Seeking Advice - Potential International Development Grad Student

[nickel]

I'm in the application process, hoping to make it into a masters program to study International Development. I'm hoping for some advice from people who have navigated through the process and might have had similar backgrounds (or just have insights). I feel that I might have a different background than most applicants, and I'm wondering if/how that will affect my chances, and if there are things I can do to potentially mitigate some of the risk or fill in some gaps. A little background:

• I graduated in 2008 from Michigan State University's business school with a BA in Marketing (3.35 GPA)
  
• I've been working for the past 3.5 years in marketing/advertising (mostly US automotive), at large agencies in Detroit. I have worked on a few global projects for our clients, but no travel, just pulling and analyzing data and research.
  
• I have traveled a lot for leisure (2 weeks at a time), but I'm not sure how much of an effect, if any, this will have on my application
  
• I have very little language experience (French) but am taking classes and plan to continue through grad school to ensure I can pass the language proficiency req's
  

I want to switch from consumer marketing to international development because I am passionate about it. I feel that selling a few more cars will have a limited effect on people's lives compared to building a sustainable economy of supply and demand in an underdeveloped country. My focus would be on consulting for small businesses and entrepreneurs in developing markets. I know I probably don't have the same qualifications, education, or experience as most applicants, but I'm wondering if you think my background has any merit to going into a field steeped in economics and business. And more importantly, how I can tighten up my story to make me seem more palatable for schools.

I'm also wondering if there are programs I should consider that I'm not. The ones I'm considering right now are:

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva) - Masters in Development Practice

Sciences Po - PSIA (Paris) - Masters in Int'l Development

GWU - Elliot School - Int'l Development Studies

U of Denver - Korbel - Int'l Development

Tufts - Fletcher - MALD

Brandeis - Heller - SIS

Any and all advice would be great! I'm trying to navigate this process and just wanted some advice as to where to "turn up the dials". Thanks!

[tomasdavis]

get out of the US for at the very least a year, at the very least teaching English (although a business-related role would be more interesting)... the more "developing" the country the better... for two reasons, 1) the programs prefer international experience, 2) saying "I want to do.... in a developing country" is one thing, and saying "I have done... in a developing country" is another, and 3) you personally will know a lot more about what working in that kind of environment is like

[nickel]

get out of the US for at the very least a year, at the very least teaching English (although a business-related role would be more interesting)... the more "developing" the country the better... for two reasons, 1) the programs prefer international experience, 2) saying "I want to do.... in a developing country" is one thing, and saying "I have done... in a developing country" is another, and 3) you personally will know a lot more about what working in that kind of environment is like

Great, thanks for the advice. I've thought about getting my foot in the door with a smaller organization to get some real-world, international experience before applying. If you have any suggestions of organizations to apply to or places to start looking, I'd appreciate the help! I'm still a bit of a greenhorn and want to learn as much about the international arena as possible (whether related to Development or not). Obviously I will also be looking at companies with offices in other countries. Thanks again.

[TypeA]

I feel like something of an odd duck around this board for being domestically focused, so I can't really provide much advice regarding experience. That said, I wouldn't rule out UMich Ford if I were you (full disclosure: undergrad alum, matriculating next year). The university as a whole has been putting a lot of effort recently into expanding their global focus, and I'd estimate that about a third of the prospectives at the Ford admitted students day had international interests. With your particular interests, the opportunity to take classes at Ross (the business school) might also be great.

And--not insignificantly--assuming you maintain MI residency, in-state tuition could be a terrific boon.

[nickel]

I feel like something of an odd duck around this board for being domestically focused, so I can't really provide much advice regarding experience. That said, I wouldn't rule out UMich Ford if I were you (full disclosure: undergrad alum, matriculating next year). The university as a whole has been putting a lot of effort recently into expanding their global focus, and I'd estimate that about a third of the prospectives at the Ford admitted students day had international interests. With your particular interests, the opportunity to take classes at Ross (the business school) might also be great.

And--not insignificantly--assuming you maintain MI residency, in-state tuition could be a terrific boon.

Right, I need to look a little deeper into UMich's offerings. As I'm crafting my SoP's for different schools, I'm starting to really put more thought around exactly what I want to do. And that exercise has started to get me to think broader about what my real options are when it comes to MA focus. I originally was focused solely on Int'l Development, but the more I dig in I'm realizing that I might be better suited for programs focused more on Economics and Business. So thanks for the advice!

In-state tuition would obviously help out a lot. I've been trying to find out-of-state tuition for some of the other schools, anyone know where to find a good resource for that?