abraxas

I haven't heard back either....that's strange.

I didn't write anything about a PhD in my letter and I received aid, so I don't think that counts against you.

From what I understand a lot of people just do the degree and go straight into the workforce, so I don't think not wanting a PhD counts against you

Actually I got the 2/3 tuition ; you got the rest of it, lol That still makes it cheaper than any of the other programs though. I'm also considering continuing graduate study afterwards so that makes it more enticing as well.

I just found out I was accepted into U Chicago's CIR program. I wasn't sure about it at first, but they offered a very very generous scholarship to cover tuition, and given the fact that its only one year, that saves a huge amount of money for me. I also like the interdisciplinary nature of the program, and the strong academic reputation Chicago has (I'm a History major). Its a bit strange that its a one year program, but since I'm fairly certain I want to continue to the Phd stage (albeit a more policy oriented Phd, something suitable for a think tank job). Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else was accepted, is a current student, or an alumni, and would like to talk about what they think of the CIR program, or U Chicago in general. I'm planning on going to visit day in April but haven't been there before.

I got into the Human Rights MA with the Founder's scholarship, so that's a really big incentive for attending Korbel. The only things that bug me is the April 15th decision deadline, whereas most other schools are around May 1st. I haven't even heard back from a lot of my programs yet and some of the visit weekends are only a week or two before that deadline. I noticed that the website says that you can switch focus within the MA program? How often does that happen, and is it easy to do?

Others have already said it but it bears repeating--it all depends on your relationship. For instance, I had a professor who I got along very well with for about three years, and I applied for a very prestigious national scholarship the Marshall (which I ultimately lost, anyway) and since she gave me feedback on my Statement, study plans etc every step of the way and helped me a great deal I decided to get her a nice gift basket worth approximately $30 since she had been writing letters for internships, scholarships etc and supporting me for three years. If I didn't know her that well I would not have bothered and sent a simple card instead.

I'm currently in the midst of applying to MA programs next year in international relations, but I'm also seriously considering doing a dual MA/JD. I'm taking the LSAT in February and will apply to a handful of schools that accept the Feb LSAT without a problem, but if that doesn't work out I'll probably jut apply for the Fall 2012 cycle, since most of the joint JD programs I've looked at allow you to start the dual degree after one year in the MA. Anyway, my question is, how different are letters for grad school and law school? I assume they both emphasize my academic ability, work ethic, dedication, etc. I already have my letters on file with my school's letter of rec service and I'd rather not have my letter writers write another one from scratch. Of course, since I can't actually see what they wrote I have no idea if they need to be changed. Can I use the same letters or should I ask for different ones?

I'm in a similar situation. Due to family problems at home I wasn't prepared at all for the GRE so I delayed it until December 13th to give myself plenty of time. However, most of my grad school programs have deadlines of January 15th, with two having January 1st or January 4th deadlines. Should I move the GRE up a week to make sure I don't cut it too close? Especially with Christmas and New Years holidays possibly interfering with reporting.

No idea how many are employed. I've been doing a little research and going through the staff pages at Brookings and CFR websites, looking at the RA positions. You could figure out how many there are, what the background of an average RA is, etc.

Are you already in grad school, or are you planning on it? If you already have an advanced degree, like an MA, then you'd be more competitive for those positions. The catch-22 of work experience before the MA makes those positions attractive to a lot of BA holders, so there's intense competition (I'm probably competing with you right now...) Also, many of these positions require MAs regardless, which makes them even harder to get. As far as career advancement, you do make a lot of connections that are valuable. Even Program Assistants can have valuable contacts. Also, some of the more prestigious ones offer tuition assistance, I've heard. But Brookings, CFR, and CSIS are all insanely competitive, even for lowly positions. And be wary of applying to ideological think tanks if you don't share their ideology (I.e., if you're a liberal democrat, AEI might not be the best fit. Even if they hire you, the work atmosphere might prove challenging).

A lot of the programs I've been looking at are similar, history or PhD. For instance, I'm interested in the IR PhD, but a lot of the Transnational and comparative history PhDs have similar emphases. Should I get multiple letters from multiple professors if I try for both?

I'm still kind of in shock that it happened. I'm almost considering not sending that transcript along. I know you're not supposed to , but there's no way for anyone to know that I took that course if I don't mention it. I might take it over again, do better, and send in that grade.

I just graduated from undergrad and am considering applying to MA programs next fall , but I know I need some foreign language before then. I'm considering enrolling in a continuing education course in Arabic via Berkeley Extension or a local CC, since I have no fluency in a foreign language. I took Latin in College because I thought I wanted to study ancient history. Obviously not very useful, but I surprised myself by doing very well in in it, and since its a pretty complex language, I want to challenge myself further with a more useful language. I used to know a little Arabic as a kid, but I haven't studied the language since then, except recitation during Muslim prayers, but that probably doesn't help much. Since I want to show proficiency, should I take these courses for Pass/No Pass credit, or for a grade?

