It's A Mystery!

SIPA

I took another person's advice and went searching on the website to find contact information for any currently enrolled students and was able to make contact with some wonderful people in just the last day. Still, what a wonderful story. I also have horror studies from JHU Bloomberg; guess they didn't get to be good schools by being friendly

I studied in Boston for undergrad and it really is a very vibrant academic city. The schools are very collaborative allowing students to cross-register and engage in faculty exchanges. My fear is that, in choosing Harvard's school of public health over a joint-degree with a foreign affairs school, I'm sort of pigeon-holing myself - but then, it's not really the school that makes the career, it's the person...doesn't make deciding all that much easier, does it? Asavink: why'd you choose Emory? Mojo: why're you leaning towards Harvard? Is it just the name?

Well - I will say this about HSPH's culture: I asked if I could correspond with a current student in a couple of the concentrations that I'm looking at in the SM2 program and...wait for it...they said no! hahaha - nothing like that warm fuzzy atmosphere where future colleagues are encouraged to collaborate

same boat here

Ana - One of the things that Fletcher prides itself on is the extreme plethora of activities at the school. Whether that be the culture nights, the talks, the simulations, the conferences, or the other opportunities at the Consortium schools there's a lot the school opens up to students. Add that to the flexibility of the curriculum and you find yourself with the paradox of choice. SAIS is more rigid in the curriculum and, since they encourage their students to intern during the school year in the 2nd year, there's less emphasis on activities and more on professional development. Or, at least, that's been my impression from talking to students and visiting the schools. Others can chime in as to whether these impressions are correct.

I find these decisions difficult because I'm juggling what I want v. what I think I need. Honestly, as somebody who lived in DC for three years, then moved abroad, then was recruited back to DC from abroad, I don't think that being physically in DC is all that necessary if you plan on making a career here. Internships, networks, consultancy types - there are a zillion reasons to find yourself here, grad school need not be one of them at the beginning of one's career. As for grad school, I find that I'm constantly revisiting my SOP - why did I want to go to school 4 months ago? It's not so much about what I want to do in three years, it's about what I want to do in these 2-3 years between jobs. Do I want to focus on quant and econ? Then SAIS. Do I want more flexibility? Then Fletcher. Do I want a huge group of friends and sensory overload? Then Fletcher. Do I want a more professional environment? Then SAIS. Do I want the EU perspective? Then SAIS. Do I want more researchy experience? Then Fletcher. uuuuugh...I'm getting stressed just thinking about it!

seriously - not seeing this, how did you guys find your letters?

Honestly - I'm grappling with this issue right now and it's probably the price tag that is going to influence me most as a couple schools' departments are attempting to drum up more funding. The SCHOOL isn't going to make your career, you are. The more important question is, for $125,000 at which school will you be most comfortable acquiring that much debt (i.e. are the professors receptive to mentorship, are the students going to contribute to meaningful dialogue on the topics you're interested in, are there opportunities with the organizations you are hoping to work with, etc.) I'll probably turn down my offer from Harvard because every other school has given me significantly more funding - and it's probably the best school for what I want to do.

Heard from a friend at SAIS today - decisions are definitely comin' round the mountain sometime in the next 9 hours. G'luck everybody!

I've been focusing on nutrition and the effects of sustained malnutrition on long-term development (both economic and social) and no, I haven't figured it all out yet. Still waiting to hear back from idev programs. Where are you looking/what're you hoping to study/research?

yeah - that's what I'm looking at too and weighing the different options/combinations. I guess it'll probably come down to the financial aid packages.

I received my acceptance letter yesterday from the global health dept to their full-time M.S. program (much to my surprise) so now there are some serious decisions. To the forum: HSPH was the only PH school I applied to without a ready packaged dual degree option (bit of a whim application) - does anybody know of anybody that has done an HSPH/International Relations school dual degree? I would really really really appreciate any advice!

I got one too today from the associate director - anybody else? and mine was in my spam filter, so you may want to check

I'd have to agree with awells27, I used a combination of Magoosh, Manhatten, and Kaplan (different resources given to me by friends - I recommend sending feelers out to anybody that has ever studied for the GRE, I got the randomest tips that helped on test day from the unlikeliest of sources, like my local barista at Starbucks!) Magoosh is great because it lets you focus on your weaknesses to a greater degree than does Kaplan. The issue with Manhattan is that I found the problems weren't hard enough to knock you into the top tier scores which is when I turned to Kaplan. So, if you are having trouble with the basic concepts - so your basic FOIL or geometric equations, vocab strategy, etc - you can't go wrong with Manhatten. If you're extremely busy and constantly on the go, Magoosh has the best mobile tools and the best flashcard app for smartphones on the market. Here, Kaplan could take some SERIOUS lessons because their tools are quite possible the worst on the market especially for the price you pay. If you've already mastered the basics and are making either silly mistakes or just need more practice with the harder questions, Kaplan is simply the best (and I say this not having had any exposure to Barron's so I can't comment there). I say this because I maxed out on questions using Magoosh and would have been simply repeating the same tired scenarios over and over again without an alternative like Manhattan or Kaplan to turn to. On the verbal, I really recommend just reading a lot of things that you would otherwise find boring that also have hard vocab. For me that was stealing Foreign Affairs and Scientific America from friends that could afford to buy them. This forces your brain to concentrate on things that it's disinterested in while making you learn how to focus despite extreme boredom. At the end of the day, the GRE is a test of details. Learning to hone in on the details of topics that your apathetic about is a skill, not a study technique. I actually practiced at work, forcing myself to read technical documents that I otherwise would have filed away without a second glance.