Rank the MA International Relations programs

Graduate School
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<p>Hello Guys , I am new to this forum … NOt sure f this isp proper thread . but since its abt IR i am posting this </p>

<p>Recently i have started to think abt further education and thus i wanted to get some clarity on this area here …</p>

<p>My profile</p>

<p>Nationality : Indian
Current location : Austria
Profile</p>

<p>first degree Engineering in IT , had math, economic courses from no so known college in India( Top regional college though) ( My biggest negative )</p>

<p>grades: top 10% of class ,first class honours with distinction</p>

<p>Soon after my engineering , i did something which not many indians get to do . I left for portugal and did a 6 month internship in It services firm . It was life changing in terms of international exposure ,personal growth and devlopment</p>

<p>After portugal , i joined fortune 10 blue chip in energy sector in Austria in a leadership analyst role. The big takeaways are International work ex in management , global cross culture exposure., Here is where i also started my passion to learn and travel .</p>

<p>I was always keen on history , geography from childhood but its was only after living in Europe , i started real life experience with travel and learn …</p>

<p>Having visited 25 countries and cities in 5 continents , i became fascinated by studying more about countries relationships, regional and golbal s . Soon I started exploring how i could learn more about international devlopment and understanding of world issues .</p>

<p>I got a chance to participate in a international environmental leadership to Antarctica with experts, students , researchers, top business and govt leaders was experience i can never forget. It was a life changing experience in terms of personal development. In Antarctica I got a chance to work in expedition team as communication member .I. I believe this was crucial experience for me understand my passion to learn abt world issues and international affairs…</p>

<p>Apart from these, i was active during my undergrad, worked as freelance writer for 1 year and supported my family income , worked in india’s top outsourcing firm during college . led college oratory board and mentored new members , avid quizzer :represnted school on regional television quiz show, part of world’s largest youth leadership org and facilitated international exchange between India and Portugal .
worked in organizing Asia pacfici leadership conference during my stint with org .</p>

<p>So now with 3.5 years international work ex (next year whn i plan to apply) and my stint in Antarctica and world travels , i am thinking to consider my education in IR
i am yet to decide on GRE/GMAT . Is GMAT allowed for the application ?</p>

<p>i was researching some schools and i was thinking on SAIS, Georgetown, tufts, ksg in US and LSE, Oxford and Cambridge .
Am i aiming too high ? do u think not having eco/pol background will hurt me badly ?
Ay opinions on how to improve would be great</p>

<p>thanks</p>

<p>silentcacophony</p>

262

<p>Hello SAISStudent and everyone else - I need to make some decisions and hope some of you can help me. I’ve been accepted to SAIS (but didn’t get IDEV), Fletcher (MALD), and MSFS. I was given a $28k schol for Fletcher but don’t know about the Aid for SAIS or MSFS yet. </p>

<p>I was a finance major at undergrad and have been working as a credit analyst for 5 years. What got me into these programs is the non-profit that I founded to help a south asian country. So I’m looking to make a career switch from Finance to International Development (relations). After graduating I want to work for an Int. NGO or a Bank (World Bank, IMF, ADB) and eventually start something on my own (this is down the road) to do development work in developing countries (probably in South Asia). </p>

<p>SAIS was my number one program, but I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get admitted to the IDEV concentration. But I guess I could focus on South Asia and general IR. </p>

<p>I’m also really attracted to Fletcher for its flexible curriculum and since it’s in Boston. I’ve been in DC for the past 8 years and I have some connections already at IMF and WB so was thinking that I could make some new connections in Boston. MSFS is also a great program and I like its reputation. </p>

<p>It’s probably going to come down to between SAIS and Fletcher I feel. </p>

<p>SAISStudent - Should I just give up SAIS just coz I didn’t get to the IDEV program? Also, although I’m not too sure about SAIS’s Fin Aid, I doubt they’d match anything close to what Fletcher gave me ($28k). How would do you look at my situation as a SAIS student? </p>

<p>Any input will be greatly appreciated. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

263

<p>Hello SAISStudent,</p>

<p>I am an international student who got admitted into SAIS MA program.As you know, education in SAIS is really a big investment. Do you know the job perspective for international student in United States after graduation from SAIS?
P.S I consider to specialize in international finance and functional study of intl’ law and organization.</p>

