to me)
Currently Fletcher and SAIS cost the same. Once I heard about funding from SAIS that might change things. It’s hard for me to evaluate GW without knowing aid. Americans curriculum just doesn’t do it for me. I probably won’t have to borrow for cost of living unless I live in DC. I also have lived in DC before and moving back isn’t a huge draw (though I do like dc).