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Wrapping It All Up: Int'l Relations -- Final Decisions!


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Congratulations! This 3 to 6 month ordeal is coming to an end. By now, you've probably heard back from all or most of your schools, have weighed your choices, and might have even made your final decision. For the aid of future gradcafe applicants, please post as much of the following information as you feel comfortable sharing after you have made your FINAL decision.

Please do not use this thread to ask other users to help weigh your choices.

Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier):

Previous Degrees and GPA's:

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing):

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type):

Math/Econ Background:

Foreign Language Background:

Intended Field of Study in Grad School:

Long Term Professional Goals:

Schools Applied to & Results:

Ultimate Decision & Why:

Feel free to add any more info that you feel would paint a better picture of your applicant profile.

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): International University Audentes (Tallinn, Estonia), private, and no tier

Previous Degrees and GPA's: Bachelors of International Relations, GPA (converted): 3.73

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 570/570/5.5 (no math is required in this school, so I've taken none since high school...9 years ago)

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 5 years intel with US Army, including time in Iraq

Math/Econ Background: absolutely none/international economies, political economy, macro/micro

Foreign Language Background: not fluent, but decent in German, Spanish, Estonian, with some knowledge of Russian

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Int Affairs, diplomacy, and/or security studies

Long Term Professional Goals: public sector, but depends on my studies

Schools Applied to & Results: LBJ (not considered due to int. transcripts), Bush (denied), Elliott (accepted), American (accepted), Ford (accepted), Harvard (denied)

Ultimate Decision & Why: still waiting on financial packages, but because of location, most likely Elliott or American

Additional: Because American schools don't care about foreign GPA's (how could they, as the schools aren't US accredited), I had to rely more on my GRE scores and recommendations. And because my GRE was terrible, my emphasis was on the recommendations. I think the best advice I could give someone is to chose your recommendation providers well and be sure to "sell" yourself well. I had no work experience in the field but my "unique" experience in military intelligence gave me small opening to make a point. There was no point in focusing on my grades or my GRE's, so I made sure the admissions people knew who I was as a person and how that separated me from the field. Thus, I guess the moral of the story: if you don't have great grades or scores, be sure you make up for it in your statement of purpose and recommendations.

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): The University of Vermont, state university

Previous Degrees and GPA's: BA in History (concentration in Ancient History) 3.84 GPA

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): V - 620 Q - 590 W - 4.5

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 1 Summer NGO internship, 1 summer Boat Captain

Math/Econ Background: minimal

Foreign Language Background: Modern Greek, a little French,

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Law

Long Term Professional Goals: International Lawyer?? maybe?

Schools Applied to & Results: GW Elliott - rejected, Tufts Fletcher MALD - rejected, NYU Politics MA in IR - accepted (no $), UChicago CIR - accepted (13k $), Penn State International Affairs MA - accepted ($ forthcoming).

Ultimate Decision & Why: UChicago CIR - It was always my number one choice, and the funding was unbeatable.

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Community College and State Univ.

Previous Degrees and GPA's: English Literature 3.3 UGPA, 3.5 GPA in my last two years of school, 3.7 GPA in my degree courses.

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): Terrible, Terrible, Terrible

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Umass, Amherst

Previous Degrees and GPA's: BA Political Science, Certificates: International Relations, Peace and Social Justice. 3.62 GPA

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): V: 750 Q: 630 W: 4.5

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type):3 month internship in Israel for Coexistence org. 1 year in dc with Int'l non profit. 6 month internship with unknown think tank, 4 month internship with Security Consulting firm

Math/Econ Background: minimal

Foreign Language Background: Decent Hebrew, Starting Arabic

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Security Policy/ Human Security

Long Term Professional Goals: US Security establishment

Schools Applied to & Results: Accepted: Georgetown SSP, Fletcher (15k), Korbel (10k), GW Elliot (6k), Maxwell, SIPA

Ultimate Decision & Why: Either Georgetown or Fletcher but Probably Fletcher. Top school with a Flexible curriculum and I like the community. they also gave me some money

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Private University, Top 100 (but on the low end)

Previous Degrees and GPA's: B.A. in International Relations, 3.6 GPA

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 610/700/5.0

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 1 year abroad after graduation which was a mix of study and work. State Dept internship. UNDP internship. 1 year working at the Alma Mater in a position completely unrelated to IR.