264

<p>I’m seeing experiences of people addressing poor GPAs in statement of purpose.</p>

<p>One challenge while preparing the statement of purpose was there’s advice saying everyting. I decided to focus on one person (career counselor at work) and Kaplan resource. </p>

<p>What I understood was better to just write your SOP in away to show that you were busy during your college years, or that you’ve accomplished something SINCE. that addressing it specifically called even more attention to it, it defocuses from the overall theme of the statement, and it wastes space.</p>

265

<p>Manny26:</p>

<p>Was the 28K offer for MALD per year or over two years? </p>

<p>I got into Fletcher’s one-year MA program, and they offered $10K for one year. If I switched to two year MALD, it would be $10K per year scholarship.</p>

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<p>barfield - The $28k was for the 1st year… they said that it’d continue it if I remain fulltime and maintain a good academic standard… Didn’t know fletcher offered 1 year MALD.</p>

267

<p>Manny -</p>

<p>$28K scholarship on a $35K tuition is a good deal. Fletcher has a one-year midcareer MA program for those with 10 years+ experience. I learned after getting my acceptance that traditionally an employer or institution pays for the one year MA, but I applied on my own so the school was gracious in providing aid.</p>

<p>I didn’t learn until getting accepted that there was such a difference in aid approaches for one-year vs two year programs. I don’t know if I would have qualified for more if I had just applied for the MALD program. I’m thinking that if I decide to go to Fletcher, I’d switch to a two-year MALD, and I’ve been told my aid would be renewed for the second year at the current level – $25K a year in tuition (after aid), graduating with $50K in tuition debt over two years, not to mention debt to cover living expenses. Pricey.</p>

<p>I’m curious what you think about my scenario. I currently have two offers: the above at Fletcher or full tuition waiver at American’s SIS. More offers may come soon, but that’s what I have in hand.</p>

<p>I’m an older candidate - 10 years experience - and I will be using my time in Grad school to deepen my exposure on a breadth of international affairs issues. I come from an advocacy background, and my goal (essentially in progress) is to launch an ngo/nonprofit that can challenge U.S. foreign policy from a progressive political angle.</p>

268

<p>Hey there. I just joined College Confidential, and your post was a few months ago.</p>

<p>That said, I am transferring in to SIS as an undergrad in the Fall 2010.</p>

<p>Your stats are quite impressive, and I think that you have probably already been accepted to SIS. If so, feel free to send me a message back if you happen to see this thread. </p>

<p>It’s always good to know people in new schools and situations.</p>

<p>Best of luck,</p>

<p>Nick</p>

269

<p>Hello!</p>

<p>I will be a graduate student this Fall of 2010 once I decide on which school to choose.</p>

<p>I am looking for honest advice and suggestions please!</p>

<p>I’ve been accepted to:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Syracuse Univ. - MA in IR</p></li>
<li><p>NYU - MA in IR</p></li>
<li><p>Univ. of Pittsburgh - MA in Public and International Affairs</p></li>
<li><p>Penn State - MA in IR</p></li>
</ul>

<p>So far, I have not been notified about grants or scholarships from any of the schools. I received an unofficial e-mail that I will receive funding from Penn but no indication as to how much and in what form (ie. grants?).</p>

<p>Future career aspirations: find a federal job, a job with the UN, or international NGO.</p>

<p>Any advice about how to choose between these schools?</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

270

<p>Hi All,</p>

<p>I’m also a current applicant trying to choose between programs. I’m an American coming straight out of undergrad, and I was accepted at:</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins SAIS- Bologna Center
Georgetown Walsh School- Security Studies program
Syracuse University
Denver Korbel School
George Washington Elliot school</p>

<p>Unfortunately, none of these programs has offered me significant scholarships.</p>

<p>It’s really between SAIS Bologna and Georgetown at this point, and I’m leaning towards SAIS for the international experience. However, I’m wondering if anyone has information on the reputations of each of the specific programs I’ve been admitted to, since they’re less mainstream than SAIS DC or Georgetown MSFS. Is Georgetown’s Security Studies program ranked as highly as its MSFS? Similarly, does the Bologna Center have a reputation on par with the SAIS DC campus (which I would be attending for my second year anyhow)? And how does Georgetown SSP compare with SAIS Bologna?</p>

