chande_

Hey all, I would love if anyone could give me some advice on my dilemma. I am deciding between an MA at Johns Hopkins SAIS, which offered me 12.5K per year, and the Masters in Global Policy DC Program at the UT-Austin LBJ school, which offered me 17K per year. Given that I am a Texas resident and UT is much lower cost, I probably wouldn't have to go more than 10K in debt, whereas I am looking at about 80K in debt if I go with SAIS. Obviously the main trade-off is that SAIS is a much more recognized program if I want to land in DC after graduation, which is my goal. What do you think? Is the extra debt worth the "brand"? Does anyone know about the LBJ reputation in DC?

Did anyone else get a revised offer today? They increased my fellowship from $16,617 to $34,117 this afternoon... this makes the decision much more difficult!

Can anyone comment on the SIS advantages/disadvantages over other schools? How much "brand" power would I be losing if I went here over, say, SAIS? I was offered a $15,000 assistantship/tuition remission per year at SIS, $12,500 per year at SAIS, and $13,000 per year at George Washington, so trying to weight my options. Given the cost of the programs it makes American much more reasonable. Any input would be really helpful!

Thanks for the responses, i hope you both are right! Also CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who gets an acceptance today!

i'm in too! do you guys think that no mention of funding means we didn't receive any funding? ?

I'M IN! I applied for the MAIA first year Bologna program. For anyone wondering about merit awards: about an hour after my acceptance email I got a separate email about aid. Feeling very grateful to have been awarded 12,500 per year, although this will still be a difficult decision!

I also received this!

Updating to include new acceptances!

I applied to the Latin American Studies program in the SFS and got my acceptance email on Friday. Posting here for same reason as AONomad

Mine was pretty casual also! I enjoyed it a lot, actually. My interviewer was the director of the concentration I chose (Latin American Studies), and honestly a good portion of the interview was her answering a couple of my questions and talking up the program. She asked me a few questions about my work and the policy essay I wrote for the application, but overall the interview was much more casual than I expected. My nerves were quickly calmed and I feel like she got a good sense of who I am, which I guess is the point! I came out of it with the impression that I have a pretty good chance, but who knows. Happy to hear that it seems your interview went well also! Now the waiting game. Does anyone know when decisions are supposed to come out?

I did my interview for the Bologna program last week, but it was over Skype.

I received my admission to the MA in International Affairs Policy and Analysis last week, but as QP noted, the PDF of the admission letter says "Early Admit". So I wouldn't be too worried! I was really surprised to hear back so quickly.

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): IR, MIA, Latin American Studies Schools Applied To: Georgetown MA Latin American Studies, Columbia SIPA, Johns Hopkins SAIS MIA, GWU Latin American Studies MA, U Chicago CIR, American University SIS MA, UT Austin LBJ GPS-DC, UC San Diego GPS Schools Admitted To: American U Schools Rejected From: none yet Still Waiting: Everywhere else! Undergraduate Institution: Flagship State School (UW-Madison) Undergraduate GPA: 3.67 Undergraduate Major: International Studies & Spanish, Environmental Studies Minor GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores: 157/163/4.5 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2 Years of Work Experience: 4 Describe Relevant Work Experience: 6 months journalism internship in Argentina, 1 year teaching english in Spain, currently serving in AmeriCorps in El Paso, TX. During undergrad I worked for a year as an intern for a State Rep Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I think they are pretty strong, there is a clear narrative and focused research/career goals. Spent about 20 hours writing them. Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): Two strong, one meh. A professor with whom I worked closely and the State Rep for whom I interned who is now the WI Secretary of Revenue. Other: Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. Studied, interned, and worked abroad for a total of two years in Spanish-speaking countries. Lots and lots of volunteer experience working with immigrants and refugees, directly relating to my career goals and desired degree focus.