ajl

Excellent. Thanks for the input, y'all.

I'm facing a similar problem with my resume for SAIS. I'm applying to the DC campus for both years and haven't found anything recommending an appropriate CV/resume length. Since admissions are separate for these campuses, I'm wondering if anyone else has heard differently about SAIS DC's preference...? And yes, of course my life will fit on a page as well as anyone else's. It's just that, barring Bologna admission blog, the top-tier programs all seem to prefer longer resumes to highlight details they would be interested in.

There is one program that may be worth looking into. Check out www.ir-online.org The Freie Universitaet is an extremely well-respected school in Europe. When I was in school in Germany, and afterward in other countries, I have met students or alumni of FU Berlin [in other fields] and they loved it. Of course, other than that I know very little about it, so just see for yourself... but I think it'd probably be a great option. One big plus is that you actually have sessions at the school, but only a couple times a year and the rest is online.

I should qualify my apprehension a bit, though. My work experience is international, sure, but not on the level of some of these wild people. Just read WWS's 1st year class bios, and I can't help but think, "Oh my GOD, who ARE these people?" I've also noted that almost everyone seems to come from a pretty sweet school, whereas mine was only ranked well in Maxim magazine for having some of the "hottest coeds." But all we can do is try, eh? You seem pretty knowledgeable--or at least more confident--in this area. Thanks for all the stuff you've posted. Crap shoot.

I'm new here, too, and feeling pretty iffy about the whole app process. I just posted this on the Fall 2012 applicant thread, but would love to get some feedback from anyone with opinions. Here are my stats: Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPA, MIA, MALD, whatever they're calling it Schools Applying To: GWU Elliott, Columbia SIPA, JHU SAIS, Princeton WWS, Tufts Fletcher, Georgetown MSFS Undergraduate institution: Notably less-than-stellar large public. But our football team was pretty good. Undergraduate GPA: 3.77 Undergraduate Majors: International Business, Management [Honors] Study Abroad: a semester in Germany, a semester in Spain, a month in Guatemala GRE Quantitative Score: 680-780 [Did they make the new GRE quant harder?] GRE Verbal Score: 750-800 GRE AW Score: don't know yet... Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4 Years of Work Experience: 3...? Describe Relevant Work Experience: One year teaching ESL in Korea [government program], some management experience if that matters, internship with a political advocacy group [unpaid], internship with international development nonprofit [unpaid] Languages: Spanish [proficient], Korean [intermediate, quickly forgetting], German [uG minor, intermediate], Indonesian [beginner, just for fun] Quant: One calculus class in UG, a couple economics and stats. They don't tell you when you're good at math as a kid that you should NOT skip courses and do as little as possible. Strength of SOP: Also currently working on this, will probably be decent. My work experience isn't incredibly relevant, but I've done tons of travel and am hoping to draw on that. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Two profs should be very good, one nonprofit director may not be as strong. Other: I was fairly involved in extracurriculars in UG, and have numerous short volunteering stints all over the place. Also, I know that odds for WWS are low, but the win is big. Y'all think I have a shot?

Howdy all-- Lurking this forum has really helped with application stress relief, so here goes my first post: Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPA, MIA, MALD, whatever they're calling it Schools Applying To: GWU Elliott, Columbia SIPA, JHU SAIS, Princeton WWS, Tufts Fletcher, Georgetown MSFS Undergraduate institution: Notably less-than-stellar large public. But our football team was pretty good. Undergraduate GPA: 3.77 Undergraduate Majors: International Business, Management [Honors] Study Abroad: a semester in Germany, a semester in Spain, a month in Guatemala GRE Quantitative Score: 680-780 [Did they make the new GRE quant harder?] GRE Verbal Score: 750-800 GRE AW Score: don't know yet... Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4 Years of Work Experience: 3? Describe Relevant Work Experience: One year teaching ESL in Korea [government program], some management experience if that matters, internship with a political advocacy group [unpaid], internship with international development nonprofit [unpaid] Languages: Spanish [proficient], Korean [intermediate, quickly forgetting], German [uG minor, intermediate], Indonesian [beginner, just for fun] Quant: One calculus class in UG, a couple economics and stats. They don't tell you when you're good at math as a kid that you should NOT skip courses and do as little as possible. Strength of SOP: Also currently working on this, will probably be decent. My work experience isn't incredibly relevant, but I've done tons of travel and am hoping to draw on that. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Two profs should be very good, one nonprofit director may not be as strong. Other: Ditto about just hoping to get in SOMEWHERE. And about being light years ahead of where I was a couple of years ago. Recently I went to a grad school event and the admissions officials for WWS and Fletcher actually used the words "crap shoot." [Or is it "crap chute?" I've always wondered this.] Browsing the threads from last year's pool, it looks like competition is stiff... But I've been lucky so far, so hey, why not? Y'all think I have a shot?