charlotte_asia

Those of you who report receiving aid, are those in fellowships or loans? I received a heckuva lot of loans and just a tiny amount of aid.

Possible, but you would have to live in a pretty rough neighborhood (northeast of Logan Circle, east of Convention Center, for example). Personally I would not trust anything within walking distance of SAIS for $1000 or less. Better to live a bit further (Capitol Hill/H street, Adams Morgan, U Street, Columbia Heights) and take the metro or bike to school. Though you are very unlikely to find anything less than $700, and that's with multiple roommates. If you do, I would have a friend check out the neighborhood/apartment.

Anyone? Surely we've got some Georgetown government folks around...

smirrah, she studied finance and global/European politics. So yes, absolutely, it was a degree that would have been more relevant in Europe than some of their other degrees. She is passionate about European studies and enjoyed her experience at LSE, but I think realized a program with more name recognition on either side of the Atlantic would have better prepared her for getting a job in the US should visa problems prevent her from working in the EU (which it did). That said, I personally think that in most fields after you secure your first post-grad job your networking skills, job performance, etc get you further than the name of your graduate school.

This is entirely anecdotal, but I had a good friend who went to LSE after undergrad who has lamented in the years since that her degree is "worthless" in the US. (She wanted to work in Brussels but work visa difficulties prevented that). I am not sure what it is-- name recognition, network, etc-- that is lacking, but she had a very difficult time finding full-time employment in the US after graduating. My understanding is that her Europe-bound classmates had much better prospects than she did in the US. And one thing that always stuck out to me was that she nonchalantly mentioned she would probably "end up going to SAIS or something" for a second masters just to get on an even playing field in the US. Yikes. Again, this is anecdotal, so I'm not sure how much that helps you, but exemplifies one of the "horror stories" to which hudwa referred.

Thanks for clarifying your profile- I think I understand what you're going for a bit more. A few comments-- What I think you could express more clearly is what value added you will bring to PPP. There is so much PPP going on right now and so many people with actual experience in it that you need to explain how your unique skills would contribute to this sector. Do you see faults/gaps in how it is being applied? Do you see a very specific need where you could render your niche specialty (supply chain management?)? Just being interested in PPP at this point is probably not enough to distinguish you as an applicant (specifically, one is looking to make a major career change to a sector he/she hasn't yet worked in). Regarding whether you even need a masters in IR or not.... if I were you I would make the transition to development work for the next year or two before you try to answer that question. You definitely don't need one in order to enter the development field In fact, your experience outside of the development and IR sector is probably a boon to your professional profile right now. You can bring to companies or organizations a highly technical skill set and experience in the private sector... which distinguishes you from the typical development applicant and which many development outfits crave. Whether or not you need an IR degree to advance or go where you want to go, I don't know. That's a question you'd be better able to answer after a few years in the sector.

Sorry to hear of your admissions results. I'll try to take a stab at some thoughts, but hearing from a variety of perspectives would be useful... If I understand correctly you want to switch careers completely (from electrical engineering --> supply chain management ---> public/private development partnerships). What it looks like from my perspective is that you want to use grad school to get in to development and then pursue a career in development (specifically public-private partnerships). I would imagine graduate schools would be hesitant to admit someone who wants to switch to a new career without having worked in that career (and who has substantial experience in a virtually unrelated, highly-technical field, including a master's in that field). I imagine they would have wanted to see that you have gained some experience in public-private development work and are committed to pursuing that career... that you have made the switch successfully, and that you need a master's to advance in that career path. Also, you may have addressed this in your SOP but what development work do you want to do? Public-private partnerships exist in all sectors, from health care to water management to environmental work to education to banking/microfinance to infrastructure.... and I didn't see in your post where you want to advance such partnerships. There are highly specialized organizations, companies, etc who do this work- it's a huge field. You need to stand out. If you don't have a very sharp vision of the kind of public-private partnerships you want to work in, that could have made your argument for admission a bit less convincing. I know you said you do a lot of volunteering, but almost everyone (at least in the US) volunteers. I don't think that is going to send the same professional message to grad schools as working in the sector. Bottom line, graduate schools may be hesitant to invest in someone who has a general vision for his career path but hasn't yet moved into it yet and who doesn't have much experience in it yet. You don't need a master's degree to switch into development work.. especially if you have your highly skilled management, business, and engineering expertise. There are few barriers of entry for someone with your expertise to move into the NGO world and gain experience. Your plan to work in a developing country for a bit with the work you want to pursue is a good one. Show graduate schools that you have a demonstrated record of success in this new carer and that you need graduate school to continue growing and contributing to your field. (Also, just a quick side note, do you actually need a degree in IR to do what you want to do? A lot of people with masters and lots of tehcnical skills move into development and advance... IR degrees are not a requirement for the field. Just a thought.) Edited to add: you have a lot of great private sector experience which I think could be hugely beneficial for the development sector. Don't let this discourage you from doing what you want to do and contributing your passion and skills where they are needed. Good luck!