Math/Econ Background: Took calculus in college, got an A. Micro and Macro with mediocre grades. Two Econ electives with A's in both.

Foreign Language Background: Mandarin (lived for 2 years in China)

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Relations with a concentration in East Asia

Long Term Professional Goals: Public sector (State Dept or other) or think tank.

Schools Applied to & Results: UC San Diego - IR/PS (accepted, no funding), George Washington - Elliott (accepted, no funding), Columbia - SIPA (rejected), Tufts - Fletcher (rejected), Johns Hopkins - SAIS (waitlisted)

Ultimate Decision & Why: Will attend GW over San Diego, mainly for the location, unless I'm admitted to SAIS off the wait-list.

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Samford University-undergrad; Campbell University-grad (both small, private, Southern colleges)

Previous Degrees and GPA's: BA-History GPA=3.48 M.Ed-social studies GPA=3.99

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): V=770, Q=600, W=4.1

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 8 years high school history teacher, including two years in Nairobi, Kenya. 2 1/2 random admin asst jobs; 6 months private tutor

Math/Econ Background: none, but may have to take Micro and Macro at local community college before I start school in the fall

Foreign Language Background: minimal French and minimal Swahili

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: IR or Security Studies

Long Term Professional Goals: Intelligence or regional analyst for government/private sector

Schools Applied to & Results:Accepted: U Denver-Korbel (10k), American SIS ($0), GW Elliot (6k), GU SSP ($0)

Denied: GU MSFS

Ultimate Decision & Why: probably GU Elliot b/c of its location and reputation

Note: My application package was strengthened by my international experience (I spent 17 years in Africa); I picked excellent people to write my recommendations (one prof went to Duke, the other to Northwestern), and spent hours toiling away on my Statements of Purpose.

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): European top 20, following that one semester as visiting student at SIPA

Previous Degrees and GPA's: Political Science BA, translated to 3.7

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): V 590, Q 550, AW 4.5

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 1 year at my national UN Mission in NYC. 2 years as research assistant at a security studies think tank during college

Math/Econ Background: Some statistics, micro/macro economics

Foreign Language Background: Fluent in mother tongue (obviously), some skills in French and Spanish

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Security

Long Term Professional Goals: A position at either an international organization (UN, NATO) or a research institute/think tank, possibly after taking a PhD on top of my MA

Schools Applied to & Results: Georgetown SSP (got deferred to Spring 2010 because of some late transcripts), SIPA (accepted), Fletcher (waitlisted), Yale - European and Russian Studies (accepted), Syracuse Maxwell (still to hear from them)

Ultimate Decision & Why: Yale. Not only is the cost significantly lower than SIPA to begin with, but Yale also offered me a fellowship. Besides, my chances to pursue a PhD afterwards will most likely be better with this degree.

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Cornell University

Previous Degrees and GPA's: History, 3.61

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 630/770/5.5

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 1.5 years in int'l structured finance law, .5 years in unpaid field organizing on the Obama campaign, volunteer alumni adviser for my college's policy debate team during this time

Math/Econ Background: Intro Stats, Statistical Research and Design, Microeconomics

Foreign Language Background: 2 years of Italian, 5 years of Latin

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Security Studies \ Diplomacy

Long Term Professional Goals: Mix of legislative affairs, foreign service, and teaching (that's in the very long term)

Schools Applied to & Results:

Accepted (zero funding):

  • Yale - MA in International Relations
    Johns Hopkins SAIS - MA in International Relations
    George Washington Elliott School - MA in International Affairs
    American University - MA in International Affairs
    Rejected:
    • Princeton WWS - MPA
      Harvard KSG - MPP
      Georgetown Walsh - MSFS
      Tufts Fletcher - MALD

Ultimate Decision & Why: Yale.

1) Small, very closely knit program with tons of face time with professors and other students.

