<p>I know there is a “What Are My Chances” section of the forum, but seeing that all the discussions there were on undergrad programs, I figured I’d get more helpful feedback here. I hope this is allowed.</p>
<p>Junior at a California state school. Interested in security and the Middle East.</p>
<p>GPA: 3.5
GRE: Not yet taken, but for all intents and purposes let’s assume that they will be fairly high.</p>
<p>Extracurriculars
- Model United Nations - Secretary
- Model Arab League - President
- Middle East Studies Student Association - President
- International Relations Student Association
- Chinese Flagship Program (a federally funded language training program)</p>
<p>Study Abroad
- University of Buenos Aires - summer Spanish program in Argentina
- National Taiwan University - summer Chinese program in Taiwan
- Nanjing University - semester in China</p>
<p>Work experience
- 3-month internship in Istanbul, Turkey
- 6-month internship in Shanghai, China
(These haven’t happened yet, hence the lack of details.)</p>
<p>Not sure if these are relevant/should be included:
- T.A. for IR theory application class
- Took two semesters of Arabic
- Muay Thai</p>
<p>The only thing that seems to be giving me some edge is the semester at Nanjing University, since NU has a joint IR master’s program with Johns Hopkins. Aside from that, my GPA is less-than-ideal and I’m coming from a mediocre school. Do I have a chance with any of the top IR schools? Or second-tiers?</p>