Applying from a finance / business background

[rawpunkgirl]

Hi all,

I just wanted to get some advice on applying to international affairs / international relations programs given my background in finance. I hope that I can get some good advice on how I should formulate my application. Any advice is welcomed.

I graduated in 2010 from a small liberal arts college in the south (not a well-known school) with a 3.7 GPA as an economics and finance double major. I had three internships in college, one in the U.S House as a freshman and then two a major investment banks as a sophomore and junior. I then spent the last two years as an IBD analyst at another investment bank.

Also while in college, I spent a semester abroad in south India. I actually just moved back to south India this past month to work with an NGO here as part of a fellowship through the next year. I'm lacking in the languages department, but have been practicing my Hindi here and hope to make strides in that.

Does have overwhelming finance experience deter my application? I think from the quantitative side, it will enhance my application, but wasn't sure how banking experience looked to an admissions council. Thanks!

[lost_0101]

you could not script better experience / background. Finance + quant is the main focus of these programs - draft into your SOP that you want to build on this background to do micro finance (or build on whatever you are currently doing) in S. India/Bangladesh/S.E. Asia for such and such reasons, get a good GRE score and you'll be as competitive as anyone.