2) Flexible course schedule.

3) Solid academic and professional preparation, giving me the most long term flexibility.

4) Great pay for TF positions.

5) Cost of living is lower than in DC

6) While a school's name may not open doors, the name Yale certainly will never close doors.

Advise for future applicants: Spreadsheets for tracking your documents/payments/LORs/logins/websites etc were key to keeping my sanity this year. Three years of experience seems to be the right point for both getting into a ton of schools AND getting funding. I may have gotten into some awesome schools, but not getting any funding was pushing me towards the cheapest (and not necessarily the best) option. Also, start everything as early as possible. Schools will lose your files, so make sure they are in sooner so you can iron out problems expeditiously.

When it comes to your essays: rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. When I met students at Yale and SAIS, I was in awe of their prior experience. I must conclude that a stupendous personal statement can make up for a great deal. If you want to do an academically geared program, be reasonably specific about what you want to study - ie the question or set of questions you hope to explore in g-school.

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Stanford (undergraduate)

Previous Degrees and GPA's: BA in Anthropology 3.4

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 420 V/ 720 Q/5.0 -- get sick midway through the test, in the verbal section :(

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 5 years -- non-for-profit and research

Math/Econ Background: No Econ experience as an undergraduate -- took 3 econ courses as a continuing education student.

Foreign Language Background: French

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Human Rights

Long Term Professional Goals: Food security adviser for humanitarian missions

Schools Applied to & Results: Columbia -- got in

Ultimate Decision & Why: Columbia -- only school I applied to. Took courses as continuing education student and loved them.

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): UC Berkeley

Previous Degrees and GPA's: English major, 3.51 GPA

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 770/740/4.5

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): Law firm, Peace Corps

Math/Econ Background: none, but currently taking Micro, Macro, and Stats at a local JC

Foreign Language Background: Spanish

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: IDEV

Long Term Professional Goals: USAID/Foreign Service/NGO

Schools Applied to & Results: Rejected: Georgetown MSFS. Accepted: American SIS, GW Elliott, UT LBJ, Fordham, JHU SAIS

Ultimate Decision & Why: Will attend American due to full fellowship/stipend/work opportunities, plus their ID program is big and strong. Would have considered SAIS had they offered money.

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Smith College

Previous Degrees and GPA's: B.A. in History, Minor in Geology. GPA- 3.14 (Ouch!)

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): Verbal- 660, Quant- 610, AW-5.5

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 3 years in IT, 1.5 years as a government contractor

Math/Econ Background: Macro and Micro at a local Community College, no math since high school Calculus.

Foreign Language Background: 1.5 of years Arabic, 5 years of Spanish

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Science and Technology Policy

Long Term Professional Goals: Foreign Service (If the clearances come through before I start my program, no grad school for me!) or NGO

Schools Applied to & Results:

George Washington Elliott School (Accepted)

American (Accepted)

George Mason-MPP (Accepted)

University of Minnesota M.S. in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy (Accepted)

Ultimate Decision & Why: George Washington Elliott School. My interests are very specific and GW has the best match.

Note: I obviously didn

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): BA from Baldwin-Wallace College - Private; American University (one year) - Private

Previous Degrees and GPA's: I will receive my BA in May, 3.86GPA

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 590/740/5.0

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): ZERO. How did I get in anywhere??

Math/Econ Background: Majored in Econ

Foreign Language Background: Five years of French prior to college, 1 year of college French

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Development

Long Term Professional Goals: Work for NGO, eventually get a phd and teach at university

Schools Applied to & Results: GWU Elliot - accepted, no $, Fordham - waitlisted, Fletcher - rejected, GSPIA - accepted waiting on $, UMD (Public Policy) - accepted with half assistantship and stipend, Georgetown (Public Policy) - accepted with $5K per year

Ultimate Decision & Why: Still undecided!!!!!

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): George Washington Elliot School (Undergrad)

Previous Degrees and GPA's: BA International Development Studies, GPA 3.41, Major GPA 3.7, Senior year GPA 3.98

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 700/700/4.5

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 1.5 years private banking experience @ Morgan Stanley, 1 year development fellowship at grassroots microfinance NGO in Nicaragua.

