lecorbeau

Well, when you have absolutely no housing expenses indeed it's safe to assume you could get away with much, much more debt than that! The FS takes people from all kinds of academic backgrounds. In my view it would be wholly unnecessary to go to graduate school only to go back again to get an MA in IR. But as per your dilemma, this is obviously a choice that you alone can make. Having said that, I took a cursory look at the Clinton School curriculum it doesn't seem bad at all for a budding FSO/State employee ("further their careers in the areas of nonprofit, governmental, volunteer or private sector service work" + there's that "international public service project). Of course if you really want to study IR in-depth, then you should consider your other options more seriously (but no one here will argue that 80k is not a lot of debt!). All in all, personally, I'd go to AK because of the $$ and knowing that it would in no way hamper my chances at a spot in the Foreign Service or other government-related job. Just make sure you do WICKEDLY cool/relevant things during the summer as I'd imagine Little Rock is not necessarily a known hub of international diplomacy!

Is there a way we can take only the skeleton of that spreadsheet to do our own calculations? Oregongal's is so well-done I don't trust myself with making my own...

As a former UCSD undergrad, I can assure you that the school takes great pride in/takes care of its science/medical/echnical/engineering/etc. students to an extent that often leaves other departments in the dust budget and amenities-wise. San Diego quality of life overall is far better than UCLA, but La Jolla is not an overly student-friendly town when compared to Westwood.

Oregongal, that's a great spreadsheet and one I think a lot of us may find really useful/applicable to our own school dilemmas.

I felt compelled to weigh in. After all, I in essence applied "straight from undergrad" in that I had no "real" work experience, but I got into every school I applied to. However, if I do say so myself, I made good use of my BA years. During my time as an undergraduate I held down myriad relevant internships (of which two were with the best-known security organizations in the world at their overseas missions/delegations), secured a very prestigious US govt fellowship that sent me overseas for a year and a half in an unstable region, learned two foreign languages to a "C2" level (with corresponding certifications), and took a year off to travel to 40+ countries (and volunteer in the West Bank and Kashmir). My rationale to apply to graduate school sooner rather than later was rooted in my desire to have a more in-depth academic foundation in international relations that I feel I lack (my undergrad degree was a bit scattered discipline-wise), and to be blunt, "get grad school over with". Most of my peers with any measure of ambition are currently pursuing advanced degrees (and though the system is totally different, most 22-24 year-olds in continental Europe have a masters degree just by dint of how their system works), our world of shocking education inflation has made the BA tantamount to a HS diploma, and I knew that the more time I spent in a certain career track the less I would want to put my career on hold for two years to get an MA. I have met plenty of diplomats/NGO officials/etc. overseas with precisely this latter concern, as federal programs that send/pay government employees to pursue graduate degrees are highly competitive and only allotted to a few people so no one can bank on those ever coming through. Furthermore, at IHEID Geneva I will have opportunities to find relevant part-time work during my studies. And at Sciences Po Paris they have a program where one can supplant a dissertation by being placed as a "junior consultant" for a year at an international organization or NGO. So when I graduate I will have an MA and more work experience, truly the best of both worlds. So if I do it now, the sooner I'll pay off my loans (at this rate I'll be in my early thirties), the sooner I won't have to face any obstacles to professional mobility, I will have evaded being a 28-30+ something in school and likely suffering a massive hit to my quality of life (this being an obviously personal choice), and should I ever decide in the very, very distant future to go into the private sector or academia I'll already be on the right foot.

*bump* now that most of the decisions are in, how many of you have decided/are leaning toward programs overseas? Which ones?

Full ride or not, let us not forget about living expenses (unless said full-ride also includes a living stipend, of course)

Hi all, I just thought it would be a good idea to start a thread and chronicle any insight offered by applicants, current students, and those who have already graduated/well into their careers about decision-making when deciding to take out loans, the psychology and process of going into debt, and the practicalities of living day-to-day with a decade or more of repayment in a field where salaries rarely go into six digits. I hope this can be a substantive, meaningful thread that will serve as a guide for those currently weighing their options, as well as future applicants. At the very least, it might help out the few people I've seen casually mentioning the $120,000+ in loans they'll be incurring. My story: I was accepted to all of the schools I applied to, which is obviously great. But I know deep down that sometime in the next few weeks I'll have to face the facts: I will have to turn down my #1 choice (dream school since 2004, believe it or not) and opt for the school that I know will be financially much less burdensome in the long-run (compare, at least according to rough calculations and allowing for wide margins of error the cost for two years' tuition/living expenses-- Dream School: $65-80,000 no possibility of part-time job vs Other School: $15-25,000 w/PT job $35-45,000 w/o PT job). It is of course an adult and wise decision to make, but that doesn't make me feel any better about it. Naturally I'll survive and don't get me wrong, I feel so fortunate to be in such a privileged position (I'm not sulking around the house all day or anything!). But I still wanted to solicit the opinions of the GradCafe govt/IR/MPA/etc. community about your personal stories, rationales behind taking on your loan commitments, debt in general for degrees in this field, living with repayment, pros/cons, anything---whether you're applying to schools, currently enrolled, or even paying off your loans as we speak! Thank you!