<p>Thanks for your thoughts!</p>

271

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I am a junior diplomat in the South African foreign ministry, and I wanted to ask the people in the know the following question: I am in a position where I will not be able to attend grad school without a full scholarship, so which top schools (between SAIS, Fletcher, Walsh, Elliot or SIPA) traditionally offer more financial support and admission to junior diplomats?? Does any of these schools have a bias towards accepting students who work in the foreign service?</p>

<p>I studied Political Science at the University of Michigan and my GPA was 3.8. My GRE scores are not competitive, and I have two years of work experience (govnt and NGO). </p>

<p>Thanks for the help!!</p>

272

<p>Bethy412 -</p>

<p>If you are 21/22ish and don’t have significant debt, you may want to bite the bullet and go to SAIS. Without knowing anything about you, I’m guessing that your grades and scores were quite good (thus the SAIS admission), and that it was a lack of experience that meant no scholarships and maybe no admission at SAIS’s competitors (SIPA, HKS, Fletcher).</p>

<p>So…</p>

<p>If you can stand the huge debt (100K minus anything you earn), I’d recommend SAIS. You should do a debt calculator online at the Dept. of Ed / FAFSA site and really see what the monthly debt payments would look like for the next 25 years.</p>

<p>It doesn’t makes sense to incur that kind of debt for the other schools, especially since I’m guessing that you’ll be more competitive if you reapply for grad school after a couple of years of work experience.</p>

<p>On the other hand, if you don’t think you can get good experience, or go abroad, in this economy, it might be better to sit it out and go to grad school – SAIS, if all the schools cost roughly the same.</p>

<p>But if you decide not to go to grad school now, and want to go get work experience, make sure your work experience makes you even more attractive for the next go around.</p>

273

<p>barfield,</p>

<p>Just to expand upon the debt issue, $100K is a CRUSHING debt. Unless someone is looking to make around that much a year, it’s just not a good thing to have.</p>

<p>Let me put it another way: At $100K of debt at an average of 6.8%, with a 10 year standard repayment schedule (which is pretty tough to deviate from with the federal loans), you’re looking at around $1,150.80 a month. </p>

<p>Let’s say you go public sector. GS-9 in DC starts around $51K. Monthly take-home on a salary of around $51K? Maybe $3000.</p>

<p>That means you’re spending around 38% of your take-home income on debt. Let’s assume you pay the standard rent in DC of around $800/person. That means your post-rent/post-loans take-home is $1050. </p>

<p>Sure, you can live off of that. But it sucks. And God help you if you want to start a family.</p>

<p>I know what people are going to say: “I’ll just go private sector!” Don’t bet on it. First off, while those jobs ARE out there, they’re not as abundant as they were before, and competition is rough these days. It will take years (read: more than 2 years) for the job market to fully recover, and even then there’s no guarantee that you’ll be making $100K out of SAIS like you might have back in the early naughties/nineties. </p>

<p>I’m not telling people not to attend SAIS. I’m telling them to understand what $100K in debt means. My rule of thumb is that you need to have a 1:1 debt to income ratio in order to afford your debt as an individual. If you have a spouse who can help you, then it’s not as bad, but it’s still a terrible albatross to have around your neck.</p>

274

<p>If in the end, they will all end up costing the same, out of the following which do you think would be best for the price?</p>

<ol>
<li>Syracuse Univ. - MA in IR</li>
<li>NYU - MA in IR</li>
<li>Univ. of Pittsburgh - MA in Public and International Affairs</li>
<li>Penn State - MA in IR</li>
</ol>

275

<p>Hey Barfield! I’m not qualified enough to actually comment on your situation as I’m pretty new to the IR/IDEV world (at least on a professional scale). My interest in the field comes from a non-profit I started focusing on a 3rd world country. </p>

<p>On paper, I know Tufts has more reputation and it’s a higher ranked program than SIS… But I know many prominent people in the IR field who graduated from SIS - so it’s not a bad program at all. In fact I almost applied to SIS as a back-up option… but this is for MA programs. For someone with 10+ experience like you, you may actually want to seriously consider SIS (especially with a full-scholarship)… as you pretty much know what you want from the program and also what you want to do after the program. That’s just my two cents. </p>

