<p>I am applying now with the intent to attend a top 10 I/R school in Fall 2010. My background includes:</p>
<ul>
<li>3.34 Undergraduate GPA</li>
<li>Syracuse University (Maxwell School); Major: Political Science, Minor: Middle Eastern Studies</li>
<li>Proficient / near fluent in Spanish</li>
<li>GRE: 550 V, 630 Q (waiting to see writing score)</li>
<li>24 months in Iraq as a US Army officer (two deployments: Tikrit and Baghdad; four years Army experience total, left as a Captain)</li>
</ul>
<p>Can anyone with the requisite experience provide feedback on my chances for admission? Should I re-take the GRE?</p>
<p>Posted this in another thread–maybe I’ll get some responses here. I’m looking to get an MA in international relations, and I’m planning on eventually joining the FS. I’m thinking about Oxford, Columbia, LSE, and Georgetown. Here are my stats:</p>
<ul>
<li>3.89 GPA - University of Washington, Seattle</li>
<li>Double-major in Political Science and Philosophy</li>
<li>Honors program, Phi Beta Kappa</li>
<li>Haven’t taken the GRE yet (one reason I’m applying to Oxford is to avoid GRE at all costs)</li>
<li>Internships: U.S. Senator’s office, Department of State, Department of Justice</li>
<li>Studied abroad in Rome, where I also did my State Dept. internship</li>
<li>Various campus leadership stuff–President of a political club and political campaign work</li>
<li>Languages: Latin (advanced), Italian (novice), German (intermediate) – only Latin is reflected in my transcript</li>
<li>No fellowships, published papers, etc… I only recently decided international relations was the route to go</li>
</ul>
<p>I’ve work on environmental policy issues for State Dept. and Justice Dept., and both had an international component (obviously State would). I’m interested in global environmental politics, or just international affairs with an emphasis on environmental issues.</p>
<p>I’m a first-year graduate student in International Security at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. The Josef Korbel School was ranked 12th in the world by Foreign Policy magazine this year and 10th in the United States.</p>
<p>I wanted to post here to answer any questions anyone may have about the school, our programs (in particular International Security) or anything else as everyone gets ready to send in their applications for the 2010-2011 academic year. Last year at this time I was in the same shoes as everyone here, readying my applications and getting ready for the GRE, which I took in November.</p>
<p>A little on my background. I graduated from a well-known private east coast school with a 3.6 in International Studies. I received a 610 on the quantitative portion of the GRE and a 630 on the verbal with a 6.0 on the writing. I applied to the Fletcher School at Tufts and to the Josef Korbel School. I chose those two after visiting a number of other schools, both in DC and on the West Coast. I was accepted at both schools and chose Korbel because I felt the Security program was the most intensive and focused. In addition Korbel has a guaranteed scholarship program which was very attractive to me considering the debt I took on for my undergraduate education.</p>
<p>I have to say my first term at the Korbel School so far has been great. I’m taking 15 credits - International Terrorism, US National Security Policy and Security and Defense Analysis Methods I. Each class is taught by an experienced professional including the current CIA officer-in-residence on campus, another who helped the German government setup GSG 9 - the anti-terrorist unit of the federal German state and a long-time professor at the Air Force Academy. In the two months I’ve been on campus I’ve met the Deputy Assistant Secretary General of NATO as well as representatives of CIA, FBI, NORAD, DIA, NSC and more. It’s been an awesome two months. Next term I’ll be taking Political Risk Analysis, Civil Wars and International Responses, Advanced Security and Defense Analysis Methods and Comparative Politics.</p>
<p>So I’m here to answer honestly and forthrightly any questions any of you may have about our school, the applications process, Denver or anything else. Feel free to leave any questions here or send me a private message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.</p>
<p>I would like to get an honest advice about my choices and chances at them.</p>
<p>Stats
3.33 from University of California, Irvine in Criminology, Law and Society Minor and Humanities and Law. Research experience in Children Psychology
-I just took the GRE and received under 1200 (very disappointed about it)
-2 years experience as an international labor organizer (Thailand and US)
-International experience with a union in Guatemala, sex workers union in Germany, women’s workers organization in India, and part of labor delegation to the UN Climate Change Conference in Poland.
-internship experience with US Department of Justice.
