IR Choices? Anyone heard of Monterey Institute?

[Ethan321]

Can I get an opinion on this?

As of now, Monterey will give me 7K a year plus a free summer at Middlebury language school.

I'm accepted into American SIS for the IR MA regional concentration in Middle East, waiting on GW-Elliot which Im cautiously optimistic about, and Gtown which Im expecting rejection.

Assuming I get into GW w/no fin. aid - the choice is between GW/American and Monterey which is exactly 7K more in tution than GW/American - which means all the tution would be the same. The only difference would be I get a free summer at Middlebury with Monterey.

Pros of GW/American:

Name Recognition, DC connections/internships

Pros of Monterey:

Summer at Monterey would be last chance I have at being able to learn Arabic to proficiency. Emphasis on language study in program after a summer at Middlebury would make me competitive for further subsidized language study in the form of NSEP Boren Fellowships and National Language Flagship.

[Dreams]

Monterey has significant name recognition as well, and is especially know for its language training. If what you intend to do in the future involves, then I think Monterey combined with Middlebury is the best option. There is a huge alum base in the DC area and abroad you could tap into through the school.

[ashes75]

Ethan321, congratulations on the free summer language program. would you mind giving us a sense of your stats?

[Ethan321]

Sure - Double Major in Politics and Middle Eastern Studies at a well known T25 undergrad. I took 3 years of Arabic and am proficient in Hebrew. One semester studying abroad in an Arab country. I have one year of relevant work experience in DC doing internships at one very well known foreign policy think tank and a lesser known think tank dealing with terrorism issues. Another year of work experience as an instructor for a test prep company and a consulting firm. My GPA was a 3.24, GRE was 680Q/720V/5.5 AW. Had no econ in undergrad so I took micro and macro at city colleges and got A's.

I prob shouldve applied to SIPA but didnt really want to be in NY as ive been here my whole life. Prob shouldve applied to SAIS but told myself I didnt have a shot. Georgetown is my reach - just applied there because of their strong offerings in Arabic and Middle East Studies. I'm hoping to get into Elliot despite my weak GPA (I also have some months gaps on my resume unfortunately). So far I've gotten into American and Monterey.

[Mulberry24]

Also don't overlook the fact that MIIS has its own DC connections. I don't know what your interests are, but the Center for Nonproliferation Studies has an office in Washington as well as in CA. While that's the only research center with its own outpost in DC, I know that plenty of people from Monterey's East Asian and Russian/Eurasian Studies centers float through the DC office.