Steps Back and Forward
The day before Thanksgiving I had to take a step back in my plans. That was the day I received my letter stating that I was not accepted to American University for January 2011. While I knew that my odds were 50/50 at the best, it was still a big disappointment for me, since I’ve been itching for a general change in my life for several months now. I’ll admit that I cried a few times after I got the news. The short, cold, dark days of winter make me a bit more susceptible to my more negative emotions. It’s been about four weeks since I got that news now. I’ve been figuring out what I want to do.
Waiting Game
The month has been a quiet one. I did a bit of research and found out not to expect a decision about American University and the School of International Service until mid-November. Which means that now that we’re getting to mid-November I’m nervously watching my email and physical mail for word of whether I get to begin graduate study in January. I did decide that American was the only program I would pursue for Spring 2010. I’m building a list of top programs for Fall 2011 as well.
Two schools in particular stand out to me. The University of Denver and Tufts University have both reached out to me through the GRE Search Service. I had looked into Tufts before, but not U. Denver. I’ve given a second look to Tufts, and decided to pursue both it and U. Denver, which has a program that lines up very well with my career goal of working as an economic analyst for the U.S. or an IGO such as the UN or WTO. Thanks to the competitiveness of graduate admissions in a tough economy, I’ll be applying to several other schools in addition to these two if I don’t get into American.
In the next week I hope to have a short 10-page version of a subject I would like to study in depth in graduate school: how to best integrate developing economies into the world economy in a way that promotes growth and has positive benefits for them and their trade partners. I’m doing a short 10-page paper exploring the ideas of Joseph Stiglitz of the WTO and Ha-Joon Chang, who challenge the notion that neo-liberal strategies are the best way to promote growth. I’m doing this through a case study of South Korea on one hand and Mexico & Chile on the other hand. South Korea carefully sequenced its entry into the international economy, while Chile and, Mexico (especially after the adoption of NAFTA) embraced neo-liberal policies. It will just be a rough exploration, but one I would like to develop as I continue my studies.
And that’s about all there is to report. I’ll check back in when I have news of whether January finds me in Washington or taking a few more courses at RVCC up here in NJ.