-Fluent in Thai, intermediate German and beginning Spanish
-Dual citizen (Thai and US)</p>
<p>I am very passionate about International Development. However, I think my low GPA and GRE scores will prevent me from a chance at my top schools. Through my extensive search, I feel that GWU, AU, UCSD and University of Pittsburgh fit my needs the most, in that order. There are other tops like Hopkins and Tufts of course but they are a bit out of reach academically. </p>
<p>Can someone let me know if I have a shot at any of the above schools? I’m planning to retake the GRE, and I believe I can definitely achieve at least a 1200. Also, are there any other schools you would recommend I consider?</p>
<p>does anyone know of any “safety” IR schools that would be good to apply to? Schools where the average scores and g.p.a. are not that high and it isn’t that competitive?</p>
<p>Straight IR or one of the more specialized programs such as Intelligence and Security studies?</p>
<p>I know Kings personally, I was briefly registered there a few years ago before seeking less urban surroundings. Facilities are excellent, staff and cool, the only issue was being stuck in the heart of London. It was not my idea of enjoyable.</p>
<p>Hi UKdude-- S1 is a jr, and his IR concentration is international security. He’s interested in Kings’ Dept of War Studies for a semester abroad next year (if we can swing it) and maybe even looking ahead to grad school someday. In a perfect world he’d get to take the undergrad semester in Europe and then have a better idea for grad school, but he’s in army ROTC so that will have to wait anyway, since active duty begins upon graduation. He had also considered St. Andrews but thinks he’d rather be closer to (or in) London for travel opportunites and whatnot. </p>
<p>Obviously, this will be up to him, but as a parent I’m also curious how degrees from out-of-country schools work out when it comes to seeking employment here (?) Thanks</p>
<p>Kings is world reknowned. It was the toughest decision of my life to drop out after a short period. I am a small town boy and couldnt adjust to the big city. But KCL is world ranked 22-25 depending on the source.</p>
<p>Your boy is well served at Kings. I am pondering reapplying there for a PhD (war studies dept) myself, now that I am ready for the city. That or Sussex, nice green place near Falmer. :D</p>
<p>So I’m a senior right now at UCLA, majoring in History, minoring in Poli Sci and Public Affairs with a 3.9 GPA, and two internships with the State Dept (one full time over the summer, and a part time online one during the year), but while I thought this would be enough to help me, I have two problems–one, no foreign language skills, though I’ve applied to get that fixed during a year off after graduation, and two, no economic classes.</p>
<p>I’m taking basic microeconomics right now (which is slightly embarrassing while being a senior) and going to take macro my final quarter. My question is, would an MA in IR in a specific field that doesn’t require too much economics (say, human rights) need you to have micro and macro? Most admissions counselors seemed to imply it was highly recommended to get admitted, but I really don’t like math and don’t want to spend more time with it later. I haven’t really settled on what my specialization would be anyway, though at this point human rights seems like a good bet.</p>
<p>I would say that a good foundation in economics will benefit you regardless of what your subfield is. Lots of issues in development economics are central to problems facing human rights issues. Of course, there’s a difference between being a bona fide economist and having an exposure to it, but I’d imagine you should take at least a few courses in it during your future grad studies.</p>
<p>I applied to the graduate International Affairs program at the New School in New York, but I haven’t found much information (other than the info posted on their website) about it. Would anyone here know anything about the program and school in terms of reputation, resources and job prospects?</p>
<p>Currently a junior (credit-wise) at GWU for undergrad, double-majoring in IA and Poli Sci, minoring in History (At this school, double-majoring in IA/PoliSci is not that hard at all). Decent GPA (3.49).</p>
<p>My question is…where do I go from here? I’ve been asking various resources. Academics, professionals, career counselors…I just want to know what strangers on the Internet have to say. What direction should I take if I want to continue working on this field? I do wish to put my degree in IA to use (preferably government, naturally).</p>
<p>I’d like to apply to a big-name graduate school (Let’s not be TOO cynical about this…). </p>
<p>Let’s assume that money isn’t a major factor, as I receive amazing financial aid from GW.</p>
<p>EDIT: Let me clarify that I have done an internship, am currently working on my second internship, and have a third internship lined up for this upcoming summer. All in areas related to Political Science or History/IA.</p>
<p>EDIT2: Also open to the idea of working in order to gain a better perspective on any future MA program that I am in.</p>
<p>Abraxas- How could you do all that work and possibly forget the foreign language requirement? This is INTERNATIONAL Relations. Did you really think a top 10 school would care about you if you only spoke English?</p>
<p>You won’t need formal economics experience for all of the top 10, but most of the top 5 require it or will require you to take it. Do you want to waste graduate credits taking harder versions of those classes during your first term? For a 3.9 GPA-having student with a boner-inducing resume, you sure are pretty short-sighted.</p>
<p>Human rights? Seriously? Could you be more generic?</p>
<p>I am currently a senior at a small and quite unknown liberal arts college in the U.S. </p>
<p>My interests are American Foreign Policy, U.S diplomatic history,and International relations theory.
I aspire to a career either in diplomacy or academia or both.
Majors: International Studies, Political Science
Minor: Communications
GPA - 3.61
GRE: Verbal- 620, Math 560, Writing 4.5.
I have a course in principles of economics (B+) and another in Intermediate Macroeconomics (B). Will take intermediate micro in the summer.
I am from Nepal and my international experience includes almost 4 years of studying in the U.S. with 1 semester in D.C. at American University.
Languages: Hindi(speak/write), Nepali (speak/write), some Urdu (speak) [ language proficiency not in transcript]
Internships: One part time internship in diplomatic history with the Foreign Service Institute.
I have applied to Boston, ESIA, JHU, Georgetown, American, and Tufts for fall 2010. </p>
<p>This post is a result of second-thoughts on my applications. I realize that most of these universities require a few years of work experience and realistically my GPA and GRE scores are not that good. Provided that these places don’t accept me, what would i need to do to make myself a better candidate. Work experience of course-- working towards that to try and find internships in either the U.S. or Nepal. How many years of full time experience would be realistically needed?; More economics probably (Will try and take micro course in the summer after graduation). What else would i need to do?</p>
<p>What exactly is “generic” about human rights? It’s an emerging field that’s been increasing in funding and specialization in the last two decades and provided the recession doesn’t completely crush donations, most HR organizations have been growing rapidly over the past ten years. The language of human rights was almost non-existent before the 1980s, and since then it’s referenced in almost every policy area and has become a major aspect of almost every debate on global issues. It’s a pain in the a$$ field to work in, and the colleagues sometimes are blowhards with no social skills, but look at the way the world is trending. The ICC was a pipe dream ten years ago and now it’s indicting world leaders. The field needs smart people who are willing to take risks, don’t be stupid and dissuade people from throwing their weight in. It isn’t an easy field to jump into but can be tremendously rewarding if you’re diligent and willing to accept the fact that jobs can be hard to find and that you’ll have to learn a tremendous amount of ancillary skills in order to be successful.</p>
<p>Also, I’d like to hear from anyone who might have gone to Korbel and studied human rights there. I got in a few days ago, and while I’m waiting to hear back from the other schools I applied to, there is some appeal to living in Denver (good network of friends out there). Anyone have any familiarity with the faculty? Thanks.</p>