SarahDC, thanks for making yourself available for our questions. I will be speaking with students more in-depth about their experiences in the coming weeks, but I have a couple of quick questions for you right now if you don't mind: 1. How do you find attending school at SAIS' facilities, which are smaller and lack a more university campus feel? 2. Are students able to work or intern part-time while attending classes? 3. Are students permitted to cross-register at DC consortium schools? If so, for how many classes/semester or year? Thanks!

Updating this in case it's helpful for future applicants-- Ended up applying to GWU- Elliot, AU- SIS, Tufts- Fletcher, Johns Hopkins- SAIS, Georgetown- Government, Princeton- WWS I was accepted everywhere except for Princeton. Strong SOPs that I spent months working on (answered not only the question why school + me = my career goals for ME, but also for my field... in other words the contributions I could make to my field with a degree from X school... what X school investing in me yields.) I think this plus really strong, substantive professional work experience and nearly 2 years living overseas is what got me in to some of the more competitive programs at SAIS and Fletcher. Thanks to everyone for your help and good luck future applicants

Is cross-registering at other programs important to you? I am not really making the same decision you are (in at Fletcher + SAIS but Fletcher is off the table for me now) but that's a consideration for me in my Georgetown-SAIS decision. Fletcher lets you take courses at Harvard and I think other Boston colleges. I don't think SAIS permits this, but I'm not certain.

Yep, I did switch my GRE scores accidentally. Thanks for catching that. It should be 640Q and 690V. Would have loved a 690Q though Thanks for your congrats... and many kudos to you too. Looks like a terrific range of options for you to choose from!

Shoot, this makes me feel a whole lot less special...

So it's been 8 hours since I found out I was accepted to SAIS, and I gotta admit, I'm totally drunk off the SAIS kool-aid right now

I get what you meant, cannotdecide! And I agree that it's interesting to see folks accepted at one place, rejected/wl at another, other folks the opposite, etc. Just goes to show all of these schools are competitive and all of us should be quite proud of what looks like a great admissions season on gradcafe

I don't think it's random- I think it really speaks to the fact that admissions decisions are made beyond just GRE scores and GPAs. Schools are looking at the candidate as an entire package. It means you can be a really great fit at one school and not at another. It also reinforces how important the SOP is- to really emphasize why you are a great match at that one particular program- not grad school in general.

It's between SAIS and Georgetown for me. I'll wait for financial aid info, make the pros and cons list, etc etc. Got $12k at Fletcher, but my fiance will be in DC so it would have taken a lot more than that to get me out of the District

Awesome, erry!!! That's terrific news!

That's ok! I knew from the beginning that it was such a long shot for me. My fiance went there, but we're both happy that I got into SAIS, which was the one school that waitlisted him when he applied, so we're even . Really happy for the rest of yall, it's such an amazing place. Good luck with decisions!

