The other places I'd applied to were Berkeley-Asian Studies (accepted), School of Oriental and African Studies, UK - International Politics (accepted), and Tufts- MALD and Georgetown- MSFS. Didn't get through Tufts, and don't really expect to get through Georgetown, coz I'm still in my final year of undergrad (and here 3 year undergrad degrees are the norm- so I'm technically in my third and final year now), and have no work ex except a couple of internships.
CIR appeals to me because as you said there are a lot of options - continuing with a second year, working, or applying elsewhere to study.
But I also can't help feel intimidated at the same time - are there a lot of people who have lots of work ex in Chicago? I know it's not as much as some of the other professional/policy-oriented IR schools, but Light - what was your impression of the current students when you visited Chicago last spring?
And yes, I agree, being an affiliate member of APSIA is not such a let-down - simply coz not having an independent school for IR is not that important considering that our program otherwise offers such flexible options, in terms of papers to take from the places you mentioned.
So what are you guys looking to do after this one year?