<p>Good luck! </p>

<p>p.s - I’m still debating over my choices… it’s very hard between MSFS, SAIS and Fletcher - given each has given me different funding packages!</p>

276

<p>

</p>

<p>As someone who has been admitted to some of the top IR programs in the country with a GPA that’s probably about as low as humanly possible to get into these programs with (2.5), I’ll say that I <em>did</em> include a statement on my undergraduate GPA with my application. Granted I didn’t put it in my personal statement (as I think that would be a waste of space), but I did include a separate statement regarding the GPA as an addendum to my personal statement.</p>

<p>I was advised by my undergraduate research adviser to do so (she is a physics professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and was recently the head of the department, and also has extensive experience on the graduate admissions committee for the department). Personally, I think she gave me some great advice. Now, my situation is somewhat out of the ordinary - I have a B.S. in physics, but changed majors quite a few times as an undergrad. My first ~3 years at UNC were downright awful (I was actually placed on academic probation), after which I significantly improved - my GPA over the last 2 years I was in school was a 3.3.</p>

<p>So it wasn’t as if I did really poor work during my entire undergraduate career - I started off awful, pulled myself together, and ended fairly strong. There were various reasons for this, and I wanted to explain them to the admissions committees. Not to give excuses, but rather to show how I turned myself around, and what I learned about myself in the process. Obviously having good grades all through college would be preferable, but my adviser told me that it was important to explain with maturity what happened, and to make it clear that I had learned from my mistakes (which I have). Yes, the people reading my application would see the gradient in grades, but they would also probably make assumptions about what happened. For better or for worse, I wanted the real account of what happened to be told.</p>

<p>Ultimately, I think that people obsess far too much over their GPA and perhaps ignore some of the other stuff. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania for 3 years (I extended for a third year), which I’m sure was crucial to my acceptances. I also was able to get 3 excellent references - the professor from UNC (she was my sole academic reference, the other two were Peace Corps staff) actually asked me for specific qualities of each school that I applied to (there were 8) which appealed to me, and then tailored each recommendation based on those qualities. That’s (in my experience) a very rare thing to get out of a recommendation writer, and it’s something that you just can’t quantify in a number like you can with a GPA or GRE scores.</p>

<p>So to all the people out there with not-so-stellar GPAs, don’t obsess over it so much. Try as hard as you can to make sure the other parts of your application are stellar. Get really good work/volunteer experience. Have professors proofread your personal statement. Make sure you can get references from people who truly know you well. </p>

<p>And I think most of all, make sure that you’re passionate about what you want to do and that you can convey that passion in your application. My undergraduate years were filled with self-doubt and confusion about what I wanted to do with my life, but after spending 3 years in Tanzania I am absolutely sure that a career in International Development is what I want to devote my life to. And I think I was able to make that show in my application.</p>

<p>For reference, the schools that I have been accepted to are Georgetown’s MSFS and American’s SIS, and I have been waitlisted at Columbia. I was rejected from JHU, GWU, and Tufts. I’m still waiting to hear from UMD and Brandeis (I think I should get into Brandeis, and I’m hoping I get into UMD so I have a lower-cost option). Two acceptances to top-tier programs in IR (and a waitlist) is better than I could have ever imagined, considering I was worried that I wouldn’t get in anywhere. The Georgetown admission still blows my mind, because according to the numbers, their admissions rate is less than 10% (they admitted 95 students from a pool of almost 1200).</p>

<p>So to all of you out there with unimpressive undergraduate records, don’t get too down on yourself (I know I was at several points in the application process). You may need to be really good in other parts of your application to get in, but it most definitely is possible!</p>

277

<p>Got into Georgetown, but rejected by GWU? Shows you don’t know how each school decides. </p>

<p>How are you treating your Columbia waitlist? When does Maryland respond? i applied to Maryland too. They had an <em>April 1</em> application deadline which is about 2 months later than everywhere else I liked it.</p>

<p>I too like Maryland, but there’ll be some, well, logistic challenges because of it’s location, but hey, c’est la vie. At the price, it’s excellent value.</p>

