fenderpete

No problem, we all misspeak and online isn't the best format for getting your thoughts across at times. I think development/public affairs has always been an insanely competitive field for jobs, and unfortunately the economy hasn't helped lately (donor money isn't as forthcoming = less program staff can be hired) and I'm not sure it'll fully rebound to the level it was at before the recession, due to a shift in focus to training and using national staff over international expats. That being said, an MA is now becoming the minimum qualification in our field to get anywhere, combined with relevant work experience. For me, in international development, that means overseas work and plenty of it. For you I'm assuming it'd be relevant work in local/state/federal education? The work experience one is a big thing, as in this market you're not going to get hired unless you can prove you've done something pretty similar before in the past, so building that portfolio of past work is pretty important - and imo is better to do before grad school, as you may find out it completely changes what you want to focus on in grad school (and thus the programs you apply for). Am I right in thinking you haven't applied for law school yet either, or do you mean you haven't applied to MPAs but do have a place in law school already? The best advice I can give you is to look at programs and see where their graduates ended up working, and think about whether you want to do something more legalistic or more policy/NGO related. Having a JD won't hurt you for jobs in public policy (and having an MPA won't hurt you for a legal career) but it may just be a roundabout way to get there depending on exactly what you want to end up doing. What are your medium and long-term career goals? You said working for non-profits, but what type in what field? What sorts of organisations? What sort of role (program staff, finance, legal, HR)? If you narrow that down a bit I'm sure folks will be happy to help out.

Thanks a lot Handsome Nerd - exactly what I was looking for I knew it was formalised, but had no idea what it was called!

I struggled a bit not to post an angry reply to that too, and Abogs has put it pretty diplomatically. In all honesty, a JD is pretty useless from my standpoint in development unless you want to work on human rights lobbying in the US. The world is also fairly lousy with lawyers at the minute, and I've heard it's getting crazily competitive to find a job after pouring tens of thousands of dollars into tuition (plus a lot of time). One thing you need to think a little about is your attitude - you've come in here asking for advice from MPA degree holders/applicants and instantaneously alienated everyone with your trite remark. That's not an attitude that'll get you far in any non-profit. From what you've described as your interests, I can't help thinking an MPP or MA focusing on education might be a better fit. If you want to do a dual program you'd probably need to apply in a different year as you need to register for both courses at the same time for most institutions.

You need to be a touch more specific as to what you want to do career-wise before we can help out much, although I'm not too sure I like the 'MPAs are pretty much worthless' line.

No probs - and if you have any more questions feel free to fire me a PM. Good luck with the GRE, it's an absolute bitch. Just remember your end goal (grad school place, travel, career) when you're questioning yourself and wondering why you're studying geometry and sentence completion at this point in your life

I don't know a great deal about the LAH program, but to me language skills are hugely important for any program that involves a big 'area studies' component. I've said it before, but I'll say it again - I'd far rather have someone who's got language skills/study abroad experience than someone who's only experience of international development is a UN internship in Manhattan. Sadly I'm not on the admit committees I think it's all going to be down to shaping a personal statement that shows just how relevant your undergrad degree is to what you want to do now (both MA and career) and highlighting the experience you do have with international affairs (MUN, Costa Rica, Honduras) etc. Planning and running the medical clinic is also very good as it shows initiative, project management and autonomy - all things you need to be successful in grad school. You don't have anything to lose applying for this cycle, it's just about crafting your SOP to show you've got what they want.

I think it kind of depends on what you want to do with your MA eventually. What's the end career goal? I don't think doing more ESL will necessarily help your application (nor will it hurt it), it's just a case of figuring out what you'd get out of more ESL and how that relates to your end career goal. If you want to come out and do more ESL teaching after grad school, it might make sense to continue now while you have the impetus, but by the same token if you want to start going a more policy route then the MA would be a good jumping off point to change direction. To me your 3yrs in Colombia is comparable to Peace Corps folks (I'm preparing myself for a 'Peace Corps is way harder' backlash here...) and plenty of folks go into grad school after Peace Corps. I think you've got enough experience to be competitive at most programs (except the mid-career professional type of program) and if you want to go for Fall 2012 I don't think that should be a problem. The only provisos would be - do you think you'd be able to take macro-economics somewhere before Fall 2012 (if you want to apply to quant programs) and do you have the time to work on getting a good GRE score between now and applications going in?

Hey all, I'm currently researching the various programs I'll be applying to and I was wondering if anyone could give me a bit more information on how things work in DC. I've heard that if you're a student at any DC college you're allowed to visit other colleges to sit in on classes or lectures (for example, GWU students going to Georgetown classes) in the same way students can at Harvard/MIT/BU? Is this still the case? If so, is the program called anything in particular, and is there a website where I can gather a bit more info about it? Thanks a lot!

