The University of Chicago Committee on International Relations

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Monica Hanssen

Monica Hanssen
Class of '03

I came to CIR with a Bachelor's degree in Management and a desire to learn more about international relations. The interdisciplinary nature of the program allowed me to quickly "catch up" on basic theory and gave me the opportunity to delve into further areas of interest.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Applications
Choosing CIR
Financial Aid
Coursework and Curriculum
Thesis
International Students

Be sure to also check the university-wide web pages for topics such as student housing, student loan information, and student employment opportunities. International students should check the website of the Office of International Affairs. If this page leaves you with further questions or concerns about the general academic characteristics of CIR, program requirements, intellectual and professional outcomes for graduates, financial aid decisions, or any other career concerns, please email or phone us at (773) 702-8073.

The CIR Student Affairs Administrator, E.G. Enbar (773) 702-8312 and Mimi Smiley (773) 702-8073, in the CIR program office will be happy to discuss with you matters such as housing, campus employment, campus days and orientation schedules, registration procedures, and international student issues. Much useful information for incoming students can be found at the Graduate & Professional School Students site.

Applications

Choosing CIR

Financial Aid

Coursework and Curriculum

Thesis

International Students

Q: What sorts of students accept admission to the CIR program? Who will my classmates be?
The CIR class of 2007-2008 looks roughly like other recent cohorts. The average age is 24, with a range from 21-29. Two thirds of the cohort's members are coming to us straight from college, and the other 33% are coming in with work experience or advanced degrees in a wide variety of fields. Six students already have a Master's degree. Thirty percent are female. Fourteen percent are from abroad, including China, U.K., South Korea, Taiwan, Serbia, Poland, and Canada. All of our matriculants share a commitment to learning, and to testing their knowledge and abilities in one of the most intense intellectual environments in the world.
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Q: My application was referred to the CIR program. How did that come about?
The department to which you originally applied was unable to offer you admission. However, the departmental admissions committee felt there was sufficient promise in your application to indicate that it would be mutually beneficial to have you as a graduate student at the University of Chicago. CIR offers a way for you to take the same courses with the same faculty in the same Division of the Social Sciences that you might take as a beginning Ph.D. student, but in the context of a free-standing, one-year, interdisciplinary M.A. program. CIR offers greater freedom and flexibility in exploring and consolidating research interests than does the first year of work in a typical doctoral program.
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Q: Why wasn't I accepted by the department I applied to?
We cannot speak for our departmental colleagues. We will be happy to review, on an individual basis, some of the possible reasons for not being accepted to help you identify precisely which gaps you can fill in, and which doubts you can overcome through successful Chicago graduate work in the CIR program. We will likewise help you interpret the results of your applications to other universities, again in strategic preparation for a new round of applications should you decide to pursue further graduate work after earning your Chicago M.A.
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Q: I am trying to choose between M.A. and Ph.D. programs in international relations. What are the main differences?
An M.A. in IR is often an excellent entry point for work in business or government. Most M.A. programs take 2 years. Chicago's is a faster track. All students enter as part of the 1-year program and most obtain their M.A. after a single year. Some students apply to stay for a second year so they can take more courses in a specialized area.

First, the Ph.D. in political science (with an IR focus) is essentially a degree aimed at teaching and research. It is sometimes used for consulting or specialized work in government or business. Graduates from the University of Chicago Department of Political Science generally end up in teaching positions at other highly-ranked schools such as Berkeley or Michigan, or they go to work for think-tanks like RAND, government agencies like the State Department, or some international business. The focus of a Ph.D. program, however, is usually on academic jobs and scholarly research. Generally speaking, a university teaching job requires a Ph.D. and top graduate programs focus on producing such teachers.

If you decide to go for a Ph.D., you will find that most students take 5-7 years to complete a degree. The coursework takes a couple of years and includes requirements across the board in political science, not just IR. After that, it takes a little while to settle on a dissertation topic and usually 2-3 years to write it. During the first years of such a program, you may receive scholarship and a monetary stipend (which are rare in professional schools like CIR, or law or business schools). In later years, you may work as a teaching assistant. To produce a top-rank thesis and get a really good academic job, it helps a lot to go to one of the best 6 or 7 schools in political science/IR such as Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Chicago, and others.

