HisRoyalHighness

This is one of the best things I've read so far on this site. The obsession with "rankings" while ignoring clear deficiencies in the higher-ranked programs (like the fact that KSG and Yale are both inferior IR programs which are more highly ranked because they have the Harvard and Yale names behind them) is really quite shocking. I wasn't aware when I applied that I was going to be paying $50,000+ per year for an extended two-year employment program. I thought I was applying to programs in which I was interested, which impressed me and who would teach me the most about my chosen field.

I went to undergrad in NY and part of me (a huge part) does not want to go to school back east again. I'm confused as to why people feel that you have to live in DC or NY to gain "experience." NORAD's HQ is at Cheyenne Mountain right outside of Denver and the Security Studies program at Korbel places many students in internships there. DU also maintains a campus in DC with Maxwell and GSPIA for those interested in learning in the capitol. I personally know Korbel students now at the State Department and two prestigious NGOs. The Dean of one of the most prestigious security studies schools in the world personally recommended Korbel to me. Being outside the Beltway I can focus on theory and practice and not politics. If I want a dose of DC I can always attend classes during the summer at Korbel's facilities there. I don't feel that I need to pass by the Department of State everyday to validate what I'm learning and I don't want to work for State anyway, at any point, after I graduate. The field of security studies is much less identified with DC than most people think. The armed forces of this country have purposely dispersed their operations out of DC in places as varied as Kansas, California & Colorado. One does not have to attend a school in DC, NY or Boston to "gain experience." Many employers look highly on those who manage to escape the professionally and academically incestuous atmosphere of DC anyway.

Politics matters a HUGE amount in my field. It's one major reason I chose the school I'm going to over the other one which offered me admission. I think people who say politics don't matter in grad school are lying to themselves - at least in the field of IR politics are enormously important.

French and Irish Gaelic :shock: Guess which one comes in more handy?

I will be attending admitted students week in April If anyone else is attending please PM me and we can exchange details - haven't decided where I'm staying yet but I have bought my ticket.

7-week full-immersion French class at Middlebury in Vermont.

I've chosen to attend the Korbel school at DU. I did so this weekend after thinking about it for over a month. I chose Korbel over Fletcher for the following reasons: 1. DU offered me a renewable scholarship while Tufts is notoriously stingy with funding. Tufts is five places above DU on the Foreign Policy rankings and I don't think that justifies taking on an additional $100,000 in debt. 2. I was told by my thesis adviser in undergrad that Tufts has a far more politically-conservative faculty and that Fletcher tended to churn out doctrinaire, non-critical thinkers. She urged me to chose DU because she felt, in her words "Denver is a much better program than Tufts." 3. I've spoken with three alumni from Korbel, one of whom works for the Gates Foundation and the other two for the Department of State. They all had a lot of praise for the program and said it has significantly improved over the past 5 years. 4. DU seems to have a greater emphasis on cross-disciplinary studies than Tufts and being out of the East Coast establishment means I can actually focus on theory and practicality rather than politics. I visited Georgetown and Fletcher and was very impressed with Fletcher but not compared to DU. Life after graduate school is not entirely dependent on making "connections" in DC. Korbel maintains a campus in DC in conjunction with the Maxwell school at Syracuse and the University of Pittsburgh for those interested in working for the government. I would rather work for an NGO or a private research and analysis firm than I would DHS or State. The faculty of the International Security department is also particularly well known in the field. Lastly. I attended a meeting at the Naval Postgraduate School in January and had a chance to ask the Dean about the two schools. He praised both but saved his highest praise for DU. That helped to seal the deal for me.

UK Patterson seems like a great up-and-coming program - I prefer smaller class sizes and wanted something outside the Beltway which is why I applied to Korbel at DU. It seems like any on your list would be great programs for what you're looking for.

I've heard from both mine. I attended a meeting at the Naval Postgraduate School back in January and the dean listed what he felt were the top Security Studies programs. On that list were the usual suspects but one I'd not heard of - Kansas State University. Has anyone heard of this program? They have quite a list of distinguished faculty and it's a one-year program.

Yeah probably - I had just finished having a conversation with someone about how being a tenured academic means never having to admit you're wrong, which led into that post amid further discussion over John Yoo's tenured position at Boalt - UC Berkeley. Regardless - I don't want to learn from convicted felons or those who feel the US Constitution can be suspended whenever the president wants it suspended. It's particularly important in grad school that you respect your professors. I have no respect for Fukuyama or Cohen or for that matter John Yoo. Too often in the study of IR or International Security we forget that real people bear the consequences of our decisions - there is a human face to the suffering caused by those who carelessly advocate war or torture. These are not simply abstract ideas without repurcussions.

I did, in October. I loved it - an amazingly accomplished student body, great classes and I loved the Hall of Flags. I also appreciated that they took time to interview me and that it added to my admissions file - the only school I know of which actually counts an admissions interview towards your acceptance (if it goes well).

