International relation and affairs applicants for fall 2012

[meichen_l]

hi guys

I'm a international student from a U.S liberal arts college, I'm applying for IR master degree for 2012, can you guys help me to decide if I need to apply for more SAFE schools??

Most of program I apply for are professional IR/IA master program, and I choose those programs that are NOT designed for mid-careers. Though most of them "recommend " 1-2yr work exp, which I don't have...

Here is my information:

Program Applied To: IR, MPP (only for HSG)

Schools Applied To:HKS(mpp), Tufts(Fletcher's, MALD), Gtown (MA of international law and security) , GWU (elliot, IR) , Syracuse (Maxwell, IR), Stanford (Intl policy studies), SIPA (MIA), U Chicago (CIR, IR), Southern CA, JHU (SAIS, MA)

Undergraduate institution: top 50 LAC ( as an international student)

Undergraduate GPA: 3.66 (major 3.77/4.0)

Undergraduate Major: Poli-sci + statistic

GRE Quantitative Score: 780 (163 for new g)

GRE Verbal Score: 710( 167 )

GRE AW Score: 4.5

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 0 directly apply as a senior univ student

Years of Work Experience: 0, only two internship outside U.S

Describe Relevant Work Experience: No full-time working experince, but have two internships in China, in one large national engineer company, office assistant, and legal assistant in a famous local law firm. Did interns during the summer back home:p

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): talk about extensive study aboard exp, been to around 10 countries and study in U.S., strong stat. background, decent econ background (micro/marco) can speak Chinese/English/French, plan to work in International humanitarian org, (UNHCR, ICRC), interested in international law, more specifically, international humanitarian law.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): all from my poli-sci profs. took at least two courses with each of them..

Questions: 1. do I aim for too high? I mean my prof. recommend those school for me, but all of the 10 schools are top schools in the field ( except USC i guess?). I'm worried if I will be rejected by all of them... should I apply for more safe schools?

2. I'm currently an international student in undergrad, and I'm wondering if i will be considered as intl applicants in grad application or not? My nationality is not U.S but i will get BA from U.S college... awkward~

.... thx a ton!

Edited October 31, 2011 by meichen_l

[JAubrey]

HKS - Will ding you immediately

Fletcher is big on work exp as well, thus I would anticipate a ding

GTown if this was SFS I'd say ding, but I do not know much about this MA

GWU I'd say 50-50 but I'd err on the side of an admit

SAIS probably a ding.

The rest you may have a shot at as they are mainly cash cows... or in Stanford's case more academically oriented with less demand for work exp.

[babybaby]

HKS - Will ding you immediately

Fletcher is big on work exp as well, thus I would anticipate a ding

GTown if this was SFS I'd say ding, but I do not know much about this MA

GWU I'd say 50-50 but I'd err on the side of an admit

SAIS probably a ding.

The rest you may have a shot at as they are mainly cash cows... or in Stanford's case more academically oriented with less demand for work exp.

Then I am wondering what type of students can get in these IR schools directly out of college. all these schools say they accept less than 10% of the entering class directly out of college..what kind of backgrounds those 10% usually have? just curious. Thank you!

[beefmaster]

Out of interest why would you want to go straight out of college? A professional degree is a huge investment for most and without clear career goals it may turn out not to get you where you want to go in the end.

[babybaby]

Out of interest why would you want to go straight out of college? A professional degree is a huge investment for most and without clear career goals it may turn out not to get you where you want to go in the end.

umm how about want to be part of an IGO or NGO, and its impossible to get in any of those orgs directly out of college? so need a master degree earlier..?

[beefmaster]

umm how about want to be part of an IGO or NGO, and its impossible to get in any of those orgs directly out of college? so need a master degree earlier..?

No need for a sarcastic comment.

What exactly do you want to do in an NGO? That is a HUGE field!!

Also, are you aware that most big organisations, even for entry level posts, require 2 - 5 years work experience NGOs? Masters or not, you will not meet that requirement!

[maeisenb]

umm how about want to be part of an IGO or NGO, and its impossible to get in any of those orgs directly out of college? so need a master degree earlier..?

