<p>I just read UCLAri's "So you want an MA in IR?" thread from beginning to end and found a lot of really good insight and answers to questions that I had. I've got some lingering concerns that apply to my situation in particular, so I'm posting in hope that someone can help with them. </p>
<p>In 2011 I graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.A. in international studies. I spent a year abroad studying at a university in Israel, and ended up picking up a Hebrew language minor as a result. Due to some medical issues, I struggled a lot through my first couple years in school. My GPA suffered, and by the time the problems were sorted out and dealt with at the beginning of my junior year, it was somewhere around a 2.7. I spent my junior and senior years doing all I could to bring my GPA up to a respectable level. After 16 A's and 2 B's, I finished with a 3.3. </p>
<p>Though not for lack of trying, I've been unable to find a job in or even remotely related to the international relations field, so I'd like to pursue an MA in IR. However, I'm worried that the same things that prevent me from being competitive when searching for a job will end up keeping me from getting into a good MA program. I obviously don't have any relevant work experience. For the majority of the time I was in school, my low GPA kept me from being able to get any internships, and by the time I got it high enough I was too close to graduating to be able to apply. On top of that, I've always been somewhat of an introvert, and so I never really forged any relationships with professors in a position to write meaningful recommendations. (The few to whom I did get close enough to feel comfortable asking for recommendations taught in fields outside of my major.) I was so concerned with grades that I just kind of kept my head down and trudged through my last two years without pursuing opportunities that would have been beneficial to me in the long run, which is something that I deeply regret now.</p>
<p>I haven't taken the GRE at this point, but I am much less concerned about my ability to do well on it than I am about what the above means for my chances of getting into a decent graduate IR program. I'm neither a stranger to nor afraid of hard work, and if there's a discernible path I'll do all that I can to follow it. Based on the way that my undergraduate studies went, though, even with a good GRE score, do I even have a shot?</p>