impatiens

I suppose you can always hook it up to your home country's credit card as long as it's a major one (e.g. MC, Visa). You'd likely be paying a slight premium due to the exchange rate, but if you really want a contract I don't see why that can't be done. And (correct me if I'm wrong), the credit card won't even be charged unless you miss a payment. They only take your cc info for security purposes, e.g. if you bail on your bill. Maybe give your cc company a heads up (e.g. that you're relocating so you'll be using your credit card in the new city/region) so they don't freeze your card due to unusual activity.

I recently set up an account as an international student at Citibank (recommended to me by my school). It was really quick and easy: there happened to be no lineup on a Monday morning and the whole thing took about 30 minutes, tops. I didn't need an SSN and the only documentation they needed were my acceptance letter and passport. I did have a lease for my apartment I'd just signed the previous day, but they didn't accept it because they would've needed the school to write a letter to vouch for it . Shop around for banks that have a deal for students at your school. I got a no fee savings and chequing account, no minimum balance and they couriered my (complimentary) cheques to me within 3 days to my Canadian address. I didn't even have to make a deposit at the time (had up to 30 days to make my first deposit). I wired the money from HSBC Canada but the fees were egregious: $35 CAD at the time I sent the transfer (which is pretty standard), but by the time I received it in my Citi account, an additional $30 USD was taken out. Citi says they only took out a $10 USD commission, which leads me to think that some intermediary bank docked the other $20 USD. This sometimes happens with wires, based on my experience at work. I've heard that you can buy USD money orders in your home country in your own name and then deposit them when you arrive in the US to your bank account. I guess traveler's cheques would be a similar means to transfer your money. This way it's cheaper than a wire and you don't have to have a US bank account yet; just be very careful and not lose the drafts/traveler's cheques. I was by chance in the US so I had the opportunity to set up my account but I understand a lot of international students won't be able to do so before they arrive for their studies. Credit card: Citibank told me that if I showed them I had at least the equivalent of $2000 USD in my home bank account and that I could show them I had history at that bank (by showing them the six most recent monthly statements) that they'd give me a credit card. Obviously the more you can show them, the higher your limit. Hope this helps!

That's a really good question, and to be honest I don't have an answer. I stuck to APSIA-member schools when applying because it defines what kind of a degree you're doing (e.g. specifically a two-year, professional/terminal graduate degree in international relations). This categorization helped me to trim down my list of schools, as one of my recommenders put it, I seemed to be intent on applying to "every school in the Western world." Don't get all caught up with various rankings and all that jazz. Nothing is gospel and different people will say different things about all of it. I think it's most important to go with a program and a school that's a best fit for your particular strengths and goals. For example, if you're intent on being an IR prof, you probably don't need to specifically pick an APSIA school because those programs are more designed to train practitioners. On the flipside, if you know for sure that you want to work in the field doing development work (or be a practitioner in whatever your field of interest might be), then you probably want to pick an APSIA program which is supposed to focus a bit less on the "theoretical" and more on "real-life."

I got my I-20 last week, so about 10 days ago. I'd submitted my documents at the end of April/early May but there was a holdup because I'd listed something on it that took a while to clear due to internal stuff at the school. SAIS fixed it pretty quickly after I followed up, and I'm good to go now!

Thanks for all of your opinions! I think I'm leaning towards either AT&T (JHU discount but I don't know how much yet) or T-mobile (because it's a bit cheaper) but I'll take a look at Verizon too because the prospect of being able to use my phone on the Metro is pretty tempting...

I've looked at both NYU programs' websites back in the fall and from what I can tell, the MS in GA is from their School of Continuing Studies while the MA seems to be coming from their Graduate School. While I have not closely looked at the NYU programs' curricula and compared them to those of Georgetown's MSFS and Fletcher's MALD programs (the latter two of which I visited/interviewed at in fall 2008), I would not put the NYU programs in the same category because they're not APSIA members or affiliates, and Georgetown and Fletcher are both members. It's like comparing apples (non APSIA schools/programs) and oranges (APSIA schools/programs). To gain more insight between the programs, I'd suggest looking at the requirements of and lists courses available for each program and come up with a mock plan of courses you'd like to take while you're in each program. That might give you a better feel of which you'd prefer to do (e.g. MA in IR/IB or MS in GA). I found this exercise to be really helpful not only in figuring out which programs I was interested in, but also as a preliminary "brainstorm" for my personal statements.

I need to set up a new phone in DC because I'm moving from Toronto. I am excited at the prospect of no long distance and no roaming charges within the US. Any suggestions for carriers and plans? Contract or pay as you go? Does anyone actually live without a cell phone? I've had one since ninth grade so I can't imagine living without one, but I recently discovered that one of the associates at my office has managed to do without one through undergrad, law school, and a few years on the job. :shock: I'd love to get a Blackberry but I'm not sure I want to deal with a $90/mo phone bill (based on an estimate I did on the AT & T site) and I might regret being chained to my e-mail. I want bbm to keep in touch with a few friends and I'd love a qwerty keyboard because I hate texting/T9 on a normal phone, but mostly I want a Blackberry for vanity.... and so I think it's slightly not justifiable, especially if wireless internet abounds and everyone schleps their laptop around anyway. I've heard that Columbia has a deal with AT &T for discounts... does anyone know if SAIS/JHU has a similar setup or if this is a common thing they have with most universities?

I've heard from adcomms and from my own personal experience that if you had good internships and/or worked throughout undergrad (as I did) it's possible to be admitted, although some schools have a very strong preference for those with at least a few years of full time, relevant work experience AFTER undergrad.

