which schools should i apply to?

[rileypep]

i want to get a M.A. in international relations and i was wondering what schools should i appy for that fit my application profile. I really want to get into columbia, johns hopkins, or gtown ssp. Are these schools too far of a reach? is american and gwu more realistic?

applying for fall of 2010(still in undergrad right now)

undergrad: state school

major: criminal justice minor: anthropology

gpa: 3.72

gre 720 q 600v

3- months as a field organizer for a city council campaign in a big city

3- months volunteering in the obama campaign

4 months interning at a big city police department

well written sop

good LORs

Lots of extracurriculars including president for 2 different organizations, one being a honor society, and various other elected positions

150+ community service hours

fluent in japanese and been to japan 5 times, canada 1 time, and mexico twice

1 semester of research + senior thesis

[HisRoyalHighness]

i want to get a M.A. in international relations and i was wondering what schools should i appy for that fit my application profile. I really want to get into columbia, johns hopkins, or gtown ssp. Are these schools too far of a reach? is american and gwu more realistic?

Columbia's program is not that selective - 40% admission rate. That can be your safety school.

You need to fill us in more on exactly what area you want to focus on in IR - development, human rights, security? What do you want to do after? What languages do you speak?

[rileypep]

i would like to focus on security studies. i am completely fluent in japanese. as for my future aspirations, UN or Dept of State

[jpa]

I'm a huge proponent of work experience to not only increase your chances but also you'll gain so much more from the experience. There are so many things that I see more clearly now after studying in Australia, London, and working in both Thailand and China (4 years of work experience in int'l business). I was an IR and econ major in college, but I felt like the work experience significantly enhanced my undergrad education.

My GPA wasn't stellar (3.2) at a top 20 school. Your stats are great! But with that said, why settle for less and go for it in a few years? I'm sure you'll get into most, if not all of the top schools. I think what got me into several schools was my SoP, stellar LoR's and work exp.

Don't get me wrong, some do get in straight out of undergrad, but they (some schools) are called professional schools for a reason...

That's my 2 cents. Good luck!

PS great to see you researching now

[Cornell07]

Start working on your SOP ASAP as it will be the biggest factor in your application. Once you can articulate clearly what you want to study, why you want to study it, and what direction you hope your career goes, you will have a huge leg up on your competition, especially the directly out of school crowd.

[Dreams]

Start working on your SOP ASAP as it will be the biggest factor in your application. Once you can articulate clearly what you want to study, why you want to study it, and what direction you hope your career goes, you will have a huge leg up on your competition, especially the directly out of school crowd.

I will add on to this good advice to get people who will write you very strong reference letters. They do not have to be from big whigs, but they do need to be from people who can give the most insight about you and your goals; and whether they feel you will be able to make progress toward your goals by going to those schools.

It was mentioned earlier that SIPA should be a safety school. I would not count on that. SIPA regularly turns down applicants over lack of sufficient post-bac experience. While your current experience is good, getting more long term experience will only make you a more attractive candidate.

[kimkegaard]

You have a good shot at all schools except HKS and WWS. Work two years then you'll have a chance at those schools, too.

[rileypep]

thanks guys for the input! I have a really weird yet fortunate situation on why i want to go grad school right after undergrad. my loving parents are willing to pay for most of my tuition but they can only do so before my sister goes to college which will be in 2 and half years. I understand it is self fish on my part to rely on my parents and avoid debt but would it be better for my future if i joined the work force for a couple of years to gain work experience and have a shot at WWS and HKS (but with debt) or enroll in the best program i can currently be admitted to with my stats and not be in debt. I feel that even though i am still an undergrad, i have a clear path on where i want to go and how grad school will help me get there so my SOP should be fairly well written.

[patapata]

Have your parents put the money in a savings account and go to the best school you can go to... later on when you have had work experience.

[HisRoyalHighness]

If you want to do Security Studies I would not recommend SAIS - they're not even in the top 10 for International Security programs.

Columbia and Georgetown - yes. But SAIS? Not for Security - I say this as someone attending Korbel's International Security MA program. When looking at Georgetown and Columbia I'd recommend Georgetown - just for the chance to study with Bruce Hoffman Remember though - the Georgetown Security program is really designed for mid-career professionals, classes only take place at night because most of the students work in DC during the day. So if you're looking for more of a professional program then Georgetown is definitely the right place for you. If you're looking for more of an academic program you're going to need to look elsewhere, to Columbia, Tufts, Pitt, GW, Syracuse or Korbel.

