fenderpete

I don't want to cut it too fine and leave it until July, I'm also sick of working on it and can only handle another 4 weeks lol. I'll try sending them to prospective schools and email them early May to ask if they can keep them for Fall 2012. Thanks for the advice guys, but unfortunately it sounds like ETS may be set up to get even more of my money

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone could tell me what my options are for reporting scores to schools for Fall 2012 entry if I take the GRE in April 2011? I know that you can report your scores to 4 schools immediately after the test, but I'm worried that taking it in April and sending them right away is kind of early for the Fall 2012 admission cycle and I neither want schools to lose my scores, nor lose out on the 4 reports included in the GRE cost. Is there any way to get them sent later, or not use the 4 reports at the time, and use them later? Thanks guys!

What happens if you get the first 20 right, then get the rest wrong? Just interested as I'm currently working out a pacing strategy for the GRE in April. I need to break 700-720 if possible, but would love to be in with a chance of getting higher if I can. Thanks for a great and very informative post!

I'd love to blog too. Applying for the Fall 2012 season, but starting prep like GREs and SOPs now. I was a music journalist for five years and think I could manage a fairly entertaining blog

Congrats on the AWA bum, and good luck

I'd maybe suggest retaking the GRE as well - try and break 600 in verbal and get a slightly higher AWA? In terms of your undergrad GPA, did you gradually progress and get better? I think it's more important to do well in your final year and if you had a few low scores early on I'm sure admin committees will understand that

I guess this is maybe bad timing, as everyone will pretty much now have sent in all of their applications for the 2011 season and no longer be in need of motivation, but I figured this might make for an interesting topic. I also figured if might be a good thinking about a new year post. Everyone here has one thing in common, that they want to get into grad school. I thought it might be interesting to talk a bit about why people are applying to grad school, what they want to get out of it and what the particular hurdles are for their given course and how you keep motivation up when doing the ground work to improve that all important application. For once, this isn't necessarily a 'Look at my GRE scores!' thread, but more of a personal journey thread. I figured it'd work well in the format: What program are you applying for? Why grad school and what's your journey? What challenges does your field present and what hurdles do you need to overcome? What skills are you working on? How are you keeping motivation and what perspective have you gained from the process? So... in the interests of fairness: What program are you applying for? MA International Relations/Conflict Resolution Why grad school and what's your journey? For me it's been kind of an interesting road. I decided pretty early on as an undergrad that I wanted to go to grad school, and this was motivated by nothing more complicated than realising that for any decent job in the United Nations you needed an MA! I went through an ill-advised round of applications at the end of final year, when I applied to PhD programs (due to the fact PhDs are a lot easier to get funded for) and after that decided I'd rather get some work experience and then figure out what to do about grad school. Fast forward two years and I've now got a decent amount of experience, and talked to enough people in my field to know that an MA is well worth it and will open a lot more doors than a PhD might (and also take a lot less time!). Working out in the West Bank, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire has really helped me hone in the area of development I want to work in, and the job profile I want (HQ vs field based). What challenges does your field present and what hurdles do you need to overcome? I'm really weak on quantitative skills. Having gone to a UK university, where my undergrad was taught in a lot more of a Politics as a humanity than Political Science. That in mind, I have zero economics background and that definitely showed in my first attempt at the GRE in 2008. This is the main thing I'm trying to overcome. I also absolutely hate maths, and that's something I'm trying to overcome too. I figure if I can make what is a huge weakness into something approximating a strength then I'm in decent shape to make it through grad school. I worked on my French a lot out in Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire and it's something I want to continue to improve, along with my Spanish and Arabic. In my field it's pretty much taken for granted that you'll be close to fluent in more than your mother tongue, and as someone who's never found that languages come naturally this is something I know I'll have to work hard on for the rest of my career. What skills are you working on? At the minute it's all maths all the time! I've signed up to do a diploma in Economics with a distance learning program, and I'm also going through what is basically remedial maths in a course online - starting small, trying to reteach myself everything and end up at Calculus and Stats (which might help with the Economics). I'm also doing all the standard GRE prep and once that's all done I'm hoping to have some time to work on some languages and read a bit more into conflicts I've been interested in but never studied. How are you keeping motivation and what perspective have you gained from the process? This is the tough one. I know from the PhD application cycle that grad apps suck, and that it takes up a large portion of your time for a long time! The main thing I learned from last time is that worrying doesn't help and that once your applications are in you might as well forget about them. Easier said than done, but I'm hoping that'll help me once I'm back in the fog of applications this time next year. I also learned that not getting in isn't the end of the world and other options are there if you don't. Motivation at the minute is coming from some positive visualisation based on my number one grad school pick. I'm trying to think of it as if I work as hard as I possibly can for the next 9 months then if I don't get in, it's not meant to be. At the minute when I'm not working, I'm thinking of 'this is my goal, if I don't work I won't get it.' Kind of fluffy and non-specific I know. In more definitive terms, I'm thinking about all the sacrifices I've made over the past few years and how I want that to translate into something concrete (hopefully a good graduate education!) and also comparing my progress to that of my peers. Finally, I got the chance to live in the USA for 5 months a year ago and it was the best time of my life. Going to grad school in the US is a huge motivator, and something I hope might translate into a career and life in the USA once I finish. So... what about everybody else?

