went_away

Cool, cool; best of luck.

Right, and you're at Chicago - you're not the norm. The question was about second and third-tier schools. Anyway, it's nearly impossible to estimate salary w/ so little info.

Resumes are a marketing document. Don't get fancy, keep it clear, and give them what they want.

You're acting way too insecure - you got the cool job WITHOUT the mega-expensive degree and now work side-by-side with all those ostensibly brilliant co-workers who went to those big expensive schools and now may have big expensive loans. If I were you I would just chill and focus on your career - in a few years, you'll be interviewing and hiring desperate entry-levels and interns, graduating from all those top schools. If you want to go back for the intellectual sheen and stimulation, then for sure go for it (you should be targeting the usual suspects - SAIS, Fletcher, SIPA, Georgetown MSFS). Otherwise, you might be better off getting an EMBA from Yale/Wharton or a more specialist degree. Finally, I would recommend you check Fletcher's GMAP program - it just might be your cup of tea.

Surprised those are your top choices; both are gold names in the field, but neither holds a candle to Georgetown security, SIPA, SAIS, or Fletcher. Georgetown - the security program that is, not one of the random regional programs at the foreign service school, which are quite weak - really stands out for the quality career opportunities it seems to lend its grads.

Impossible to say without knowing more about what you want to do professionally after grad school. The most likely position you'd end up in after a SIPA/Fletcher is as the tech/IT guy for a DC or NYC NGO. With a name-brand tech employer on your resume, I doubt you'll have much trouble gaining admittance to one of the top programs - they'll gladly take your money.

Uhh, probably $30-45K fresh out of grad school.

Veterans will have a leg up whether they were officers or not. All things equal, a former enlisted guy/gal with military experience - especially if it's combat and/or deployed experience - and a master's from SIPA will generally speaking in security related jobs (this includes 'thinking' positions) will have a very big advantage to another applicant with the same master's degree and non-military experience. US organizations love that 'warrior-scholar' dichotomy. In reality, I'd say NYC probably has more security related positions than DC, just cause it's so much bigger of a city with UN and so many corporate HQs. Most DC security jobs will be US government related - and there the veteran status advantage will be even more pronounced than elsewhere. Make your choice on the best school and city where'd you rather live. And SIPA is a perfectly good program - right there in line with SAIS and Fletcher. Basically, it'd be helpful for you to clarify what you mean by security. Are you looking to work at a think tank as a researcher? At an NGO as a security and crisis manager? In private sector corporate security? A government contracting company? All of these involve very different paths and there is surprisingly little overlap or pollination between them in terms of pros jumping from one to the other. My sense from your posts is that you're interested in the think tank path; in that case, you really need to focus heavily on making contacts and getting an internship - these organizations are all about who knows you and getting your foot in the door. And, yes, if you want to work for a think tank, DC is definitely your best choice. Buyer beware - salaries are laughably low at think tanks - especially relative to the high cost of an MA in International Affairs - and unpaid internships abound.

Good advice above. You have a great list of programs - particularly Georgetown's MA in Security Studies (far and away the world's best program for those looking to hyper-specialize in security, IMHO). To that list - and above American and GWU Elliot - I would add SAIS with a focus in Strategic Studies and Fletcher with a focus on Security Studies. Also, and somewhat tangential to this conversation, if you really want to pursue a career in 'security,' you'll find that veterans have a very, very big leg-up on you in the job search, so you might consider joining the reserve in an appropriate speciality or even active duty for a time if that's potentially of interest.

I don't have a good read on this topic, but I get the sense that non-Americans, particularly from developing countries, have a massive advantage in gaining UN jobs. SIPA would seem to be the best choice here, and I'd say Fletcher, as far away as it is, is another strong choice for non-Americans looking to work at the UN.

Here's some general advice from someone who very much has been there and done that in everything from making a 3-peat career change (industry, function, location) and having come back to the US - and DC specifically - after years abroad - Define exactly what you want to do...but broadly. What this means is to be focused like a laser on what you want to do (industry, function, specific employers), use contacts to leverage introductions in the fields you're interested in, and compete very aggressively for the most entry-level of positions (this means internships, even if you feel you're a bit old for these), and be willing to take what you can get even if it's very broadly related to your goals. So, in short you had better be have a clear idea of where you want to go even before day 1 of class. How this works in practice: You might say - "I want to be a foreign service officer for USAID." - That's exactly what you want to do. Now define the field/industry broadly - international development. Now come up with a hundred or so jobs and organizations that will give you entry to that field - for-profit contractors, NGOs abroad, international news organizations, etc. Now work like crazy to do informational interviews in which you come across as curious, polished, and professional (these matter - those doing informational interviews could very well get called up as an informal reference if and when you later interview at an organization - people know each other and talk). Now....use your career services resources and your own expert googling skills to apply like mad for hundreds of internships and entry-level positions. Also....utilize your unique advantages - deep international knowledge, language, non-competitive status for federal jobs from peace corps. The good news is you absolutely can make the transition. I generally would NOT recommend those coming back from abroad to do a 1-year master's degree - unless you have a very high risk tolerance for potential stretches of unemployment. It takes minimum 2 years plus an internship just to get on the bottom rung of a new industry.