The CIR program is also a good entry point for students considering a top-quality Ph.D. program but still unsure if they want to make that heavy commitment. That is, you can use your year at CIR to determine whether you are really interested in pursuing a doctoral degree and then apply to leading doctoral programs around the country. The CIR program is especially valuable for students thinking of doctoral studies because CIR has a more "academic" program than most schools. Here, you take regular graduate courses with graduate faculty, alongside Ph.D. candidates. As a result, you can explore your interest in a research-oriented doctoral program while strengthening your academic background for further study.
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Q: How do CIR students not awarded scholarship assistance, and those whose expenses exceed their awards, finance their Master's degrees?
They finance their degree through a combination of personal funds, term-time work, and educational loans.
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Q: Are there outside fellowships I can apply for?
There may be limited national and local scholarships and fellowships for US citizens to apply for a one-year MA program. We recommend that you consult with the financial aid office at your undergraduate institution to find this information, or search for major funding institutions on the Web. Our office cannot provide advice in this regard.

International students may be funded by their respective governments or other foreign institutions. International students are encouraged to explore possibilities with their home governments and educational organizations.
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Q: Financing the CIR degree will require serious sacrifices. How can I determine if it's a wise investment?
Individual circumstances vary so much that's it's impossible to give one answer equally good for all prospective students. However, we suggest you make the following calculations for yourself:
  • How fast will I make back my investment in my graduate education after I re-enter the job market with a University of Chicago M.A., as against what I will earn in the same field with my current B.A.?
  • If I instead decide to go on to a Ph.D. program, how fast will I make back my investment in CIR if I enter with a fellowship for doctoral study, as against the level of aid I have presently been offered?

The remarkable growth of the CIR program in recent years and the development of clone programs in the University's Humanities and Physical Sciences divisions testify to the positive outcome of such calculations for Chicago students in today's career and graduate admissions environments. Once again, the Spring Campus Days offer the opportunity to discuss these matters with current students and recent alumni.
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Q: Most Master's degree programs I'm familiar with take two or even more years to complete. Can I really accomplish very much in a one-year program?
We are on the quarter system, and full-time CIR students register for three courses per quarter, completing the nine-course requirement for the CIR M.A. degree between late September and mid-June. The workload in many Chicago quarter courses is equivalent to what is assigned for a semester elsewhere. In addition, a continuous stream of non-credit graduate workshops, lecture series, and departmental seminars add opportunities for intellectual growth throughout the year. Also, much of graduate learning is peer learning, and at Chicago and in CIR, every student learns continuously from intellectually diverse and committed fellow students.
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Q: How many students actually complete the CIR degree in one year? And what is the overall graduation rate?
All students complete their nine course registrations by the end of spring quarter. These days, over 96% of our students complete all of their work for those courses in the three quarters, between late September and mid-June.

In a typical year, 25-30% complete the master's paper by the end of three quarters as well. However, it is common for the rest to finish and submit their theses during the summer months, making for a total of approximately 85% who will have completed the entire degree in one calendar year. The rest delay handing in their theses, usually in order to take up a job opportunity in an excellent market, to do further research, or because they have entered a law or Ph.D. program elsewhere. Most of these students submit their theses and receive their degrees over the subsequent three quarters.

