<p>I'm applying to IR / International Affairs programs at Georgetown, Tufts and John Hopkins. I am ignorant about the admissions process. Roughly what odds do I have of getting accepted at these schools?</p>
<p>-3.5 GPA from University of Southern California
-BS in Business and BA in Spanish w/ a minor in Latin American studies
-Studied abroad in Santiago, Chile and Madrid, Spain (also taught English in Chile)
-Did self-designed undergrad research (received funding from USC)
-Very strong @ Spanish
-Travelled to 50+ countries
-590 Verbal and 750 Quantitative w/ a low 4.5 on the writing section. </p>
<p>(Hoping to concentrate on Latin American policy in the grad program)</p>
<p>well, for one thing, it’s johnS hopkins. so, getting the name of the school wrong would probably tank your application.</p>
<p>also, your verbal score on the GRE is pretty low. you have a lot of experience with spanish and contact with latin american culture, but do you have any work experience related to public policy?</p>
<p>your chances are… average. the fluency is a big plus, but the GRE isn’t great and the GPA’s not amazing (not terrible, but not amazing). you sound sort of middle of the pack, so your LORs and SOP will have to make you stand out.</p>
<p>Thanks for the honest and detailed feedback! I don’t have any experience working in foreign policy. But, I forgot to mention that I’m part Native American (if that might help the application)</p>
<p>What is it that you want to use your degree for? What is your passion? How is the degree going to help you accomplish this specific mission in your life? Those are the sorts of things you have to convey in your SOP in order to get accepted.</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>to the OP, i don’t think your ethnicity will affect your chances of getting in, one way or the other. they aren’t (usually) looking to fill quotas in graduate school. it doesn’t hurt to mention it, but i don’t think it will impact the overall profile.</p>
<p>like i said, overall you meet all of the threshold markers: GRE isn’t the best, but it’s high enough. GPA isn’t the best, but it’s high enough. so your application will be considered carefully. the thing that matters the most is your writing sample, your LORs, and your statement of purpose. get LORs from well-connected professors who know your work well. have professors and others that you trust read over your writing sample and SOP, go through several drafts, and tailor your SOP to each school you’re applying to. this is really the most important part. if you do all these things well, you have a chance at any school. if you don’t, you’ll slip through the cracks at almost all of them. so good luck!</p>
<p>to atican: the GPA is stellar, and don’t be afraid of the GRE. just make the threshold (90th percentile or so) and you’re good to go. the internships will help a lot, and the italian knowledge will help. latin may not help as much since no one speaks it, but it certainly looks good on a transcript and will likely convey to adcoms that you could pick up most romance languages with some ease.</p>
<p>the internships will look good, the political campaign stuff will look good. they will not care about the frat stuff and if anything will be biased against it. sad but true, and if i were you i’d leave it off your resume all together. frats carry a very negative connotation in grad school and it won’t help your app to mention it.</p>
<p>your chances sound good. same advice: tailor your SOP to each school and go over your writing sample with a fine tooth comb.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, but Phi Beta Kappa is the most well-known, most prestigious, and I think oldest national honors society in the country (and not a frat in a traditional sense–women are admitted, after all). It doesn’t mean much anymore, but it’s put on your degree if you’re admitted. It basically means you have a well-rounded education (with classes outside your field of study) with high academic achievement.</p>
<p>As all my friends are starting to get accepted and non of my schools have the decisions yet I thought I would maybe get some helpful advice about my chances too…</p>
<p>Applying to: </p>
<p>LSE-PKU: Double Degree in International Affairs
Columbia SIPA: MIA
George Washington: Master in International Trade and Investment Policy
Georgetown: Security Studies
University College London: International Financial Management
The New School: MIA
Pickering Fellowship :)</p>
<p>American, studying at Jacobs University Bremen in Germany (no one has heard of it, but it is a good school, we complete a bachelor in 3 years, very international (98 nations represented in 600 student body) and many of our students have got into Harvard, LSE, Columbia etc. </p>
<p>BA in International Politics and History
BA Thesis on US Current Account Deficit Reduction Strategies through Economic Policy
GPA: 1.47 (German) approximately 3.8 American (at least I think, I have only about 5 Bs throughout my studies, so if it is lower someone let me know)
I will have about 20 credits of statistics and 35 credits of economics (although no micro and macro)
GRE: 720 M 560V 5.0 W
Languages: Spanish and German- Intermediate, Chinese (Mandarin) - Basic</p>
<p>Summer internship in Micro-financing in Nicaragua
Two Years working as College Office Assistant in Germany
Two years as Student Parliamentarian and Founder of my own club on campus
Chair Committee of Finance Undergraduate Student Government
Several other extra-circulars</p>
<p>I realize that I am quite young (20) do you think this will have any affect on my chances? Also to be honest I am mainly interested in International Trade and Finance now, and I would like to get some internships in Investment Banking. Do you think I would have any chance at this? Mainly interested in work at consulting agencies and banks, but I would also work for economic policy think tanks and the US foreign service. I attempted to put this across in my statements.</p>
<p>Do I have any chance of getting accepted??? :/</p>
It doesn’t mean much anymore, but it’s put on your degree if you’re admitted. It basically means you have a well-rounded education (with classes outside your field of study) with high academic achievement.</p>
</p>