IRToni

Figured I might as well also contribute. Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): IR Schools Applied To: Tufts Fletcher, Graduate Institute Geneva, JHU SAIS, Columbia SIPA, Yale Jackson, Berlin MAIB, Oxford MPhil IR, WWS MPA, HKS MPP Schools Admitted To: Graduate Institute of Geneva ($$$$), Oxford MPhil IR ($$$), JHU SAIS ($$), Yale Jackson Schools Rejected From: Tufts Fletcher (told to reapply), Columbia SIPA (told to reapply), WWS MPA, HKS MPP, Berlin MAIB Still Waiting: DONE!!! Undergraduate institution: Solid university abroad Undergraduate GPA: 3.9 Undergraduate Major: East Asian Politics and Economies Last 60 hours of undergraduate GPA: No idea GRE Quantitative Score: 166 (94) GRE Verbal Score: 164 (94) GRE AW Score: 5.5 (96) Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 0 Years of Work Experience: 0, but internships Describe Relevant Work Experience: Internship with Association for International Cooperation, Foreign correspondent for major newspaper, Microcredit organization, all abroad Languages:German, Chinese, some French, some Japanese Quant: Minor in math with ok grades; Intro and Intermed Micro; Intro Macro International Exposure: Study abroad during high school and college; Kung Fu School abroad; Internships abroad Strength of SOP: I feel my SOP was fairly strong, though it was definitely weaker for some than for others. I basically worked on it for a couple of months and had a couple of paragraphs that were "template"-like that I'd just rearrange to fit the school. I usually included at least two original paragraphs for every school and wrote an entirely different SOP for Oxford, as the program is much more academic than most. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): I had one really strong one that I saw, one that I didn't see but should have been fairly strong and then one where I wrote the template myseld and then just gave it to the professor (I had it checked by another one of my LOR writers). In the end, one of my writers bailed after 4 applications (even though I told her about the number beforehand), so I had to scramble to get another letter within two weeks (from abroad), which was very stressful. Other: I was quite surprised by my results. I knew that having no work experience would hurt me. However, I didn't get into my safety school (Berlin), which I can only attribute to them feeling I wasn't a good fit (which is true) and the weakness of my SOP (it was def. one of my weakest). Got into two of my reaches (JHU and Oxford). I'm heading to Geneva, which to me seems like a really good fit and the school that will keep both an academic and a professional career open for me. Excited to see some of you guys there.

That's interesting. I'm a little afraid that it will significantly reduce the number of classes in each concentration though. I'm also not a big fan of them making us choose 4 courses from our primary concentration (with the core courses, you only have two courses left) and then three from another concentration. I'll see once the real course schedules etc. are out. I had been considering changing to IR/PS and might just do that to avoid the chaos, but it's all up in the air. Thanks for sharing though.

I just got into my one WL, Yale. Won't be able to accept it due to finances, but just wanted to let you know that people do get off the WL..

rox: I think they said that they won't give out scholarships after April 15, but I could be mistaken. Hope I'm wrong. I'm starting to get super excited. I want them to finally publish their courses for next year so I can start planning. I'm obnoxious that way.

Math resources? TBH, I didn't have to study a great deal for that. I used the online thing (official GRE guide for revised test) to refresh my memory and then just did a couple of practice exams. Since I'm a math major, I didn't have huge problems with that. I heard that Kaplan is supposed to be good for math, otherwise just go through a huge stack of practice tests. For the writing portion: Look at sample essays that had good scores. Try to write as many essays on the topics that are online (the entire pool of topics can be found online) as possible. Write with a clearly visible structure, DO NOT try to use as many words, or as many big words as possible. Make an argument. For the issue topic: Take a qualified stance, provide examples, follow your logic. Take a couple of minutes at the end to reread it. For the argument topic: As a rule, every sentence of the argument contains at least on fallacy or misconception. Try to find a way for you to remember all of them (and also connect them). Use clear language, good sentence patterns that are not too convoluted. Try to identify major weaknesses and then work on them Hope that helps. You can also PM me or take a look around the GRE section of this forum.

