JerusalemS

rose, don't know if it helps, but that's the feeling I got when I talked to them as well. So it's probably not personal. Of the schools I've talked to, SAIS was on the bottom of the helpful list. Then again, the other programs I got in are smaller and therefore easier to handle. I know I'd be going nuts at my job if 300 people were calling me and making requests, and could handle a 100 people easier.

You mean even after TOEFL? there's an extra step?

Yep, here the Fulbright comission chooses for you. Ofcourse you can always turn it down and still go to the school once you're accepted, which is what I might do if they decide to send me to a school outside of DC if I get one of the DC schools. It's just a really long waiting game.

Hey Madrilena, how does it work in Spain? do you hear directly from the schools? do you hear from the IIE as school results come in? Do you get to choose the school or does he IIE choose for you?

MYRNIST, I agree with most of what you said, and without judging or knowing your personal background, I'd like to make one caveat: When you have to work your way through university, taking the amount of hours you've taken to study, and adding onto it unpayed internship is simply not possible. And while I agree, that most middle class people can do that, there is a point where financial background does stop you from getting there. Now, going back to the discussion in the thread, let me ask for advice in this field. Going to school in DC was one of my dreams. I'm a foreign Fulbright fellow, which means I'm basically on a full ride, but Fulbright picks the school. While being applied to SAIS, and SFS, I've also been applied to Korbel and Syracuse. I'm genuinely thinking of turning down Fulbright if it's offered for Syracuse, and taking on debt to go to a DC school, if even a minimum amount is offered by the university. Now, given the fact that I plan to stay in my country, and not move to the US or Europe after graduating, that debt gets even more frightening (salary levels here are lower). Am I being a moron? Being offered this great opportunity and turning it down to follow the dream? (all hypothetical ofcourse, till Fulbright decides to tell me their decision.).

I've been applied to 4 schools by IIE, and will only hear back once all of them get back to them. I'm scared that the cheapest school will be what Fulbright will pick (simply because it's the worst school of the bunch - and then I might have to cancel the whole thing), so I desperately needs the other schools to offer atleast some form of cost sharing. So I'm sitting here waiting to hear from them, basically going nuts. But I will say this, we're all are very lucky for this opportunity. I've said before that it feels like winning the lottery. With similar odds.

The only full tuition one that I've seen for International students was the Dean's Fellows. and I think it's two people a year.

Guys, since I'm in this weird situation, where my applications are being handled by an outside source, I won't hear from any of my schools until all of them release decisions. SAIS was one of the schools I applied to, so I'm wondering could anyone clarify the June-July deadline thing you guys were discussing in the thread?

I just have to whine (a bit), imagine the following, even after everybody gets back their results, I still have to wait for 2-3 weeks for the financial aid to get to Fulbright office, before getting even the first bit of news. Although 2 of the schools I'm being applied to already released results. I'm going nuts!

MYRNIST, I think you're right, but I also think our comparison point is skewed to ourselves. There's no way I can compare my SOP to others' SOP, I just haven't seen enough. I can, however, compare it to my usual level of writing. At the end of the day you do the best you can, and that's the feeling most of the people who say they have good SOPs are describing.

Ok Jumping in a bit late on this, but still worth doing: Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, IR Schools Applied To: Georgetown SFS, DU Korbel, Maxwell - Syracuse, SAIS Schools Admitted To: Schools Rejected From: Still Waiting: All of them Undergraduate institution: Hebrew University of Jerusalem Undergraduate GPA: 89.5/100 ( no idea how to translate it best) Undergraduate Major: International Relations GRE Quantitative Score: 730 (77%) GRE Verbal Score: 710 (98%) GRE AW Score: 4.5 (72%) TOEFL Score: 120/120 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2, but only joined undergrad after the army, so 5 years all in all Years of Work Experience: 5 Describe Relevant Work Experience: Worked in the Israeli Parliament, several NGOs, and now work in a Social Entrepreneurship incubator Languages: Hebrew (native), English (fluent), Russian (fluent), a bit of Arabic. Quant: Really suck at it. Ok grades at Statistics, but did my best to stay away from anything that has numbers which aren't dates in it. International Exposure: Travelled around Europe, guided tours in Poland, Worked in the US, Russia and South Africa, Backpacked in Australia, recently went to North Korea. Fulbright Fellow: Selected as an International Fulbright fellow, so all expenses should be covered, which is a huge blessing, because there's no way in hell I could ever afford American education, on the other hand, they take care of the whole process, and several of the schools to which I'm being applied weren't even selected by me. Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): It's great, slightly emotional, but just the right amount. The only problem is, because of the Fulbright process, I could only write one for all the schools I'm being applied to. So it's not school specific, but represents me and my strengths and weaknesses fairly well. Let me put it this way, if a school doesn't think I'm a good fit after reading it, I probably shouldn't be going there anyway. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): 3 Recommendations: Again, generic ones submitted to Fulbright, not tailored per university, so it's the downside of the process. One pretty famous professor, one professional from an NGO, one from the Parliament. Others: IDF Veteran (3 years combat experience, dunno if it counts in the US), Student activist, started a project adopted by the Israeli government. That's it. My main concern about the whole thing is a numbers game. Fulbright does something called cost-sharing, which means once a fellow is accepted to a university, they try to get the university to fund as much as possible from their tuition. Naturally, since Syracuse is very cheap compared to DC schools, I'm afraid that they'll end up limiting me to that, even if I'll be accepted to SAIS or SFS (hopefully). So currently I'm going nuts about this, since this whole process is going on behind my back, and I'll only be contacted with the final result.

Hi Everybody, I noticed that there isn't a Fulbright thread yet for this year for us foreigners, and was wondering if anybody else is biting their nails off waiting for answers from universities and from Fulbright. Maybe we can worry together, and share useful tips, of what we know and what we don't know. Any takers?

I think another part of the issue is the question asked: "What are the five best masters programs in the world for a student who wants to pursue a policy career in international relations". It's my understanding (based on some reading and what my professors have told me), Yale has a great academic reputation but is less policy oriented than the other schools. So I think if the question was asked about academic careers, it would be ranked among the first. Just my 2 cents.

Hi all, I'm wondering if anyone has any opinion about the Korbel school, and how it compares to other non-DC institutions, specifically Syracuse. I heard of it this week for the first time, and see it's ranked pretty high, but have never heard of anyone who went there. Any opinions? Is it worth it? What's financial support like in that school? is it considered top-tier?