Use your noncompetitive status from Peace Corps to try to get US gov jobs; be willing to take an unpaid internship; and apply to very entry level type positions (program assistant) at development organizations that would be attracted to your language/regional specialty. Beyond that, I'd suggest you apply to those grad schools now so you can enter school directly upon leaving your Peace Corps service - oftentimes you'll need to be a current student to even be considered for many of those entry level positions and internships.

Any professional school at GWU should provide you with a solid - albeit overpriced - education and a vital introduction to the DC job market. I don't run in MPP circles, so can't get any more specific than that.

In my perception, the 10k annual drop-off in full freight tuition between SAIS/Fletcher (42k/year) and Elliot (32k/year) is less than the drop in prestige/quality/organization/focus of the parent institution. As a result, student satisfaction at SAIS/Fletcher seems much higher than at GWU Elliot. I've never met an Elliot student who raved about their experience and the institution seems to have more of a box-checking, evening/professional school feel to it than an intentionally created life-changing experience (I have observed similar sentiments from students at another GWU graduate school). The caveat here is that Elliot students go on to very similar careers and many of the same employers as students at other leading international affairs schools, but I do think Elliot grads are - on the average - slightly disadvantaged career-wise in addition to the student and academic experience mentioned above. In any event, I'm not convinced that full tuition price can be justified at ANY of these schools for someone from a non-upper-class background. Edit - not to be too harsh on Elliot - notwithstanding the issues I have observed, it is still unquestionably one of the world's most powerful schools of international affairs.

Lots of commentary on the board about Sciences Po; I've seen quite a lot of criticism that the administration is quite disorganized. Personally, I'd love the opportunity to study there for the name/history/French imprimeur, but would probably do so expecting to be relatively on my own when it comes to career guidance. My feeling is that few if any international schools can approach the personalized service and level of organization of top private American universities. Hopefully some other posters with personal experience at Sciences Po will chime in here. I'd be curious myself to hear opinions on academics there.

I wholeheartedly agree with about everything above. It sounds like getting into school would be a good move for you at this point while you're still relatively young. Don't sweat the specifics of the degree too much - sounds like an MPA or MIA would both serve you for your needs (I don't get the sense that it's international relations or bust for you, but more of a general focus on politics and policy). If you want to work in DC - then by all means come here. You may be overestimating how hard it is to break into the job market here. I'd recommend you target a few decent schools, get into classes and start utilizing the connections at school and your new friends to find internships and entry level positions. GMU and UMD strike me as schools that would particularly suit your needs. I'd caution you somewhat against GWU as its level of eliteness does not seem to be commensurate with its cost. Plenty of people in DC are making loads of money in their chosen field - the eliteness of your degree has less to do with that than sticking with a particular field and working your way up.

Best of luck. State Department is extremely relationship oriented, so start making additional friends and contacts there now. It's also very hierarchical and competitive, so being open to a variety of positions there would be in your best interest. In addition to (all) the other Bureaus, you should check out Diplomatic Security. I'd also recommend again you add Georgetown's MA in Security Studies to your list of applications. It might actually be a better fit for you as I suspect they have more mature/experienced students among their student body than the flagship programs of the top schools (MALD/MSFS/etc). Send me a private message if you end up in DC.

I'm not sure which is better, but usually lean strongly toward the Harvard brand name. Both schools should be sufficient to get you into either of those jobs (SAIS might be slightly better for Treasury). For either you'll need to be laser-focused on getting that job from before the first moment you begin school - this means internships, utilizing career services, networking, career trips and everything else. You'll also have to be prepared to make very little money initially relative to the cost of your degree. Ideally you'd have 1-4 prestigious internships under your belt before you even begin the MA. Your econ undergrad should be very helpful, especially if it's a B.S.

Yep, - was referring to MBB (Mckinsey/Bain/BCG). You probably be better off sticking to gov focused firms if you have an MPA and/or a military background. I'm not sure how much good an MPA would do you otherwise; Wilson or Kennedy would probably be the most useful schools, but you'd still be at a huge disadvantage to top MBA grads.

