Looking for Advice - Master's in INR

[samazing]

Hey guys! I'm about to enter my final year of undergraduate studies, and I've spent quite a bit of time lately looking into graduate school. I've always wanted to pursue a Master's degree - ideally, straight after completing undergrad - but I really have no idea what the odds are of actually getting accepted into a decent, well-reputed program. I'm just looking for a bit of feedback, really - where I would stand a chance of acceptance, how to compensate (if possible) for my lack of work experience, or any suggestions for improving my application in the little time I have left! Here's what my application will look like -

Undergraduate School: University of Florida

Major: Political Science (3.8 GPA)

Minors: International Development and Humanitarian Assistance, Russian Language

Languages: Russian and French - both at the upper intermediate level.

GRE: Haven't taken it yet, but I'm confident I'll do well - I've never had a problem with standardized tests.

Economic and Quantitative Experience: Introduction to Macroeconomics (A), International Political Economy (B+), Statistics (C - this was before I realized it actually counted for anything beyond the completion of my degree). I'm planning to take Microeconomics in the fall - I took this in high school and got a 5 on the AP test so I'm fairly confident I'll get an A.

Work Experience: I've held anything from two to three jobs at a time throughout my entire undergraduate career - extenuating family circumstances meant that I've needed to fully support myself financially for the last four years. Unfortunately, none of those jobs have been particularly relevant to international relations. Was a Teaching Assistant for International Humanitarian Assistant and presented one lecture, but I'm not sure if that counts for anything.

Experience Abroad: I've spent a month and a half traveling around Europe, but nothing more. Again, this can be attributed to family circumstances - I was planning on studying abroad this summer (paid for the program, the ticket - everything) until problems arose.

Extracurricular Activities: I've been heavily involved in Model United Nations since I was a freshman, which has largely shaped my interests in international relations and potential career goals.

Despite my lack of work experience, I'm pretty confident that I know what I want to do with my life. I'm heavily interested in international crime - particularly, human trafficking - and the interactions that take place between governments and international organizations in order to combat them. More specifically, I'm interested in the international crime that takes place between Russia and the former Soviet states and the European Union. I've targeted my undergraduate studies towards this, writing two research papers on the topic of human trafficking to date and incorporating the topic into my senior thesis. Ideally, I'd love to work for an international organization, like Interpol or the UNODC, in their efforts to combat international crime.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure if this confidence will be enough for graduate schools to take me. These are the programs that I'm considering so far:

Sciences Po - Masters in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action or Masters in International Security (little to no information up on the first's course offerings and requirements, so I'm not sure which would be best suited for my specific interests)

Fletcher (Tufts)- Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (particularly for the opportunity to design my own field of study and the Public International Law specialization)

Elliot School of International Affairs (GWU)- Master of Arts in International Affairs (International Law and Organizations focus)

SAIS - Masters of Arts in International Relations (International Law and Organizations focus)

Josef Korbel School of International Studies (Univ. of Denver) - Master of Arts in International Human Rights (they have a few faculty members who have done a lot of work in combating international crime - a definite perk)

College of Europe – Master of Arts in EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies

In light of this, my questions are:

What are my chances at the schools listed above?

What other schools should I be considering - particularly, those eager to accept students fresh out of undergrad (like Science Po) or those that are a bit easier to get into?

What should I be aiming for on my GRE?

Should I just nix the idea of going to grad school straight out of undergrad and get a few years of work experience under my belt before I apply?

Thanks in advance!

[Mal83]

My answer to your last question would be no, you should not nix the idea of going to grad school right out of undergrad. Your GPA is competitive and your quantitative (micro/macro) background is good. Your BA is a solid foundation for graduate study in anything IR related. Another strength is your foreign language proficiency. Your experience as a teaching assistant with a humanitarian org is worth a mention on your resume as well as perhaps in your statement of purpose if it at all helped to solidify your commitment to the field. The other jobs, if they're not related then no, they won't count for anything.

I'd say that aside from no substantial relevant work experience your other weakness is that you don't have any academic study abroad experience. Traveling around Europe is nice but unless there was some sort of learning structure or you did something particularly relevant to the field then I can't say that would count for much. I mean it might be worth it to express how your travels served to excite you more about studying international relations because you were able to use the languages you've studied, talk to people there, read periodicals on current events written from their perspective...you know that sort of thing, sometimes you can work your experiences to your advantage even if they seem like they wouldn't count for anything. I would certainly incorporate your Model UN experience because like you said it helped lead you down this path, give a few details about what you did and what you found particularly exciting about it, the admissions committees want to see passion for the field aside from a description of experiences. You also want to express your career goals toward the end of the SOP and how a degree from that school will help you to achieve them, that's how they know you understand what you're getting into and it's a suitable match for your interests, which leads to the next point for the SOP, do your research on these schools. Look at everything on their websites, look at the curriculum, the faculty pages, and research/internship opportunities to be sure that the program is going to result in you being qualified for what you want to do. Clearly expressing your goals and interests that are in line with the program in the SOP is a priority.

