'Too young' for Masters in the US?

[celine2002]

Hi, my name is Celine, I will begin in September my final year of my undergraduate degree in International Relations in the Netherlands. I am currently deciding on which Masters I will apply to. I am planning to apply to some programs in Europe (UK, France, Netherlands), but also wanted to apply to some in the United States (Georgetown MSFS, Columbia SIPA, NYU; Johns Hopkins MA in IR; Yale MA in Global Affairs); however, I was advised not to. I was told that in the US individuals typically work 3-5 years between their undergraduate and graduate degree, and so they are 24-28 years old in average during their Masters; whereas I will be applying to Masters right after finishing my Bachelors and will therefore be 20 at the start of my Masters. Is this true or do people sometimes do their Masters in IR / Political science right after finishing their Bachelors?

 

Also, do you think that the same applies to the double Masters between Sciences Po and Columbia? This is a program that I'd be really interested in doing but do I need to have 3-5 years of work experience as well?

 

Thank you so much in advance!

[Theory007]

Hi Celine!

It's true I think that for some graduate degrees in the US people tend to have work experience. It's not possible for example to do an MBA without a couple of years at least, but I don't think this applies to MA programs in political science. In many European countries it is very common for people to obtain graduate degrees, but in the US it is not. My guess is that people probably are older when they takes MAs in the US, but it really should not hold you back. I'd just make sure to check the admission requirements for each program although it would surprise me if they had age requirements. Some may require work experience but age per se is not much of a factor.

Note also that many US based MA programs are unfunded and therefore expensive compared to European ones.

Hope this helps Celina. In short; you're not too young for MA programs in the US.

Good luck!

[GradSchoolGrad]

On 7/7/2021 at 4:33 AM, celine2002 said:

Hi, my name is Celine, I will begin in September my final year of my undergraduate degree in International Relations in the Netherlands. I am currently deciding on which Masters I will apply to. I am planning to apply to some programs in Europe (UK, France, Netherlands), but also wanted to apply to some in the United States (Georgetown MSFS, Columbia SIPA, NYU; Johns Hopkins MA in IR; Yale MA in Global Affairs); however, I was advised not to. I was told that in the US individuals typically work 3-5 years between their undergraduate and graduate degree, and so they are 24-28 years old in average during their Masters; whereas I will be applying to Masters right after finishing my Bachelors and will therefore be 20 at the start of my Masters. Is this true or do people sometimes do their Masters in IR / Political science right after finishing their Bachelors?

 

Also, do you think that the same applies to the double Masters between Sciences Po and Columbia? This is a program that I'd be really interested in doing but do I need to have 3-5 years of work experience as well?

 

Thank you so much in advance!

Celine, 

I recommend that you think about this in 2 respects.

1. Ability to get in. This coming application cycle is expected to be much less competitive than last year's (the Covid cycle) and given your international status amidst a drop of international applications to the US, you might actually be able to get in without work experience to some prestigious programs that you wouldn't be able to do so normally. However, each school is different, you want to look at the set policy

2. Experience. In the interest of experience, I strongly recommend that you have at least 2 years professional work experience before starting.

a. Coming at 20 means you won't be able to enter numerous alcohol serving establishments (drinking age is 21 in all 50 states), so that means a lot of missed social opportunities

b. If most of your peers have work experience and you don't, you won't be able to relate to them and will have a harder time making communities. Granted one of my best friends in grad school was straight from undergrad, he always talked about how isolating it felt doing so.

c. For academics, it will really help to have work experience to have an overall better learning experience.

d. career wise for summer internships, you will be less competitive against those who have work experience 

[celine2002]

Thank you so much for your replies Theory007 and GradSchoolGrad! After discussing this issue further with my parents / friends / professors, I have concluded that it is not a good idea for me to begin a Masters degree at 20 years old in the US. I will stick to programs in Europe, which are closer and cheaper, and where I will be with more students the same age. Thank you both for your advice!