Advice Regarding The Elliott School of International Affairs

[icedweller44]

Hello,

I am getting ready to attend the Elliott School of International Affairs this fall as a master's candidate in international affairs. However, as the summer quickly draws to a close, I have been experiencing increasing reservations about attending GWU. Just to give you some background information, I recently graduated from a major public university this past May with a BA in English and a minor in international studies and French. I have strong undergraduate credentials: a 3.99 GPA, Highest Distinction, a variety of honors and awards, and plenty of research experience. In addition, I have good GRE scores and solid letters of recommendation. My ultimate goal after graduate school is to obtain a job in either the governmental or private sector where I can work on resolving international conflict in some type of diplomatic or arbitrational role. I thus want to specialize in conflict resolution and international law / organizations.

Here are my reservations about attending GWU:

* In all honesty, my graduate school search was somewhat rushed. I was so busy finishing up my undergraduate degree that I didn't have time to research everything as thoroughly as I perhaps should have. Thus, I only applied to three schools which seemed to fit my academic preferences: Whitehead School (Seton Hall), Korbel School (Denver University), and Elliott School (GWU). GWU was, by far, the best school out of these three. I thought about applying to higher ranked schools (namely Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, and Columbia) but I didn't meet the economics prerequisites of these schools. Now I kind of regret not at least attempting to apply to higher ranked schools.

* Perhaps my biggest reservation is my future financial situation. GWU isn't giving me anything: not a single fellowship or scholarship. This was extremely disappointing. I thought with my exemplary undergraduate record that I would be able to drum up at least a little financial assistance. Instead, I am taking out the maximum amount of federal loans (Stafford and Graduate PLUS) in addition to a private alternative loan. I will probably be $100,000-120,000 in debt by the time I receive my master's degree. This sum, on top of my undergraduate school loans, greatly perturbs me!

* My last reservation stems from the program itself. As you probably know, all of my classes will be in the evening and meet mostly once per week. This leaves the work day (8am-5pm) completely free to pursue a job / internship. I think this set up could be potentially advantageous. If I could attend class and work full time at a paid job / internship I could gain valuable professional experience while simultaneously earning my degree. However, I am concerned that my lack of direct political / international experience will make it difficult to find a decent (and paid) job or internship. Since I wasn't a political science major in undergraduate school, I might need a program that emphasizes coursework more than job / internship experience.

So here are my two options:

1.) Stay the course and maintain a positive attitude. After all, I already have my school and an apartment in VA lined up. Despite the fact that I will be thousands and thousands of dollars in debt upon graduation, I will nevertheless have a competitive master's degree from GWU and, hopefully, some direct professional experience.

OR

2.) I could stay put for a year, take a micro- and macroeconomics course in order to beef up my resume, research everything (both careers and programs) a bit more thoroughly, and reapply to a wider range of more competitive schools (e.g. Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, etc.).

What do you all think? I would appreciate any advice / information that you might have to offer.

Thanks a lot!

[ryzzofoshizzo]

Hi,

I went to undergrad in Washington and have been living here now for about seven years, so I'll give you my opinion on your situation.

As you're probably aware, Washington, DC is one of the most competitive markets with an overabundance of highly qualified professionals, which is not to say that it's hard to get A job, but really raises the bar for each position. Same goes for the area grad schools - they are very competitive, so first of all congratulations on getting in! Unfortunately what that means is that, like a lot of the top International Relations/Government grad programs they rely not only on academic achievements but also on professional work experience. I can certainly understand this since, while I worked very hard in school and graduated magna cum laude, I learned so much more in my first year of work than I had in the previous 4 years. People applying to the Elliot School are probably a diverse body of candidates ranging from recent grads to people with 5-10 years' experience or even more. These programs are likely to divert fellowships and other aid to the most accomplished candidates because their experience and success in the working environment represent a high probability of future success (and consequently potential donations in the future to the school). Additionally this is their bargaining chip to get high-quality candidates, but unfortunately it some times takes away from people who could really use it.

