Upward-trending GPA from UofM, next steps?

[goblue93]

I'm going to be graduating in May with a BA in Political Science and German from the University of Michigan. I transferred in from a community college after taking a semester off after high school, and started in the Computer Science program, which was not very kind to me. After my first three semesters at UofM, I had a 2.7 cumulative thanks to engineering. I was taking German courses (fluent in German) the entire time, and got A's and A-'s in those. 

 

After realizing that CS wasn't for me, I made the switch to PoliSci, not entirely sure of what I would do with it but enticed by the refreshing change of subject matter. Since then, in my last four semesters at UofM, I've gotten straight 4.0's taking 18 credits each term. My cumulative is at a 3.4 after this current semester's grades, my PoliSci GPA is a 4.0 and my German is a 3.93.

 

I have LORs from three faculty members here. One is from Andrei Markovits, who is notably high-profile in the field of European Politics and Sport. Personal statement will be strong, I plan on working on it all summer.

 

GRE: 167V, 165Q, 5.4 W

 

Now I'm done with UG, I'm looking for a strong international relations masters program, or really any kind of masters that would ultimately allow me to move abroad and start working after I've completed the degree. Current ideas are the Ford School at UofM, SAIS at JHU, and SIPA at Columbia, but I have no idea if I'm competitive for such programs, especially with no work experience.

 

Any ideas of where I should be applying to / if I should scrap this gap year and start really searching for a job in order to gain experience for applications? Any advice is appreciated.

[qeta]

I think the people in the Government Affairs thread will be better able to answer your question: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/11-government-affairs/.

[GradSchoolTruther]

What's Andrei Markovits' advice on where to go?