firefly85

Well I'm not planning on applying for PhD's but one of my college roommates did and did end up transfering after her first year. I don't know all the details, but she was going to a west coast school for physics and decided after getting her MS in the first year that she wasn't happy and transfered to an east coast school. She did have outside funding that could go anywhere so that helped but she also didn't plan to do this when she started. Honestly I'd say wait to apply to the schools you actually want to go to. You might not be as motivated if you think you're only going to be at a school for a year. I mean you could of course visit the school you're thinking about applying to, research it and you might end up actually liking it, but if not I'd say do something to boost your resume for the year, work, research, etc. and apply next year. Good luck!

Supposedly they'll be out around March 20 I think. Can't remember where I heard that though. Good luck hopefully we'll hear soon!

I got into SU for the Public Diplomacy (IR/PR) program. I'm still waiting to hear about money too, supposedly it'll be by the end of the month. I hope I get something since I would like to go here!

I didn't apply either, but my brother did and apparently he's just waiting on approval from China, which he should either get or not sometime this month. I'm not sure about the whole process though since he's a younger brother and doesn't share very much! Good luck to everyone who should hear soon. Geeze do they put enough pressure on March?

According to the Tufts Fletcher admissions blog they are hoping to have decisions out online by Monday. Although they are trying to keep it very open because they aren't sure they'll get them all out by then. Hopefully it'll be soon, I just want all of this waiting to be done! Good luck everyone!

Wow, that is crazy. Although Hopkins is really not known for its social aptitude, but still you'd think they'd have someone who knows how to deal with people in the admissions offices!

I'm wondering this too about GWU since I don't have as much info about it as I do the other schools. I'm also wondering if anyone knows about when BU's IR program will begin notifying people, since I haven't heard anything from them yet either.

Thanks guys that does help. Language would help me in my future career plans so hopefully that will help me in the application. Thanks again!

I posted this on the Bank forum, but thought I'd try putting it here too. I'm applying for a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship from one of the schools I got into. I'm wondering if anyone has applied for one and has advice. I have to write a statement of purpose (Another one!! Ack!) about how this language study (Italian in my case) will help me in my studies/career and fits into those plans. Has anyone here applied for one of these or knows someone who has? Getting one of these would definitely make grad school a lot more affordable!

I'm applying for a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship from one of the IR schools I got into. The application is due March 16 and I have to write a statement of purpose about how the language study (in this case Italian) would fit in with my education/career plans and help me. Has anyone applied for this or knows someone who does? Do you have any advice on applying, especially the statement of purpose? I'd love to get this as it is a LOT of money for tuition and stipend. It would make grad school a lot more affordable! Thanks.

Wow that is a really weird rejection letter. Apparently they don't really get common social decency in that department! I can't believe they would word it like that instead of something like, thanks for your application we had a lot of qualified candidates, sorry we can't accept them all, blah blah blah. I'd like to see if anyone has gotten anything stranger, although I think that's hard to beat! Good luck with the rest of your applications!

Well I don't know about business schools, but I only just started hearing from schools (IR) and probably won't hear from all of them until the end of the month. So I wouldn't say you're wait listed or rejected yet. If interviews are part of the process it's probably less likely that you're admitted since they'd probably want to do those a bit earlier to make decisions. Good luck, don't count yourself out yet!

Central New York area, so not terribly far from DC, I'm assuming people who live farther than that (or on postal routes that take longer) will hear soon. Good luck everyone! I wish they would put it online too, but no dice so far.

I got my packet today. Well actually I'm out of town so my boyfriend read it to me over the phone. Yay, I have options now! A bit frustrating that they want notification by April 15 when I believe most of the others will be by May 1. Oh well, hopefully I'll know everything I need to by then!

I'm in the Syracuse area let me know if you have any questions about it. It is cold and snowy in winter, and it's not as exciting as say NYC or DC but it does have a decent nightlife and they're working on the performing arts/regular arts scene with plays that come through town, the symphony etc. One big plus is the cost of living is really cheap in comparison to a lot of other places people might be looking at for grad school. Right around the university can be a bit expensive as they know unergrads' parents will be paying (and there are a lot of loaded undergrads), but if you avoid that area it's very reasonable. Just make sure you see the apartment before you rent it (common sense I know) because there are definitely some real dives and you have to be careful. I'll do my best to answer any other questions you have!