Math/Econ Background: stats, micro, macro, intl trade and finance theory, development economics

Foreign Language Background: Spanish - fluent

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Development.

Long Term Professional Goals: Development consultant / microfinance consultant.

Schools Applied to & Results: Accepted: London School of Economics (MSc Political economy of late development), GWU Elliot School w/$ (International Development Program), Johns Hopkins SAIS (IDEV Program). Waitlist: Columbia SIPA. Rejected: None

Ultimate Decision & Why: I will be enrolling at SAIS next year because of the location and the quality of the program. I am also impressed with its econ requirements as I feel that strong quant skills are key to differentiating yourself from the crowd when applying to IR jobs.

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Previous Schools: Top 10 (Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings)

Previous Degrees and GPAs: BA English (3.8 Concentration, 3.8 Overall)

GMAT Scores: V 40 / Q 50 / AWA 6.0 (98th Percentile)

Previous Work Experience: Peace Corps volunteer, US House/Senate intern, research volunteer (three years combined)

Math/Econ Background: Calculus I-IV, Differential Equations, Micro, Macro

Foreign Language Background: Two Romance languages (one common, one uncommon) with intermediate proficiency

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Transnational organizations and business/government/societal relations

Long Term Professional Goals: Political risk analysis

Schools Applied to & Results: Accepted to Tufts MALD ($5,000/year), Johns Hopkins MA ($12,000/year), and Georgetown MSFS (awaiting $)

Ultimate Decision & Why: Georgetown MSFS

Advice: Write exacting personal statements, especially when it comes to describing program fit.

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Duke University

Previous Degrees and GPA's: BA with Distinction in Political Science/English (2008), 3.68 GPA

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 800V, 720Q, 6.0AW

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 1 year at consulting company, 2 summer internships at NGOs

Math/Econ Background: pretty much nonexistent - 1 semester of calculus in university that I scraped through

Foreign Language Background: fluent in French, can read Spanish

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Security Studies

Long Term Professional Goals: returning to the think-tank world with an eye toward eventually getting a PhD and teaching at the university level

Schools Applied to & Results: Yale MA IR - accepted, no funding (on waitlist for fellowship); Fletcher MALD - accepted with $12K; Pittsburgh GSPIA MPIA - accepted, no funding; Columbia SIPA MIA - rejected; Georgetown MSFS - rejected; Georgetown SSP - accepted with 50% tuition; Monterey Institute - accepted, no funding

Ultimate Decision & Why: Still choosing between Fletcher and SSP, but currently leaning toward Fletcher. Pittsburgh isn't on the same level as the others, at least for security studies, and Monterey is too small and too far away. I wouldn't have minded the academic bent at Yale, but that's a hefty price tag. Leaning toward Fletcher for a number of reasons: first, I love the way the alumni and faculty really seem to look out for each other; second, I like the somewhat more flexible curriculum; third, the MALD thesis requirement seems much more substantial than SSP's and seems like it would be a better jumping-off point for a future PhD thesis; and fourth, even with a bigger scholarship at Georgetown, the chance to live on-campus at Fletcher means that its cost is actually substantially lower. On the other hand, I really would like to study with Bruce Hoffman and Paul Pillar, so I haven't made a final decision yet.

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): University of Pennsylvania

Previous Degrees and GPA's: BA Honors in International Relations and Political Science (GPA 3.75)

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): V 730 Q 750 AW 5.5

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 6 months working in government, 5 months interning for OAS, about a year interning for think-tanks directly related to my field of study

Math/Econ Background: Intro to Calculus, Micro and Macro, Intro to Statistics (Bs and B+s)

Foreign Language Background: Spanish (native), English (fluent), and Portuguese (advanced)

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Development Economics & Latin American Studies

Long Term Professional Goals: Work for the World Bank, IMF, IDB etc. and/or go into development or management consulting

Schools Applied to & Results: Applied to SAIS (Johns Hopkins), SIPA (Columbia) and SFS (Georgetown)

Admitted: SAIS (with fellowship), SIPA (no funding) and SFS (no funding)

Ultimate Decision & Why: Going to SAIS. Was my top choice from the beginning and they gave me some funding to sweeten the deal. Probably best place to go of the places I applied for the careers I am most interested in. I also love the rigorous econ training that is required there. It was ultimately either going to be SAIS or SFS. I am happy with my choice.

