Graduate School Abroad

bringmewellies
Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:35:56 +0000

Hi everyone,
I’m interested in going to graduate school abroad. I hope to become a war correspondent one day, but since those jobs may become even harder to come by, I’m preparing to pursue a Ph.D. and become a professor or policy analyst. Either way, I’m hoping that going abroad for a MA degree and gaining international experience will be beneficial (and cheaper!)

To tell you about myself, I’m a recent graduate from Tulane University with a double major in English Literature and Political Science and a cumulative GPA of 3.6. I studied abroad my junior year at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, where I worked on the student newspaper. I was also a staff writer and political correspondent for Tulane’s newspaper for four years.
Aside from that, I was also chosen as one of only forty students at Tulane to be part of Democrat political correspondent James Carville’s class. Aside from academics, I was also involved with many on-campus and off-campus organizations, including student government, Amnesty International, American Red Cross and the Orleans Public Defenders office.

I’m currently an Americorps VISTA volunteer for a non-profit organization working at City Hall in New Orleans. My job for this year has been to help develop a comprehensive evacuation policy for the citizens of the city without transportation, in the case of a hurricane. I have been in charge of recruiting and training volunteers, presenting lectures at neighborhood watch meetings, grant writing and fundraising.

The two schools that I have been most interested in, so far, are American University in Cairo and King’s College London. I love the Middle East Studies program at AUC because it’s all-inclusive regarding the history, culture, language, politics and economics of the region; however, I’m worried that it may limit my options a bit because the focus is so specific on one region. The King’s College London programs, War Studies and Conflict, Security and Development, offer a much broader scope while allowing me to still pursue particular courses that focus on the Middle East, Africa, etc.

I would love to hear what others have to say about these two schools and even the particular programs offered. In both instances, what are my chances of coming back to the U.S. to pursue a Ph.D. program? Or a job even?
Also, any other ideas/suggestions/thoughts about other schools I should consider? I’ve heard LSE offers some great programs, so I’d be interested to hear about chances of acceptance, etc.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
bringmewellies

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