GWU Elliott School, UT LBJ School, Texas A&M Bush School, U of Pittsburgh

[kae]

I have been accepted at GWU Elliott School for a MA in International Affairs, but no funding ($25,000/yr). I was also accepted at the University of Pittsburgh for the same thing (still waiting on funding info), and at Texas A&M's Bush School (tuition waved, cost of living ~10,000/yr). I was waitlisted at University of Texas' LBJ school (Would be pretty cheap with in-state tuition).

I don't know which school I should choose. Pittsburgh is pretty cheap, but not that good I don't think. A&M is getting better, and very very cheap. I'm a little unclear about UT's reputation in the IR world. I would love to go to George Washington (I hear it is one of the best?), but the tuition is very high and the cost of living is insane considering I'm from Texas.

I am concerned about being able to get a job out of graduation. GWU's website has a significant number of graduates "still looking" a year after they have graduated for 2009 graduates. I would guess that the other schools are even higher.

If anyone has advice, I am in desperate need!

[jph5125]

If you're looking for a future career in D.C. I would say GWU is your best bet since you will have plenty of opportunity to find internships and developing networking in D.C. You'll already have your housing and from what I hear Elliot school classes are at night to encourage you to work or volunteer during the day. UPitt also has a semester in Washington program where you intern somewhere in D.C. and take classes at Georgetown so that can get you a small foot in the door as well, but not as significant as GWU.

If you're planning on using your MA as a stepping stone to some other degree at another school (PhD or whatever) then I would go where it is the cheapest.

[lmvg123]

I have been accepted at GWU Elliott School for a MA in International Affairs, but no funding ($25,000/yr). I was also accepted at the University of Pittsburgh for the same thing (still waiting on funding info), and at Texas A&M's Bush School (tuition waved, cost of living ~10,000/yr). I was waitlisted at University of Texas' LBJ school (Would be pretty cheap with in-state tuition).

I don't know which school I should choose. Pittsburgh is pretty cheap, but not that good I don't think. A&M is getting better, and very very cheap. I'm a little unclear about UT's reputation in the IR world. I would love to go to George Washington (I hear it is one of the best?), but the tuition is very high and the cost of living is insane considering I'm from Texas.

I am concerned about being able to get a job out of graduation. GWU's website has a significant number of graduates "still looking" a year after they have graduated for 2009 graduates. I would guess that the other schools are even higher.

If anyone has advice, I am in desperate need!

I was accepted to LBJ and the Bush School (no funding from LBJ, 3,000 a year from Bush). I wouldn't bother with UPittsburgh. Elliot is very competitive, but I would say LBJ is your best option outside of Washington DC. I am over the moon about being accepted there. Its definitely top 10 and is very competitive outside of Texas, not to mention Austin is an amazing place to live. I've lived here for 3 years now and visited family here on and off growing up and I absolutely love it.

All my professors treated Bush as if it wasn't even an option for me, which kind of put things into perspective for me. They know what they are talking about.

[CC139]

I too believe that if you get off the waitlist at LBJ, it would be your best option. Even without financial aid, it is considerably less expensive than the other programs and, from what I've heard -take this as a grain of salt, I am not in the US- it is highly regarded. Albeit I don't know whether it's prestige is national or regional.

Edited March 22, 2011 by CC139

[kae]

I was accepted to LBJ and the Bush School (no funding from LBJ, 3,000 a year from Bush). I wouldn't bother with UPittsburgh. Elliot is very competitive, but I would say LBJ is your best option outside of Washington DC. I am over the moon about being accepted there. Its definitely top 10 and is very competitive outside of Texas, not to mention Austin is an amazing place to live. I've lived here for 3 years now and visited family here on and off growing up and I absolutely love it.

All my professors treated Bush as if it wasn't even an option for me, which kind of put things into perspective for me. They know what they are talking about.

Thanks for the info. I have a couple questions... Are you an in-state applicant? I'm just curious because I was surprised to get into GWU and get great funding from A&M, but only be on the wait list at UT. I heard this was because they try not to take too many Texans. I also forgot to say that it is the MPGS program at UT, not the more prestigious MPAff. Do you still think that UT is the best way to go? I would definitely love to live in Austin, so that would be a big plus!

[canyon07]

Thanks for the info. I have a couple questions... Are you an in-state applicant? I'm just curious because I was surprised to get into GWU and get great funding from A&M, but only be on the wait list at UT. I heard this was because they try not to take too many Texans. I also forgot to say that it is the MPGS program at UT, not the more prestigious MPAff. Do you still think that UT is the best way to go? I would definitely love to live in Austin, so that would be a big plus!

I'm basically in the same boat that you are. I was accepted to GW Elliott but have pretty much ruled it out due to the high tuition costs. Now I'm debating between UT LBJ (MGPS) versus A&M Bush School MPIA. I'm a Texas resident and didn't receive any funding for LBJ, but I did get a $20,000 fellowship plus full tuition at A&M, which is why this is such a difficult decision. I've heard a lot of conflicting things about A&M's reputation, so I'm leaning towards LBJ.

I'm not sure how LBJ and A&M compare in terms of IR (rather than just policy), but UT has some great grad programs across the board and Austin seems like a great city to live in. If you get off the waitlist at UT, I would probably go there. I don't think the significant difference in tuition for GW is worth being in D.C. for a couple of years (you can always do a summer internship there anyways!).

