<p>I'd really appreciate any feedback. This year I only plan to apply to one school, SAIS, as I'm still waiting/hoping my wife and mine's Peace Corps dream will work out.</p>
<p>-I graduated in May 07 from a mediocre state school in texas.
-UGPA: 3.2
-Classes that the adcom may care about: F in pre-cal freshman year; B in Macro freshman year; A's in International Trade, Comparative Economic Systems, Negotiations/Conflict Management, International Relations, and quantitative methods.
-GMAT: 660 (mainly due to a strong quantitative score)
-Work experience: 1 year (2 years by matriculation) as a International Trade Consultant with one of the big four accounting firms.
-Fluent Spanish (family from Argentina and I studied in Barcelona during undergrad).</p>
<p>Do I even have a prayer? Tips would also be great :-) </p>
<p>I'll be honest, I don't think your chances are very good. Your grades are somewhat low for SAIS and the GMAT doesn't offset it. Your work experience isn't horrible but it's nothing special either. I think you should apply to more schools. Maybe American, GW, Denver, or Maryland. If you really want to go to SAIS or another top IR school, you should work another year or two and retake the GMAT or GRE. </p>
<p>Out of curiosity, what is considered good work experience? As far as international trade goes, this is one of the best places to be. The only other places I could think of are government agencies or think-tanks (both of which are almost impossible to get employed at without a masters). Will two years in the Peace Corps help my chances?</p>
<p>Are you bound to the DC area? If not I would also give Columbia and Syracuse a shot. I think with your profile you would be able to get into at least one of the schools mentioned, since you will have had a minimum of 2 years exp under your belt.</p>
<p>I don't quite understand why so many people insist on lumping American and GW in with "the others" (c'mon, you can't possibly think Maryland is in the same group) - the SAIS/SIPA/SFS/Tufts reject pile. What's your area of interest? What would you ultimately like to do? Where would you like to do it? Start from there. The Peace Corps could be an advantage, yes, but it will depend on what you make of it and what you're able to accomplish while there.</p>
<p>The problem with your work experience isn't that it's 'bad,' it's just a bit on the short side and (I assume) based in the US. IR programs really like to see people with international experience beyond the typical semester abroad. Maybe your Spanish would negate that, but who knows. </p>
<p>I listed Maryland because it is close to DC, which is a significant advantage. I agree though that it is a tier below GW/American/Syracuse/Denver. Go ahead an apply to SAIS/SIPA/Fletcher/Georgetown. You may or may not get into one. If you don't, however, I think you have good chances at GW and American.</p>
<p>Yes, the job is based in the US. But it is international trade consulting. In just one year I've traveled to about 6 different countries for work. I'm also working with some really big players in international trade (i.e. Fortune 100 companies). I think adcoms are smart enough to see the difference between working with some of the biggest multi-nationals in the world v. teaching english in China, but maybe they don't value experience like I think they do.</p>
<p>Most the responses confirm what I already thought. I could probably get into one of the second tier schools (denver/american) but not a first tier (SAIS/SAIS). I don't think a second tier school is worth the debt (I have another post related to this called "PhD in International Relations).</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the good advice/pointers.</p>
<p>^^ I'm biased, but my personal opinion is yes. The location, the professors who are practitioners at their "day jobs" and the career center all open up an amazing array of professional development opportunities... and that's what we're going to grad school for, right? :)</p>
<p>What about my chances are UCSD? they have a Latin America program that i'm interested. Any idea on how good they are? Could I get into a good PhD program after doing a masters there?</p>