What do you mean by two points away? percentiles or 2 whole points (as in 2 to 4). I did pretty good on the writing portion. There's some tips and stuff I could share with you if you're interested. Also, if you need someone to proofread/score your essays, I'd be happy to help. GRE writing really is annoying, but it can be mastered, if you practice. It would such if something as trivial as GRE writing score kept you from getting in, so just try your best and let me know if I can help.

According to a formers student, there's no surcharge for taking additional classes. He cut his tuition for the last semester by taking 5 classes in two prior semesters and thus being enrolled part-time in semester 4 and doing an internship.

Just got a tuition scholarship (which makes me fully funded) and accepted the offer at Geneva. Unless something drastically changes, I'm going to Geneva in September. I haven't decided on the exact program I'm going to be attending (MIA or MIS IR/PolSys), any thoughts on that?

I ultimately decided against going into debt. I have free options at other places (free as in fully funded) and gave up my dream school. Now, I should mention that the school I'm choosing is usually considered not as good as the school that gave me a partial scholarship (JHU SAIS), but I feel that I will still be able to make the best of it. Since I have recently been thinking of going into academia or at least doing a PhD, being debt-free is going to be a huge plus. Also, I'm young and I truly believe I will be able to make the best out of every opportunity offered. Was it super hard? Yes, but ultimately I believe that being debt-free is more important to me personally and the difference in quality does not justify the difference in cost/debt (80k tops). That said, I am really loan- and debt-averse, so this is just my personal experience. It might be much different for other people.

What's up with Fletcher's Private Sector Income? More than 80k a year starting salary? Does that include MIB and MIB is considered a MBA for salary purposes or what's happening?

I second that request. Just got accepted and am having a hard time making my decision.

So, I managed to send in both my writing samples without sources. For word count requirements, I usually keep one edition without sources around, so I can be sure how many words/characters I've actually used in writing. I realized my mistake the day after, asked if I could change it, I could not. I still got into Oxford, so I would not stress too much. Now, obviously, you don't want to do what I've done, but I don't think anyone really cares how you cite etc.

From what I hear: Adcoms generally take the average of each sections. In addition, retaking it more than 2 times is frowned upon. If you were to only improve your Verbal and not your Quant, it might just not be worth it, because unless your verbal is really bad, it doesn't really matter for MPA/MPP programs.

For 1: It's simple proportionality. length of pole A: shadow of A= length of B:shadow of B. 12:8=x:10. x=120:8=15. For 2: What does it mean that m is greatest common factor of c and d? It means that c and d can both be divided by m. In addition, there's no number greater than m that is a factor in both c and d. Let's try to look at the answers first: Clearly, B is out, since 2+d will in general not have the same factors as d. C is out as well, since the GCF of c and cd is clearly c, which is a priori greater than m. For the others, try putting in numbers, let's go with 9 and 15 for now. C=9, D=15. For a: c+d=24. 9 and 24 have the GCF of three, so that would work. For D: Let's assume that we have c=12 and d=10 for now. You get: 2*d=20, so the GCF of 2d and c is 4, not 2. D's out. For E: Same example as D: You get: d^2= 100, DCF is 4. There's a rule that says that cd and c have the same GCF as c and d as well, but I can't think of a way for you to do that in the exam without putting in numbers. When putting in numbers, remember to try different, qualitatively different numbers (e.g. if they have an answer that multiplies by two, try getting numbers where that could make a difference. These are questions that you should ignore the first time you go through the test and only come back to when you have time, since there's no formula to learn (which would enable you to answer all such questions). 3: So, average is: you add all the numbers and divide it by the number of numbers. In this case: you get: (100*23+50*27)/150= 24,333. Alternatively, the faster way would be to: notice that it would be 25 is there were 75*23 and 75*25 (since 25 is exactly between 23 and 27). Since there are more 23's than 27s, it's smaller than 25, which is all you need to know. 4: If you don't know the rule: Try putting in numbers: (1/2)^2+(1/2)^2=1/4+(1/4)=1/2=(1/2)^1. so x=m/2. Hope that helps. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

Yeah, I'd really love to do that as well, but I don't have the time. I really need a 6.0 in my first semester for Fletcher, so I need to be settled when classes start. I also want to take some more classes to take advantage of the year at IHEID in the proper way and go to a lot of events, so couchsurfing when I'm starting school is not an option. I'll probably look online and see if I can find something, but still apply for (the cheaper) housing through the institute.