Is this true? I graduated with a 3.96 GPA in History with minors in Pub Affairs and Poli Sci , took a continuing education course in macroecon and did poorer than I had anticipated (I got a B grade) will that pull down my GPA at all? Or will that solitary course be considered separately from my regular GPA?

Thanks for the advice guys. Fuzzylogician, this person probably could say something about my ability to succeed in an IR program, given that this person was a senior diplomat and the course that I took with him/her was on international politics. I thought might hold some weight, rather than, say, a History prof I know really well but who has little to do with IR.

I'm going to be applying to mostly MA programs in IR (Fletcher, Korbel, Georgetown, etc), but also few PhD programs in IR this fall. I have great relationships with History and Poli Sci profs (the former was my major, the latter my minor), but I also had a course with a very famous, very high ranking political figure who was high up in a past Presidential administration. They have agreed to write a letter for me, and I'm hoping that that person's name will be a boon for my application, even if that person doesn't know me very well, which they don't. I figure that the other two letters from profs would make up for it, but I'm pretty much going after this person for an LOR because of their name. I'm wondering if that even makes a difference to grad schools. Does a big name LOR really help that much if the letter itself isn't that great?

Did anyone do the Evaluative Interview offered by the school ? Is it worth it?

I just graduated college last month, and now that I'm no longer quite as exhausted as I once was, I'm ramping up on the application process for Fall 2011 (and, in some cases, Spring 2011). I happen to have a family member who works for a major US airline, so I get flight privileges. I'm wondering if its worth it to take the time and hotel expenses to visit several of the campuses and talk to admissions counselors at some of the schools I'm interested in, and I'd also like to see the campuses, maybe sit in on classes or talk to current grad students if possible. I'm applying to MA and PhD programs in IR, either on the East Coast or Chicago (I'm in California). I visited all of the Washington DC ones last year, but I'm wondering whether or not visiting the Boston or NY ones is worth it. I know that most people choose to visit campuses after acceptance, but I was wondering whether or not its worth it to visit campuses prior to applying? Would admissions counselors even remember me come admissions offer time? Would it demonstrate interest in the school if I flew all the way out there and would that be taken into consideration by admissions committees (who are on those, anyway?) Anyone else visit grad schools before applying?

Longtime lurker, first time poster at GradCafe! I decided I should get some advice on my situation, which is as follows: I just graduated from UCLA, major in History, minors in Public Policy and Political Science. After frantically trying to hastily put together an application for any program I could think of last September between the end of a summer internship and the beginning of senior year, I decided to take a year off to better prepare, and I felt a little burned out from being fanatical over my GPA. I did a summer internship at the State Department and thought I might want to get a more practical MA in IR. However being out of undergrad for just one month, I'm really missing the intellectual stimulation of undergrad, and a career in academia is looking more and more appealing. I'm less interested in regional history, so i didn't go the history PhD route since I didn't want to get pigeonholed into a region and time period. I am more interested in the theory and practice behind international relations and diplomacy, so I thought a Poli Sci PhD program would be the best way to do that. Stats: UCLA, History with minors in Poli Sci and Pub Pol GPA. 3.96 LORs: None yet, though I have very very strong connections with History and Poli Sci profs, and a weaker connection to a former Secretary of State Languages: Unfortunately, took a year of Latin early in Undergrad (loved ancient history before meeting ancient history grad students...). Spoke Hindi at home growing up and teaching myself more of the language now. Also used to read Arabic but distanced myself from it after 9/11 when I was an angsty teen and I've forgotten it as a result. Research: No senior thesis, but 4 20 page independent research projects with multiple professors on either US foreign policy or Islamic fundamentalism. Working as research assistant to a history prof on economic history now. Haven't taken the GREs yet, though i'm working on it. I took on quarter of microecon and i'm taking a macro course via UCLA extension (UCLA for working adults). I have pretty much no quantitative experience, though, which will probably not help my case. I'm not mathematically inclined so I avoided them in college so as not to scuttle my GPA. I'm just wondering whether or not a PoliSci PhD in International Relations Theory is attainable with that lack of quant and language skills. I'd ideally want a program that combined a strong focus on history with theory--Chicago CIR, Yale Macmillan, MsC at LSE, and Georgetown MAGIC are looking appealing in that respect, but those are all MA programs. Should I do an Poli Sci terminal MA first to make myself more competitive? If I did one of the more policy-focused MAs like SAIS or GWU, would that hurt my chances of doing a PhD later on? Could anyone recommend a program that sounds like it might be a good fit for my interests? Thanks!