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Hi guys, I wanted to pass along that I went to the Elliott School for my masters degree in security studies a few years ago, as well as working there full time as the program assistant for the SPS program, so if anyone has any questions about ESIA, please feel free to post and I will do my best to answer them. So I can help both from a student perspective and an employee/advising perspective. Congrats to everyone who has been accepted. The Elliott School was a wonderful experience, as was living in DC.

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Thanks so much for offering to provide insight to new students! I just received my acceptance letter for the Security Policy Studies program yesterday, and I'm quite thrilled. :D

I have a full-time job and children, which necessitates my part-time enrollment. On average, how many students are in my situation? How well are they able to manage the coursework, and how long does it take them to graduate?

Thanks again for your help!

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I worked full time for the entirety of my MA, and it only took me an extra summer to graduate. I would recommend taking maybe 7 hours your first semester, two regular classes and 1 skills class, to gauge how much work you can handle. If you do well, you might want to bump it up for the spring. The current director, Jo Spears, is terribly nice, and the faculty there are first class.

As far as how many people are in a similar situation, I would say that not many in my cohort had children, but probably a good 1/3 were married and/or getting married and 90% worked full time or close to full time jobs.

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Hello,

Thanks for offering up your advice. It is always good to get a head start! I have not yet heard back from the Elliot school but if admitted I would seriously consider attending. I would be pursuing a dual degree with the school of public health. You mentioned in your last post that most people attending Elliot were working. Did you know any dual masters students? Would you have said the same of them? What sorts of jobs did people have? I am currently working in a scientific lab setting and am looking for a career change that reflects my interests in health care and international relations. Would you say I could find a job in DC that more closely resembles my future career prospects rather than my current?

Thanks in advance!

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I knew of one person who was doing a dual MA in International Affairs and MBA, and one person who was doing an MA SPS and Law degree, and both worked 30+ hours a week while I was there.

As far as finding work goes, if people make policy around your subject, any subject, then there are jobs to be had in DC, you just have to find them. Working as an intern or co-op for the govt. is always a good way to go, I would look at NIH, USAID, State in general, etc. Start looking and applying NOW though, DO NOT WAIT until you get there to start looking. The best way is to hit the ground running with both a job and classes your first semester.

Lisa Stephenson in the career office is Fantastic, she is great at her job and will be your best friend if you let her, I still talk to her once a month by email four years after graduating.

Congrats again on your acceptance...

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Thanks so much for the feedback, tidefan! I'm not sure if my schedule can handle three classes (have to juggle my job, my husband's job and our kids' various activities), but I think I can swing two. I have a pretty firm idea of what classes I want to take, but do you have any suggestions? Are there specific professors or skills courses that I should definitely get on my schedule? I really want to focus on security policy as it pertains to cyber warfare, but there is some room for flexibility in my desired degree plan. Any and all recommendations are greatly appreciated!

Thanks again for all of your help!

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Again, thanks for the offer to help out. Got accepted and am very excited. Do you know when we can expect to hear about FAFSA info from GW? I am not getting any money from the school, so this will be a necessity. Thanks again.

It seems like I received my aid report from GW in early May

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Thanks so much for the feedback, tidefan! I'm not sure if my schedule can handle three classes (have to juggle my job, my husband's job and our kids' various activities), but I think I can swing two. I have a pretty firm idea of what classes I want to take, but do you have any suggestions? Are there specific professors or skills courses that I should definitely get on my schedule? I really want to focus on security policy as it pertains to cyber warfare, but there is some room for flexibility in my desired degree plan. Any and all recommendations are greatly appreciated!

Thanks again for all of your help!

Classes change all the time there to keep up with what is going on in the world, so I couldn't tell you without seeing the schedule. However, if you want to tell me what classes you are considering and more importantly who is teaching them, I might be able to help.

I can say that for your first semester, if you are in the SPS program, you should probably take International Security Politics first, is the "groundwork" class for the rest of your degree. You could also take Defense Policy/Program Analysis, is a briskly moving class with a good instructor (Bruce Powers) and will get you into the swing of grad work. As far as skills go, I really enjoyed negotiating skills, wargaming and simulations, and a skill class on the national security council (which amb. Inderfurth taught on a semi-recurring basis).

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Hello,

I am still waiting to hear from the Elliot School. Is this a good sign or a bad sign?

Thanks!

Hey,

So you know, Elliott School posted their decisions online. You need to go to the "Application Inquiry" page (the applynow site where you input your username and password) and at the very bottom, there will be a link to the decision. I just checked mine on Friday...they had sent out an email last Wednesday.

Good Luck!!

Jay

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