You won't struggle academically at a better school and won't necessarily get in barely by the skin of your teeth. Also, Yale Jackson gives tons away in scholarships. For what you want, though the Bush School might be the best choice. Things have become so insanely competitive that having a master's degree with local connections right off the bat - even for an unpaid/low paid internship - may be a good choice. If you go the Texas-only route and then dive into energy policy, I suggest you take a look at the Fletcher GMAP program in the next 6-8 years.

I get the sense you should consider doing a couple things - obtain a broader view of the world and get additional work experience in your field. I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea to stick around in Texas if you want to do energy policy - low cost of living/tuition + a world capital for energy + lots of $$ means you could do far worse. But I'd still recommend you consider going out of state to a higher profile institution for your own learning/broadening and to bring a more impressive approach long-term to your field. So, I'd suggest you postpone your grad school plan and aggressively pursue the best work experience you can - why not stay in Texas for another 1-3 years and continue to work in politics/policy/NGO/corporate energy sector? Then you can go off for a couple years, do your MA and then hopefully come back with a better job in hand. The Bush School is a fantastic place, so I don't think you could go wrong there, but to really challenge yourself intellectually I'd suggest you look at either SAIS with a concentration in your field, the Fletcher MIB program, or Yale Jackson. I'd also suggest you strongly consider going the traditional MBA route, especially if you can get some solid and very relevant work experience in the next couple years. Methinks Yale SOM, Columbia, and UT Austin would all be solid choices. One more point - with your profile - given that you've succeeded academically, fulfill a niche candidate box, and have a cohesive story - (I'm not sure about the GRE as I'm not familiar with its scoring) I think you'd have a solid chance of getting into SAIS, Fletcher, SIPA, or Georgetown MSFS right now.

For IU, if you can achieve a decent to significant level of professional success plus retake 2-5 courses (macro/microeconomics, statistics, maybe an upper level policy course), that would probably be sufficient. For Chicago, you may need to re-do your last two years of undergrad to produce an alternate transcript - plus the other career stuff along with good GRE, recs, and essays. I would encourage you to also consider whether going back to school is really necessary to achieve your professional goals. It sounds like you're already working in the field you want to be in and it's just a matter of continuing to move up the ladder, do additional volunteer work (ie work on a campaign) in order to get where you want to go.

This is a great thread and definitely shows that Yale Jackson is positioning itself to be among the very best International Affairs schools, especially/at least in terms of career success. Regarding rankings, I would add that the rankings from William and Mary (published by Foreign Policy Magazine) should only be used as a very rough guide to relative prestige and quality. The methodology is based entirely on name recognition from professors at various universities and doesn't speak at all to things like funding, research, career outcomes, alumni satisfaction, or strength of the network or career services. In the case of Yale Jackson, the halo effect of the prestige of the parent university - not to mention its massive endowment - likely more than makes up for lack of name recognition of the particular grad school. For me personally, it was more important to go to a well-known, powerhouse international affairs school - which is why I ended up at Fletcher - but barring an aversion to New Haven I don't think a prospective student could go wrong in choosing Yale Jackson.

First job out of grad school: show up moderately early to skyscraper at global HQ of household name company in Manhattan, a big environmental change from previous life/job in a conflict-torn North African capital. Settle into my desk with a delicious coffee/breakfast and catch up on political security developments around the world while clearing inbox. Say hello to co-workers and various supervisors, walk the halls, knock on doors, catch up, and get a sense of what was going on in our department. Carry on working on long-term research project asked for by my boss, edit other pieces, and finish off some deliverables due by end of business day or later that week. Generally at some point would do a deep dive into some research project I was working on, read obsessively about the topic, draft the initial report, and call up various experts in the field to get the human element. Do additional networking to enhance deliverables/find new ones, and maybe attend a meeting. Rinse and repeat. It was fun.

What do you want to do? If you don't say where you want to go, it will be defined for you by your reader - security/gov contracting. It would be helpful if you could do some thinking as to how an additional higher level degree will expand your mindset and change your career trajectory vs. what it would have been otherwise. You've got some extremely in demand skills (and articulate your experience well), veteran hiring preference, GI bill, and clearance, so you should be looking good at any of your desired programs. Hard to give any additional input without knowing where you want to go with your degree. If you want to double (triple?) down on your security focus you might take a look at Georgetown's MA in Security Studies. That's a quite a nice degree for certain veteran types who want to transition into in-house corporate security at household name corporations. SAIS would probably be the other best option for you as some of their grads seem to land some of the more lucrative gov consulting/contracting positions.