Wow... SAIS, American and Stanford are considered backups?!

Again, thanks for a great reply That definitely sounds wise, and I think in an ideal world I'd try to end up on a program that's strong in all my primary interests (DDR, refugees, security) in the hopes that it'll cater to whatever I end up wanting to write my thesis on. As you've been so helpful, what do you think of my profile in general? Do you think I'll be competitive for the top programs if I can pull my GRE up? My main goal is to get a full ride + stipend somewhere!

Thanks a lot mppgal That's definitely articulated how to craft SOP fit better than anything else I've read (and in markedly less space). I guess what I'm more worried about is how specific I need to be about my interests/where I want to end up. i.e. do I need to say I want to end up working building water towers for one legged Liberian civil war survivors in Sierra Leone? Or is it significant to say I'm interested in working in refugee and former combatant issues? My interests are still pretty broad, and I guess I'm not sure whether I need to be hyper-specific or whether I can reflect that for me, grad school is part of the 'zeroing in' process. What do you reckon?

Anybody?

Slightly weird topic I guess, but having taken two years out since graduating and gaining some solid experience (observed the presidential elections in Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea as a long term observer with the Carter Center) I'm still not 100% sure what area of development I want to commit my life to. I've got 10 months of field experience, around two years of NGO HQ experience and a 3.8-3.9 undergrad GPA in Politics from a top-ten UK university (got a First class honours, so no real GPA equivalent). I sat the GRE three years ago and got 610Q, 690V 5.5AWA and I'm about to retake it to hopefully push my quant and verbal over 700. I'm also currently studying for a diploma for graduates in Economics with the University of London international program. I know what I don't want to work in, and the type of work that interests me (conflict resolution/peacebuilding) but as yet I'm not certain what area I want to focus on. I guess my problem has always been that I find all of the conflict-resolution jobs somewhat interdependent and so it's a bit hard to disaggregate the one area that I specifically want to work in. My field work has focused on elections, and while I enjoyed that a lot I'd like to shift more into the DDR and humanitarian/refugee management sphere with grad school. I'm also still interested in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency, and broader security/conflict issues. One thing I do know is the type of work I want to do - definitely project management and the more concrete side of development. While policy interests me, I'm definitely more of a 'boots on the ground' guy and want to be able to say what I've achieved at the end of any given week - be that troops disarmed or refugees resettled. I want to be competitive for the top programs, and more importantly for full funding everywhere I apply, but does that mean that I have to totally narrow down my interests in my LOR to sound authoritative? I want to apply to WWS, American, SAIS and SIPA and be competitive for their scholarships. What do you guys think? Is it alright to kind of admit I'm not certain where I'm going yet, but flag the areas I am interested in? Thanks for any advice! Hopefully I'll get it right for Fall 2012! Pete

Hi all, So I’m planning to apply for an MPA focused in Conflict Resolution/International Development for Fall 2012 (no harm in starting good and early right?). I’ve just heard that the GRE is going to be changing next year (hopefully for the better) and I’m not sure whether it’s better to wait and take the new test in November/December time (2011) or try and take it before it changes in the Spring. I’m generally not as strong at maths (got a Q610 last time) but pretty good in verbal (V690, AWA 5.5) and I’m wondering whether the new GRE will be easier/tougher than the old one for me (which is at least a known quantity) or just different. I really want to boost my Q score and if possible, consolidate my verbal and end up with an overall score good enough to apply to the really competitive programs (WWS, Georgetown, Harvard). What do you guys reckon? Take the old test and rush my preparations, or prepare to take it in Nov/Dec and risk the new test type? Thanks for any advice! Pete

