fenderpete

Shoot for the stars, but also be prepared to put in the hours to get there. You need to up your GRE score - I'd be shooting for a minimum of 650 in each, but if you can break 700 you should be golden. The test is very much something you can study for and improve your score, and for 2-3 months of your life now you could be getting into a far better grad program. If you apply for Fall 2013, look at boosting your resume as much as you can in that year. Volunteering in the area of public policy you want to work in shows your commitment to public service and will also provide some great insight that you can add into your SOP. If you haven't already, think about asking to take sole responsibility for a project or initiate something of your own - that's SOP gold. Micro/macro would also help overcome your weaker quant background, as this signals an awareness that it's something you want to work on to the adcomms. If you don't apply to the best schools you'll always wonder 'what if'.

Job hunting like crazy, trying to finish off my personal statements and feeling utterly sick of the whole application process. I am very glad I don't have to go through that again!

American fund pretty well if they like your profile.

You might want to look at American, as they have some pretty solid financial aid. Good luck!

Why do you want a third MA? Work experience would be a lot better for your career prospects.

I would kind of argue that if you don't know what you want to do, you shouldn't be going to grad school yet.

I figured it might be helpful to go back and add in thoughts to my original posting. Everything in bold is what I think now versus then. Program Applied To: Int. Dev, MPA, IR, Conflict Resolution - basically a post-conflict, development focus. Schools Applied To: GWU Elliott, SAIS, American SIS, WWS Schools Admitted To: GWU Elliott ($), SAIS ($0), American SIS ($$), WWS ($$$) Undergraduate institution: University of Nottingham Undergraduate GPA: 3.9 equivalent Undergraduate Major: Politics GRE Score: Q690 (not amazing), V710, AWA 6.0 Years Out of Undergrad: 3 Years of Work Experience: 2.5 Describe Relevant Work Experience: International election observer in Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire and Nepal, interned with two large international NGOs and volunteered in the West Bank. Languages: French (professional, almost fluent for listening), beginner Spanish and Arabic. Long Term Professional Goals: Project management in development, hopefully post-conflict related (refugees, capacity building etc.) Quant: Virtually non-existent at undergrad, so I'm currently taking a diploma in Economics which includes micro, macro and econometrics. Hopefully that'll give me a big enough boost to interest the more quant focused schools. I'm sure this factored in, particularly in getting me an offer at SAIS which is a lot more quant-heavy. Strength of SOP: Currently working on this, but hoping I can get something pretty punchy that ties together all my life experience, work experience and aspirations. The main challenge is going to be getting enough research done on all my schools to show good 'fit' and read up on the work of potential advisors. The biggest challenge so far is getting back into the academic mindset and remember authors I enjoyed at undergrad. I should be able to get a pretty strong statement of both experience and academic potential - I just wish my GRE quant was a touch higher, but oh well. In my opinion this was what got me in. I think my main thing here was trying to show how my personal narrative tied in to my professional goals and aspirations. I ended up not really talking much about theorists I like, and focused more on areas I want to improve and courses/professors I want to study under. I went back and re-read my SOPs after I'd applied (not recommended) and I actually thought my Princeton application was the weakest in terms of showing fit. I think my public service commitment must have been what tipped it. Give yourself enough time to write multiple iterations and come back to it fresh. I also started with the longest SOP first, and then cut it down to match the shorter SOP schools. I found the writing exercises in "Graduate Admissions Essays: Write Your Way into the Graduate School of Your Choice" by Donald Asher pretty helpful to start putting things down on paper. Strength of LOR: These should be good as I'm going for one professional and two strong academic. One from a well known prof. who should give me a good recommendation and one from a prof. who knows me really well and I know will describe me as one of his top students. My professional reference said in my evaluation I was the 'best intern he's ever had'. Going to email them my latest CV and first draft personal statement to see if they want to punch things up. Don't forget to thank your LOR writers and let them know what you decide. I've no doubt they played a role in getting me in everywhere. Other: I've learned so much in the last few years since undergrad - both professionally and in terms of the application process. I'm a million miles away from where I was as a naïve undergrad applying for PhD programs in PoliSci. I just hope that'll all come together on the page and result in some good offers that include generous financial aid. Most of all, I hope I get in SOMEWHERE - the prospect of an extra fallow year before grad school doesn't appeal too much in this job climate. Ultimate Decision & Why: Princeton WWS. Everything about the program since being accepted has just been phenomenal. The level of contact from admin at the school, alumni and current students has been second to none. The hosting weekend really blew me away in terms of what alumni had gone on to do and how the school had helped them reach that. The other admit students also played a huge role in my decision – they all come from a period of substantial professional experience and I expect to learn as much from them as faculty. The opportunities to intern and study language abroad, the careers service, plus massive financial support made this an offer I couldn't refuse. Advice for Future Applicants: I'm pretty much proof that you shouldn't write yourself off based on GRE scores alone. Prior to applying I'd heard that pretty much all the top programs wouldn't consider you for a spot or fellowships if you scored below Q700 – I guess this isn't true… Princeton was decidedly my 'reach' school and I was pretty floored to get in (still waiting for them to tell me they made a mistake). I think the key to all of this is that you should only apply to schools you'd want to attend. All of the schools I applied to had one or two lynchpin things I could point to in terms of reasons I would want to attend that tied in to my professional career. By SOP number four I was definitely dragging, and if I'd had six to go I'd have probably just given up. Give yourself time, try to keep freaking out to a minimum and get friends, bosses and professors to read SOPs at various stages. I never thought I'd get in, but here I am, getting ready to start at my dream school this Fall.

Finally thought to check my spam folder. $0 from SAIS. Thanks but no thanks. Declined this morning - good luck to waitlisted folks!

Still nada on my end. I'm smelling no money. Looks like I'm down to the two choices.

How did you guys hear? Snail mail or email?

I'll be declining GWU Elliott in the next two days as it's too much money to try and find. Hopefully some of my funding will end up coming somebody else's way

How did you guys get notified of aid packages? I just got an email reminding me of the Micro/Macro requirement but nothing else.

Any idea when we hear about funding from SAIS?

Return ticket from Kathmandu anyone?

I'd also add to that in saying that this year's pool of applicants on GC were super friendly, supportive and all round nice people. It's been a roller coaster ride but it seems like most people have ended up with some great options

Aaaand back to normality. Off to work on a rickshaw.

Thanks Charlotte. Sorry you didn't get in Does anyone know what the deal is with funding usually? I've only really got one other offer I could afford to attend at the minute (AU) and the thought of turning Princeton down is kinda scary.

In at SAIS and WWS. Really hoping everything I've heard about Princeton financial aid is true... Turning this down would suck.

I got in. I'm shaking and can't believe it.

Just putting this out there and I'm curious, (I don't think I could) would anyone out there turn down significant funding at one place and incur $50k+ of debt to go to another program?

The deadline on the website says March 15. I'm assuming that means it'll be March 15...

I'd give it today then I'd shoot them an email and ask when you're likely to hear. I wouldn't freak out yet at all, they may just be dealing with IDEV etc. first and moving on to Security Studies later.

$20k from GWU... I love the program but not really sure it's worth $30K+ a year of debt when American offered me so much more (plus the chance to work with faculty).

Nada here. I call troll.

It'll be a tough week in terms of dreams vs reality that's for sure. Decisions are going to be tough, but two months ago I was really worried I wouldn't even be in a position of having a choice, so trying to retain as much perspective as I can. Made slightly tougher by an insane week at work...