ThatSwampYankee

Have faith. It’s been a difficult couple years to find opportunities for a lot of people, and it sounds like you’ve already cleared the first hurdle of getting in. Hope to see you in Tartu!

I did the IMCEERES program as well, been hardly able to sleep waiting for the scholarship announcements. The gradcafe forums last year showed they announced at around March 18th last time. Hoping we hear back this week. What is your background coming into the program if you don’t mind my asking? I applied with a BA in Poli Sci, relying heavily on some papers I wrote in undergrad and a lot of the work I’ve done over the last two years in the private sector relevant to Eastern Europe.

Congrats!!! Hope to see you in Tartu! Best of luck on the scholarship

I second this. I don’t think I’ve been able to find anything online, but I do know they had 20+ scholarships for the IMCEERES program this year. In past years they’d accepted about eight times that number into the program according to a letter I found online. Between the virus and the deadline extension I suspect that number will be lower this year. Silver lining is maybe there are better odds for us? I just received my unconditional offer for IMCEERES today! Screaming rn, but it’ll be a grueling intermission before we get word on scholarships. Cheers, and best of luck once again

Also applied, but only to this program so far. Might also apply for the ISAD program at Jagiellonian, but we'll see. Fingers crossed for the scholarship, and best of luck to you all as well. I'm a little encouraged by the extended deadline.

Alternatively, are there other programs that may be a better fit?

Am I way off the mark or is it just way too tldr?

I'll add that I've taken GPE as well (not sure how I forgot about that, earned an A there too). I haven't touched calculus since High School, and even that was pre-calc. Part of my current work required me to track COVID rt numbers and deal with a powerbi every day, but I'm not sure that's what they're looking for. I have no problem trying to improve on the quant front, but I don't really know what they're expecting. To be perfectly honest, I'm shocked to see it's such a huge factor for an IR program, especially as I am specifically interested in international security, rather than econ. I understand it plays a role and I see the course requirements, but I'm still no less surprised to see it be such a deciding factor it appears to glancing through this forum. I have other extracurricular experience, including working as a Project leader for 9 months for a volunteering program at a major veterans shelter, Model UN, college political clubs, etc. I had to do a lot of extra coursework on top of the required assignments every semester as part of being in the Honors program, including that paper I mentioned on the Drug War in Mexico. If I had the opportunity to do more work or internships abroad I would have taken it, but that really wasn't in the cards for me financially so I've made do the best I could. Regarding GREs, I've taken the practice test on Kaplan haphazardly while on shift and I'm pretty confident that I could hit well within the middle 50% range for scores from the MAIR website. Will definitely be taking GREs this summer. I have the study book and will be grinding for the highest scores I can get. I'll also add that I was invited to interview with an alumni (I assume they just send that to everyone at AAP MSIA but I have no idea). It went very well, but I have no idea if that means anything for actually applying. I also did an informational interview with the SSP at Georgetown and was in touch with their admissions for some time even after I settled on the MSIA.

Hey guys, new member so thanks in advance for your insight. The application process would feel so overwhelming without forums like this:) Applying to: [Applying Fall 2022] SAIS (Europe or DC, preference for Europe) MAIR for Security, Statecraft, etc - Europe and Eurasia focus - Russian language focus; Georgetown SFS MA in Security Studies; open to other programs like GWU or American, but these are my dream schools Degree: B.A. in Government with International Relations Focus Undergrad Institution: Top 40 regional school, strong in Business and Government, very strong in Law; New England GPA: 3.78 with Departmental Honors and College Honors Program (Does Honors even make a difference?) Languages: Intermediate Spanish (yeah, I know), independently working on Russian now but only at an elementary level. Work Experiences: By the time of application, I’ll have a year working as a Global Security Analyst in the Biotech industry (2 years by the start of the program), 1.5 years interning at a locally-based international affairs non-profit (implemented State Dept. IVLP program among other things), and a semester interning with a defense lobbying firm. GRE: No scores now, but plan on taking GRE for Georgetown. It’s optional for SAIS but I have no idea how “optional” it really is. I’d definitely appreciate your takes on this!:) I also wonder how schools will look at GREs next year given the impact of COVID SOP: I plan to write about my current work and how it has realized my interest in the intelligence field. I’d like to speak about how growing up under my father – a Boston narcotics officer – and my brother – an army veteran who served in Germany during the Cold War – sparked a curiosity in not only the hard security issues which my brother experienced but also the more subtle ones, such as how crops grown thousands of miles away became problems my father dealt with every day in his job. My interest in the latter is what drove me to write a research paper on how the struggle with organized crime in Mexico compares to the experiences of Colombia and Italy; I was fortunate enough to win an award for the paper when presenting it at my school’s research conference. I’ve also taken the opportunity to travel and see more of the world, myself. I spent a month and a half in Saint Petersburg and Moscow, as well as some time in Helsinki. LOR: 3 recommendations: Our non-profit CEO is a SAIS grad herself, and I was very happy to devote a lot of extra time to aiding with projects, I helped train one of the new managers, have continued to help out with events and remained involved since the internship ended. I worked closely on an extracurricular research project with my international security professor, a graduate of the University of Miami. I have a good relationship with my current manager, as well. Other: I’m already in JHU’s AAP M.S. in Intelligence Analysis program. I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit, this being my first semester. However, now being several months removed from the panic of COVID and trying to steer my career in the right direction, I’m finding my time and money would be far better spent at SAIS, where I can study full-time, hone my language skills, and gain more expertise on actual issues rather than just the government processes which handle them. I'm probably going to withdraw after the Spring and take the time to save my money before going to an in-person program next fall. Quant Experience: I took courses in Research Design (got an A), Data Analysis (B), Applied Statistics (A), and Principles of Macro (A). Learned how to use R in the Data Analysis course, but haven't had to use it since. I'm not exactly a chemical engineer, but I hope this isn't in the extreme low end of Quant experience if that's really a neccessity for SAIS MAIR Other questions: funding. If these schools are a tough sell, any idea where I might get a better deal? My concern is getting a good deal on a degree and missing out on 2 years of pay from my current job only to get outcompeted by the SAIS and HKS grads.

Please forgive me as I'm totally new here and still learning the ropes. With freakout season in full swing for you guys applying for this coming Fall, I wanted to hear more about your experiences with admissions and funding. How generous is SAIS with funding? I see they have many scholarships, but I haven't really seen a whole lot about how the GPAs, work experience, and other qualifications of their applicants correspond to the aid that's doled out. I see a lot of people applying with 4.0s, but I have no idea how I stack up, and I'm sure you all know exactly how anxiety-inducing it trying to learn more. I plan on applying to Johns Hopkins SAIS' MAIR Program (likely SAIS Europe) with the Security focus and Russian for the language. I graduated from a mid-tier regional Boston school with honors, 3.78 GPA, and a year's worth of subject-related internship experience (though none abroad) last May. I was hired in an IR-related position shortly after, and would have two years of work experience under my belt before starting the program. I'll be applying for Fall of 2022. I speak intermediate Spanish, and have started to learn the basics of Russian independently. I can also get strong letters of rec, including one from a SAIS grad. A slight catch is that I'm already in JHU's AAP program, studying part-time and online. I started this spring, but I've come to feel that, for the amount of aid (or lack thereof) AAP offers, I'd be much better off waiting and applying for SAIS instead. Had I not been panicking between COVID and trying to aim my career in the right direction, I would have waited, anyways. I'm too much of a pessimist to hold out for full-tuition, but is there any hope for admissions with a solid award? Thank you in advance for your patience, and best of luck to everyone waiting on their own letters.