Hi all, Well it's been a couple of years and I'm back and hopefully really ready to apply for grad school this time - knowing what I want, and also with some solid experience. I'm hoping to apply for either 2011 or 2012 start (depending on a few factors at the minute) Ideally I'm looking for international development/conflict resolution programs with a very hands-on and international focus - I definitely want the option to travel for my dissertation and while I know theory is important, I want as high a proportion of practical knowledge as possible in whatever program I choose. I'm also probably a bit quantitatively weak and so a program that doesn't emphasise quantitative above everything else would be good. I'm still not quite sure what area of international development I plan to specialise in, or whether I want to stay as a generalist - but at the minute I'd characterise my interests as primarily those of project management and delivery - i.e. running an election mission, running a community development program or field office. In terms of my profile: Undergrad: First Class Hons. in Politics from the University of Nottingham - equivalent to around 3.8-4.0 GPA - Focus in post-war reconstruction, Middle East and democratisation - Graduated joint top of my year, and won first prize award for largest contribution to the university GRE: 610Q, 690V, 5.5AWA - Considering retaking this, but I'm not great at maths and so might struggle to get quant up by a huge amount. Experience: Lots of extracurriculars while at university - including Research Assistant for a Prof. for 4 months. During my degree I spent a summer out in the West Bank working in a refugee camp, and spent two months teaching in an underprivileged secondary school in Nottingham. I then interned at The Carter Center in their Conflict Resolution Program for 5 months, interned at Oxfam Ireland for 5 months and I'm about to fly out to Guinea for 3 months to be a Long Term Election Observer for the presidential election, where I'll be managing a team of 5-6 short term observers and monitoring one of the four main provinces of Guinea - with a large proportion of my work in French. After I get back from that, I'm moving to Sudan for 9-12 months to teach English as a foreign language, work on my Arabic and hopefully get some NGO work while out there. I think I've got good enough experience (will be around the 2-3yr mark after Sudan) and that I'll be able to shape it into a pretty coherent narrative for my personal statement, and I'll also have some good professional references. My main problem is that I don't come from a wealthy background, and while I'll hopefully save up a bit while in Sudan, I don't have anywhere near the tens of thousands of dollars needed for a two year MA program - so I basically need a full ride offer. So what schools are there that fit the bill? I know American and WWS offer full rides if you tick the right boxes, but I don't know if my profile will be strong enough to do that! What other schools should I look at? The SIPA MPA in Development Practice looks really interesting, but I know they don't fund much. I kind of feel like this is my last chance to do a lot of grad school apps and so I want to get it right this time for the biggies like HKS and WWS. I'm happy to look beyond the USA as well if there are particularly good programs elsewhere. I was planning on applying to Oxbridge (LSE don't really offer any financial aid). I'm from the UK - with dual UK/Irish citizenship - so if you know of any good scholarships for people of my background that'd be great as well! So any recommendations on universities are really appreciated - and also advice on whether you think my GRE would be a deal-breaker as it currently stands. Also - is my profile good enough for WWS/HKS/SIPA or is that a pipe dream? Thanks a lot, Pete

No shortlisting for me either - maybe I should have told them about the Carter Center sooner! On the plus side, it now means I have a completely free year after this, so it may give me the push to go and work overseas for a few years rather than do an MA... I'd love to know the profile of people they accepted. If you wouldn't mind sharing j9 that'd be great.

Still nothing for me either. I've decided if I don't hear by Friday I'm going to email them, and also ask them to update my CV with an internship I'm doing at the minute.

Still nothing here! They're not exactly punctual...

Hey, Yeah I applied as well. I was a bit annoyed when they pushed the deadline back to end of August instead of end of July as it means there won't be much time to applying for an alternative if I don't get in. With them saying they got 3000 applications I'm not too optimistic. At least if we do get in we'll get paid a tiny bit. Pete

Another quick question... Is it better to send a brief opening email stating a very short description of my area of interest and then follow it up with a longer email of my research interests once a prof replies, or is it better to send a fairly detailed first email of past study and questions, with reference to a piece of their specific research?

