<p>Hey everyone, I'm new here, but I see many post their stats to see how they measure up. So let me be short and sweet, and please don't hold back. If I'm way off my rocker in applying to top IR schools, than please tell me. I'd like to think I have pretty thick skin after a couple tours in the military. </p>
<p>Academic:
BA from George Mason Univ in 08 (that's in Fairfax, VA for those that are scratching their head)
GPA: 3.69 (ain't that a *****!)
GRE: not yet (got a 630v/720q on a practice test)
Double Major: Int'l Affairs and Gov't,
Minor in Econ (though I prob should of majored in Econ, since i have close to 25 credits)
Internships w/ Woodrow Wilson Center (research ass't), DIA (still don't know what i did there), and worked part time at a small legislative consulting firm (I mean very small, in that I worked out of the owner's basement). </p>
<p>Professional:
I now work for a major non profit that does heavy int'l work, so I travel quite a bit, though never for more than a week at a time. Good thing about my job is I get good exposure to academia, public policy, as well as those that work in int'l dev and/or security. Only been here a year though. However, before I went to school I spent 7 years in US military (mainly in intel).</p>
<p>Int'l experience:<br>
I was deployed everywhere while in the military, mainly mid east, africa, and latin america. Studied abroad twice, once for a semester and later for a few weeks in the summer, both times in latin america. I still travel quite a bit now for work, but I have never spent more than 9 months abroad at a time, yet, probably have more than 3 years if u add it all up (I know that's a kicker for the IDEV program at SAIS).</p>
<p>Foreign Language:<br>
Fluent in Spanish, working knowledge of Quechua (took one semester abroad), Arabic (kind of a must when you spend enough time over there), and Portuguese (ok at reading and speaking, but don't ask me to write anything).</p>
<p>Weaknesses in Transcript:
I went to community college while in Military, and my cumulative GPA for my AA was 2.9
I got an F in research methods class, took it over and got a B+
I got a D in a legislative class (don't ask me how I did this while working in a leg consulting firm), but anyhow I took the class over and got an A
I got a C+ in English 302 (damn professor), everything else is pretty much A's and B's (all A's in Econ classes).</p>
<p>What can I say, I was a late bloomer in school! Ok, so I wasn't that short or sweet, but any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>fubar1025</p>