Keeping in touch/networking is a great idea. I don't have Linkedin but I can get it... do I just sign up or do I have to be invited? I'll be starting at SAIS this fall.

Thanks for your input, Console! I'm really excited about SAIS.

Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): University of Toronto Previous Degrees and GPA's: Honours BA, double major in International Relations and Asia-Pacific Studies, 3.16/4.0 GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): V660, Q650, AWA5.5 Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 4 years paralegal in intellectual property law (some of it was part-time as I'd worked throughout my undergrad in addition to summers) Math/Econ Background: Micro, macro, and international trade theory in undergrad. No math since high school. Foreign Language Background: French, Cantonese, Mandarin Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Canadian Studies Long Term Professional Goals: Foreign Service or consulting in private sector Schools Applied to & Results: UCSD - IR/PS (accepted) Johns Hopkins - SAIS (accepted) Fordham - IPED (waitlisted) Tufts - Fletcher (rejected) Carleton - NPSIA (unknown) National University of Singapore - LKYSPP (unknown) Ultimate Decision & Why: SAIS. Despite the exorbitant tuition on top of the exorbitant DC rent, it was my first choice all along and a huge reach. The only thing that would change my mind is if I suddenly got into Carleton because Canadian tuition is a lot less and NPSIA is also highly relevant preparation for the Canadian foreign service. Lessons I learned: You can never start early enough. Book your GRE well in advance so you have the opportunity to write it twice if you decide you want/need to. Some locations book up really fast really early (e.g. I booked my first GRE in mid-July for early September and I had to go to a test centre about 2 hours away from downtown Toronto and pay for a hotel because my test started at 7:30am, ick!). A good friend of mine who was applying to a bunch of engineering programs left the whole GRE endeavour 'til the last second and didn't have a chance to rewrite before his app deadlines (and he really wanted to). I was able to make a really strong case for being a good fit in both programs I've been admitted to thus far (Canadian Studies at SAIS and Southeast Asian Studies at UCSD). I strategically selected my recommenders for what they could say about me and their relevance to the fields and schools I applied to. I also sent in three letters to one place that only asked for two (clearly numbering them) because I figured as a borderline case, they might want to take the two minutes to read one more letter if they really cared. And if they didn't, they can read my letters #1 and #2 and chuck #3. It wasn't any harder for me to get the extra letter since most places ask for three anyway. I have a hunch this strategy worked in my favour. Make sure all three (especially that extra letter) are going to be SOLID references, though (you should be able to kind of gauge it based on how enthusiastic your recommender is when you ask him/her). Otherwise, well, you'd just look silly if you had an extra, half-hearted letter that didn't say much about you, even if it was on someone's pretty letterhead. Thoroughly research the schools/programs when writing your personal statement and tailor it to fit your strengths to their program highlights (e.g. list profs, classes, clubs you'd like to work with or that you've encountered in your undergrad studies through readings, conferences, anything!). I ended up rewriting every personal statement almost in its entirety for each school I applied to, and no two supplemental essays shared topics. Go and visit at the schools you're thinking of applying to. In October, I booked myself a whirlwind trip of Boston and DC and checked out five schools in three business days. It was a chunk of money to spend on airfare (I was lucky to have friends in both cities, thus saving on hotels), but my perspectives of three schools (and how I'd fit in their programs) changed drastically to the point I didn't apply to any of them, thus saving me $300+ in application fees alone, and a lot of work!

FINALLY got my official letter in the mail today and the verdict is no funding. I got a little too hopeful because I'd heard/lurked on an old CollegeConfidential thread that there tended to be funding offers tied specifically to Canadian Studies and Southeast Asian studies (coincidentally my first and second choices). It would've been nice to have part of my tuition covered if only because of the atrocious CAD-USD exchange rate these days. Alors, c'est la vie, but I am still happy! Just going to take everything in stride and figure it out as I go.

Congrats on your wonderful choices! You will be well on your way wherever you go. You can waive the econ requirements by writing exams. Details here: http://www.sais-jhu.edu/academics/econo ... r-exam.htm I would be more concerned about arrogance at Georgetown, and even so I don't think it was over the top. Just typical (slightly childish) hoity-toity-ness. SAIS had a more"down to business" feel and I found the current students to be much more approachable. I had the opportunity to visit both SAIS and SFS in the fall so I can say so based on my visiting experience. Bottom line, there's no need to be arrogant at any of these places, but most people don't get here (and get out) without a teeny bit of killer instinct, and some level of pride about their achievements and the institution they attended. And I'm sure it's also based on the individual and that there are going to be nice and snotty people wherever you go.

Two questions for you, Console: 1. Are you a current student at SAIS? (It sounded like it from your post, that's all.) 2. Can you elaborate on your descriptions of strong vs. weak, particularly regarding Canadian Studies? I can tell SAIS doesn't have an enormous faculty for Canadian Studies (three profs) and there are fewer classes than in other concentrations, but from my research (mostly googling and the recruitment brochures that I got at an APSIA fair), SAIS is the only viable place to study Canadian Studies in the US (not to knock the University of Alaska in Anchorage but I am not moving to Alaska, and JHU has prestige that few can deny). The other three of "big four" IR schools (Fletcher, SFS, SIPA) don't have Canadian Studies concentrations (I'm not sure about SIPA but there's nothing in their brochure. I am sure Fletcher and SFS do not have Canadian Studies because I visited both in the fall). Thanks!

Were you admitted into a different (noncapped) program than the one you picked as your first choice? Bummer that the appeal didn't pan out.