International Affairs programs: am I competitive?

Graduate School
1

<p>I am a senior Latin American studies and political science double major and will be applying to some APSIA international affairs programs for the Fall. I know that most of the competitive programs expect work experience after graduation but from my understanding, they do still accept some students coming directly from undergrad. Can anyone tell me what my chances are?</p>

<p>3.95 GPA; summa or magna cume laude (TBA)
volunteer experience abroad and undergraduate research abroad
upcoming State Dept. internship with the Foreign Service Institute (this Spring)
580 verbal 680 quant. GRE
near fluency in Spanish </p>

<p>Does anyone have any input? I am looking at GTown, GW, American and Fletcher or SIPA.</p>

2

<p>I think your chances are very good, the experience abroad is a definite plus and the rest of your application looks very strong. Write a good statement and secure good LORs and you should be good to go.</p>

3

<p>Thanks, Kigali. That makes me feel hopeful. I am worried about my lack of work experience (the volunteering and researching abroad were each for a summer in the internship will be in the Spring). Are there certain schools that expect more work experience? I got the impression that SAIS and SIPA do.</p>