Undergrad - 3.6 GRE Verbal - 630 Quantitative - 610 Analytical - 4.5 Professional experience - Extensive business travel overseas in India, South Africa and Europe. Study in Italy, lived in Morocco several times. Speak French. Honors thesis and Bronfman Fellowship in undergrad. One published piece on irredentism.

Can someone explain why SAIS is so highly regarded? They trumpet Francis Fukuyama as head of their ID program, who hasn't been right about a single thing in three decades (Hey Francis - whatever happened to The End of History?) and yet, like much of his brethren, has managed to continually fail upwards even after supporting (and then opposing) the disastrous Iraq war, which anyone with half a brain could have told you was a terrible idea and not in the long-term interests of the United States. And don't get me started on convicted felon Elliot Cohen, who subverted the US Constitution, ran guns to terrorists in Nicaragua and then was pardoned for his crimes and landed a nice post at SAIS while not busy strewing wreckage around the State Department in the second Bush administration. Too bad I didn't apply to SAIS. I could have learned a lot about terrorism and irrationality from the feet of two who know about, and have caused, quite a bit of both.

Maybe they're notifying people alphabetically? Sometimes it seems there's no rhyme or reason to how notifications go out.

Yeah - I never took any intro classes at NYU - they were all done at Cal. Which probably explains why I never had a TA at NYU. I don't think while I was at NYU I had a class with more than 25 students in it and some had as few as 8. I guess the particular U I wrote about just doesn't use TAs for some reason. Which sorta sucks for me because that means I won't get a TA position but it's better for students to be instructed and graded directly by their professors. My loss is their gain.

That's funny because during my time at NYU from 2006 - 2008 I never had a TA. N-E-V-E-R. Not a single class. Not in any of the schools including Gallatin, CAS or SCPS. Guess your experience wasn't universal.

Word - I thought conservatives hated government and wanted to, in the words of one one of their heroes: "drown it in the bathtub." Why study something you hate so much? Conservatives sound (and act) like they're suffering from a severe case of masochism these days.

Nope - this university doesn't use TAs at all. Here is the exact language:

Hmmm.. so it's dependent on school or department? I wonder why this particular school used the language "as a private educational system (or university?"

I was reading the website for one of the schools to which I was admitted and found out that "due to our status as a private educational facility we do not use TAs." This surprised me until I thought back to my undergrad, which started at UC Berkeley and ended at NYU. At Cal we had tons of TAs - for every class. At NYU we never had a TA - for any class. Why do private universities not make use of TAs but public universities do? Is it the difference in tuition, meaning private students expect direct involvement from the professor, or something else I'm missing?

Would a program accept a verbal decline? That seems dangerous - wouldn't they want a hard copy of your signature or at least an electronic signature? Anyone who did such a thing would be guilty of a multitude of felonies.

You're suffering from "Imposter Syndrome." I wrote the same thing when i got my first acceptance in January - I've since chilled out and realized I was being entirely irrational.

Congrats! Will you be coming to admitted students days in April?

I believe ALL of the schools to which we applied, Korbel, SIPA, Fletcher, LSE and more, are members of ASPIA. As far as my feelings on the East Coast - I grew up in the Mountain West and the West Coast. I went to prep school (Northfield-Mt.Hermon) and undergrad (NYU) on the East Coast and I can tell you, without equivocation, that we have a better quality of life in the West. Being close to nature is very important to me and on the East Coast I always felt estranged from that - especially in NYC which as fun as it is I wouldn't live in again. My feeling on East Coast schools is clear - I feel that being out of the the NYC-DC-Boston corridor I'm much more likely to get a thorough grounding in theory and that I have to worry less about the hyper-political side of IR and in particular International Security - which as well all know is overtly political to begin with. Someone else described it best: they said Georgetown and American felt like "a bunch of guys in suits trading business cards" and that's exactly how I felt when I visited Georgetown and to a lesser degree other East Coast schools - there was an absurdly elitist attitude from all of them which felt like they were saying they didn't have to convince me of anything, I mean - the woman who I spoke with at Georgetown was actually eating chips at her desk as she spoke to me - and this after I flew to DC from CA to meet with them! We all have to make our own choices. Mine will most likely be the West for the reasons I've stated. I don't feel the East Coast schools are inferior - I just feel they're not the right choice for me.

I don't understand this - I also got the DU $10,00 scholarship but the acceptance letter never listed a password. It listed an admitted student ID but you set your own password when you logged onto the site for the first time. Anyway - I'm biased. I've not heard from Fletcher but regardless I'm about 95% sure I'm going to DU because I don't want to live on the East Coast again - which is saying something because after my admission interview Fletcher was my first choice, so I'd like to have more people join me in what I'm sure will be an amazing experience.