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): University of Toronto

Previous Degrees and GPA's: Honours BA, double major in International Relations and Asia-Pacific Studies, 3.16/4.0

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): V660, Q650, AWA5.5

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 4 years paralegal in intellectual property law (some of it was part-time as I'd worked throughout my undergrad in addition to summers)

Math/Econ Background: Micro, macro, and international trade theory in undergrad. No math since high school.

Foreign Language Background: French, Cantonese, Mandarin

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Canadian Studies

Long Term Professional Goals: Foreign Service or consulting in private sector

Schools Applied to & Results:

UCSD - IR/PS (accepted)

Johns Hopkins - SAIS (accepted)

Fordham - IPED (waitlisted)

Tufts - Fletcher (rejected)

Carleton - NPSIA (unknown)

National University of Singapore - LKYSPP (unknown)

Ultimate Decision & Why: SAIS. Despite the exorbitant tuition on top of the exorbitant DC rent, it was my first choice all along and a huge reach. The only thing that would change my mind is if I suddenly got into Carleton because Canadian tuition is a lot less and NPSIA is also highly relevant preparation for the Canadian foreign service.

Lessons I learned:

You can never start early enough. Book your GRE well in advance so you have the opportunity to write it twice if you decide you want/need to. Some locations book up really fast really early (e.g. I booked my first GRE in mid-July for early September and I had to go to a test centre about 2 hours away from downtown Toronto and pay for a hotel because my test started at 7:30am, ick!). A good friend of mine who was applying to a bunch of engineering programs left the whole GRE endeavour 'til the last second and didn't have a chance to rewrite before his app deadlines (and he really wanted to).

I was able to make a really strong case for being a good fit in both programs I've been admitted to thus far (Canadian Studies at SAIS and Southeast Asian Studies at UCSD). I strategically selected my recommenders for what they could say about me and their relevance to the fields and schools I applied to. I also sent in three letters to one place that only asked for two (clearly numbering them) because I figured as a borderline case, they might want to take the two minutes to read one more letter if they really cared. And if they didn't, they can read my letters #1 and #2 and chuck #3. It wasn't any harder for me to get the extra letter since most places ask for three anyway. I have a hunch this strategy worked in my favour. Make sure all three (especially that extra letter) are going to be SOLID references, though (you should be able to kind of gauge it based on how enthusiastic your recommender is when you ask him/her). Otherwise, well, you'd just look silly if you had an extra, half-hearted letter that didn't say much about you, even if it was on someone's pretty letterhead.

Thoroughly research the schools/programs when writing your personal statement and tailor it to fit your strengths to their program highlights (e.g. list profs, classes, clubs you'd like to work with or that you've encountered in your undergrad studies through readings, conferences, anything!). I ended up rewriting every personal statement almost in its entirety for each school I applied to, and no two supplemental essays shared topics.

Go and visit at the schools you're thinking of applying to. In October, I booked myself a whirlwind trip of Boston and DC and checked out five schools in three business days. It was a chunk of money to spend on airfare (I was lucky to have friends in both cities, thus saving on hotels), but my perspectives of three schools (and how I'd fit in their programs) changed drastically to the point I didn't apply to any of them, thus saving me $300+ in application fees alone, and a lot of work!

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Nanjing Army Command College of PLA (Nanjing, P.R China), Public, Top 10 military academy in China.

Previous Degrees and GPA's: BA in English, GPA (converted): 3.8

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 450/750/3.5 (Sad...didn't have enough time to prepare the verbal & AW sector due to busy work...)

