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ridofme

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Everything posted by ridofme

  1. The majority of people in this field go to grad school unfunded. Schools typically give 20-40% of students some kind of aid, but that could be 8k/year. There will be others who come in on outside fellowships (Pickering, Rangel, aid from foreign governments or foundations for international students). But most people either rely on the bank of mom & dad or massive student loans.
  2. Also, no idea what Mia's background or perspective is, but I would be careful to take the opinion of someone who is either majorly complaining about or majorly advocating for any specific school. Of course if 10 people say "this school is a waste of time/money" or "this school helped me achieve my dreams!!!" then that's something to consider, but I can think of a few big complainers from my program and I think some of their grievances where more based on their negative attitudes/senses of entitlement than the program itself.
  3. I think concentrations within a school can matter in terms of the resources you're given access to once you're there, especially in a larger program. For example, different programs might have different levels of funding for study or career trips, professional advising, speakers, scholarships, summer internships, etc. They also might have professors/staff who are more or less helpful, friendly, open to student interaction, connected to potential employers...All of this can affect your experience at the school, and can help or hinder you when job-hunting.
  4. If your only goal is to get into consulting, go MBA or dual degree. Having graduated in May from a top 5 program this year, I do have classmates who went straight to big consulting firms, but it was a LOT harder than my friends who did MBAs. Big consultancies do not come to recruit at IR/PP schools, so you will have to network like crazy, all based on your own initiative. Of the handful of my friends who "made it" to big firms, almost all either did consulting before grad school or have very specific technical/quant backgrounds, or both. The only exception I can think of is a 30-something vet who is doing security stuff at Deloitte now. Also, the starting salaries are typically much lower if you're non-MBA (think 80-95 instead of 120+). Unless money is no object to you and you simply want the education, there is absolutely NO reason to do an MPP/MIA if your sole goal is to get into consulting (other than "development consulting," where you're luckily to get 50k/year).
  5. Assuming you keep your upward trajectory, I would not be concerned at all. My final GPA was close to your target for the end of your degree, and I got into a bunch of schools with funding offers, all of which were more competitive programs than Albany. And while my grades followed an upward trajectory over time, I did get a few bad marks in classes relevant to my major. I think you'll find that the amount of grade inflation really varies across colleges and programs, and grad schools know this. They will not mistake a C in Organic Chem with a C in Intro to Writing Composition.
  6. Yes, the problem with abroad programs through U.S. institutions is that you still have to pay the U.S. tuition. Although perhaps cost of living will be lower if you're in Singapore or Italy.
  7. Not to knock the collective wisdom of these here fora (on which I relied perhaps a bit too much during the application process), but I think that saying one school is more like to give aid than another is a dubious supposition, WWS excepted. After I got my various acceptances and aid offers last spring, I spoke to a number of these schools' financial aid offices. They all said that something like 25-40% of accepted students get aid offers - which could mean 5k or a full-ride. I myself ended up getting a very nice offer from a school that gradcafe would have you believe gives no aid. I got lower offers from schools that are considered "generous" here. Of course, these are also just anecdotes. I think the likelihood of any individual school giving you aid is based on where you stand in relation to their applicants and how their endowment is doing that year, rather than their general propensity to give aid. I remember that a lot of people seemed to be getting full rides from UT-Austin last spring, but that's probably because gradcafe-ers were at the top of their applicant pool. I highly doubt that they have more aid dollars to offer than, say, U of Chicago or Georgetown (although I could be wrong). If I were you, I would call your target schools and ask things like how many students get aid, what the average amount of aid is, and the average amount of debt that students graduate with. Some of this info will be posted on their websites, but not all of it. But don't not apply to a school because it's known as being stingy. To address your second question - I did have pretty high GREs (stellar verbal/writing, above average quant).
  8. I can't speak to the relative strength of UMD's program, but I would say that in almost any scenario, I would recommend working for a bit before going to graduate school. There's nothing like working full-time to help crystallize what you want/don't want out of a career and life in general. Plus if you can get into UMD now without full-time work experience, then you could probably get into an even better program - possibly with funding - in a couple of years. Good luck.
  9. I think it's worth applying. I know I was certainly surprised at acceptances (and funding) I got from schools whose stated average GPAs were higher than mine. I had a good GRE score, good languages, and am a few years out of undergrad, and I think that helped balance it. Do you have a solid GPA and decent work experience? Did you take some econ or quant courses and do well in them? If not, then maybe you can take a math or econ course at a local community college and ace it, just to show that you have the aptitude but perhaps don't test so well.
  10. Thank you for sharing your experience. How many years ago did you graduate, and did you have trouble finding a job in your intended field? Would you say your situation is typical of others in your cohort? Do you think that the big name East Coast schools are more valuable because of their prestige or location? What region was your school in, what region are you in now, and wherever you are geographically, are you there by choice?
  11. I would not mention it, especially considering it was your freshman year and your retook the course. And really - don't sweat it. I have personal experience in this arena with a very positive outcome. PM me for details if you would like.
  12. It's hard to answer your questions without more information. 1) How long is the "gap" you are trying to explain away, and how recent? A 5-month gap in 2006 is a different beast than an 18-month gap in 2011 and 2012. 2) Were you doing anything productive during the gap? You mention studying English and Spanish -- was this formal- or self-study? If you were enrolled in classes, then this time period would not necessarily constitute a gap. I would avoid mentioning any of this in your statement of purpose. If you feel you really need to address it (for example, if it was a long, recent gap in which you weren't taking any classes/volunteering, etc.), then I would write a very brief statement as an addendum, and keep it to-the-point.
