A Korean-American seeking to get into a top IR program- Johns Hopkins SAIS/Georgetown MSFS are my dream schools.
Will also apply to Columbia SIPA/Tufts Fletcher/GWU Elliot and mayyyyybe Princeton WWS/Harvard Kennedy School.
Plan to take GRE in late October/November and will submit applications by January 2017 for Sept 2017 admissions.
My concentration in the master’s program will be in Asian Studies/East Asian International Relations or Security…
Here are my stats.
Dual citizen of Korea and the U.S. Speaks both languages as a native speaker.
Undergrad: Top 30 private school on the east coast
International Studies Major / Asian Studies & Economics Minor
Cum laude with a CGPA of 3.63/4.00 but has 2 C+s: Intro to IR & Microeconomic Theory courses… oops… 
Also withdrew from a non-major course in the second semester of senior year… ugh…
GPA is my biggest concern. Really could have done better at school but let bygone by bygone…
One-Year Study Abroad Program at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan during 2011-2012
Summer Internships: Consulate-General of Korea in Seattle, Korea Importers Association,
U.S. Embassy Seoul, East Asia Institute
Work Experience: Samsung (Business Development position) for 2.5 years with a focus on overseas business expansion.
Sejong Institute (started as a Research Assistant this summer, a leading IR/diplomacy think tank in Korea) for 6 months by the time I apply. It is non-paid, so I expect it to demonstrate my commitment in the field as I gave up on a high-paying, prestigious job (Samsung is the most popular company to get in among jobseekers in Korea) for a nonpaid position?
Freelancing Korean-English Translator/Interpreter - 3 years… quite well-known on the Korean internet.
Scholarships: David L. Boren Scholarships, Benjamin A. Gilman, Freeman-ASIA, Bridging Scholarships; also received an academic scholarship at Waseda.
Foreign Languages: Native fluency in Korean, Proficient in Japanese, Intermediate in Chinese (took Advanced Japanese & Advanced Chinese), passed the highest level in Japanese Language Proficiency Test with almost a perfect score, multiple Japanese language contest awards.
Some Extra-curricular activities: Orchestra, Asian-American magazine, Japan Club, Study Abroad Advisory Board, Conversation Partners Program… but these are not too special.
Recommendation Letters: one from a PoliSci professor whom I’ve known for 6+ years and taken 4 classes with (he suggested me that he would supervise me for a senior thesis but I declined it because I felt… lazy… do you think I should’ve written one?), another from an Asian Studies professor, and third one from Vice Director (supervisor) at Samsung.
I know that it’s still too early to judge since I haven’t taken the GRE yet. However, assuming that I get a high enough score for GRE, how do my chances look for SAIS/SFS/SIPA and IR fellowships such as Pickering/Rangel, etc?
Also, what more could I do from now on to improve my chances from now on other than writing a solid SOP, getting strong recs and achieving high GRE scores? I would appreciate your responses.