[fall09]

Actually for the MIA, SIPA accepted between 25-30% this year, not 40%. I got this info from the Admissions Office.

But I agree that they are not very selective. I may well attend SIPA (still deciding) but I met some people at the open day that were unimpressive at best. Very disappointing.

[HisRoyalHighness]

That's indeed unfortunate about SIPA. I've also heard they're quite stingy with their funding as well.

I know someone who graduated from the program and she had a lot of good things to say about it and now is working as an intelligence analyst with the NYPD's counter-terrorism bureau.

[rileypep]

what schools would be considered as a saftey for me?

[fall09]

what schools would be considered as a saftey for me?

Are you dead-set on getting your MA right out of school? I just want to mentio to you, if State Dep. or UN are your job goals, you should really get at least two years of work experience before doing an MA. I really can't stress this enough. Not only will you get into better programmes, you will have a better network to help you reach your professional goals. Plus, theses agencies are not known to recruit graduates with no work experience.

[Jeppe]

Are you dead-set on getting your MA right out of school? I just want to mentio to you, if State Dep. or UN are your job goals, you should really get at least two years of work experience before doing an MA. I really can't stress this enough. Not only will you get into better programmes, you will have a better network to help you reach your professional goals. Plus, theses agencies are not known to recruit graduates with no work experience.

I have to agree with this point. Professional experience will not only increase your chances of getting admitted to the top programs (and get financial aid there), it will also make your time in grad school much more rewarding and it will significantly increase your chances of getting a decent position when you graduate. Both the private and the public sector expect a couple of years of previous experience when hiring MAs, and this is even more true for most international organizations.

[patapata]

Plus, theses agencies are not known to recruit graduates with no work experience.

I don't know about the UN, but you can definitely get into State with little or no work experience. (And, you can become an FSO without even a bachelor's degree.) The work experience might make you a mature applicant and help you perform better on the oral test, but that's a different issue.

[Baki]

If you want to do Security Studies I would not recommend SAIS - they're not even in the top 10 for International Security programs.

Columbia and Georgetown - yes. But SAIS? Not for Security - I say this as someone attending Korbel's International Security MA program. When looking at Georgetown and Columbia I'd recommend Georgetown - just for the chance to study with Bruce Hoffman Remember though - the Georgetown Security program is really designed for mid-career professionals, classes only take place at night because most of the students work in DC during the day. So if you're looking for more of a professional program then Georgetown is definitely the right place for you. If you're looking for more of an academic program you're going to need to look elsewhere, to Columbia, Tufts, Pitt, GW, Syracuse or Korbel.

Hi HRH,

are you sure about that ? Aren't night classes for part-time students only ? Don't full-time students have day classes ?

[djd]

For a focus on International Security I recommend looking into the Monterey Institute of International Studies: http://policy.miis.edu/international_se ... index.html

You would also be able to continue your Japanese linguistic studies since a requirement of the program is to take an international policy course in one of the languages the school focuses on--Japanese being one of them-each semester. The school is unique in having a language component focus and requiring an advanced language ability in one of their core languages for admissions consideration.

Classes are small

Lots of individual attention

Ranked 18th in nation

With your profile you'd have a good shot at a partial scholarship

I've heard glowing reviews of their DPMI program

great location

affiliate of Middlebury College (scheduled to become a graduate school of Middlebury in 2010)

You'd be with likeminded students since all of the programs offered are international/language studies focused

Best of luck!

[Baki]

For a focus on International Security I recommend looking into the Monterey Institute of International Studies: http://policy.miis.edu/international_se ... index.html

You would also be able to continue your Japanese linguistic studies since a requirement of the program is to take an international policy course in one of the languages the school focuses on--Japanese being one of them-each semester. The school is unique in having a language component focus and requiring an advanced language ability in one of their core languages for admissions consideration.

Classes are small

Lots of individual attention

Ranked 18th in nation

With your profile you'd have a good shot at a partial scholarship

I've heard glowing reviews of their DPMI program

great location

affiliate of Middlebury College (scheduled to become a graduate school of Middlebury in 2010)

You'd be with likeminded students since all of the programs offered are international/language studies focused

Best of luck!

May I see this ranking please ?

[bbq555]

May I see this ranking please ?

[bbq555]

rileypep your stats are really similar to mine. so i hope you get in to your top choices(for my sake as well)