b3raymond

Hey, I'm currently a History PhD at Ohio State focusing on Russia and Eastern Europe, and am having a recent change of heart about teaching and academia. I'm considering switching to a professional program in IR--I'm thinking Georgetown MSFS, SAIS, or maybe Elliot. My dream job is foreign policy/security analysis, and Georgetown in particular is attractive b/c of its program outlines, and its internship/career connections. I have a few concerns about applying to an IR program, mainly b/c I don't have an economic background (I focus more on ethnic identity and relations), and a lot of the current students (especially at MSFS) seem to have extensive internship experience. I was out of school for 2 years before I started my PhD working in healthcare-related project management, but being in History, I haven't had any internships, especially not with places like the DoD, State Department, or think tanks. In addition, I don't have awesome Quantitative GRE scores; my verbal and writing are 95%, but math only shook out to about 60%. To be fair, I was again focused on history, so I didn't invest a lot in the quantitative portion, but it still doesn't look good. What are your thoughts on my chances? Thanks!