Kole_Kolt

Being fluent in Korean is a huge plus if you can pass a background check for the military, but it's also just a major bonus on its own. The Navy Reserve has a direct commissioning program for people with in-demand skills. In practice, it's often filled by people with political ambitions trying to dress up their resumes, but it might be worth chatting with a recruiter about. I know they have age waivers too. Just a thought, and it can be helpful for careers, but it's by no means the only option. Best of luck!

Ah, that's a good point. I guess it just seemed like more on first look through the thread. Disregard me

I'd say UCSD easily. They have a strong focus on Asia. Location in DC can be nice, but if you're trying to work for State or DoD, the federal hiring process won't care if you are networked with people inside the Beltway. The only thing that will help is checking certain boxes, like language skills or veteran status if you don't have that yet. (Might be worth exploring joining the reserves or Cal Guard during grad school or shortly afterward) If UCSD also gives you funding, on top of the lower tuition rate as an in-state public school, then this is an easy call in my opinion.

A lot of people received informal emails letting them know they were admitted. I personally did not, and I'm not sure if it's an indication of denial or not, but the website says their admissions deadline is Monday.

Very cool. Thank you for your perspective!

Hi, Sophia. I was wondering what made you pick SSP over SAIS and the other programs you applied to?

Hmmm, I have gotten into SAIS and Elliott so far and I didn't receive anything in the mail from either. But maybe SFS is different, or I might have clicked a box asking for electronic correspondence

I'm honestly not super knowledgeable about the inner workings of State, but I think the part that would be of interest to me is the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. And yes, I'd want to work on enforcing the Leahy amendments. I served in the military previously, and don't have much interest in working for the DoD again. I've also been interested in working for the Government Accountability Office since they have a team of analysts that audit defense issues. Basically, I'm interested in watchdog roles that provide oversight of arms sales and the training of foreign militaries.

Hey, I saw you also applied for the MAIR program at SAIS. I too am debating between that program at Hopkins and SSP at Georgetown (assuming I get in there). I want to work in military assistance and oversight of foreign military sales, so SSP may be better for me, but SAIS is basically free for me at this point. You have any insight into which way you'd lean if all else was held equal?

I'm leaning hard toward SAIS since they gave me a generous amount of funding and, when paired with my GI Bill, I think it'll be cost neutral. I got into GWU too, but no aid. Still waiting to hear back from Georgetown to make my decision.

That's an awesome aid package. Congrats!

I'm into MAIR in DC with 32k/yr from the dean's scholarship But does anyone know how hard it is to maintain this 3.4 gpa standard so the scholarship gets renewed in the second year? I'm a bit nervous about quant classes since that's my weakness historically, and I've been out of undergrad for 5 years.

Yes, got into the same program. Super stoked! Any idea on when those financial decisions will be out?

Where are you all checking this, just in the admissions portal?

That happened to me and some others last week. I went through the 2020 thread and it seems like it's not really an indicator of anything. I wouldn't be surprised if results weren't released until late in the afternoon. I don't think the admissions office wants to spend their Friday fielding an inevitable flood of inquiries that will come after they release decisions.

SAIS told me that every time we post on this thread, they will delay admissions notification another day. Right now, it's looking like we won't know until April. ?

Not according to last year's thread.

Gotchya. Well, 10K per year is still nothing to sneeze at, but I get what you're saying. The sticker price for these programs is incredibly high.

For those who received admissions offers last week, when and where did you find out about financial aid? If it was supposed to come in that original offer, I guess I didn't get any.

Anyone hear anything on the funding front yet?

Nothing for me either. I applied to SSP

Nothing yet for me

Just remember: no matter how it goes, you have an excuse to get drunk this weekend.

Different program/school under GW, so don't fret. For instance, I haven't heard back from GT's SFS, but I know other GT programs have sent acceptances out already.

Same here. No word on funding yet — Unless the absence of it being mentioned in the acceptance letter means I didn't get it.