Glad you bumped this I think you should be competitive as long as your GRE and GPA is competitive. Have you got micro/macroeconomics? A few people I worked with at the Carter Center had started out in ESL to get their first overseas experience so it's definitely not out of the ordinary. One thing I would say is that when I'm hiring people I'd far rather hire someone with overseas experience and language skills than someone fresh out of undergrad or who has only ever worked in the first world, or bounced around from UN internship to World Bank internship - I'd like to hope grad schools think the same. One thing I would suggest, is there any way you could get involved with some local NGOs in Bogota when you go back? Even if it's just volunteering or doing the odd thing every month it'd really strengthen your application. As it stands, that'd be my only question mark i.e. 'This guy has been in Colombia for three years, if he really wanted to do IR wouldn't he have done some by now?' Hope those thoughts are of some help.

I may be jumping the gun on this one a little, but figured it wouldn't hurt to get a jump on this, as I'm aiming to get all my applications finished in the next month or so (I don't fancy relying on having free time if I deploy overseas). But I thought it wouldn't hurt to get this out there. I'll start us off. Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): Int. Dev, MPA, IR, IA and Conflict Management - basically a post-conflict, development focus. Schools Applied To: GWU Elliott, Columbia SIPA, SAIS, American SIS, WWS, Fletcher, George Mason Schools Admitted To: Schools Rejected From: Still Waiting: Mainly waiting for them to open the applications up for 2012! Undergraduate institution: University of Nottingham Undergraduate GPA: 3.9 equivalent Undergraduate Major: Politics GRE Quantitative Score: 690 GRE Verbal Score: 710 GRE AW Score: 6.0 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3 Years of Work Experience: 2.5 Describe Relevant Work Experience: International election observer in Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire (2010), interned with two large international NGOs and volunteered in the West Bank. Languages: French (professional, almost fluent for listening), beginner Spanish and Arabic. 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. 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. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): 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. 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.

I just made flashcards using the Barron's high frequency list for every single word where I didn't know the definition, and then learned 7 a day every day for about 2 months. At the end I was basically revising ones I didn't know so well.

When are your application deadlines for? If you need any by November/December time bear in mind that ETS state that taking the new test may result in scores being reported later than usual.

Midtown is great (I lived there last year) but as others say can be a little pricey. I lived just south of 10th and Piedmont, so a few blocks south of Piedmont Park and absolutely loved it. The Nook is quite a cool little bar just north of the Park on Piedmont, and we used to go every week for their Team Trivia night. The Park Tavern is right on the east edge of the park and has loads of outside music etc. over the summer. In terms of other places to go/eat, Iberica does really good food up in Decatur and for pizza, Savage Pizza is great in Virginia HIghlands. I think our favorite place in Highlands was probably Fontaine's (just down from the Taco Mac in VH). Great beer selection, great food and you can sit outside at the back when the weather is nice. Highland Bakery is also great if you want to splash out on a nice breakfast/lunch. The Midtown Taco Mac is great if you're a sports fan, and Midtown Vortex bar and Grill is also worth a look for their burgers. In Little Five Points, The Porter Beer Bar is a great gastro-pub that opened fairly recently. Atlanta is a great city to live in, it's just a shame the public transport sucks and so you end up having to drive a lot of places. Any more questions feel free to come back at me

PhD Pharmacist, I can't really answer whether the new or old test would be better for you, but I can tell you that the test is very learnable and you should definitely be able to pull your score up with some practice. The test is all about catching you out, making you rush and pressuring you into making the wrong decision. This is something you can combat by learning the mechanics of how the quantitative questions work, how to solve them and also the shortcuts of when you shouldn't waste time solving them. For example, say the question was a quantitative comparison and the question was: Column A: (23)(25)(17)(32) Column B: (24)(34)(16)(44) You don't need to work that out, and it would waste a LOT of your time trying to do so. You can glance at the numbers, see that Column B is bigger for every one except for the 16, and know it's going to be Column B. These are the kinds of things you only really learn to do confidently when you've seen enough questions that you can be sure they aren't tricking you. I'd really recommend investing the time to practice, as the test is really learnable and if you have the time it would really help your apps - especially when your program sounds quant heavy.

Thanks a lot guys, very much appreciated and nice to confirm what I thought myself!

Very good point that I somehow forgot to mention Powerprep is the only software out there that accurately represents the GRE itself and can be indicative of your final score. There are only two tests on Powerprep though, so most people tend to take one about four weeks out and one a few days before their real test. If you take it multiple times it obviously won't be as accurate at predicting your score.

