Jeppe

Yes, that part of the application is such an annoying extra, especially because no other schools seem to demand a similar piece of writing.

As a current MA student at Yale, I have to say that my experience with student-faculty interaction so far has been really good. Don't worry about being treated as a second-class citizen here, in general I think that sort of stuff happens more at universities with large groups of MA students who aren't seen as part of the 'grad student community'.

I'd say so, yes, especially given that you are in at Columbia and waitlisted at Fletcher. I honestly do not believe that a lot of people will be admitted through the wait list this year.

I got admitted to all my schools except Fletcher, where I got waitlisted, with only one year of full time experience. I did however work part-time within the field during all of my undergraduate degree, and my curent position fits nicely with my future career plans. In general I would say that you should get at least two years of full-time experience, unless you specifically want to pursue a career in research, in which case it becomes less important.

I have to agree with this point. Professional experience will not only increase your chances of getting admitted to the top programs (and get financial aid there), it will also make your time in grad school much more rewarding and it will significantly increase your chances of getting a decent position when you graduate. Both the private and the public sector expect a couple of years of previous experience when hiring MAs, and this is even more true for most international organizations.

LinkedIn networking sounds like a good idea - I'm in. Going to Yale for an MA in European & Russian studies, focusing on international security and diplomatic history.

I think what we are seeing now is an increasing recognition of the fact that the last thirty years of 'big' theories in IR just aren't very useful when applied to reality. Following the late 80's and 90's delve into meta-theory and ontological clashes, new scholars today are more concerned with less theoretical and more useful work. This is, in my opinion, why the most interesting work can be found within thematic subfields like civil war studies (Fazal, Lyall, Sambanis, Kalyvas), democratization (Snyder, Mansfield) etc.

In your situation I would go for HKS. The name, the quality and range of courses and the network would more than make up for the location in my opinion. It sounds like you have considerable professional experience from your time before grad school, so I wouldn't worry too much about doing summer internships only.

I finally decided to accept my offer from Yale. Very excited! Now I just hope that I can get into graduate housing, otherwise I'll most likely be interested in finding a roomie for someplace in East Rock

For those still considering Yale, here's a news item that might provide more incentives. http://opa.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=6560

Congratulations tasg!

I agree very much with Synthla on this one. Also, even though you have two 'perfect match' professors at Cornell, there is a very real possibility that your focus might change somewhat during grad school. Having a large number of inspiring people who share your general interests seems better than one or two who fit perfectly with your present focus.

Hard to say, but I got in as an international applicant, and between 40 and 50% of the students at SIPA are from overseas, so that shouldn't be any hindrance. However the downside to SIPA is that the program is bigger than the other top policy programs (more students, more courses, less intimacy) and they tend to be reluctant in giving out financial aid. I've been following courses as a visiting student this semester, so feel free to pm me with any specific questions. Also, here's a link to the Master of International Affairs degree program: http://sipa.columbia.edu/academics/degr ... index.html

If those are your areas of interest, I would recommend SIPA at Columbia University. The are both strong in UN/Peacekeeping (arguably the strongest school in this particular field) as well as counterterrorism.

I think you should choose based on the program. If you want to combine it with the experience of living in China, then do an internship there over the summer, or spend a semester at a Chinese university through an exchange program (which several US programs have). I would recommend you to check out the Hopkins-Nanjing center as well as USD's International Relations-Pacific Studies program http://nanjing.jhu.edu/index.html http://irps.ucsd.edu/

I feel the same way. If I didn't have to stay in the US because of my job, I would seriously consider a year at Science Po or LSE.

I'm still trying to decide between Yale and SIPA, but right now I'm leaning towards staying in New York. Guess I have to decide before April 15 :roll:

Just a few short comments. Firstly, don't worry about the applicaiton process to specific SIPA courses. Even as a visiting student (getting lowest priority), I managed to get into 3 out of the 4 'limited enrollment' classes that I applied to. And it's really just about writing 2-3 sentences and submitting your CV. Regarding SAIS and strategic studies - well, they have a strong name in this field, but it seems to me that most of the program is bound up on Eliot Cohen. If you're a fan of his work, then great. But if you're not, or if you're interested in a very broad selection of security studies courses, then I would go for SIPA or Georgetown.

I don't know much about SIRPA's brand name, but I spend the summer at Fudan a couple of years ago, being taught by a few of the professors from SIRPA. I have to say that even though the city was amazing, the educational experience was subpar. There were a couple of really good professors, but the rest were pretty much just repeating the 'party line' when it came to Chinese foreign policy and economic reform. Not very challenging or self-reflective. I hear that the quantitative courses are good, but to be honest the policy courses do not seem worth it.

Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): European top 20, following that one semester as visiting student at SIPA Previous Degrees and GPA's: Political Science BA, translated to 3.7 GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): V 590, Q 550, AW 4.5 Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 1 year at my national UN Mission in NYC. 2 years as research assistant at a security studies think tank during college Math/Econ Background: Some statistics, micro/macro economics Foreign Language Background: Fluent in mother tongue (obviously), some skills in French and Spanish Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Security Long Term Professional Goals: A position at either an international organization (UN, NATO) or a research institute/think tank, possibly after taking a PhD on top of my MA Schools Applied to & Results: Georgetown SSP (got deferred to Spring 2010 because of some late transcripts), SIPA (accepted), Fletcher (waitlisted), Yale - European and Russian Studies (accepted), Syracuse Maxwell (still to hear from them) Ultimate Decision & Why: Yale. Not only is the cost significantly lower than SIPA to begin with, but Yale also offered me a fellowship. Besides, my chances to pursue a PhD afterwards will most likely be better with this degree.

I would go with SIPA. Funding is definitely a problem with the School, but on the other hand it has some of the best resources when it comes to International Security and East Asia is also a strong are of expertise. And as mentioned above, it' reputation is quite strong.

Thanks! I received an email with the link to applyyourself. When I checked the website, there was a new link under Application for Admission (above Personal Statement/R

Yeah, me too. Got in, but no fellowship, pretty much as expected! Glad the wait is over

Here we go again, another day - another opportunity to wear my F5 key down.

I agree with the points made by younglions and would add that the choice between SAIS and Georgetown really comes down to what specialization you want to do. East Asia? Go to SAIS. Anything heavily quantitative? Go to SAIS. International Development? Go to SAIS. Europe/Russia? Go to Georgetown. Diplomacy/FP analysis? Go to Georgetown. Security Studies? Either would be excellent. I won't claim to be an expert in any way, but this is at least the impression I've gotten.