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beefmaster

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Posts posted by beefmaster

  1. 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?

  2. With the field he is in. He cannot even begin to fathom a career until he pursues his Master's. Of course there are a lot of things to do if you're American. PEace Corps, Americorps etc. Overall I think its a good move if you know exactly what you're doing. There is no useless degree out there people who say that usually say it because they do not know what you can do with a degree outside of engineering and accounting.

    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.

  3. umm how about want to be part of an IGO or NGO, and its impossible to get in any of those orgs directly out of college? so need a master degree earlier..?

    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!

  4. 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.

  5. for funding, I would look for schools outside of the DC/Boston/NY metro area. For whatever reason, schools in the midwest and west coast seem to come through with much stronger financial aid packages. Unfortunately, those three metro areas are where many of the top schools are located.

    Where were you in Egypt during the revolution? I was on a flight to Luxor the day after everything started and got stuck down there for a week until flight started back up (plus none of the ATM's were working, so ful and kushari for every meal).

    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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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?

  9. I was accepted into Sciences Po in Paris, Masters in International Security. I missed the deadline for the international scholarship, but I am a EU citizen and the tuition will be close to $0. Also, I have an offer to teach English at another university in Paris for one year (approx. 10hrs/wk), which I could do besides school to cover my living expenses. Coming straight out of undergrad, this seems like a good option. I have fairly good stats (3.94 gpa from an American university, 730/710/4.5 gre) but no work experience besides two summers of academic research in poli sci/public affairs.

    Assuming that I want to get into consulting after I graduate, and possibly return to the US to work for a few years, what would be the value of doing an additional MPP/MPA after an MA? Would the MA make me a more competitive applicant at schools such as HKS or should I find work for a few years before applying to an MPP (which means giving up Sciences Po and the teaching offer and is therefore riskier)?

    Thanks!

    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)

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