International Relations Graduate Programs

[Purman2]

I'm looking into applying to some graduate programs. The four that I know for sure I want to apply to are SAIS (John Hopkins), WashU, Georgetown, and American. I am particularly attracted to SAIS's focus on quantitative work and need to get some more experience in that area. Mostly I'm worried about getting in any of these places, so I was wondering if I posted my stats if people could recommend somethings I could do to better my chances or maybe some alternative programs that could get me where I want to be.

GRE

Verbal 780 Quant 690 Writing 6

Degree in IR from a Big Ten school GPA (the problem) 3.2

Overseas study and work experience

Peace Corps in Eurasia

Russian and German language skills.

Any help you guys could provide me in overcoming the GPA problem would be great. I was considering taking the GMAT and focusing on getting the best quant score possible to demonstrate an ability to do quant work without jeopardizing my scores.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Turian27]

Your stats look pretty decent.

I would recommend looking into the Fletcher School at Tufts University and also the Josef Korbel School at the University of Denver.

Not much you can do about your GPA. But definitely make sure you write, edit, and revise your essays multiple times with some peer review.

Good luck !!

[Zahar Berkut]

Technically this belongs in the government affairs forum, but I'll bite.

Browse the list of schools at APSIA.org to get an idea of who is out there. Work experience counts for a lot in these programs, so you have a reasonable chance at top programs despite the GPA (top 5/6 are, as a rule, SAIS, Georgetown, SIPA, Fletcher, Kennedy, Woodrow WIlson). Try to have some idea of what you'd like to specialize in as well beyond quantitative skills.

Also, make sure the school actually accepts the GMAT before you take it. If you want a higher quant score-- and your current one is not bad-- you might be better off retaking the GRE (even if you risk losing some points in verbal).

[Mal83]

I was just accepted to George Washington's Elliott School of International Affairs off of the waitlist for International Development....here are my stats:

GPA 3.35

BA: International Studies from reputable school

GRE: V570 Q550 W 4.5....I know, this was a nightmare for me

Completed Peace Corps service in Ukraine, tested at advanced High level of Russian at the end.

Wrote a grant, along with many other extra activities aside from primary assignment (TEFL)

Semester abroad in Moscow as an undergrad

I know the recommendation letter from my PC manager was stellar because he let me read it, but the other 2 I'm sure they were great but they did not offer to let me read them and I didn't want to.

I was passionate and confident in my SOP, I also made it very clear what direction I wanted to take in ID (Democracy and Governance) so I feel like the total package got me in, sure I wasn't a top pick for the first round, but enough people declined and I was ranked high enough to get one of those spots. Peace Corps is so valuable to these programs, this is as real world as it gets. That's not to say it will guarantee admission but you've got a big foot in the door already. I was rejected by American, but the consolation was that they waive the app fee for pcvs. I was accepted to my backup George Mason's Global Affairs program like 2 weeks after their deadline, not a top program, but decent enough and it was also in the DC area which is one of my top priorities. I was all set to go there but I got into my dream school a week ago and changed course real quick.

Of course all of the top programs are super competitive, for this year GW's Elliott School received over 2100 applicants and had just 350 spots. I still can't believe I earned one of them. So looking at your GRE and work experience I'd say you have enough of a shot to really go for it. Just have a backup school though. A slightly lower than awesome GPA is not necessarily the be all and end all for grad school applicants, especially when you have real work experience that directly prepares you for graduate study in IR like Peace Corps. For GW's ID program and I guess IR too, economics is big. They want to see that you have had some course work in this area, economics is a pre-requisite so if you have strong grades in these classes that is a real bonus. Although...I only had a Macroeconomics class when I was at a community college, got an A, which I guess was enough. I've heard of them giving conditional acceptances, like you have to take an economics class the summer before you attend or whatever, but that's not something I have to do...thank god.

But anyway, the point is that I was well aware that my numbers were below GW's averages, but with experience like PC I felt I had a chance. I didn't bother with Georgetown, that's probably out of my league, and the others I didn't consider because my priority is DC. You should look at all of these schools' averages and student profile information so you can get some idea of where you stand, but as my case makes clear, it's the entire package that they're looking for.