As far as the GRE goes, yes of course you want to do your best, but it's not one of the more important components of the application. If you end up with a score that falls in the range of the accepted applicant stats then you should be satisfied with it and move on. You can find all of the averages stats for your schools on their websites. You seem confident in your test taking skills so you probably don't have to worry about it so much. Concentrate on the other aspects, start thinking about who you will as for letters of recommendations, you might want to start putting out the requests next month, it's always best to ask sooner rather than later, I waited until October because I didn't know any better at the time, that was too late and I had to scramble for other options.

It's very hard to say what anyone's chances are, but in my humble opinion you have a chance and you should put in your best effort to get in somewhere. You might also want to consider George Mason University, I would say that they're a touch less competitive then some of the others, but the location not far from DC is a real bonus. They have a Global Affairs program with a number of concentrations including global governance and they also have an International Conflict Resolution program if that's something of interest to you, but I believe that security or international law of some sort is a concentration option. Look in their College of Humanities and Social Sciences school as well as under their Public Affairs options. I had applied their myself and got into the Global Affairs program, although I'm attending George Washington for International Development. Have you looked into American University in DC? The Elliott School is very competitive, just to give you a bit of perspective, for Fall 2011 there were over 2100 applicants, they had 350 spots for all of the programs in the school. International Affairs is their largest and most popular. But look at the website, there's a lot of information there and the requirements are laid out in black and white. Even if you don't have everything, you should you should give it a try, you never know. GW was a bit of a stretch for me and I was admitted off the waitlist, my stats weren't as good as yours but I have relevant work experience (Peace Corps)..so it's all about the total package you present to the committees. I will tell you though that since your interests lie mainly in former Soviet Union/Eastern Europe (mine do as well) there are some very region specific courses offered at GW, which is something I even mentioned in my SOP, that I was excited to study under the professors teaching them because my interests are perfectly in line with their work. Not that classes on Soviet and Eastern European politics are unique to GW, but the ones being offered just struck me as exciting because they fit in so well with my desired concentration. Anyway, that's probably enough for you to digest right now...sorry for the rambling, I've just been through the process myself so it all just comes pouring out in posts like these...don't hesitate to ask anything else!

[samazing]

Thanks so much for the advice!! Yeah, I'm hoping I can use my experience abroad to my benefit - although I didn't actually take classes, I feel like I learned a tremendous amount from my experiences abroad, primarily in terms of perspective. When I travel, I try to stay in a place as long as I can and experience life as a local - I'd rather spend an afternoon struggling my way through a French newspaper in a cafe than hiking up the Eiffel Tower. And I've actually been looking into the schools you suggested. I'm extremely interested in George Mason's program - there's a professor there who focuses on human trafficking that I would love to work with, and the program itself seems strong.

[Mal83]

You're welcome! I think that your outlook will serve you well and will come through in your SOP, that's pretty important, George Mason is probably an excellent option...good luck to you!

[HandsomeNerd]

In light of this, my questions are:

What are my chances at the schools listed above?

What other schools should I be considering - particularly, those eager to accept students fresh out of undergrad (like Science Po) or those that are a bit easier to get into?

What should I be aiming for on my GRE?

Should I just nix the idea of going to grad school straight out of undergrad and get a few years of work experience under my belt before I apply?

Thanks in advance!

Chances at schools listed above: First, it will be hard to say without knowing your GREs, quality of SOP and LORs. Your undergraduate record, however, looks good-- a 3.8 despite a C- at some point, and your thesis will definitely reflect well on your application. While I don't know much about the EU schools to which you'll apply, Fletcher and SAIS are top 5 schools and extremely competitive. I've seen applicants with great stats (3.9+ GPA, 1400+ GRE) rejected from Fletcher. Lack of relevant work experience will hurt you with them, but you'll still have a shot. Elliot and Korbel are significantly less competitive, and I'd say you would have a good-strong chance at getting in at either, provided you do indeed score well on the GREs, secure good LORs and construct a coherent SOP. Korbel could be your safety.