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 2 years supply chain (int'l logistics related) coordination job in private sector

Math/Econ Background: calculus, linear algebra/international economies, political economy, macro & micro

Foreign Language Background: Chinese native, decent in German, with some knowledge of French and Japanese

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Int'l economics & Int'l development studies

Long Term Professional Goals: Policy analyst or development consultant

Schools Applied to & Results: American-MIA (accepted), Bush-MPIA (denied), GMU-MPP (accepted), Gtown-MSFS (waitlisted), Fletcher-MALD (denied)

Ultimate Decision & Why: Will most likely to go to American SIS, because of the location and curriculum, though I still haven't received their physical packet to know if there's any $$ (damned China Post, so slow!). Also will take the spot of MSFS on the waitlist to see what'll finally happen.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Schools Applied to & Results: Accepted to Tufts MALD ($5,000/year), Johns Hopkins MA ($12,000/year), and Georgetown MSFS (awaiting $)

Ultimate Decision & Why:Georgetown MSFS

What made you choose MSFS. I have acceptances to same schools/degree programs, but having trouble deciding. Only $ I got was Fletcher ($15K).

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): University of Mumbai, well regarded in India.

Previous Degrees and GPA's: Bachelor in Engineering (Electronics), GPA system not applicable, but in the second half of my class

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): V: 720, Q: 730, AW: 4.5

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): Almost a year as an Analyst with a Clean Development Mechanism (Climate change) firm in India, experience in lots of sectors in business development, project development, national and international environmental policies et al. Project experience in Robotics with a prestigious Naval Dockyard in India. General Secretary of my college's Alumni association and lots of event organization and leadership experience.

Math/Econ Background: 5 semesters of Engineering mathematics, including higher levels of calculus etc. No economics background apart from a small course in Industrial Economics.

Foreign Language Background: Haha, English qualifies as a foreign language for me. Apart from that native fluency in Hindi, Marathi. Reading knowledge of Arabic.

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Security Studies, Middle East/South Asia/China

Long Term Professional Goals: Thinktanks or governmental representative, India

Schools Applied to & Results: Rejects: Yale, Fletcher, GSPIA, Grad Institute, SAIS. Accepts: Elliott (no $), American (no $), Monterey ( 12k aid + language fellowship to study Arabic), UCSD (no $), Bush School (3k aid). Waitlisted: Maxwell School.

Ultimate Decision & Why: Between Bush School and Elliott. Bush is turning out to be way cheaper plus course content leans towards military studies, one of my interests. But in terms of name recognition, seems nowhere. Rejecting Monterey because even with the aid it would still come out to be close to the costs of Elliott and that ends the matter there.

Aid seems very hard to come by at Elliott these days looking at the number of admits and no aid availability. I am unsure of RA's/TA's later on. Just trying to speak to a few professors, if it works out I will be going to Elliott. Just need a sign, however minute :-). Love the course and everything about the school.

I guess I am in a dilemma like everyone else here, albeit slightly different. Most here have aid offers from some low ranked known and reputable schools. I seem to have no aid offers from the nice ones and aid offers from the unknown ones.

I guess my lack of international experience, languages and very bad academics served to pull me down. Decent GRE score, work ex in a great field plus excellent LoR's worked well for me. Can't comment on the SoP as I had to convince a school why I wanted to switch from a technical background to something completely different.

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Vanderbilt University

Previous Degrees and GPA's: BA, French & European Studies, 3.8

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 690/750/6

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 6 months as a field organizer for a statewide campaign; 1.5 years as a tech geek at UNHQ.

Math/Econ Background: Intro Macro in undergrad, Intro Micro done online from a state univ, took Calc in HS

Foreign Language Background: French, Spanish, beginner Arabic

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Int'l Affairs - political focus, hopefully as broadly defined as possible

Long Term Professional Goals: a return to the UN, entering the Foreign Service, or political/public advocacy for foreign policy all have their appeals. I don't really believe that graduate study requires a laser-focus.

Schools Applied to & Results:

Georgetown - Walsh (waitlisted)

JHU - SAIS (accepted)

HKS (accepted)

Tufts - Fletcher (accepted, some $)

Columbia - SIPA (accepted)

GW - Elliott (accepted, $)

Ultimate Decision & Why: HKS.

