JMO

A question of prestige. I would go with the full ride, since you're still going to be paying 15K at Georgetown a year, which will then add to the 30K you already have, not considering living expenses in DC, which easily will be around 24K a year...add all that up and you will have around 80K in debt from grad school and 30K from undergrad.

Bump

People shouldn't take Revolution too seriously, or they simply are taking themselves too seriously.

Why is this getting derailed. I am looking for some valid answers, I mean he already defied all odds by getting into pretty much every school he applied to. Let alone full funding, I wonder how much further he can push it. I hope someone on here gets to meet him, he is really funny guy, and just goes around without a care in the world, doing whatever he wants. I remember him telling about his ambitions and giving me his application package to look over and I was thinking to myself...SAIS...no way dude. I told him to put more emphasis on SIS and Elliot since that is more logical, even University of Maryland (he wants to stay in DC). I don't know what his funding was for SIPA, but he made it seem like little, I think around 10K a year or so.

Ha, are his stats that bad. I do wonder what he got in his GRE. Schools are strange in how they give out money. Like why did Elliot give you 15K and SAIS 20K, considering one is clearly better than the other. You continue to see that in his board too, like someone gets a full ride to SAIS but doesn't get anything from SIS or Gtown, and you are thinking...what is going on.

To be honest, I think my friend should take his. I am surprised he even got money and/or got in to most of these programs. HIs undergrad GPA was a 3.0 in Politics, then got a Msc in Finance and had a 2.9 GPA. He is Iraqi though and grew in Baghdad until 2002, when him and his family relocated to Beirut. Perhaps his colorful background is what got him in. DOn't know his GRE scores, but I think he did well. He speaks a bunch of languages, but had no experience in IR, worked in Finance till now (he is 29). Sometimes I wonder how they hand out money, but I was pretty happy for him and think he should go ahead and accept SIS. Good program for DC, and he doesn't have to spend any money.

Smart man...turn down 500K job, to take out loans, then go to b-school, to accept job paying 160K. The Logic of a Snob

He is getting an MA, and to a certain extent I agree with you, but I do know people that got out of SAIS making 80 to 90K, which is quite good if you are 100K in debt. It is a risk, but the fact is that he is more likely to get a well paying consulting gig out of SAIS than SIS, but it is not guaranteed and if he ends up struggling then it will be quite problematic. OVerall, I would also advise people to go for the money, but prestige is the reason why we apply to all these ritzy schools.

LSAT is for lawyers. HE doesn't want to become a lawyer, and let's be serious, with how saturated the legal economy is and the difficulty of getting into a top 10 school, I think this is an illogical post.

Oh man, that is even a tougher situation than my buddy. It's always a tough one, when you have to leave your significant other for a year. The biggest worry for him is giving up on the reputation of SAIS to attend SIS. I know he wants DC, just because location is half the placement battle and he is originally from Bowie. I really would not want to be stuck in both your shoes, it's always a tough question and then if something goes wrong in the future, you will ask yourself...what if.

A friend of mine recently applied to all three, (I think Elliot as well). He got into SIS, full scholarship etc, but did not get any funding from SAIS and minimal from SIPA. I don't know how to advise him, but when do you think that taking the money is worth it. In either program he is going to be well over 100K in debt, considering living expenses in NYC and DC. He is currently leaning towards SIS, but the reputation is lacking compared to SAIS and SIPA. Just wondering what the general consensus is, money or the reputation. I told him that in this economy, especially seeing other MA students struggle to get jobs even after graduating from SAIS and Gtown, he may want to go for the money.

What do you mean by trying for. I think you have to get into the law school and for that you need to take the LSAT. Getting into Columbia Law is way more competitive than getting into SIPA. MBA/MIA is more logical as, law is already three years and you can't really use your MIA once you graduate law school. For an MBA, the MIA can teach you important skills, especially certain economics courses taught at SIPA as well was learning about emerging markets and risk analysis. Also, if you want to do dual MBA/MIA, you also will have to get into the MBA prgram, which, again, is more competitive than SIPA.

I was talking about the dual MBA/MIA recipients, for which there are quite a few. I was just using the attorney as an example that they don't distinguish between just MIA recipients and the ones that received dual degrees. I also like to add that I go to SIPA, and am not making this up.