I disagree. You can work for a number of organizations in various capacities before getting a Masters, just not maybe in as heavily a policy role right away. I have a number of friends who have worked at NGOs, etc. in various positions pre-MA (organizing on the ground, elections work, assistant roles, etc.), then went back and got their MA and then worked at other NGOs. While I wouldn't rule out going directly to an MA program, which can seem like the "easier" thing to do post-college, I support working for a few years to really understand what you want to do first. Post-college job hunting can seem very daunting, but if you network well, there are definitely possibilities, which will also make you more attractive to grad schools later.

[babybaby]

I disagree. You can work for a number of organizations in various capacities before getting a Masters, just not maybe in as heavily a policy role right away. I have a number of friends who have worked at NGOs, etc. in various positions pre-MA (organizing on the ground, elections work, assistant roles, etc.), then went back and got their MA and then worked at other NGOs. While I wouldn't rule out going directly to an MA program, which can seem like the "easier" thing to do post-college, I support working for a few years to really understand what you want to do first. Post-college job hunting can seem very daunting, but if you network well, there are definitely possibilities, which will also make you more attractive to grad schools later.

THANK YOU!

[meichen_l]

thanks for the reply guys... guess i need to start to look for job after the application

[meichen_l]

i know all of those programs admit about 10-20% undergrad applicants... so hopefully i can make to that range with my gpa/gre... though I highly doubt that... in addition, anyone know if i will be evaluated with other international students or with American students? i'm given the understanding that there is difference in terms of evaluation criteria.. though i'm not 100% sure..

[meichen_l]

Out of interest why would you want to go straight out of college? A professional degree is a huge investment for most and without clear career goals it may turn out not to get you where you want to go in the end.

en, because i'm an international student, and it's extremely hard for an intl student to find a job in U.S. at this moment ( and my plan is to work in U.S or Europe for 2-3 yrs before I go back to china). I think if I get into a top MA degree right after college I may be able to either have a better chance of getting a IR related job, or I can just go back to China and find a job there right after I finish my Graduate school.... ( because they don't really recognize LAC undergraduate degree in China...)

[FSOJN]

First time posting, so don't be scare me off just yet, but I really would like an idea of my chances to the extent that people can offer.

Programs Applied To: Fletcher MALD (early), Yale MA European Studies, Georgetown MAGES, Georgetown MA Security Studies

Undergraduate institution: College of William & Mary (top 5 public)

Undergraduate GPA: 3.86 (major 3.96/4.0)

Undergraduate Major: Music and French Studies, concentration (two classes short of major) in Government

Extracurricular leadership: Editor in Chief of a newsmagazine, student government leadership, worked on the IR journal, lots of music stuff

GRE Quantitative Score: 165/170 (93rd percentile)

GRE Verbal Score: 167/170 (98th percentile)

GRE AW Score: 6/6 (99th percentile)

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 1

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Internship at State Department in European affairs and at the Human Rights Campaign in development. Just graduated in May but currently choosing between two jobs to start in December, one in development and the other in foreign affairs.

Strength of SOP: write about wanting to study Muslim issues in Europe and talk about spending time researching in Tunisia and studying abroad in France, focusing on my desire to have a career in public diplomacy. talk about really wanting to do research and writing (future PhD track).

Strength of LOR: a great one from my boss at State and two strong professors who've seen me do extensive research

I know I'm applying to ambitious programs, but am I aiming out of my league?

Edited November 3, 2011 by jrnels

[carpecc]

Jrnels and Meichen,

It's definitely a pro-con for either going to straight to school or to the workforce. Whatever you see on this forum, don't be afraid of applying to your top choice if you already know what you want to do. The work experience beforehand will give you some good perspective though. If you do go straight to grad school then once in school go a little lighter on the courses (take 4 classes instead of 5 or 6) and try to intern during the year to make up for the lack of work experience. 3-4 semesters of interning plus a summer could makeup for the lack of fulltime work. There's also some things in a good internship that you can never learn in class.

At SIPA we have a couple of folks straight from undergrad and they're mostly outstanding. If you got it and you know it, go ahead and dive in.

[globalsun]

HKS - Will ding you immediately

Fletcher is big on work exp as well, thus I would anticipate a ding

GTown if this was SFS I'd say ding, but I do not know much about this MA

GWU I'd say 50-50 but I'd err on the side of an admit

SAIS probably a ding.