IRbound congrats on getting in! Thanks for letting us know where you are. Hopefully that means the rest of our decisions are on the way or should be shortly.

According to Tufts Fletcher School admissions blog they're getting ready to upload decisions to the website. No word on when that will actually be done and people can access their results, but I would think by the end of this week or early next week (hopefully). It also said to find your log in info that was sent after you submitted in your application and it was uploaded (from a few days after you submitted it). If you can't find it check the blog an there's a link that will help you get it. Good luck everyone!

Yikes, all of those decisions on one day and two Friday the 13ths in a row. No pressure anyone!

I've been wondering that too since I saw the acceptances. I did a phone info session and the woman said by the 3rd week of March they would mail decisions. I wonder where people who got those acceptences already live, maybe close to DC? Maybe some of us will hear next week. Stupid no mail on Sunday, don't they know we're going crazy waiting?

As for pet stores I know there is a big one near the Target which is in Towson, but you need a car to get there (and it's a bit far from the JHU-Loyola-Towson mall shuttle, but there could be a smaller one closer). One of my roommates had turtles and didn't seem to have a problem finding food for them. As for grad housing there are a number of apt buildings around homewood so check some of those out. Most are fairly quiet for grad students, but the Northway is known to be a bit more of a party apartment. There are also a lot of row houses, which can be cheaper than apartments, you just have to be careful at night, and check who your neighbors are going to be (of course frats are a bad idea to live next to but there are some other groups, rugby, ultimate frisbee, that are known for undergrad parties too). Good luck. You do have to travel a bit away from Homewood to find good clubs/bars/restaurants in Baltimore, but it's not too hard and the cabs aren't usually very expensive (cars are great but as in any city parking is a HUGE pain and driving too since there are so many one way streets). I had fun there as an undergrad, it's not a bad city.

Congrats to everyone who's gotten good news! I got my first acceptance (and only decision at all so far!) yesterday. I was at the gym and checked my e-mail on my phone (yes I am totally obsessed). I had to download a Word file that had the actual letter and it seemed to take FOREVER! Luckily the title of the document was something about Welcome Weekend, so I figured it had to be good news. I definitely had to restrain myself from freaking out and announcing to everyone that I had gotten into grad school, but I kind of wanted to cause I figured people might applaud and that would be nice.

Just got my first response and thank God it was an acceptance! I'm into Syracuse for the dual IR/ Public Relations degree. No funding info yet (said by April 1), but at least I have somewhere to go now!

I've applied to a number of IR schools in the US and just recently looked at LSE and saw that they have an interesting Global Communications Program with the first year in London and then the second in Shanghai China or LA. Does anyone know anything about this program or have thoughts on it? They have rolling apps and the program is still open. I'm considering applying. Of course that might just be because I haven't heard from ANY schools and am going a bit nuts.

I applied to BU's International Communications (IR and Comm school degree) program. I know their Comm school is very good, I'm not as sure about the IR part of it, I'll have to research more if I get in. Haven't heard anything from them yet and it's driving me crazy (ok that and I haven't heard from ANYONE!). I'm assuming it's taking a bit longer because it has to go through two schools. Hopefully it'll come through soon. Good luck.

Congrats to everyone who has gotten in so far! I applied to the Public Diplomacy program at Syracuse so I haven't heard anything yet (supposed to by the 11th, ah it's driving me crazy!). I'm actually in the Syracuse area so I can speak to what it's like. It is true winter is cold and we get a lot of snow (I think we've had over 120 inches this year), but to their credit the area is good at dealing with it (as opposed to the DC area where I did undergrad and it would shut down with 2 inches). The city itself is not huge or terribly hip like other cities people might be considering (NYC, DC, etc.) but the cost of living is much much lower and there are some good attractions. There are a number of museums, a symphony/other performing arts companies, a zoo, and downtown there are some pretty good restaurants and bars (I haven't really been there on the weekends, but I've heard they are pretty hopping, although that may be with the many many undergrads here). The city is pretty much built around the University as it brings in so many students and so much money, but the good thing is there are lots of sporting events that go with it (football, basketball, lacrosse) which are fun to go to. If you like outdoor activities, it's great for that as there are a lot of parks outside the city, areas for hiking, skiing, etc. While I don't want to spend the rest of my life here, I don't mind being here for a while. My boyfriend says the city's motto should be "Syracuse: It's not that bad" and it's pretty true. Hope that helps!