Hi all, I'm getting ready for the rigors of the application season again, after a very underprepared and unfocused attempt last year that ended in failure! I'm planning on applying to a mixture of MA and PhD programs but I know I want to end up as a practitioner rather an academic, for now at least. My background is as follows: Previous Schools: University of Nottingham, Russell Group university (UK Ivy League equivalent) Previous Degrees and GPA's: Politics BA - First Class Honours - 3.8+ equivalent GPA Previous Schools: University of London/LSE Previous Degrees and GPA's: Graduate Diploma in Economics (graduate June 2010) GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): Last year I got 690V/610Q/5.5AWA - retaking end of August and aiming for 700+ in both. Previous Work Experience: 1 month in Middle East working in refugee camp, 1 month teaching high school history, 4 months Carter Center Conflict Program Internship, 4 Months Research Assistant for Prof. during undergrad on UNPKO, Exit Polling for European Parliament Election Econ Background: Diploma in Economics (Micro, Macro, Econometrics), some IPE in PoliSci Global Governance module Foreign Language Background: 5 years French, 2 years Spanish, beginner Arabic Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Security, terrorism and counterinsurgency Long Term Professional Goals: Foreign policy - either think tank, NGO or eventually government. I was wondering if people could tell me whether the following programs offer full-rides or just a tuition scholarship? GWU - Security Studies MA Princeton WWS - MPA Harvard MPP - IGA American - MIA Columbia SIPA - MIA NYU - Politics MA Yale - International Relations MA As an international student I really need a full ride as I'll be moving over and I'm not eligible for a big loan to cover 2 years of living expenses etc. I really appreciate the help from you guys with a lot of experience . Thanks, Pete

Sorry that I seem to have come across as such as lay-person - I do understand what it takes to do political research, I just seem to have totally failed to articulate it on these boards. What I'm interested in researching is creating a dataset of counterterrorism cases, extrapolating variables that have led to the success/failure of these counterterrorist responses to use as a codebook and then comparing these to successful practices in counterinsurgency. I imagine my dependent variable would be either negotiated settlement or number of terrorist attacks per annum. Thanks a lot for the heads up on faculty hires natofone - that's a brilliant resource (and Jason Lyall looks very cool - I see he's gone to Yale now). I'm now planning on spending the next two months researching programmes (both for funding opportunities and fit/faculty availability/faculty interests) and writing a SoP that reflects all that. I'm sorry I seem to have come across as such a dufus on the boards - but I do know where I went wrong last year and hope to correct it this year.

Hi all... I want to find out what level of financial assistance is available for some MA programmes to see if they're worth applying to or whether I'm better off applying to just PhD programmes in order to get fully funded. Who's the best person to contact within departments to find this out? Obviously the Grad. Chair would know but I can't help worrying this is a bit clerical in nature to be asking them. What do you think? Also, there are one or two joint programmes (MA/PhD) I'm interested in applying to - is it alright to ask things like whether if I get an offer to one but not both if I can still do one programme? Sorry if this is a bit procedural, I just need to find all this out and don't want to make a bad impression! Thanks! Pete

Anybody?

I'm an Arabic beginner, but it's something I plan to work on during my PhD as I want to get my level up to at least a good reading/speaking level! Terrorism wise, I plan on doing something a bit comparative in terms of looking at the evolution of counterterrorism and making some recommendations for the future. It's a pretty qualitative subject from my point of view I do want to be conversant in quant and formal though, as I know that'll help on the employability front immensely. I'd like to go somewhere with a fairly deep bench of talent, as I don't want to limit myself in case I end up running down a rabbit hole that's a bit off-piste security wise. Thanks for the heads up on Chicago - and good to know Harris is quant-heavy as that doesn't appeal too much - that seems to be the case with a lot of Public Policy places.

Sorry, my sarcasm detector must be off, I've been away from GradCafe too long lol It's disappointing the hear the funding problems that might be inherent at Georgetown or GWU as I really love the look of their programs - particularly Georgetown. If you don't get fully funded do you know if they offer any way to supplement it with RA/TA offers? Unfortunately both Fletcher and SAIS require you to have already completed an MA, which I haven't done unfortunately. KSG I'll probably apply to, but I'm wary as I only get to apply to one Harvard program. The Harris School looks very interesting though, and I've been checking it out since Natofone suggested it. I will have a look at non-US departments as well, but trying to focus on that side of things for now. Elliot looks brilliant, but they don't offer a PhD - and I need something that'll be fully funded (coming out of undergrad loaded with debt). I assume you can't get a fully funded MA from any of these places? Thanks for all the help Pete