Thought you would find this interesting: http://drezner.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/11/should_women_get_phds_in_international_relations And then his follow-up: http://drezner.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/16/following_up_on_dames_getting_phds_in_international_relations

OK, first things first. I called on Monday re: the admissions packet and they said it was "tout à fait normal" that I hadn't received it yet because they had only just finished up all the packets so we can all expect to receive the packet sometime next week (considering I'm in the Western US and mail from Europe usually takes 7-10 days to get here). Now, another thing. Something I've wanted to air out for those of you anxious about getting off the waitlist for the scholarship (or otherwise hesitant about IHEID for financial reasons). Full disclosure, I am an admit that received no funding whatsoever and perhaps this is my attempt to further rationalize the very real possibility that I end up at IHEID this fall, but that said, keep in mind (especially if you're an American applicant) that you are all getting a little bent out of shape about tuition fees that don't even come to HALF of that at schools like Fletcher, SAIS, etc. To be in "only" ~11,000 USD of debt after two years of a prestigious MA program would be nothing short of a dream for scores of people in this forum. And, considering IHEID not only encourages but also helps you find work outside of classes, finding a part-time job to offset living expenses is more than doable. I've already spoken with three different students currently enrolled at IHEID and they have all managed to find work alongside their coursework (and have even mentioned their roommates who work full-time and study at IHEID). Hope that helps.

4 for 4. Gotta make a decision soon...

Something I will be sure to tell all future applicants to grad schools overseas is to get used to weeks of restless nights. After all, because of the time difference all the action happens while you're sleeping and at any moment (whether it's midnight or 4 AM) you could get life-altering news in your inbox. I can't tell you how many times in the last few weeks I've involuntarily gotten up around 3 AM only to check my inbox before going back to sleep again

rox87, my understanding is that even without scholarships most students are able to make ends meet by finding part-time work outside of their studies. After all, salaries are fortunately commensurate with the exorbitantly high cost of living in Geneva. Plus, you really can't beat 5,000 CHF/year for tuition. (en plus sans vouloir te froisser mais on dirait que tu es français(e) ou au moins francophone d'après tes tournures de phrase dans ce forum donc t'inquiète pas pour le boulot sur genève car tu parles français, ce qui est apparemment rare parmi les étudiants de l'Institut)

Wow, rox87, you've been reviving all of the IHEID threads around here with the same exact post haha. OP: You might want to try switching to the MIS/IR at Geneva (which is possible), getting the best of both worlds, that is, being in such close proximity to the professional cornucopia that is Geneva all the while pursuing a masters that is decidedly more theoretical/analytical, thus paving the way to a PhD at some point. Your call of course, but for me it's looking ever surer that I'm going to go to Geneva next year so perhaps I may be biased when I say to choose IHEID.

Admitted today (waiting on funding), can anyone offer any insight into the Intl Security program?

I got my funding information, and I'm not pleased. Not really sure if I can go to Geneva anymore...

Thought I'd share this: I called IHEID this morning and funding/scholarship results will be released AS OF (à partir de) March 5th, and not all ON March 5th. In other words, it's going to be a slow trickle that starts today and ends who-knows-when. Her advice to me? Just check your admission status every day. Ha.

I went to UCSD for my undergraduate, if you have any general questions you can PM me. I also lived for two years right behind the main IRPS buildings.

Did anyone respond to you? In pm?

Anything else to add about IHEID? Just got in, would love to hear new perspectives about the school and program. Also, how do students switch programs? I am not necessarily interested, but I'm curious.

My espace candidat also no longer has a status update. Only a few days ago it said "admissible", and now there's nothing at all. Very confusing.

loved this.

@meursault: they must be notifying people in waves (first Development Studies, then International Affairs, etc.) Anyone going for sure? I've really only heard nothing but good things about the Institute.

Question---just received an e-mail saying my application was "admissible", did anyone else receive this e-mail? And if so, how much longer can I expect to wait before I hear the final decision regarding my candidacy? Thanks.

Decisions have been e-mailed! Check your inbox!!!!