Yeah, it can be manipulative. I am actually at SIPA, and not so many end up doing banking and finance, some go into consulting and what you really learn about are emerging markets, but overall you are not going to end up working for Morgan Stanley. Although some students do end up getting cushy finance jobs, they usually had a similar job previously and were not teaching english in south korea. Something to think about. Overall it's a great program and it's such a diverse class as well. You will spend the next 20 years paying back the debt you incur, but it is well worth it.

While they do publish pretty detailed statistics, they do not distinguish between the recipient of just the MIA or the Dual MIA/MBA or MIA/JD degree. Which is why you see so much Finance and Banking, you can even see some people employed as attorneys.

I Am wondering how people from these schools, in addition to GWU or SIS have some kind of on-campus interviews.

You should redo the GRE and really study for it, this is something you can control. As for the work opportunities, well its easier said than done to get more IR experience. The real question is, are you living independently and is your job your only source of income, cause if it is, then its hard to quit that and go for an internship, however if you can, do it. Overall, you have a strong shot to get into the programs in DC if you improve your GRE. You have strong language skills, which is always an asset, any chance you have another passport so you could do a year abroad somewhere (again, easier said than done).

Depending on what language he wants to learn, there are plenty of classes that can be taken in Boston to learn pretty much any desired language he wants to learn. It's true he would have to spend extra 2K a year to learn a language, it would be a drop in the bucket compared to the tuition he is already spending. I guess in any case, you can cross the bridge when you get to it.

But isn't it worth an application. You may not get in, but at least you tried, and if you do, then its a great surprise. A good friend of mine here at the program got rejected from HKS and if you look at his credentials he was a great candidate, high GPA from an Ivy, good GRE scores, worked in the UN for 3 years and spoke 3 languages one with academic fluency and still got rejected. I know this might look discouraging to you, that a person like that could get rejected, but who knows why. The bottom line is that you should at least give it a shot, you have invested heavily in yourself and your studies and you owe it to yourself to try to get into the best school possible (some may disagree with that statement, but the Harvard name is extremely powerful especially in this dire economy). Give it a shot, you got nothing to lose.

Ignore my last comment, this thread has lost its purpose and I am sick of this back and forth. jc99, good luck with whatever you decide to do

The expert admissions officer strikes again. So how do you know all this detail about the university admissions process? I am just curious

No one is being sensitive here. I am trying to be practical because I have met people with international backgrounds like his who were not academic aces, but their experiences and lives abroad are well valued by these schools because they bring in a different point of view and s/he shot it down like she knew the admissions process. Why do you think these schools love to publish where their students come from and how "international" they are, it is effectively the essence of the program. Here at SIPA, it is really interesting to sit in a room with an Israeli and an Egyptian and hearing them talk about their respective foreign policies, and if a school finds a decent applicant from that country, they may just admit him/her (charge them the max, I might add) because not only does it boost their stats, but it is insightful for other US students to hear them speak, at least it is for me and many of my US colleagues. And, It's not like he didn't seem to know that his chances were not great, or I bet he wouldn't be gauging someone else's reaction. I just don't like when people come in here and act like they are gods gift to this forum and they know all the ins and outs of the process. It is fine to tell an individual to improve on their IR experience and and perhaps take a couple of classes and that may improve their chances, but to just say it so abruptly is spiteful. I don't know who you are, but it sounds like you know the ins and outs of the admissions process and could predict with an almost certainty where someone will get accepted. And btw why would his/her criticism hit close to home, I don't know what that even means, could you please explain...troll. Looking at your posts, you seem to be Myrnist's number 1 fan, pathetic.

You got run over by a car? The thing about economics and not having a tool is probably a bad point to argue, but getting run over by a car is a pretty bad. where did you get into if you don't mind us finding out, there are a lot of people in these forums that could benefits from you disclosing the name of the institution.

You need some experience, of course in this economy that is easier said than done, you also want to be able to eat. Top schools for your major are generally very small and even with a graduate degree sometime you still end up on the streets. Your best bet may be to get some experience and apply to alright graduate programs, then do well and apply for a phd or another master at a better school...that is if you have an unlimited supply of money, which I assume you don't. I am sorry to say that a 2.8 GPA with no kind of great story or extracurricular activities is a hard sell anywhere.

Go for Harvard, I recently met an individual with a very similar background to yours, also non-traditional student, finished undergrad at 27, he was stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan for a while. I am not sure what his GPA was, but he was surprised to have made it into Harvard and referenced that his grades were less than stellar. You should certainly give it a shot, that is, only if you actually want to go to Harvard, but the name alone is worth applying to, especially with the background you have. Good luck.