International Development Applicants 2014/15 for SOAS, IHEID, LSE or Sciences Po?

[Chagall]

Since all of you are getting reading to take your places, I am unsure if I this thread is still ongoing.  I spent most of last night and much of today learning from your posts and following your stories.  (Mocha, I am also from the U.S. and--having begun reading when you and another began the process--am especially pleased to see you will matriculate at LSE.)

 

Nevertheless, I am at the beginning of the process for next year and, even with the reading i have done, could use some help.  I found this forum by trying to answer questions regarding IHEID and Science Po.  My circumstances are more complicated because i have a PhD and background in Art and Humanities, so I am changing trajectories.  Since I don't know if anyone is still on here, I will hold-off, but if you might be willing to help me sort through some of this information, I will be most appreciative.

 

Kind regards--

[dpgu800]

Since all of you are getting reading to take your places, I am unsure if I this thread is still ongoing.  I spent most of last night and much of today learning from your posts and following your stories.  (Mocha, I am also from the U.S. and--having begun reading when you and another began the process--am especially pleased to see you will matriculate at LSE.)

 

Nevertheless, I am at the beginning of the process for next year and, even with the reading i have done, could use some help.  I found this forum by trying to answer questions regarding IHEID and Science Po.  My circumstances are more complicated because i have a PhD and background in Art and Humanities, so I am changing trajectories.  Since I don't know if anyone is still on here, I will hold-off, but if you might be willing to help me sort through some of this information, I will be most appreciative.

 

Kind regards--

 

 

Hey, Chagall.

I think this thread is pretty inactive right now. Prob would become more active as the fall admissions cycle begins...

I'm not too familiar with Sciences Po, but I did applied to IHEID and was admitted, tho I (most regretfully) turned them down.

I could answer your questions about the admissions process at IHEID, based on my experience.... 

Edited July 17, 2014 by dpgu800

[GaryMak]

Hello! Everyone!

 

I am final year student from Hong Kong. I am going to apply for the master in international development in LSE, Warwick, and IHEID

 

Is there anyone applying to them this year?

[Policykid]

Hey.. Im a lawyer from India looking to apply to MIA at IHEID.. anyone else sailing the same boat, do give me a shout. !!

[GaryMak]

Hi, I will apply MDEv. 

[hammal]

Hello!

Wish i had discovered gradecafe and this thread earlier.

Anyways, I would like to know the opinion of fellow applicants on my chances of getting into IHEID. I am interested in MA IR/PS program. Eventually i would like to go for Phd. So basically, my academic record is not very good. In fact, all my degrees are in B grade that is 60%. With this record do i stand a chance? A honest opinion would be much appreciated. 

[zinger]

Hi,

 

has anyone applied for the early admissions 2014/2015 to the Graduate Institute?

[Grad888]

Hi guys, I have applied for the earlier cut off for the MIA.

 

Hammal, from what I understand IHEID places great emphasis on previous academic achievement - much more so than other schools seem to. But there's no harm in trying!

[jsteves5491]

Hi everyone!

I am also looking for some advice on the Science Po PSIA program. I went to an okay american state school here in Oregon with a 3.6 GPA and a Political Science major...Minors in French and Business. I have studied abroad in France and taught in France.  I am currently a legislative assistant but have intern experience with a US Senator, World Affairs Council, and others. 

I'm worried about several things:
I did not attend an ivy league school, I don't have any close professors so my letters of rec will be mediocre probably, I never wrote a thesis, and my GPA isn't amazing.

I really want an international career and I understand PSIA is competitive. Do you think I'd have a shot at getting into the program?

Thanks for the feedback!

[tikitak]

Dear friends all over the world

So first of all, Thank You very much for sharing all your thoughts and insights in this forum. It still very helpful for a lot of us, including me. I am also interested in International Development (mostly economics and policy) and I applied to the following programs:

UC Berkeley - Master of Development Practice

Columbia University - MPA-Development Practice

LSE - MPA - International Development

Sciences Po - Double degree with Stockholm School of Economics - International Development and Economics

 

So first of all the great news, I got admitted to all four programs. Unfortunately though, only Berkeley offers some remission of tuition fees. Now I am having a really hard time thinking about which offer to accept and whether it is really worth it investing such a lot of money.  Obviously, I would love to hear your opinion in these options, since I hardly have collegues who could help me with that.

