Previous Schools: Top Ivy
Previous Degrees and GPA's: BA in Politics. Overall: 3.75, Department: 3.86
GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): V: 740, Q: 780, AW: 5.5
Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 6.5 years, state politics and lobbying
Math/Econ Background: Undergrad Macro, High School Calculus
Foreign Language Background: 6 years classroom study of Spanish
Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Relations
Long Term Professional Goals: African political transitions and American foreign aid
Schools Applied to & Results: Columbia - SIPA MIA (accept); Harvard - KSG IGA (accept); Oxford - MPhil IR (accept), MSc African Studies (accept), MSc Global Governance and Diplomacy (withdrew); Princeton - WWS (accept, $); Yale - MA in IR (accept, $)
Ultimate Decision & Why: Princeton WWS.
Once all the decisions were in, Columbia quickly knocked itself off the list for its insane price tag, huge size, and total lack of funding. Harvard was off next, for some of the same reasons. I also wasn't a big fan of the heavily prescriptive course load in areas where I already had experience.
While the idea of turning down Oxford was nearly impossible, the more I looked into the actual coursework, the less useful the programs seemed. All were very research focused and designed mostly for folks leading into a PhD. Might have been a fun year or two, but probably not best for the long term.
So it came down to Yale and Princeton. Yale's open house was very friendly and welcoming with nice students. Classes were a mixed bag. I'd heard criticisms of the program for its overly academic focus, but wasn't immediately turned off by it. I was a bit worried about the size of the program and 20 students seemingly headed on 20 different paths, but left thinking I'd be pretty happy there.
The visit to Princeton started off somewhat slowly (especially after a formal Open House) with a small Q&A session in a conference room. After that, we were turned loose to just explore the school and classes and campus. This is where the program really set itself apart. The classes, while somewhat bigger than Yale's, were much more interesting and the students engaged better with the classes and with each other. The whole program felt very collaborative. I'm not usually one to go for that sort of thing, but there was this pretty genuine since of community that I got there (and from every alum with whom I've spoken). Adding in the resources available for summer programs, year out, and career stuff (and, I'll admit, the lack of a language requirement), it was pretty impressive.
In the end, it was the difference between the student populations that was decisive. At Yale, I talked to a lot of students about what they wanted to study. At Princeton, it was all about what they wanted to do. As someone who'd been working in the activist world, that made all the difference to me.