went_away

Please stop following me around and flaming me on the boards. It's getting to the point of harassment I do not appreciate it. I am happy to help out others looking at schooling as I have done these things already myself.

Sorry, double post. Really hard to give more advice without knowing what you want to do - honestly, you sound a little scattered and unsure about what you want to do professionally and a little too focused on man-on-the-street brand recognition for the schools. If you want to work for an international NGO then the local word on the street brand isn't going to matter all that much. You'll do 1-3 internships during grad school and they should help you break into whatever field you want to go in to (presuming you're being realistic). The more prestigious the school, the better. For International Affairs, Fletcher is far, far better than Georgia Tech and if you want to go into humanitarian work they'll help you do that. Best of luck. Edit: SAIS is certainly easier to get into than Yale Jackson. You talk about recruiters in your post, making me think you want to stay in the private sector??? If so, SAIS with a finance concentration or Fletcher's MIB (or the MALD with lots of finance and management courses) would both be a decent choices.

Maybe chime in with some useful info instead. We're talking about a top choice; nobody said anything about doors being feely opened. Anyway, the Jackson school is significantly less competitive than Yale Law or the full-time MBA.

Uhh, first off only do one post. Off the top of my head, I would apply to: 1. Yale (the Jackson school isn't THAT competitive and they'll like that you're a Fulbright from Lebanon; talk about the refugee crisis, Syria, and your contribution to helping things and you should be golden - seriously, this is the top geo-political issue in the world right now and you're right in the middle of it). Yale is an oft-overlooked program, but I think you could thrive there; it's a smaller, more intimate program and they seem to devote lots of time to the students; also, the school has tons of money and resources - always a good thing. You might also consider Georgetown's MSFS program as your top choice; their career services would do a great job of funneling you into internships and getting you in to a decent international NGO. But I would strongly push you toward Yale as your top choice. 2. Fletcher - might be the best school out there for people interested in refugees, humanitarian, and NGO work; they'll almost certainly let you in with a serviceable resume OR Columbia (if the bright lights of NYC call to you) OR SAIS (if DC is appealing). I'm biased toward Fletcher, so would strongly recommend you make that your second choice. 3. Maybe University of Denver; probably is easier to get in to and the Korbel school is still well-regarded in International Development circles. 4. Not sure; maybe UC San Diego or Pittsburgh; I've heard decent things about both. West Coast might not be for you if you want to do a Middle East focus. Personally, I would skip the UW; Seattle is very far from most international development power centers, the Gates Center notwithstanding (they tend to hire MBA types anyway and like people with Mckinsey type experience), and the Jackson and Evans Schools are very focused on local students and local county types of jobs. Substitute NYU for Columbia/Fletcher if New York is hugely important to you; it's less prestigious and probably easier to get in to.

Bio is so, so 'hot' right now. Bio-genetics, bio-policy, bio-hazards, bio-security, bio-modifications. All sorts of relevant cross-over stuff you can point to in your app beyond boring old run of the mill 'analytical' skills.

You shouldn't have asked for the letter in the first place; it's sort of like asking your current employer to write a rec letter for another job you are applying to.

Tufts has made a dramatic rise in the US News rankings in the last 10 years or so and now is firmly in the bottom of the top tier (generally speaking Tufts grads do very, very well on the job market), but it lacks the cachet and historic strength of a Georgetown or Columbia; even more importantly, Tufts' endowment is relatively puny. Fletcher has always had a more elite, glamorous brand than its parent institution, but the gap has narrowed considerably.

You'll be fine and with good execution should have a shot at a healthy scholarship at SIPA and should be very competitive at Wilson. I'm not sure how much money Kennedy gives, even to the strongest applicants; I would suggest you apply at SAIS and Fletcher as well. Your main area of concern is not coming off as an incredibly arrogant know-it-all type, so stay humble, carefully watch your tone (ie saying you want to bring private sector efficiency to all those 'inefficient' public sector institutions likely won't go over well what makes you think the private sector is more efficient than public? seen any news stories on wells fargo lately?), and craft a clear, simple compelling rationale for how grad school will enable you to keep moving forward at World Bank types of places and a specific idea or two on how it will help you achieve greater impact for the organization and those it serves.

Excellent post. You - the applicant - are, more than ever, a customer. A customer of an increasingly overpriced, increasingly commodified product that seeks to serve you in an increasingly competitive job market where jobs are shrinking faster than most realize. You have more power than you may realize, at least before school. One last note - veteran's status will do much more for your job prospects in Washington DC - to include private contractors - than an IR degree from Georgetown, SAIS, or Fletcher. Federal jobs have nearly dried up entirely for non-veterans and most private contractors place heavy emphasis on hiring veterans because those companies with veteran employees are given preferential treatment for winning government contracts (also women, minority, veteran, service-disabled owned companies).