The rest you may have a shot at as they are mainly cash cows... or in Stanford's case more academically oriented with less demand for work exp.

Stanford IPS no longer takes people without at least some non-internship experience after graduation. Its no longer the PhD feeder program it used to be.

[Grad_Nov]

I thought I would post my profile here, seeing as I'm getting no love from the other thread! Just wanted an opinion on my chances -

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): IR/MPP

Schools Applied To: CIR, Yale Jackson, SIPA, MSFS, Fletcher, SAIS, UCSD

Undergraduate institution: Oxbridge

Undergraduate GPA: 3.6

Undergraduate Major: Law

GRE Quantitative Score: Yet to take but cautiously optimistic (practice tests Q750-800 V690-750)

GRE Verbal Score:

GRE AW Score:

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3 by matriculation

Years of Work Experience: 2 mainly internships

Describe Relevant Work Experience: 6 month internship in Beijing law firm

3 month internship with international IP law firm

3 month strategy consultancy x 2

3 months policy internship - European work but based in London

6 months government internship (economic development)

2 months work in Bosnia

Worked as a lawyer in major US firm in London for 6 months before seeking career change

Got 3 major internships between now and matriculation

Languages: Urdu, French, Hindi, proficient in Mandarin and German. Learning Arabic

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Pretty good I feel, I can tell about my international experience and how it impacted me to change directions in my career. It ought to convey my desires for grad school effectively hopefully. But hoping for some SOP exchanges

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Concern. 2 solid recs but 3rd one may be troubling. Prof is willing to write but hasnt responded to my requests to meet to explain my desire to change career paths. Also concerned that my LOR from work isnt gonna happen as I havent been able to get in touch with people who I have spent time with recently working (they have moved jobs!!)..might be an issue for SIPA at least but first choices are Yale or SAIS.

Other: As mentioned mainly work related LOR but hopeful I can ask for a LOR from my current internship but have only been there for 3 weeks.

I think I am aiming for the higher programs perhaps too ambitiously so desperate for some feedback. Fin aid is a major draw for me as I wont have a lot of access to other forms of funding and the UK government suck in helping its citizens! Thanks.

[MYRNIST]

You already did post it here, 2 or 3 posts up.

Anyways you seem like you'd be competitive most places.

Edited November 16, 2011 by MYRNIST

[Grad_Nov]

Oh sorry, forgot I did.

[cunninlynguist]

Aren't you Clay Made? I don't understand why it's productive to create another account.

[Grad_Nov]

Aren't you Clay Made? I don't understand why it's productive to create another account.

Lol, no! Someone's asked me that already. I saw Clay Made and we have a very similar background so can appreciate the confusion.

[greendiplomat]

Since the

thread covers IR, could I suggest abandoning this thread and posting in that one (that was started earlier and has more posts) to consolidate and avoid double posting?

[Grad_Nov]

Why do I keep getting a negative mark on my posts?

[Clay Made]

Aren't you Clay Made? I don't understand why it's productive to create another account.

I'm sorry?

[MYRNIST]

You and GradNov have very similar profiles: international, undergrad at Oxford law, already have a masters, looking to get a MPP and work in international orgs. Apparently some people think/thought there is only one person, and the other account is a sock puppet.

GradNov, your points are going down because someone is systematically voting them down, which is dumb since your posts are fine.

[cunninlynguist]

It's probably not in my best interest to pursue this further, but I do feel it's deceptive to create another account in order to collect more evaluations -- or praise, or whatever; this person says they've been accepted to programs before -- regarding your qualifications. This forum is valuable because many of us are undertaking this daunting process and are able to share our input in a generally trustworthy manner. Many of us have also disclosed a good deal of personal information and/or describe our ambitions with clarity. Clay Made received a lot of assistance to a number of questions -- making a new account and feigning ignorance about it is saying that we wasted our time the first time around.

http://talk.collegec...getown-sfs.html

I'm not thrilled I spent some idle time doing this, but I knew something was off. There are plenty of other examples.

[HandsomeNerd]

...and the plot thickens.

/popcorn