All of my decisions are in, so I'll finally post this. Reading these helped a lot when I applied so I will provide as much as I can in hopes that this can help others: Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): IR, MPA Schools Applied To: GWU-Elliot, American- SIS, Tufts-Fletcher, Princeton- WWS, Georgetown- Government, Johns Hopkins- SAIS Schools Admitted To: All except Princeton Schools Rejected From: WWS Still Waiting: Undergraduate institution: Top 10 LAC Undergraduate GPA: 3.38 (~3.7 major) Undergraduate Major: Political Science, South Asian Studies Last 60 hours of undergraduate GPA: 3.6 GRE Quantitative Score: 690 (94%) GRE Verbal Score: 640 (56%) GRE AW Score: 4.5 (72%) Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3.5 when applied Years of Work Experience: 3.5 (as in, real work experience, not counting summer internships in college) Describe Relevant Work Experience: .5 years in Southeast Asia doing microfinance, 2 years with progressive experience at international human rights/democracy NGO, 1 year freelance/consulting in South Asia for human rights/democracy NGOs, contributor to major international democracy review. Languages: English (native), Spanish (intermediate) Quant:Intro to Econ (oped to pass/fail it-- passed it), realized that was a mistake if I wanted to go to grad school, took International Political Economics, Statistics/Methods of Political Science my junior year (B+s in both), took Micro and Macro after graduation at night school (As in both) Strength of SOP: I know some feel they inflate the quality of their SOP, and if they think that about my self- analysis then so be it.But it was really, really strong and it's what made me stand out amid my fine-but-not-outstanding GRE and GPA. I wrote about my passion for democracy work, included an overall vision I have for the field and my role in it. My SOP tied my application together-- where I have been in the democracy field and where I want to go... and more importantly, how I wanted to positively improve my field and why I needed X Grad School to do that. I wrote a separate SOP for each school, and I wrote very specifically about that school's comparative advantage and why me + that school = a public servant with leadership and contribution to my field. I wrote what I would do with my degree from X Grad School- why investing in me was good for them. I started writing in October and revised each (as in, fully revised drafts, not just edits) upwards of 9 times. My fiance, an MPP grad, reviewed all multiple times and provided harsh (and helpful) feedback. Other friends edited as well. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): 1 professor from undergrad who advised my thesis on democracy, 2 supervisors from work- one who could speak to my analytic abilities and one who could speak to my programmatic/management/democracy expertise. The latter was outstanding (in part because the referrer is an outstanding LOR writer), the other two would have been strong. Other: My application told a very clear story: commitment to the field of democracy/governance/human rights. I have been passionate about this topic since I was a junior in undergrad and made this clear. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, not just career-wise, but the impact I wanted to make on my field, the specific ways I wanted to contribute to it and improve it. I spent a LOT of time on my supplemental essays for SAIS, WWS, and Fletcher. Took a lot of time revising my undergrad paper for my 20-page writing sample from Georgetown. It's my one chance to show them I am actually a strong writer (damn the GREs) so I did it. Took several months to work on all of them. My GPA was "fine" and my GREs were "fine." It was my work experience and my SOPs which made me stand out. I have always firmly believed these are the most important parts of the application- to prove you have thrived in your field and that grad school would enable you to continue that impact.

In with $12k!

IN! For those of you who are quant-iffy-- I was not sure what my SAIS decision would be since I scored a 640Q on my GREs and chose to pass/fail (edit: I passed it) an Econ class freshman year. I knew I wanted to apply to SAIS so I took Micro and Macro after college while working and made As. Apparently it worked. I am not the strongest quant student but I worked really hard to build a quant background anyway. Don't let quant scare you- just go out, get it done, and apply to the schools you want!

Woke up to the best morning ever-- all admissions decisions resolved one way or another!!! IN at Fletcher (with $12k/year) and SAIS OUT at WWS. Huzzah!!!

WOW Congratulations guys who got in!!!!!!!!!! Just woke up over here in Asia to a rejection, but totally expecting it. Big congrats to those who made it!

Going to bed now. I won't find out until I wake up at 9:30 PM EST, so I look forward to being super late to the admissions decision party-thread-blow-up you all will have in a few hours. Good luck everyone!

CRIKEY!