We hope you will recognize how unusually strong this record of student completion is, particularly at Chicago standards of performance. It testifies to the care with which CIR makes admissions decisions, the continuous support the program provides its matriculants, and the attainments our students regularly make in the course of their year at CIR.
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Q: What are CIR's graduation requirements?
To earn the M.A. degree, CIR students must:
  1. Complete nine graduate- level courses.
    • With the following exception, all courses must be taken for a quality grade. In lieu of one quality (i.e. letter) grade, students may take a "pass" grade in either IR 49700 (Independent Research) or English 33000 (Academic and Professional Writing). A total of eight quality grades is required for graduation.
    • The student must maintain a 2.70 GPA across all graded courses.
    • Seven of the nine courses must be approved by CIR, i.e. on the CIR course list.
    • Three of the courses must be in the Division of Social Sciences.
    • In the Autumn Quarter, students enroll in INRE 43000, CIR Core Seminar: IR Theory.
  2. Fulfill the CIR course distribution requirements.
    • The student must take three courses in each of two Fields of Study.
    • The student must maintain a 3.00 GPA across the six courses taken to fulfill the distribution requirement.
  3. Receive a grade of "pass" in the MA paper workshops, mandatory non-credit courses offered in the winter and spring quarters. (Note that there is no additional tuition charged for these courses and they do not count toward the 9 graduate-level course requirement. Please see the Study Guide for more information.)
  4. Receive a grade of "pass" in "Perspectives on International Relations," a mandatory non-credit course offered in the autumn quarter. (Note that there is no additional tuition charged for this course and it does not count toward the 9 graduate-level or Core IR Theory course requirement. Please see the Study Guide for more information.)
  5. Complete an M.A. thesis with the approval of a faculty reader and a preceptor reader.
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Q: Who supervises my Master's Degree thesis?
You will have two thesis supervisors. One should be a faculty sponsor chosen from the list of University of Chicago faculty members who serve on the Committee on International Relations. It is also possible to petition the Committee's director to request a first reader who is not a Committee member, and these requests are usually granted if there is a good rationale for choosing this faculty member. Your CIR preceptor serves as the second evaluator of your paper. You will work most closely with him/her in the M.A. paper workshops, which are required of all CIR students in the winter and spring quarters. These workshops are designed to help you develop, draft, and successfully complete your thesis project.
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Q: How long must a thesis be?
The MA paper should use theoretically informed analysis or interpretation to make an argument regarding a significant problem, event, issue, process, relationship, or institution in international relations. It should be approximately 35-45 pages in length. Theses over 14,000 words, including footnotes, will not be accepted. The Committee strongly recommends Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations and The Chicago Manual of Style as guides to the proper format for research papers.
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Q: Who are the CIR preceptors?
The preceptor system is one of the keys to CIR's high rates of student morale, degree completion, and alumni satisfaction. The preceptors are University doctoral candidates in the final stages of completing their dissertations. The preceptors are handpicked for their demonstrated excellence in teaching and advising, their knowledge of faculty, courses, and workshops in their own and in other departments and research fields, their multidisciplinary interests, their sociable and supportive natures, and their engagements in worlds beyond the university. The preceptors complement the director and staff in all aspects of student advising and support. You are assigned to a preceptor on the basis of your disciplinary and research interests.
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Q: How competitive is admission to CIR at the University of Chicago, and what are the admission criteria?
We expect to fill 40 places for each academic year. Historically, our class size has ranged between 30-50 per year, with an average of 50 students for the last four years. In our admissions process, the Committee considers many factors: the letters of recommendation, academic background, work experience, and the fit of the candidate with the strengths of the program. In addition to the University of Chicago's standard application form, all applicants (including international students) must submit scores from the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). The GRE score is only one of a number of criteria that the Committee considers when evaluating applicants; we do not use strict score cutoffs in our evaluation. Applicants must also submit a 10-20-page writing sample, perhaps from a seminar paper or senior thesis. The content of the writing sample can be about any subject, though argumentative papers of interest to CIR members are certainly preferred. Please do not submit multiple short papers in lieu of a longer writing sample; the committee wishes to see the applicant's ability to treat a subject with some depth. Applicants from non-English-speaking countries must also submit TOEFL or IELTS scores. Each TOEFL section score must be a minimum of 60 (paper exam), 25 (computerized 4-section "new" exam). IELTS section scores must be 7 or higher. Our students also generally have an undergraduate G.P.A. of 3.5 (on a 4.0-point scale) and above.
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Q: How much does it cost to apply?
The fee for 2008-2009 is $55.00. The only exemption from the application fee is for alumni and current students of the University of Chicago.
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Q: Is it possible for foreign applicants to obtain an application fee waiver?
No, this is not possible. All applicants, regardless of nationality, must pay the University's application fee. The fee for 2008-2009 is $55.00.
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Q: Can I apply online? Does it make a difference whether or not I apply online or on paper?
Yes, you can apply online! In fact, we encourage everyone to apply electronically. The online application can be accessed out by clicking the "Apply Online" button on the CIR Home Page. The online application allows you to save and edit your application electronically before submitting it. This eliminates the need to fill out forms by hand or with a typewriter, and ensures that the application is received by the deadline. There are some parts of the application, which cannot be filed with us electronically, such as your writing sample, but these supplemental materials can be submitted as a hard copy separately. The online application website will guide you. Furthermore, the electronic application allows for systematic tracking of your supplemental materials submissions.
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Q: What is the deadline for applying to the program?
Complete applications should be received by December 28, whether you are applying electronically or on paper.
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Q: How long should my personal statement be?
We strongly recommend limiting your essay to 800 words or less, which should be more than enough to explain your motivations and interests in the program. Your personal statement should highlight your academic and research interests.
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Q: As part of my application, I want to send my GRE or TOEFL scores to the Committee on International Relations. What is the code number that I should use?
Please select "1832" for the University of Chicago and "2299" for the department/program.
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Q: I am an international applicant. Does my undergraduate degree satisfy the minimum requirements for admission to the program?
There are university-wide policies, which govern the minimum entry requirements for international applicants. If you have any questions regarding your eligibility on the basis of your undergraduate degree, please contact Esther Pandian, Assistant Dean of Students, in the Social Sciences Dean of Students Office (773) 702-8415).
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Q: Is it possible to get a joint degree with the Graduate School of Business, or the Law School, for example?
The Committee on International Relations offers three joint degree programs: B.A./M.A. (for undergraduates entering their final year in the College at the University of Chicago), M.B.A./M.A. with the Graduate School of Business, and the J.D./M.A, with the law school. In addition, there is the option of a dual M.A. in IR and M.A. in Public Policy Studies. Joint and dual degree students must satisfy all CIR degree requirements, including course distribution requirements and attendance at an M.A. workshop for one quarter. Joint degree students should see their CIR preceptor for a separate guide for joint degree study.