  13. I'm sorry your question hasn't gotten a response - I'm really just here to bump it up. On GC we hear a lot from applicants, recent admits, and occasionally current students. It would be good to hear more from those who are 3-10 years out, to see what directions their lives have taken. (I've really enjoyed reading the thread with the current FSO, for example). I think that would help resolve a lot of the questions people have on this forum about job prospects, finances, job satisfaction, the "value" of these degrees, etc.
  14. Based on your stated objectives - proving your economics/quant aptitude for applications - I would definitely go with a "live" course. This could be an online course through a community college. You don't have to shell out a ton of cash, but this way you can send a transcript, as noted. Also, a few applications had me fill out sections specifically detailing my previous economics/stats/math courses, by listing course names, the semester(s) taken, grade received, etc. This would, of course, be impossible if you did not officially enroll in a course. One could use this opportunity criticize the entire education accreditation system, in which a low-level online CC course is considered more "legit" than a free course from MIT, but for better or worse, this is the game that we have chosen to play. Good luck!
  15. Haha! I will just join the chorus and say that I think that quant scores (and GREs) affect funding more than anything else. I would aim to crack 150 if possible, but it seems like people get in with a range of scores, especially if all the other parts of one's app are solid. Did you take any quantitative courses in undergrad? If not, maybe take stats, econ, or calc class at a local community college or online.
  16. This is not a ridiculously early time to consider applying. Most applications are due in December/January, and there's a lot of prep you'll have to do before then. I actually think you're right on schedule. If I were you, I would put all of my effort into studying for the GRE and finding a volunteer position/internship/job. I would suggest taking the GRE in early fall at the latest, so that you'll have time to re-take it if your scores aren't as high as you'd like them to be. The weakest part of your application, as you seem to realize, is going to be your work experience. Even if you find something that starts in May, you'll only have about 6 months experience at the time of application. Do you have a policy area of interest? Going abroad would only make sense if you are interested in international issues, which I'm guessing you're not, based on your work history and the programs to which you're applying (I assume you're doing the MPA at SIPA?). Also, hopefully you have a pretty solid reason that you left TFA (e.g. family/health emergency). You'll need to find a way to spin that. You also want to think about who will write your rec letters - most programs require three. Now could be a good time to reach out to old undergrad profs and let them know you're thinking of applying to grad school. Maybe they can even give you some advice on different programs. Finally - I know you did business undergrad, but did you take any econ/stat/calc classes? If not, taking one or two classes at a community college could help bolster your application. Good luck!
  17. Whoa, this thread is getting really nasty. Despite SAIS's supposed reputation of producing arrogant egomaniacs, it seems like the people who choose not to go to SAIS are the ones derailing every SAIS-related thread until it becomes a cesspool of ad hominem attacks and unsubstantiated hearsay. Soaps - I have read a number of your posts on thegradcafe, and you are obviously a cheerleader for SIPA. It's a wonderful program that probably gets unfairly disparaged on this forum. But you are taking dft309's comments way too personally, and I'm afraid that you're the one who's coming off as defensive now. I like Damis's advice that we should all relax and enjoy our successes. Now that I've decided where to go, I'm not even sure why I'm on thegradcafe anymore. I guess it's become a bad habit over the past year.
  18. One more thing I just thought of: you have to pay $25/school to send your GRE scores after the first four. Your undergrad institution may or may not charge a transcript fee.
  19. What is the source of your regret? I don't see anything in School A to recommend it over B, unless there's a personal reason that you're leaving out.
  20. I think you need to look at a loan calculator. Just assuming 80k in loans at an average interest rate of 7.35% and loan fees of 2.5% (assuming that you take out the first 41k in Stafford and the rest in Grad Plus), that gives you a monthly repayment of $967.55 over 10 years. Now start calculating the interest that would accrue while you're in your PhD... I'm not one to say that it is never appropriate to take on more debt for a program with a better fit, better employment outcomes, better location, etc. SAIS does have an incredible reputation, and if it were a difference of 20 or 40k, and you knew you wanted to work in DC after graduation, I would probably say go for it. But 95k is an enormous amount of money, one that will impact your standard of living for decades, and if your goal is to pursue a PhD, it is especially hard to justify. I might take a previous poster's advice and see if you can negotiate with SAIS...
  21. It looks like the list is just IR schools. While WWS and HKS are policy programs, a lot of people go to those schools to focus on international issues.
  22. Most of this you could look up on your own, but for the basics, it costs $185 to register for the GRE in the U.S., and application fees range from $50-$100 in my experience, with the median being around $70-80. Different programs "release" the fellowship money to you at different times...Usually a semester's worth is deposited into your checking account at some point before the term begins. It would be advisable to save up enough for a deposit on an apartment and moving expenses, because you certainly should not rely on your stipend for that.
  23. If you want to go on for a PhD, that's almost going to be impossible with 95k debt. The interest that will accrue on that while you'll be in your PhD will be unfathomable. Did you have a chance to visit Korbel? That really is the best way to assess whether or not you could be happy at a school. When do you have to decide by?
  24. Well, it certainly might simply be a way for us MPP/IR applicants to make ourselves feel better. But I think the idea is that, unlike with law or business where you get a lot of un- or underqualified people applying because they see dollar signs, with MPP/IR, there is no cash prize at the end of the rainbow. Accordingly, the people who apply to these programs tend to be genuinely interested/invested in the fields, and likely have the backgrounds that will make them successful applicants. Of course there will be a few clueless people, and those who see these degrees as ersatz MBAs, but probably much less so than for more lucrative degrees.
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