wendol

Oh! I forgot about this post totally. As to interests within IR, since I am from a completely technical (Electronics) field, I have varied interests in IR, none of them explored much. On a personal level, Security studies excites me. But I understand the importance of the integration of economics and quantitative analysis with an MA in IR. And because I have absolutely no background in Econ, I would prefer to study Econ under an academic environment and also read up on Security issues on my own. Thus probably getting the best of both worlds. I have been working in the Climate Change industry for around a year now, so that is also an option. Thus, I was always on the lookout for a flexible course. On a regional basis, since I am Indian, the study of South Asia, extending eastwards and specifically including China are my interests. IR/PS offered me a 50% scholarship, an irresistible offer. So-Cal here I come! I don't know about others, but I personally would prefer to attend a flexible course keeping all my options at hand and choosing later on. And the money talks as well, so IR/PS narrowly beats GW. Thanks everyone for your inputs. Cheers.

I don't think you need to worry about anything. I have a Bachelors in Electronics Engineering from India and have received admits from decent schools like Elliott, American et al for the Fall 2009 International Affairs program. I never applied to the big ones like Georgetown/SIPA or to the public policy focused schools like HKS, WWS. I had lesser GRE scores, really really bad acads, good LoR's but not from such heavyweights and only a year of experience while applying, in the climate change industry. I guess the SoP is a very important part of your application and I worked on mine for more than 4-5 months. That is the only thing you need to concentrate on and things should go through smoothly. In your case, financial aid would be comparatively easier too! Good luck.

Hi, I have been accepted to the Bush school for the MPIA program. I haven't accepted yet and gave up my minor scholarship offer so that I would be able to extend the deadline upto May 11. As the laptop scholarship is still effective, I qualify for in-state tuition. I am seriously debating between Elliott and Bush on the cost and DC factor. Would love to hear some experiences of current students at the Bush School or TAMU in general. Anything that an international student needs to know! Thanks.

Thanks a lot! I can't say I am conservative, more like extremely liberal From what I have heard, the people, undergrads might be conservative, but the graduate students and faculty are generally quite liberal. Also, I don't suppose the course would be oriented in a conservative manner. Hopefully :?: Also, Texas A&M has a considerably diverse international student body. What is it about Texas that everyone seems to hate the place? As an international student, I am quite in the dark about it. And I have taken into account the extreme conservative outlook of people. Regards

Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): University of Mumbai, well regarded in India. Previous Degrees and GPA's: Bachelor in Engineering (Electronics), GPA system not applicable, but in the second half of my class GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): V: 720, Q: 730, AW: 4.5 Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): Almost a year as an Analyst with a Clean Development Mechanism (Climate change) firm in India, experience in lots of sectors in business development, project development, national and international environmental policies et al. Project experience in Robotics with a prestigious Naval Dockyard in India. General Secretary of my college's Alumni association and lots of event organization and leadership experience. Math/Econ Background: 5 semesters of Engineering mathematics, including higher levels of calculus etc. No economics background apart from a small course in Industrial Economics. Foreign Language Background: Haha, English qualifies as a foreign language for me. Apart from that native fluency in Hindi, Marathi. Reading knowledge of Arabic. Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Security Studies, Middle East/South Asia/China Long Term Professional Goals: Thinktanks or governmental representative, India Schools Applied to & Results: Rejects: Yale, Fletcher, GSPIA, Grad Institute, SAIS. Accepts: Elliott (no $), American (no $), Monterey ( 12k aid + language fellowship to study Arabic), UCSD (no $), Bush School (3k aid). Waitlisted: Maxwell School. Ultimate Decision & Why: Between Bush School and Elliott. Bush is turning out to be way cheaper plus course content leans towards military studies, one of my interests. But in terms of name recognition, seems nowhere. Rejecting Monterey because even with the aid it would still come out to be close to the costs of Elliott and that ends the matter there. Aid seems very hard to come by at Elliott these days looking at the number of admits and no aid availability. I am unsure of RA's/TA's later on. Just trying to speak to a few professors, if it works out I will be going to Elliott. Just need a sign, however minute :-). Love the course and everything about the school. I guess I am in a dilemma like everyone else here, albeit slightly different. Most here have aid offers from some low ranked known and reputable schools. I seem to have no aid offers from the nice ones and aid offers from the unknown ones. I guess my lack of international experience, languages and very bad academics served to pull me down. Decent GRE score, work ex in a great field plus excellent LoR's worked well for me. Can't comment on the SoP as I had to convince a school why I wanted to switch from a technical background to something completely different.

Hi I have been admitted to the Bush School for the MPIA course with 30% aid. I would like to hear some reviews on the school from other posters. It is a very attractive option more so for the expenditure involved. Any points on recognition would be most welcome. Regards

Hi I am an international student intending to pursuing an MA in IR. I have received admits from Elliott, SIS, UCSD (no aid), Bush School - Texas A&M (30% aid), and Monterey (40% aid). Keeping the curriculum and course content aside, since each school has something different to offer my interests, I would welcome any suggestions on choosing one of these. I am slightly inclined towards, Elliott: Even without the financial aid! Texas A&M: Very cheap! Thanks in advance.

Hi I have applied to the MS in Global Affairs in January and haven't heard anything from the school yet. My application status is still incomplete on the online system. And I haven't received an email yet to resend any materials. I had also applied for the Reynolds Fellowship, the results for which were supposed to be out by March 11. Despite numerous emails to the concerned person, various telephone calls where I am asked to dial the other department I have not heard anything on the Fellowship or the admission. It is a bit of a put off if the school doesn't bother with such things. Regards