beefmaster

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): Middle East Studies / IR etc. Schools Applied To: Fletcher (MALD), Georgetown (Arab Studies), George Washington (Middle East Studies), SAIS (Middle East Studies) Schools Admitted To: 0 Schools Rejected From: 0 Still Waiting: All Undergraduate institution: UK university Undergraduate GPA: 1st Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): Undergraduate Major: History GRE Quantitative Score: 145 :( :( GRE Verbal Score: 154 GRE AW Score: ? Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2 Years of Work Experience: 3 Describe Relevant Work Experience: 2 years at NGO in the Middle East as a Programme Officer. Written proposals, gained funding, and implemented projects from funders such as USAID, MEPI, US Embassy, Irish Embassy, UK Embassy, Sawaris Foundation, National Endowment for Democracy, National Democratic Institute, Finnish Embassy, Swedish International Development Association, Germany Embassy, GTZ, UNDP, New Zealand Embassy, and the American Development Foundation. Managed project budgets in the region of 15,000 USD - 500,000 USD Following the 'Arab Spring' worked on capacity building for new political parties etc. Travelled extensively throughout the Middle East (Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Palestine, and Egypt) and have spent time studying Arabic in both Syria and Egypt. Languages: English (native), Arabic (working knowledge), French (limited knowledge) Quant: Financial management of project budgets as describe above, will be taking intro macro and micro through the University of Oxford school for Continuing Education from Jan - June 2012 Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Work and travel experience as described above. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): 3 professors from undergraduate institution who I took final year classes with and one of whom was my dissertation supervisor. Anyone got any idea how I stand considering my terrible quant score? Should I even bother paying the fee and submitting my applications?

What? I am one of the hundreds of people that have managed to get some work experience being considering doing a masters. I am not American ad I managed to do it. Going straight to grad school without having worked a proper job, especially for a professional degree, seems like a crazy idea.

Yes I have the same issue. Need a cheap cheap cheap online introductory macro and micro course to take. Not having any luck with the search so any suggestions more than welcome!

Anyone got any idea weather the time between 5th December and 15th January will be enough to get my scores sent to my choices? Seems I don't have much choice on dates as the testing center is very small. Let me know asap! Thanks!

No need for a sarcastic comment. What exactly do you want to do in an NGO? That is a HUGE field!! Also, are you aware that most big organisations, even for entry level posts, require 2 - 5 years work experience NGOs? Masters or not, you will not meet that requirement!

Out of interest why would you want to go straight out of college? A professional degree is a huge investment for most and without clear career goals it may turn out not to get you where you want to go in the end.

I got Kaplan and the Princeton math workout. I looked through a few of them and they are all essentially the same. Depending on your strengths / weaknesses princeton do both a math and verbal workout which has tonnes of exercises to practice with

http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/72041.htm Not Shortlisted: Candidates are requested to login in order to check their updated status, by 27th September 2011.

Just logged in and got the notification on the NATO website....not short-listed for anything! What are other peoples profiles who got rejects?

2.1, and its GPA conversion, depends on the exact percentage. The boundary is 60% (sometimes 59%) - 69%

Well it says by the 27th we can log on and check if we have been successful or not. Only 1 more day to go!

You sound like you need to get some work experience. I am not trying to sound like a dick. But I did exactly the same thing you out of undergrad, albeit a different language,and still after that I had no focussed career goals. After I have now taken a couple of years to get some decent work experience I have more of an idea of what I want to do. It is a huge investment and maybe you will even find out that an IR degree is not what you need to do to reach your career goals after working for a couple of years.

Yeah I was in Egypt throughout the revolution. Things were mostly OK even in the centre of Cairo so I decided to stick it out. What schools in those areas would you recommend? Also I was hoping that my relatively unique and current work experience would help me get some funding? E.g. for the MA Arab Studies at Georgetown. I have been living and working in Cairo, Egypt for the past 2.5 years for an NGO, I lived through the revolution, and afterwards I have worked closely with the development of youth groups / political parties through my NGO. I have no idea if this sort of experience is special enough to get me an acceptance and funding at a top school in the US.

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): IR Schools Applied To: The usual suspects....but I welcome suggestions! Schools Admitted To: Sciences Po, Paris (Int. Security) Schools Rejected From: Still Waiting: Undergraduate institution: Top British University Undergraduate GPA: 1st (no idea in GPA) Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): Undergraduate Major: History GRE Quantitative Score: Not taken. GRE Verbal Score: Not taken. GRE AW Score: Not taken. Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2.5 Years of Work Experience: 2.5 Describe Relevant Work Experience: 2.5 years NGO work in the MENA region. Languages: English (native), Arabic (working knowledge), French (intermediate). Quant: No official classes but I have been working in project development / implementation so I have had to work with budgets etc. I guess this is something that could let me down for some schools? Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): My NGO work in the MENA region, experience of living and working throughout the 25th January Revolution in Egypt, MENA travel, and languages. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): 2 professors from my undergrad institution. (possible to also get a supervisor from my current employer) Other: Basically does anyone have any suggestions on where I should apply? I would need somewhere with a high level of funding as I would be unable to pay the fees at a US institution. On the other hand I already have an offer from Sciences Po, Paris to start in September 2012 and the fees are affordable for me due to being a EU citizen.

Yes if you have no experience do a masters and not an MBA. Any of the top MBA programmes or even half decent ones will require you to have substantial amount of work (and management) experience. The MBAs that don't require work experience are just cash cows. I have never understood why anyone would even consider doing an MBA without work experience.

Well France (particularly Paris) is obviously a great place if you want to get some experience in Fashion. As I am sure you are aware one of the biggest fashion weeks on the circuit is held there. Which French business schools are you looking at? Also I think you are going down the right route...any MBA, be it in the US or Europe, that will take you without work experience is not worth it.

So good GPA, great GRE, lots of languages, and some interesting experience. Did you really have to come on here to show off?

What exactly is your subject? I am from the UK and I studied history. Maybe I can help you identify some places.

It most certainly will cause problems later on. I know someone who was arrested in the middle of the night in Syria just for writing a dissertation on Israel. Let alone studying in Israel!

Yes but it means that you can't travel to most middle eastern countries afterwards!!

Why would you apply to Israel for university if you love the Middle East? Once you have studied there you will not be free to travel in the region, with a few exceptions. If I was you I would look into a international relations program in the US or Europe then do a semester abroad at the American University of Beirut or Cairo. What sort of Arabic do you know intermediately? Fus7a?

Two years working for an NGO in the Middle East dealing with gender issues, interfaith dialogue, and political participation. Currently working in Egypt supporting the transition to democracy.

Hey I got accepted to the same program as you. I think I will be defering for one year to get another years experience working with an NGO abroad. The deal on tuition is great (I am also an EU citizen)

Hello, Is anyone else going to Sciences Po or the Graduate Institute Geneva this year? I have been accepted to both and I am trying to decide on which one would be better.. Any advice would be much appreciated! Bm