[D-Lux]

For what it's worth, I took an online graduate IR class from Texas A&M (it happened to be the only place I could find that offered one online.) The required reading was all good (and there was a lot of it), but the class was completely on autopilot. The professor barely wrote more than a line or two of feedback on any assignment and was almost completely absent for the discussion. Basically, I paid like $2500 for a reading list and online message board discussions. Pretty disappointing.

Also, not to put too much stock into rankings, but contrary to what someone else in this thread claimed, LBJ is decidedly not a top 10 program, at least when it comes to a terminal, professional master's degree.

[Ahab]

For what it's worth, I took an online graduate IR class from Texas A&M (it happened to be the only place I could find that offered one online.) The required reading was all good (and there was a lot of it), but the class was completely on autopilot. The professor barely wrote more than a line or two of feedback on any assignment and was almost completely absent for the discussion. Basically, I paid like $2500 for a reading list and online message board discussions. Pretty disappointing.

Also, not to put too much stock into rankings, but contrary to what someone else in this thread claimed, LBJ is decidedly not a top 10 program, at least when it comes to a terminal, professional master's degree.

D-Lux raises a good point but I think it's worth pointing out that online classes are really kind of unreliable as a barometer of a school's worth (although, I would be pretty frustrated if I had gone through the same experience). I've heard good things about the Bush school in terms of Security Studies and nuclear non-proliferation. They're offering you pretty good funding package, so I wouldn't dismiss it too quickly. That said, I think either LBJ or Pitt would be a great option. Elliott is a better program but Washington is a difficult place to live if you aren't making much money. Even though their classes are at night it is difficult to find paying positions within the district. I think you have to seriously weigh an absolute (the additional cost of Elliott, which for me would be at least $50k) against a hypothetical hypothesis (the "DC is necessary for graduate school because you'll gain work experience"). The job statistic that you pulled is pretty convincing evidence, at least in my mind.

Also, I wouldn't too quickly dismiss GSPIA. They haven't released funding yet, but if you get some kind of package it would be a step up from Bush and a chance to gain work experience in DC through the aforementioned semester program. I think LBJ and GSPIA should be considered peer institutions are far as rank within IR schools. Both schools also seem to have a really aggressive strategy for improving the international aspect of their programs. I expect the prestige of both schools to increase in the coming years (look at what LBJ has done with MGPS in just a few short years! - even though it is definitely NOT top 10 ... yet : )

I don't know if that helps you at all. This is part of the thought process I've been going through in the past few weeks. As much as I love Washington DC, I've decided to go to either Texas or Pitt for the reasons mentioned.

[Ahab]

D-Lux raises a good point but I think it's worth pointing out that online classes are really kind of unreliable as a barometer of a school's worth (although, I would be pretty frustrated if I had gone through the same experience). I've heard good things about the Bush school in terms of Security Studies and nuclear non-proliferation. They're offering you pretty good funding package, so I wouldn't dismiss it too quickly. That said, I think either LBJ or Pitt would be a great option. Elliott is a better program but Washington is a difficult place to live if you aren't making much money. Even though their classes are at night it is difficult to find paying positions within the district. I think you have to seriously weigh an absolute (the additional cost of Elliott, which for me would be at least $50k) against a hypothetical hypothesis (the "DC is necessary for graduate school because you'll gain work experience"). The job statistic that you pulled is pretty convincing evidence, at least in my mind.

Also, I wouldn't too quickly dismiss GSPIA. They haven't released funding yet, but if you get some kind of package it would be a step up from Bush and a chance to gain work experience in DC through the aforementioned semester program. I think LBJ and GSPIA should be considered peer institutions are far as rank within IR schools. Both schools also seem to have a really aggressive strategy for improving the international aspect of their programs. I expect the prestige of both schools to increase in the coming years (look at what LBJ has done with MGPS in just a few short years! - even though it is definitely NOT top 10 ... yet : )

I don't know if that helps you at all. This is part of the thought process I've been going through in the past few weeks. As much as I love Washington DC, I've decided to go to either Texas or Pitt for the reasons mentioned.

One more thought. I received a lot of advice from undergraduate professors and most of it turned out to be well intentioned but misguided. Perhaps you're in a different position because you're in-state but it's unlikely that your profs have spent anywhere near as much time researching schools as you have. Unless they have maintained relationships with other professors are UT or A&M, it's possible that they are relying on old stereotypes. One thing is for sure, tenured professors did not go to graduate school in an environment as competitive as the one we now find ourselves. This is my second year applying to grad school and just about every school has made a point of telling me about freshly shattered applications records.

[kae]

One more thought. I received a lot of advice from undergraduate professors and most of it turned out to be well intentioned but misguided. Perhaps you're in a different position because you're in-state but it's unlikely that your profs have spent anywhere near as much time researching schools as you have. Unless they have maintained relationships with other professors are UT or A&M, it's possible that they are relying on old stereotypes. One thing is for sure, tenured professors did not go to graduate school in an environment as competitive as the one we now find ourselves. This is my second year applying to grad school and just about every school has made a point of telling me about freshly shattered applications records.

[/quote

Haha, yes that what I've been getting too. Thanks for the advice. This seems like an impossible decision, but thanks everyone... the advice helps!