HisRoyalHighness

I found the inclusion of undergraduate ranking for IR programs in the latest Foreign Policy to be strange. No one cares where you went to undergrad once you're in graduate school.

I got a 630 on the verbal which was fine with me - that was 50 points higher than my practice test and above the mean for all the schools to which I applied. GRE is overrated as a predictor of academic success. Thank God I'll never have to take it again because I hated studying for it and I hated taking it.

Columbia SIPA is not that difficult of a program to which to gain admittance - they're looking for people who can pretty much pay their way through the program as Columbia is notoriously stingy with fin. aid for MA students. You should be fine.

I don't understand why you would feel you're not competitive? Your scores are excellent and your GPA is too. You don't need a 4.0 and a 1600 GRE to get into a "top IR school" (what does that even mean really? There are over one hundred universities in the US offering IR MA degrees, are you referring to the top 10, top 15?). Graduate school admissions aren't like undergraduate - they're looking for ability to think independently and critically as well as a curiosity about the world, not raw scores. Write a kick-ass SOP, which I feel is the single, most important part of anyone's application to graduate school.

I don't know a huge amount about the NYU program but I do know someone who's in it who's major is Latin American studies and he seems quite pleased with the program so far. It is not highly competitive, meaning it's not ranked in the top 20, but it's a good solid program nonetheless. If you live in NY you're going to have very high living expenses - so be prepared for that. I'm an international security major but do not focus on Latin America and speak French rather than Spanish.

Why do you think getting such a high verbal GRE will "dramatically" increase your odds of getting into your top choice? Did they tell you exactly how much they weigh the verbal GRE vs. GPA and SOP? Let's be honest - no one knows for sure how much GREs are weighed. The whole process is completely opaque and we can only offer our best guess.

International relations programs love international applicants, but you've not indicated what subsection of IR you're interested in - security, humanitarian, international studies? "IR" is a general field, I need to know more specifically what you're interested in. The Global Affairs program at NYU SCPS is a great program. But then again I'm biased as I graduated from NYU. I have concerns about the program at the University of Chicago. I don't believe one year is enough time to become learned in IR and the program at UC is a one-year program. Anything less than a full two-year program requiring a thesis, internship and second-language ability is not acceptable. The University of Chicago is also not a member of ASPSIA, You should check out their listings of full and affiliate members. You also need to start studying for the GRE as your score there is a strong determinant of where you'll be able to get in.

Refunds are generally given quite quickly after all tuition and fees are paid. At NYU I was given my refund 10 days after class started. The schools realize students need that extra money on which to live so they don't hold onto it. If you need money before your refund arrives you can talk to Columbia about an emergency loan to pay rent. Most universities offer these programs where the school will front you some cash and then add the loan onto your tuition bill.

Hi - I'm unsure what the protocol is for applying in the manner in which you're thinking. I do know, however, that graduate programs are looking for focused applicants who want to be leaders in their fields. So applying, say, to one school like NYU for two separate departments, one an MPP and one IR, would be looked down upon. For one thing it shows that you don't really know what you want to do and secondly it plays departments off against each other. Maybe if you can elaborate on the "professional and PhD program at the same university" then myself or someone else can help you. I'm doing a terminal masters program so I'm not sure what the right answer is.

You should consider UCSD's Asian Studies program. It's really unparalleled in the world. The University of Washington's Jackson School of International Studies is also another excellent school for IR with an Asian focus. Also - cut that list of schools down a bit. I'm confused - are you intending to apply to multiple programs at the same university? If so I would highly recommend you not do so.

I've never heard of "FPA" and looking at the list of "top schools" I'm curious how they came up with the rankings. I've never heard of UC Boulder being a "top school" for IR or Political Science. Far be it from me to disparage NYU - I received my undergraduate degree at the university. That being said I think the MS in Global Affairs program at SCPS is coming along nicely. I know someone in the program now and he said it's quite rigorous and thorough. I believe he's doing a Latin American Affairs concentration. NYU also provides great support to its students and the location is unparalleled.

LinkedIn has several groups which pertain to intelligence and security.

LOLS - 13 schools? Uhh.. why?

The University of Colorado at Denver doesn't even have an international relations graduate program. You'd think Foreign Policy would have fact-checked that before publishing it, particularly since the study appeared online weeks before the magazine itself was published.

That's indeed unfortunate about SIPA. I've also heard they're quite stingy with their funding as well. I know someone who graduated from the program and she had a lot of good things to say about it and now is working as an intelligence analyst with the NYPD's counter-terrorism bureau.