Though I'd jump in and say these 5-year undergrad/master's programs at the elite schools are a fantastic idea. Those who do them and graduate with 2-6 prestigious internships under their belt set themselves up for a fantastic career and generally can accelerate things by several years. Of course, things don't work out that way for most of us (cause it takes a lot of luck and guidance when you're 15/16 to get on this track), but it's a great way to go. The guy featured in this article will do very, very well for himself: https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2016/09/12/dual-degree-programs-mean-you-can-get-two-diplomas-in-one-fell-swoop/

I really don't know regarding trying to find a relevant position or internship before entering your grad degree. If you can then sure go for it (though I'd be a little doubtful of your chances of success, and if you can be successful in finding such a position it raises the question of why you need the master's degree at all). If you have a real, legit job in finance I would counsel you to definitely NOT quit your day job until you start your master's program and try to expand via doing volunteer work on nights/weekends and/or trying to take on some kind of international project at your job. You sound a little hazy on the details of social enterprise and micro finance, and that will show in applications. I'd suggest reading up a bit and heavily stressing your strong points, which is your quant skills, finance, and private sector work. No, nobody will 'look down on' that experience; to the contrary, it could make you a hot commodity in the NGO/social enterprise world - you'll just have to start to learn that world better, which means aggressively competing for entry-level internships once you're into your grad program. If social enterprise is what you want to do, you should look at Fletcher's Master's in International Business; it's pretty much tailor-made for that kind of work; also, Fletcher is probably the strongest school for aspiring NGO types. I am guessing Syracuse might be another program you might want to look at and probably SIPA/SAIS as well with a finance or international business or NGO/social enterprise concentration.

You'll be fine. Get in to as good a school as you can with as big a scholarship as possible. You also need to do a better job of clarifying exactly what it is you want to do and the type of sector you want to work in; international development can encompass government, quasi-NGO, NGOs, government contractors, multilateral organizations, and major banks. With your strong quant/finance background background I would suggest you look at the IDB, IMF, and World Bank. SAIS (or SIPA) would probably be the best fit for those institutions and for your background. If you lack international experience and have no foreign language, you'll probably want to start studying up and also try to do some client or consulting work that has some kind of international bent. Finally, I'm not sure why you only mention the MPP. Any number of degrees could be helpful for getting into international development work, but the most common would be a master's in economics or international affairs.

Yep, definitely should highlight all your good sides; if an optional essay is available that might be a component to include. A good gre/gmat/whatever it is poor kids have to take these days, would also be helpful for pushing your competitiveness for a decent scholarship. The 3.6 for your last 2 years is decent, still not great - they'll be much more interested in your experience doing research in conjunction with glamorous/reputable people and institutions and - especially - any history you have of securing funded research. Remember everyone - these programs are outrageously expensive and the job market is weak for everybody these days (except for - as always - the untouchables). Buyer be aware.

Yes! Anything that makes you sound successful, vigorous, rich, 'normal', and a leader of men will be very well received by an admissions committee. (check out the criteria for Rhodes Scholars to get the supreme example of this rubric).

International Affairs/Relations is a very weak course of study, only vaguely more useful than history or liberal arts. Unless you have special veteran hiring preference, you're going to want to skip all but the very top programs to have a chance at a decent career. Decent programs include Yale/Fletcher/SIPA/SAIS/Georgetown MSFS, Georgetown Security Studies (all of these are usually insanely overpriced so buyer be aware) Borderline programs include Syracuse, NYU, GW, Korbel, Georgetown regional programs There's a reason places like Penn State are so vague about career outcomes.

You're going to have to bite the bullet and coach them carefully through the process. It's absolutely vital that you get strong, detailed recs. A very common misconception from Indian applicants is they think if they can a big name who knows them vaguely (like a member of parliament) it will help their admissions chances - it won't help; on the contrary that can hurt you quite a lot. I would recommend reading poets and quants and checking out sandy kreisberg's stuff on their with john byrne - they focus on MBA apps, but it's all quite transferable to international affairs.

You'll be fine and if your work experience and application are high-flying enough you should get healthy scholarships from Fletcher/SAIS. HKS will probably let you in with no money (generally HKS isn't worth it, just my two cents) and Wilson will probably reject you (just too many applicants for a non-perfect applicant). Weirdly enough Georgetown MSFS is probably the best fit for you - they're really good at helping people break into foreign policy and diplomacy, but their tuition rates are astronomical and scholarship support is laughable. Still I'd recommend dropping an app with them; they'll love you if you're successful and articulate.

The Bush school might be the best fit for you. I'd recommend you also check out Georgetown's security studies program and SAIS. Your academics are atrocious, but it sounds like you are savvy and are in a high-prestige job (if it really is so high-stress and people oriented) - that work experience counts for more than anything else. You might also consider doing 1-4 more years of work to get some more distance from your irresponsible undergrad days and further establish yourself in your career; could also be an opportunity to take a few more economics classes at community college and get a few more As on your transcript.

You have a shot at all of the schools and could get quite a large scholarship from some. Make sure you do some very serious research into recommendation letters - don't pick someone because they're famous - make sure you get people who know you well (ie direct supervisors/mentors/profs) and who can write glowing, Amerian-style recs (in the top 1-5% of all the people I have supervised for these 3 specific reasons....).

Your academics are a little weak, but would expect Fletcher to give you a decent scholarship for their MALD program bc of your professional experience. Legit experience doing compliance work in financial services + peace corps is a stronger than average professional background.

Everybody seems to want a PMP in DC; I'd get that if I were so inclined in the direction of dry project management and such. I have no idea what it really is, but it comes up on job reqs all the time.

Coming in late here - there's no comparison between the two: SAIS towers above Carleton. Of course, it also charges extortionist tuition rates, so buyer beware.

Definitely Penn. I wouldn't do school of 'continuing' or 'professional' or 'adult' studies from any uni for my principal MA. My impression is those students get no love from career services and sort of have a commuter experience.

Yeah, definitely do it. In some cases you may actually learn more at community college than the ultra-prestigious 4-year. Unless you're naturally talented I'd somewhat strongly recommend you not do micro/macro online and just do it in-person if possible. These courses are moderately demanding and community college is kind of awful for online (though usually decent to excellent in-person, depending on the school).