yo_yo86

Not sure how schools would view it, but if you could spin your story as "Look what I learned..." it might not hurt. Plus, you'll be saving money, which is important. You'd be better served by finding a relevant job for the 1.5 years than sitting in classes and writing papers that won't advance your career or admissions chances.

Had a friend that went. Ended up overseas on a fellowship afterwards (not brand name). Not a bad gig, but she got the program paid for (she worked for the school), which makes a difference. Would be very hesitant to go otherwise as I have heard is that at least 50% of the grads have nothing lined up after graduation and it still doesn't have much of a name for itself.

Grad_Nov, I know you created a separate Yale IR thread, but if you're still checking I would say while you certainly have solid numbers (assuming you score as well as you think on the GRE) and good language skills, your work experience is a bit inconsistent (nothing more than 6 months). You may want to take a year (or two) and work at a job doing something relevant to demonstrate your commitment to the career change. Just my thoughts. Never hurt to apply, but you may get better results with some more experience.

Beefmaster Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): Middle East Studies / IR etc. Schools Applied To: Fletcher (MALD), Georgetown (Arab Studies), George Washington (Middle East Studies), SAIS (Middle East Studies) Schools Admitted To: 0 Schools Rejected From: 0 Still Waiting: All Undergraduate institution: UK university Undergraduate GPA: 1st Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): Undergraduate Major: History GRE Quantitative Score: 145 :( :( GRE Verbal Score: 154 GRE AW Score: ? Yikes on the quant score. Not one to talk, I know, but I would retake before applying. You have some decent experience, but that score may get your application tossed before it's even considered. Plus, another year of experience aboard can only strengthen your application.

Long time listener, first time caller (man, that makes me sound old...) Program Applied To: IR Schools Applied To: GW (Elliott), Georgetown (SFS), JHU (SAIS), Syracuse (Maxwell), Texas (LBJ), Tufts (Fletcher) Undergraduate institution: Ivy (transfered in) Undergraduate GPA: 3.6 (Major: 3.8) Undergraduate Major: Poli Sci GRE Quantitative Score: 670 GRE Verbal Score: 610 GRE AW Score: 5.0 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 7 (non-trad; took 3.5 years off during school) Years of Work Experience: 4.5 (excludes volunteer work and research abroad) Quant: Microecon, Stats 101, will complete Macoecon before Fall 2012 Languages: Spanish (intermediate), Hindi (basic) Describe Relevant Work Experience: Volunteered in Canada for 2 years. Research assistant for professor while in undergrad. Paralegal in NYC for BigLaw firm. Also conducting research and volunteering (on my own dime) in India, hoping to publish paper. Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Solid. Lots of edits, yadda, yadda, yadda. We'll see... Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Solid. No super stars, but one full professor (that is somewhat well known) from undergrad who oversaw my senior thesis and the prof I worked for. Also an attorney I worked with. Other/Misc.: Not particularly strong GRE scores. I am currently in India studying Hindi and writing a paper. Really stressed India in my SOPs. Hopefully that helps. I am willing to sit this year out if nothing great comes along my way in April. Likely applying to law schools in 2012 (to start in 2013).