op here,
My main reason for going to the same school is financial. The masters program at my school is not expensive. I have a good job right now that I have to work in order to support my family. The program gives me sometime to really prepare for my PhD. I know I can handle the work load, its just I want to make sure 10000000000% this is what I want before I leave a job that I won't be able to get back, sell my house, uproot my wife etc. Also, I left school for 5 years and came back to finish my undergrad in history and poli sci. My grades are good (3.6) but not enough to get into a top school for IR. I figure, use the masters to get some really good research credentials and work hard on my quantitative skills. My school has a lot of research opportunity for its masters students as we have no PhD program so the faculty is dedicated to helping its students. I am not even in the masters program and they are letting me take 2 masters level classes and work on a research project! Its a plan...its not perfect...but its better then sitting for 1.5 years and doing nothing. Also, I maybe able to get an assistanship and cut the price in half down to about 5,000 and get a small stipend.