Depends on what you want to do, there's no "right answer", both are amazing programs. Apart from that, finances will probably come out to be the same, since SIPA is 46k in tuition, and living cost in DC is a little lower than in NY.

I'm not quite sure if I'll attend, but I'd be torn between China Studies and General IR.

meur: That's good information to have. Do you have tips on how to find a place without being there? I probably won't be in Europe before mid-august, and I'd like to attend the French course (I took French and can read it, but don't feel confident to ... buy a loaf of bread^^). So I'd have to find a place from afar, which made institute housing so attractive for me. I'm no sure how to find a place for 400 francs though, I've been roaming the internet and it didn't seem possible. Learning french is def. a consideration. At the same time, I'd really like to be close to my classmates to build good relations with them. I never lived on campus, but found it was much easier to find friends if you live close to uni than if you have to drive for 30 minutes or more. I haven't really quite figured out what to do, but it's looking more and more likely that I'll be going to Geneva in the fall. I'd just like to make an informed decision.

Thanks. For those interested: I talked to admissions: 1. Last year, there were 6 applications for 2 spots at Fletcher. GWU usually has three spots, but it's more flexible. Academic merit in the first semester is the single most important factor. 2. The house has about 120 slots for first-year. Alltogether, they expect to have an incoming class (all the programs) of a little more than 300. Assuming not everyone applies, chances of getting in are about 1:2/3. The factors that they consider are: 1. Financial situation, 2. Distance and 3. Academic merit. Seeing as they have a lot of people from Switzerland, people from the US should have a high chance of getting in. My home address is Germany, so I might have problems. We can also apply for housing at uni Geneva, which varies a lot. Not sure how much outside housing would cost. 3. They weren't quite clear regarding classes and how to take them as a MIA students, but it seems to be first come-first serve basis for non-priority classes. I'm currently leaning towards Geneva, just because it's a lot cheaper than my second option. I still haven't decided if I want to switch to MIS IR, but I'm currently leaning to not switching, because most of the classes I want to take are in other departments. I would love to take one or two of the core MIS IR classes, but I'm not sure how possible that is. I'll definitely be applying to Fletcher for third semester, so I plan to work my butt of in the first semester to get a perfect 6.0. I'm def. considering doing a PhD afterwards, which is possible with the MIA if you're great (you can even do the Fast-Track option if "you're exceptional"), even though they recommend studying the MIS if you want to pursue a PhD. I'll see about classes next year and see if their MIS classes become less security-oriented, otherwise I'll stay in the MIA and make that word. My second option is SAIS, with 20.000 fellowship, so I'm looking at 80 K in debt. How do you think does Geneva compare to SAIS?

You might want to add how big you want the screen to be. Just FYI, 15 and 17" are usually cheaper than 13", but often also have worse components and bad battery life.

Hi! Can anyone of those that have already accepted admission at the institute look up the price of on-campus housing? I can't find it anywhere and haven't completely made up my mind yet. Thanks, Toni

Rejected, told to reapply in a couple of years after getting work experience. Fair enough and wasn't my top choice, I'm just happy I can stop frantically checking my E-Mail. Just goes to show you that the application process isn't only a numbers game and quite random. Got into SAIS, but rejected from SIPA ;-).

I'm still waiting for MIA decisions. I'm still in denial, believing that all those of us left will get huge fellowships and that's why it's taking them so long.

IR_Lion: Great it worked out for you. The language thing is super interesting, you're quite blessed having had the opportunity to do so many things. I hope you'll enjoy SAIS and maybe we'll actually meet there. BTW, I'm international, so I was thinking of applying to fellowships from my country. There are three big fellowships my country offers for people doing graduate studies in the US (incl. Fulbright, of course).

I thought of maybe renting out my uterus to some super rich (gay) couple. I'm joking... I think. Still waiting on some schools, I've been looking into loans from my home, some of them don't have conditions that are all that bad, they're just not good either. In addition, They're usually capped somewhere, so if worst came to worst, I'd have to take out three different loans (one for first year, one for living expenses, one for second year).