<p>I come from a top 20 school with decent gpa/high gre but double majored in neuro/spanish. </p>
<p>My list of schools are tiered into top choice dream schools, tier 2 schools, back up grad school programs (ones I'm sure to get into), and finally post bacc programs.</p>
<p>My fall back to back up graduate schools are post-bacc programs which are so far Columbia and Northwestern. I was thinking of UT-Austin as a back up but I'm not sure. My dream school is UCSD and Sciences Po. I am a little iffy about post-bacc programs because I have no idea what their admissions rates are and if I end up not getting into a grad school that I want, then I want to at least go to a really good post-bacc programs. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions on this please let me know. </p>
<p>There’s really no such thing as a “back-up graduate school,” or there shouldn’t be. First of all, on average most graduate programs are more competitive than most undergraduate programs, so you can’t really be assured of admission anywhere - although certainly some programs are a surer bet than others. I can’t be 100% sure, but UT-Austin doesn’t really sound like a back-up - it’s bad to generalize like this, but UT-Austin usually has good to top quality programs.</p>
<p>But more importantly, even if there were programs with super high admissions rates that could serve as a backup in your field - I’m not sure that there should be any on your list. This isn’t like college, where a BA is increasingly a requirement for a middle-class lifestyle/most white collar jobs. You don’t need to go to graduate school, and a graduate degree is a means to an end. You need to get one that is uniquely tailored to what you want to do. Choosing a program because of it’s high admission rate may mean that you get into a program that’s not really a good fit for you. Moreover, you have to wonder why the program has such high acceptance rates/lower standards.</p>
<p>I’m not really sure that a post baccalaureate program is necessarily a good choice for you. Most of them are at private schools and are very expensive, but if you come from a top 20 school with a good GPA and GRE scores, you don’t need more education or to boost your GPA. Actually, for international relations what would probably benefit you more if you don’t get in is work experience. So I would only apply for post-bacc programs that have significant work/internship components. You could also try for a Fulbright. Otherwise I’d use working in the field as a back-up plan, and then trying again in 2-3 years after you have more experience. I think the average age of a starting student at most IR programs is about 25-27.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply! I really appreciate it! I’ve looked at several programs and I have only picked out the ones whose programs tailor to the career paths I want. I’m taking a gap year and teaching English in Argentina for a year. I just turned 23 years old. I was thinking postbacc because my background was all science/premedical based. I was having difficulty choosing graduate schools other than my dream choices since all the programs that catered to what I want in a career are all competitive. In fact, after reading your post I’m even more scared that I won’t be able to get into graduate school because what I want to do requires a Master’s in IR. Thank you for your advice. I will definitely look into more post-bacc programs that have significant work/internship components and jobs in that field as well. </p>