My point in this is that by spending a year working in DC you may find that the additional work experience helps to make you more marketable to the grad schools because it demonstrates that you have been able to obtain a good job and learn a lot of the workplace skills. This might help you to get some financial aid if you were to reapply. If you haven't had job or internship experience in Washington (this city is practically crawling with interns during the summer!), it might be to your advantage to do that first and get your foot in the door - even if it's just for a few months. To be honest, my internships led to my first job so it was a little easier for me to get going here, but I have a lot of friends that weren't in the same situation that were able to find jobs without too much trouble. In any case despite the reputation Washington has as a city where you get by on connections, I've found that most employers rely on hard-work and a good personality ultimately when hiring.

On your second point, it seems like you are well-prepared to handle the intensity of working full-time and going to school, and I know more than a few who have done it at the Elliot School, but I must warn you that all have reported that it is pretty tiresome to do for. You might consider a fellowship or paid internship to give you professional experience for a few days of the week without sacrificing your mental well-being! All of the strong grad schools in DC (American, GWU, Georgetown, and Johns Hopkins) have great alumni networks and their own websites for only GW students where jobs are posted (I've posted jobs and internships there for previous employers, so it is used extensively), so I think if you are persistent then you will certainly find a job relatively quickly. Rent in DC, as I'm sure you are aware, is among the highest in the country so you'll definitely want to have some sort of job, especially if you aren't able to obtain financial aid.

As far as applying to more schools - that's totally up to you but I can confirm that the Elliot School has a great reputation in DC and always looks good on a resume. To be honest what employers are really looking for here are the work experiences and skills you have and not the school that you go to, so in that sense I would say that between GWU and Columbia there is very little difference. That may seems hardly believable, but I can tell you for a fact that if a hiring decision was between someone who went to Harvard with little work experience and someone who went to GW with a few really solid work opportunities, 9 times out of 10 the GW grad will get the position.

Everyone I know that has gone to the Elliot School has been very happy with the coursework and skills that they obtained from it, so whatever you decide will certainly be a good move. Hope this is helpful, and if you have any other questions feel free to shoot them along!

[Green Star]

To be brief, I think you should stay put at GW and try and find a 20-30 hour/week internship even if it is at the entry level. While GW is not considered a top tier school it is nonetheless a very fine academic institution with a very strong reputation, especially in DC. I used to work in DC and can tell you that the vast majority of positions are about knowing somebody or having some type of alumni/social connection so I would strongly recommend doing an internship so you can begin building a base of associates. You shouldn't feel pressured to finding a "real" job but I think it would be a good idea to get an internship at a think tank or policy group so you can get a feel for how things operate in the city. If you are, however, dead set are re-applying to better schools I think you should wait a couple of years and build up some solid experience. Why?

Assuming you ditched GW and began your job search today you probably wouldn't start your first day of work until September, assuming you were hired sometime in the next 2-3 weeks, so if you sent in your applications for grad school in November-December then you'd only have a mere 3 months of work experience. In my opinion I don't think that really adds anything to your application package that would guarantee admittance.

[2400]

I graduated from GW recently and went through a lot of indecision before I started my program -- for reasons similar to what you mention in your post. I would also like to offer some encouragement. While I had several years of international experience before I began my MA at GW, I had a completely unrelated undergraduate degree (fine arts). I was offered a small scholarship, but ended up getting more grants and scholarships as the semesters went on. I also got a job working for GW part-time, which came with tuition benefits (one free class/semester). At the same time, I worked 10-20 hours a week at a paid internship, which led to a full time staff position just before graduation. I ended up with about $18,000 in debt when I graduated. However, I definitely sacrificed my mental well-being, especially when things got busy during finals and thesis time.

If you decide to go to GW, I would recommend getting to know the people in the financial aid office and getting to know the head of your department. These connections can help when you apply for scholarships or when they are trying to decide who to offer funding to. I would also really look into working for the university -- the administrative positions come with tuition benefits and many of my friends worked full-time for GW and graduated with no debt. I enjoyed having a balance and I made some excellent connections while interning. Some of my friends who worked for GW had a harder time getting a job in the field after graduation. Still, not a big deal considering they have zero debt. They all eventually went on to get good positions related to what they studied. DC is an excellent location for what your studying.

I would also like to add that your idea about taking a year off and casting a wider net with graduate school applications is not a bad one. You could defer your GW admission, do more research on schools, and apply to more places for next year. I don't think you have anything to lose if you go that route and it could give you more piece of mind. But, that is definitely a personal decision.

Best of luck and I think either decision will be the right one!