Yes, I was referring specifically to one of the other posters listing SAIS as a top Security Studies school. The Foreign Policy rankings are good for IR programs and differ significantly (and more accurately in my view) than the new US News and World Report rankings of IR graduate programs. But still - Foreign Policy's error in listing DU as "UC Denver" is pretty egregious. Of course I'm hardly unbiased as I'll be starting at Korbel in September

I don't agree with the listing of SAIS at the top - at all. In a meeting I once attended the dean of the Naval Postgraduate School showed a list of what the military and intelligence communities feel are the top 10 schools for Security Studies and neither KSG nor SAIS were on that list, Georgetown was and so was Fletcher along with Kansas State University and Korbel. Take that as you may but I lean heavily towards respecting the advice of the intelligence and defense communities over that of US News and World Report or that ghastly Foreign Policy survey - which mislabeled the University of Denver as "The University of Colorado at Denver," published the mistake and then took two months to correct it. Anyway - it's all subjective. The other posters have given good advice and as I said to someone else asking the same question: look at all the schools you're interested in and prepare a first-year course load for each and then compare. That is an excellent tool for deciding which program fits your specific interests. Also visit the schools before applying. I started this process intending to apply to Georgetown, Tufts, American and Korbel. After visiting all the schools I took American and Georgetown off the list and applied to Tufts and Korbel (University of Denver). I was admitted to both and chose Denver after laying out a first-year course load and deciding Denver's focus fit much more closely to what I was interested in. Had I not done any of that I prolly would have ended up at Georgetown - which before I started was my first choice.

If you want to do Security Studies I would not recommend SAIS - they're not even in the top 10 for International Security programs. Columbia and Georgetown - yes. But SAIS? Not for Security - I say this as someone attending Korbel's International Security MA program. When looking at Georgetown and Columbia I'd recommend Georgetown - just for the chance to study with Bruce Hoffman Remember though - the Georgetown Security program is really designed for mid-career professionals, classes only take place at night because most of the students work in DC during the day. So if you're looking for more of a professional program then Georgetown is definitely the right place for you. If you're looking for more of an academic program you're going to need to look elsewhere, to Columbia, Tufts, Pitt, GW, Syracuse or Korbel.

Columbia's program is not that selective - 40% admission rate. That can be your safety school. You need to fill us in more on exactly what area you want to focus on in IR - development, human rights, security? What do you want to do after? What languages do you speak?

You all keep talking about IR - the original poster specifically asked about Security Studies. I would not put Yale, LSE or even SAIS on a top-10 list for International Security. IR and Security are two separate fields - security focuses on intelligence, defense, regional security and terrorism analysis using qualitative and quantitative methods - IR does not.

LinkedIn is a great idea - I'd love to stay connected outside this forum as we all move towards starting our respective programs in September. I'll be at Korbel in the International Security program in Fall 2009.

This is an IR list - not one which ranks Security Studies programs. If you're specifically looking at Security Studies the best schools, in no particular order, include: 1. JKSIS at University of Denver 2. Georgetown 3. Columbia SIPA 4. University of Pittsburg GSPIA 5. Kansas State University 6. Tufts Fletcher Some of the issues to consider are the curriculum - does a school offer a security-focused curriculum or a more IR-based focus? Are the professors known within the security field for their work - or are they IR professors teaching security issues? Is the school located near large military and security centers? Where are the graduates of the security studies field currently working or teaching? Does the program require second language proficiency? Look at the program and lay out a sample first year course schedule for each school, then compare them. That's a great way of weeding out programs which have a heavily econ or IR focus but claim they're security-focused. This is my field so if you have any questions send me a PM.

Excuse me? This isn't like the Bush Justice Department where anyone's amoral conduct can be creatively excused. 2400 received an "honest opinion." You may not like the way it was phrased but both myself and math123 are certainly entitled to voice ours. And no, I didn't find myself in that situation - wanna know why? Because I didn't create a situation like that for myself.

Why accept an offer from a program which you don't want to attend in the first place? I really don't understand people who do that kind of thing - it goes back to the whole philosophy behind applying to programs to begin with. Don't apply to programs to which you have no interest and then you won't find yourself in this situation. And certainly don't accept an offer from a program in which you have little interest - by doing so you put yourself into a terrible ethical dilemma and also cheat out another student who sincerely is interested in the program.

It's quite shocking how some people are quite willing to abandon or ignore easily understood and agreed-to rules to suit themselves when they believe the circumstances create a more advantageous situation for them. Ignoring, of course, that most other people in this process try and abide by the rules we agreed to when we started this journey back in 2008. Perhaps "shocking" isn't the appropriate word - disgusting more aptly sums it up.