I'm glad to hear that you managed to find somewhere else that offers loans. When I originally researched it, I thought we weren't eligible for Career Development Loans, but I'm guessing that the rules must be a bit different with Barclays/Coop. One thing that I did when I got my J-1 visa for an internship in the USA was declare my overdraft as part of the funds available to me, which they allowed. Obviously that's not ideal, but if you're really stuck it could help you get that last £2k. Then you could hopefully get some work on campus as part of your F-1 visa once you're there to make some extra cash.

I'm also applying for Fall 2012 admission and I'll be 30 when I matriculate. I think with these being 'professional' degrees, people tend to be late twenties/early thirties rather than a lot of kids straight out of undergrad.

Hey all, I'm applying to grad school for Fall 2012 (and definitely starting early!) and I'm already trying to figure out what the best thing to do about references is. I'll be applying to MPA's and MA's in International Affairs/Peacebuilding so I'm not sure whether to cheat my application more towards academia or my professional life. A lot of schools seem to ask for three recommendations, and I'm not sure whether to have one professional with two academic, or two professional and one academic. My references choices are as follows: Professor A: Internationally recognised, has bounced about to a lot of prestigious universities. Pros: He knows me well, and I was a research assistant for him for 6 months over the summer and he was also the second-reader on my undergrad dissertation. Cons: I'm pretty sure he'll write me a positive reference, but it might be slightly dry. Professor B: He knows me well, and made reference to me being in the top few percent of students he has taught. Pros: He's a close friend now and I'm pretty sure he'll write me a gushing reference as he knows US universities expect recommenders to be a bit OTT. Cons: Not well known internationally as he does quite specific work. Professional X: He's the assistant director of a very big/well known international NGO. I interned there for 5 months and undertook a lot of weighty research projects. Pros: On my end of internship he said I was the best intern he'd ever had on my written evaluation, and has kept in touch since I left. I also know he'll send it off promptly. Cons: I was just an intern - not a paid member of staff. Professional Y: He was the field director of an overseas mission I was on. I was there for 5 months and gradually took on more and more responsibility, eventually training other members of staff. Pros: He's another close friend, and has done the whole grad school thing recently so knows what they're looking for and I did substantive paid work under him. Cons: He was a bit tardy when I asked him to write me a job reference a few months back, so I'm a bit worried it'd be the same thing with grad school. What do you guys reckon? I'm probably leaning towards using A, B and X, but do you think the fact I was 'just' an intern with my professional experience will hurt me? I'm hoping the fact he's a senior member of staff at a big NGO will outweigh that. Thanks for any advice!

As far as I know, http://internationalstudentloans.com/ are the only place that do loans for non-US students - you don't know any family friends or anyone who could cosign? I'll be in a similar position next year, so I can certainly sympathise. We seem to get a raw deal on both ends - no loans for grad school in the UK, and tough to get loans to study elsewhere. I'm also from NI, so feel free to give me a shout if you need any more help.

It's a bit easy for the math, but some of their test strategies are really good. I'd maybe say get it as a supplemental book, but don't rely on it alone. Their practice tests can also be really misleading.

As an overall guide, Barron's is definitely the best. Covers pretty much all the maths you need and the high frequency word list. For quantitative, I'm finding Nova's GRE Math Prep invaluable. I've been studying with those for around 6 weeks and got 740Q, 680V in Powerprep today. I'm hoping to break 700 in both, but the verbal is a lot more luck of the draw depending on what words you get on test day. If you want another book for overall practice, Kaplan's is worth it just to get the extra practice tests, as they're widely seen as the next best after Powerprep. If you've never taken it before, the main skills are computational speed, elimination tactics and getting used to taking the test. If you have bad timing on the test it can completely throw you, as penalties are really high for unanswered questions. If you apply yourself and have the time, getting a decent score should be within your grasp. Any other questions, or an idea of your strengths/weaknesses/desired score and I'm happy to post back. Good luck!

Well good luck for July when you take it I know the new one will be different, but if there's any aspect of vocab testing, I've found the Barron's high frequency list really good. It's bumped me up from a 690V to a 730V in my most recent test.

Because I don't want to take the new test, which will be completely be unproven, and I've heard a lot of test centers aren't testing with the old test in June/July. This way if anything goes wrong, I could retake before they change to the new test. I'm pretty sure it won't benefit me, as I'm weaker on quants and already had a good verbal/AWA score. With a calculator on screen, problems will probably be more complex and that's not good as I'm a 'silly mistakes' person. I also know my targets with the old scores, nobody has any idea what schools will be looking for with the new scores. Also my job necessitates a lot of overseas travel, and I could well be leaving for Tunisia/Egypt/DRC before July.

Congratulations Does that include tuition or are you getting $23k stipend and free tuition? Just trying to work out how generous Fletcher are to decide whether to apply to them myself next year as an international student.