-I first ruled out GW on reputation and rank and attended visit days for the others.

-SIPA felt too huge and impersonal and was another easy decision to exclude.

-SAIS I really liked (their ILO concentration would have been a pretty good fit), but despite accepting their insistence that economics are important in international affairs, I couldn't bring myself to agree that they're 1/3-of-the-curriculum important. I'll be conversational in econ; someone else can be fluent. I want to spend more time on things I really do care about.

It really came down to Fletcher, where I'd felt very much at home and which does, in fact, have a deeper catalog of cool coursework. In the end, I know that my own meandering ways would come back to hurt me there, where I can dabble in entirely too many different things with no focus. I'll definitely take advantage of cross-registration, though, and see if I can't make some friends in Medford, anyway - it was really a welcoming community.

In the end, there are big conversations happening, and I hope that from HKS, I can be part of them. The Carr Center's research really appeals to me, and I get the feeling I'll be able to contribute. Here's to starting the next big adventure...

A lesson for others

Two years ago, 6 months out of undergrad, newly unemployed after campaign season, and while planning simultaneously to take off to Morocco as a response to that panic of "I have no idea what I'm doing with my life!" I sent off applications to HKS, Georgetown, Fletcher and GW. Same grades, same GREs, one recommendation in common with this year's round - and got rejected by everyone but GW. I think the lack of focus really showed, and I am (now) very glad to have had those two extra years doing interesting things and narrowing my focus. Anyone who got a work-experience-specific letter from Fletcher or SIPA (does anyone else send them?) - hold out hope, and try again. A few years can change everything.

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Small unknown but relatively strong LAC in Midwest

Previous Degrees and GPA's: BA, International Studies, 3.7

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 630/730/4.5

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 2 years on Capitol Hill working for Member of Congress; 3 years working for a well known Development firm

Math/Econ Background: Macro, Micro, Developmental Econ, and Calc in undergrad

Foreign Language Background: Fluent Dutch, Intermediate French, beginners Arabic

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Int'l Development

Long Term Professional Goals: Either continue to work for USAID based International Development implementer or State Department

Schools Applied to & Results:

Georgetown - MSFS - (Accepted)

JHU - SAIS (accepted)

WWS (waitlisted)

GWU Elliot School (accepted with half tuition)

AU SIS - (accepted)

Georgetown MBA - (Accepted)

Ultimate Decision & Why: If I get off the WWS waitlist then I'll definitely attend Woody Woo. If this doesn't pan out (my working assumption) then I'll be attending G-town MBA part time and continue working (I've already put down a deposit).

I've already declined AU, GW, SAIS, and MSFS - good luck to those on the waiting list!

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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Top 10 university, non-ivy

Previous Degrees and GPA's: BA, International Studies (Honors, GPA 3.7; major GPA 3.9)

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): V 700 Q 680 AW 6

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 8 months unrelated + volunteer experience and some internships

Math/Econ Background: Calculus, Micro and Macro

Foreign Language Background: 1 European (fluent), 1 Asian (competent)

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: international affairs, human rights

Long Term Professional Goals: work internationally in nonprofits or an intergovernmental organization

Schools Applied to & Results: WWS (rejected); HKS (accepted, $0); SIPA (accepted, $0); GSPP (accepted, $0); Fletcher (accepted, little$); NYU Wagner (accepted, $0), UMich MPP (rejected); Georgetown MSFS (rejected)

Ultimate Decision & Why: Going to HKS. My major choice was between SIPA and HKS--SIPA's super strong in international affairs preparation and even has a concentration in human rights. It's in the perfect location, too, it seemed. But ultimately, several things:

-My SO is going to be in Boston

-I have limited WE, so I felt I could use the chance to do the PAE/spring exercise in order to market myself post-graduation (whereas at SIPA, the human rights concentration doesn't currently offer its own exclusive workshop)

-Even though neither school gave me $$, HKS has alot of resources for summer internship funding and research funding; when I crunched the numbers in terms of debt load, it ended up otherwise even between the schools since NYC is such an expensive place to live by myself

-I wanted to get some more quant focus than I had had in undergrad

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