DaveE

I know where you're coming from. I majored in astrophysics as well as an undergrad, and it didn't hurt me when I applied for grad school. The trick is to take what you think is a weakness and turn it into a strength by explaining your desire to change subjects. I spent five years in the military, much of it in Germany and other less fun parts of the world, and sold that on my application as international experience. I also used my statement of purpose as a place to explain my "change of passion," so to speak. Bottom line, your undergrad major won't hurt you since you've done other stuff since graduation. Good luck!

Most grad school applications are pretty specific about what to include, and most don't want or care for previous evaluations. It might not hurt to mention awards in an essay or résumé, but they also shouldn't be the foundation. I'm just about to start using mine, and it's been fairly smooth so far. Each school likely operates a little differently, but for Columbia, all I needed to do was apply for VA benefits from their website, which basically confirmed my eligibility for the Post 9/11 GI Bill. As long as you hit your 3 years before school starts (and you're no longer on active duty before classes begin), you should be good. I have no personal knowledge of this one, but my assumption would be that it can't hurt, though it might not help. Best of luck!

Hey man, I'll give this a crack. I served five years active duty as an officer in the Army, so I have an idea of where you're coming from. I applied to three masters programs while deployed to Afghanistan as well - Columbia SIPA, Johns Hopkins SAIS, and Stanford (all for international affairs). I leaned on my military experience heavily for my statements of purpose and sold it as my work experience as well. I was stationed in Germany for most of my time in service, so I used that too. Ultimately, I was accepted at Columbia and Johns Hopkins, but rejected at Stanford (likely because my undergraduate didn't have much economics or political science or anything). I went to a good school for undergrad, and came out with an okay GPA of 3.3. So, given that, let's look at your questions: -Is it realistic that my post-grad experience will help me get into a decent school, or is my GPA insurmountable? I would say yes, it is realistic. I have several other friends as well who were accepted at excellent grad schools (Georgetown, George Washington, etc.), and none of them had stellar undergraduate GPAs. All of us were able to sell our active duty service as work experience that goes beyond the typical summer internship at a think tank or something. Your GPA may raise an eyebrow or two when you apply, but if you have good recommendations from commanders (MAJ/LTC or above work best it seems) and a decent GRE, you should still be able to sway any admissions committee with a strong application. -What can I do now to improve my chances of acceptance or bolster my resume? I'll be taking the GRE when I get back and I'm set up to take micro/macro economics courses from UC-Berkeley when I get back to help improve my GPA and give me some more recent academic exposure. I think taking that econ course is probably a good idea, since if you do well it will show that you can still perform academically. Ultimately, your military experience combined with strong letters of recommendation will do a lot for your résumé. -Are there any specific programs that anyone would recommend I look into that would fit my goals and or skill sets? Columbia has a number of good intelligence courses and some decent flexibility with their concentrations and specializations. I've seen advertisements for a masters in security studies at Georgetown (I think, it might be GWU), but I don't know much about them. Any of the DC schools are probably good for what you're looking at. Remember though, all of these school are incredibly expensive. Did you receive an ROTC scholarship before commissioning? If not, you may be eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill, which goes a LONG way in helping reduce the cost of attendance. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions, I'm happy to help. -Dave

I might call them today and see what they have to say. I know there is plenty of time left to figure it out, but it's just one of those boxes I'd love to have checked before I ever get there.

I wonder if they consider me as international or not. I'm American, though living in Germany. Still keeping my fingers crossed though.

Yeah, right now I'm hedging my bets on getting a housing assignment from the university. If that doesn't pan out, I'll have to start thinking from there. I think I'm of the same opinion as you guys about Westchester vs. Queens (or something similar) in that I'd really rather live "in" the city if at all possible, at least for the two years I'm guaranteed to be there. I was born in Westchester and lived there until I was about 5, but that doesn't help me right now. :-)

Someone already posted in the facebook group that was both confirmed for housing AND received an assignment already. I really wish the process was a little more transparent so that I would have a better idea if my application is still in the running, or if I need to do anything else. Maybe they make assignments based on family status or something.

Not yet. I emailed the other day to confirm that my application was under review and they said it was, despite the fact that the housing portal tracker thing says it was simply received. I really hope to hear something sooner rather than later just to ease my mind, but they said June-ish, so we'll see.

Another Columbia question - does anyone have any experience with living in the Westchester area and commuting the Columbia? My wife and I are moving to New York this fall, and I'm considering living in Yonkers/White Plains instead of the city directly. I know the commute wouldn't be too terrible (approx. 1 hour depending on how far north I'd be), but I'm really thinking about it from a more atmospheric perspective. In other words, would living outside the city create a wall or barrier that would make me less likely have the full "living in NYC" experience? I'm just curious to hear opinions about it.

You said it all man. You said it all.

For what it's worth, I made my decision between these two based on the curriculum I would study rather than the "employment reputations" based on sectors. I'm going into International Security studies, and was originally attracted to SAIS because of the Strategic Studies concentration. After looking more closely, however, I noticed that the concentrations at SAIS left little room once all the primary pre-requisites were out of the way. Although I like economics, SAIS would basically want me to concentrate in it, with a little flavor of my own on the side. SIPA, on the other hand, seems to have more options for electives and courses that I actually want to take. I figure, I have two years to figure out what kind of job I really want, and living in NYC won't hurt my entertainment value :-)

Both my deployments (Iraq and now Afghanistan) have been with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment from Germany. Germany rules, but I've been deployed for almost half my time there!

<br /><br /><br /> Who did you serve with? I'll be attending SIPA this Fall after my 4 years active duty army.