 

In particular I wanted to ask something, which in a comparable context has already been asked I think. However, I couldn't find the outcome. I had to accept or decline the offer of Sciences Po yesterday and I accepted it since I was not ready to take the decision yet and I am still waiting for a couple of scholarship responses from the other universities. Now I am a little concerned that I will somehow be legally bound to this "acceptance" and will be asked to pay the tuition fees for Sciences Po. I couldn't find any respective information on Sciences Po's homepage. But I am sure. someone of you will have made similar experiences and I would love to hear about them.

 

So thank you very much and have a good day everyone! 

[MohamedAyman]

Hey guys, 

 

I am from Egypt and I am working on a BA(Hons) International Development Studies in a Canadian university, and its my dream to do an MA (Development Studies) at IHEID, unfortunately I will graduate with only a 3.3 GPA, I have some internship experiences in Egypt, in addition to me being a typical middle eastern Arabic speaking guy, who lived his whole life in the middle east and attended its sh*** public school system and witnessed "underdevelopment" with his own eyes. Do I have a chance in getting acceptance from IHEID? I mean, did it ever happen, that someone with a 3.3 GPA got into such program?

 

Thank you all so much in advance !, I really find this forum helpful !! and I have a headache from thinking about that issue !

 

Moh

[Figgamonda]

MohamedAyman, you DO have a chance of getting in to IHEID. Whatever you lack in grades, you need to make up for it with a really strong personal statement and CV. I'm under the impression that the MDev program require slightly lower grades than the other programs, but I might be wrong of course.  I was admitted to the MDev programme despite not having super good grades. I've worked very hard to attain practical experiences (internships) which I think weighed up for the slightly lower grades.

[gaia12]

Hi everyone, coming straight of the blue here but I was hoping you may able to give me some information on the University of Cape Town.

 

The Development Studies program was rated 7th in the world by QS (but this had schools like SOAS and IHEID far below..). Is UCT a reputable school? Is the MPhil in Development Studies a good program and department? any and all information would be greatly appreciated!

 

I'm currently looking at the following schools:

Sciences Po

Sussex

Cape Town

SOAS

LSE

Ottawa

Toronto

Edited May 19, 2015 by cailean12

[mickun88]

Hey everyone again. It has been a long time since I left my last comment. Two and half year ago, I was like you, panicking and worrying about the future and not sure which university to pick. Now after 30 months, I would like to share a bit of my experience and hope to provide some sorts of comfort to those worrying and panicking. Don't worry. Beacuse you will be fine and great ! 

I have just finished my Masters at Sciences Po.  I was lucky enough to have a scholarship from the French government. Even before graduation, I had three job offers, two from international organisations and one from the finance sector. Now I am working as a consultant at an IO, specialising in education policy. To my knowledge, the majority of the people graduating from the the schools being discussed here have not had a hard time finding the job that they wanted. My friends from Oxford, LSE, Sciences Po, IHEID, IVY league schools can somehow find something that they wanted. It is very common that they work in IOs, consulting, and governments. 

I would like to share some of my observations during these two years. 

Network ! Network ! Network ! and Network ! : These schools offer a great opportunities to network. I got all my job offers through friends. So spend your time partying and networking. There is no dry friendship. Buy a bottle of wine (for Sciences Po fellows) and start drinking. 

Polish your language skills: Speaking an extra language does not necessarily land you a job. But it is very important to stay competitive. It is not uncommon to have people around you speaking 5 languages fluently. Also you can make more friends with more languages, let alone romantic relationships. 

Quantitative skills: it is nice to have some knowledge in quantitative skills such as STATA and statistics. The skills of bullshitting or blablablity are important. But back your blablabla with some stats will make youself slightly more convincing. 

Trust yourself: Do not worry too much. Trust your heart and your intuition. You are much greater and better than what you think youself is. Just work hard, play hard and enjoy. Keep your goals and strive for your objectives. It is all you need. 

All the best to the people who will apply for the 2017 cohort ! 

 

La vie en rose