Other schools worth consideration: Georgetown (more competitive), Columbia, American (less competitive, fresh undergrad friendly).

GRE: obviously you want to do as well as you can do, but 1300ish should be ok overall, 1400+ if you want a chance at your reach schools like Fletcher and SAIS.

Work experience or no: You will invariably be more competitive everywhere you want to apply with work experience, especially at your reach schools. You'll still be able to get into some programs without substantial or relevant work experience-- but less likely in the top programs.

[samazing]

Instead of creating a new thread, I figure I'll just follow up here!

I finally got around to taking my GREs. Unfortunately, I took the new test, so I won't know what my real score is until mid-November. It did, however, give me a range of potential scores - for Verbal, between 670-770, and for Quantitative, between 700-800. I'm pretty satisfied - as long as I don't fall in the very bottom part of those ranges, those scores will be competitive at some of the schools that I'd mentioned, right?

Additionally, I just realized that I forgot to ask about something that's pretty important to me in the application process - financial aid. Of the schools I mentioned before, are any of them well known for giving out decent financial aid/scholarships/fellowships? Are there any schools that aren't listed above that are particularly well known for giving out scholarships and stipends? Cost is going to play a pretty significant role in which grad school I ultimately attend (if I get into more than one and have options, that is) - going into serious debt for a Masters in Human Rights is probably not a smart move in today's economy, so I'm hoping to find a program that will at least offer some financial aid.

[flyers29]

Regarding scholarships, I'll actually trumpet Korbel for once. Looks like they have to re-do the requirements due to the GRE format change (see here: http://korbeladmissi...t-scholarships/ ) but you shouldn't have a problem getting $10-15k from them. Although the overall tuition is higher than some of the DC schools, that plus the lower cost of living would probably give you an advantage there.

Edited September 30, 2011 by flyers29

[mabaci]

It never ceases to amaze me that lower-ranked schools have and publish numerical cutoffs while highly-ranked, prestigious programs are more holistic about their approach.

[lbjane]

Like others here, I think that you definitely have a shot at the programs you mentioned. However, you might want to look at a wider range of schools, especially since you bring up financial aid. You might take a look at some schools that aren't quite as highly ranked, since you may have a better shot of getting in and getting a good financial aid package. I know that, for example, both LBJ at UT and the Bush School at Texas A&M usually provided enough financial aid to out of state students so that they would qualify for in-state tuition, which would be a lot cheaper than most of the schools that you mentioned if you don't get much financial aid from them. So, broadening your list a bit with some schools that are less competitive may give you more options, especially financial aid wise. I will also plug LBJ because it's a really good, well-established school and you can do a dual degree with LBJ and Russian and Eastern European Studies or just take elective classes in the REE department. Good luck!

[EricBlair]

LBJ is a mess. i wouldn't bother.

[yo_yo86]

Not to be a downer (and congrats on the GRE, by the way), if I were you, I'd wait to apply. Your scores are good, but as Mal83 mentioned, you have little relevant international experience. Best case scenario, you get a degree from one of those schools and have to compete for jobs with graduates that have professional and/or relevant international experience. Doesn't sound like a winning formula to me. However, feel free to give it a shot if you really want. It just seems like there is no reason to rush into grad school when you could get some valuable and relevant experience beforehand (and make a little money too).

Edited January 5, 2012 by yo_yo86

[CreamTea]

I can't offer much but I hope this helps.

The first time I applied to Fletcher was when I was less than a year out of school. I was a finance/poli sci/Chinese major so I had more quant requirements. I also did two study abroad semesters (London and China) and I was a research assistant for an economist. I categorized international trade agreements.

During my interview, the interviewer remarked that usually people my age don't have very clear ideas of what they want but it seemed like I had a clear direction. I tend to do well in interviews because I had so much practice when I was applying for jobs/internships. Also, it was pretty easy for me to demonstrate my interest in international trade/development.

Also, it seems to me that Fletcher loves international experience. I found it odd that they admitted people with non-relevant international experience (ex. teaching English in China) but it seems like the experience itself counts a lot at Fletcher. I'm not knocking English teaching.

Public international law is also one of the reasons I applied to Fletcher.

By the way, I ended up not going to grad school and working. I've been working for 4.5 years now and I'd say you should at least have 2 years before you go. I remember that one admissions officer told that the reason they require 2 is because if you have less than two, it will be very hard to get a middle management position when you graduate. She is so right. If you graduate with no experience, you might end up in an entry level job alongside recent college grads.