278

<p>superseiyan -</p>

<p>I agree absolutely, I think college admissions can be such a total crap shoot sometimes that there’s just really no way to guess where you’ll get in. I had the same results for my undergrad - I applied to 10 schools (I know, I’m crazy), and two of the schools I applied to were UNC-Chapel Hill and Johns Hopkins. The head of the guidance department at my high school thought that JHU was a safety school for me and that I’d never get into UNC as an out-of-state student. Well, I got into UNC and got rejected by JHU.</p>

<p>So yeah, same situation here with grad schools. I thought I had almost no shot at Georgetown because they say on their admissions website that anyone with a GPA below a 3.0 has to receive special permission from the dean of the college of arts&sciences (or whatever it’s called) to be admitted. At one point I was seriously considering just not applying there.</p>

<p>Now, my case was also a bit more strange, which may have led to the seemingly random acceptances. My GPA was terrible, to be sure, but I do think the rest of my application was pretty stellar (in my not-so-humble opinion, of course). So for the schools that admitted me, I guess they were able to get past the GPA, whereas the other schools (quite understandably) might not have been able to. Or who knows, maybe they just hated my personal statement. Hah!</p>

<p>As for the Columbia waitlist, I’m not really expecting anything from it. I told them I’d like to remain on the list, but realistically I’m not really expecting to get in and therefore am treating it like a rejection.</p>

<p>Regarding Maryland, I’m reeeeeeally hoping they don’t take as long to respond as they say on their website (they say 6-12 weeks after the deadline, putting their responses some time in mid-late May). Mostly because American wants a response by April 21st I believe, and I’m sure Georgetown is somewhere around then. So if Maryland isn’t going to send out acceptances until the middle of May, it means I’ll pretty much have to choose GU or AU because if I wait for UMD and don’t get in, I’m screwed.</p>

<p>It’s kind of a shame, because Maryland’s School of Public Policy is the only school I applied to which participates in the Peace Corps Fellows program. Basically if I got in there, I believe I’d be awarded a half graduate assistantship which includes a stipend, tuition remission, and for credits that I do have to pay for, I get charged the in-state rate (which is huge, because I’m from NJ and would otherwise be paying out-of-state tuition rates). I figured out that, after subtracting the stipend, I would be paying about $3000 a year in tuition at Maryland, which is amazing considering Georgetown is something like $38,000 a year.</p>

<p>The only problems with both Maryland and Georgetown are their IDEV programs. The more I look at the programs and their course offerings, the more and more I like American’s program. I understand that the name value of a school like Georgetown is nice, but to me Georgetown really seems like a school which is centered around people who want to go into the foreign service (ugh, zero interest) or politics. Neither of those interests me - I am looking for the best IDEV program, and nothing else. And quite frankly, American’s program seems the most well-developed.</p>

<p>So I’m a bit torn. If I had to choose the overall best school I’d go to Georgetown, but all of the advice I have received from professors is that for graduate school, you choose the school which has the best program in the field you’re going into. So while American may not be on the same footing overall as Georgetown, if their IDEV program is better, that’s where I want to go. And I’m not really worried about name recognition - if American’s IDEV program is a top-10 program, people in the field will know about it. I don’t care about impressing people who have nothing to do with IDEV - as long as the people that are going to be hiring me know that it’s an excellent program, it’s all good.</p>

279

<p>Any comments on the quality/level of the Masters IR program at Boston University?</p>

280

<p>That’s actually what I wanted to ask about as well: Boston University.</p>

<p>I’ve been accepted into SAIS at JHU as well as George Washington to study International Development (got a fellowship for JHU). Got rejected by HKS, and still waiting to hear from American and Boston Uni.</p>

<p>I’ve gone through the first few pages of this thread and to be honest I didn’t know JHU was so highly rated. What is the workload like there? I imagine it’d be pretty much the same anywhere, but some schools are known to be very much study schools, while others are more moderate in terms of a work-life balance. Any idea?</p>

<p>GW makes a very compelling case to study there, in the form of a fellowship. But my primary concern is the quality of education - is GW competitive?</p>

<p>Finally, I’m waiting to hear from Boston, as I’ve applied to their Global Development Economics program. How highly regarded is Boston Uni? Does it compare to the others? </p>

<p>Thanks</p>