Only University of Chicago undergraduates may apply for the B.A./M.A. program. No GRE scores are required. For further information see your College advisor and contact Esther Pandian, Assistant Dean of Students in the Social Sciences, (773) 702-8415.

Applicants interested in the joint J.D./M.A. program must apply separately to both the Law School (1111 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA) and the Committee on International Relations.

Applicants interested in the joint M.B.A./M.A. program must contact the Office of International Programs at the Graduate School of Business (1101 East 58th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA) or call at (773) 702-4499. An applicant who is also considering a non-joint degree program must make a separate application to either the Graduate School of Business or the Committee on International Relations or both.

Applicants interested in the dual M.A. program in International Relations and Public Policy Studies must apply separately to both the Committee on International Relations and the Harris School of Public Policy (1155 1155 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA). For this dual degree, students generally apply during the autumn quarter, though they may apply at the same time as their application to CIR. Contact the Harris School for more details.
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Q: Does the Committee on International Relations offer a Ph.D. degree?
No, CIR does not offer a Ph.D., but the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago does. CIR only offers one program, the Master of Arts in International Relations.
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Q: How are students admitted to the CIR program?
Approximately 75% of CIR students are direct applicants to CIR; the rest have had their applications referred to the program by other Chicago departments, primarily Political Science and History. All applications are evaluated by an admissions committee that includes the CIR director and the CIR preceptors. Admissions and aid recommendations are subsequently made to the Dean of Students in the Social Sciences. Students are then admitted to degree work in the Graduate Division of the Social Sciences at The University of Chicago.
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Q: May I pursue the CIR degree part-time?
No, the program requires a full-time commitment, but only for one year (which amounts to nine months of classes). We feel that you will get the most from an intense program like this if you are devoted to it full time. Also, there are next to no graduate courses offered in the evenings, and part-time students would find that they are disadvantaged in this respect. And, importantly, part-time students are not eligible to apply for or to receive University financial aid.
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Q: Does CIR offer a distance-learning degree?
No. The program is only available as a full-time, on-campus degree program.
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Q: Does CIR offer the opportunity to study abroad?
No. All coursework must be completed in Chicago while matriculating as a CIR student.
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Q: Does CIR accept transfer credits from another university?
No. All 9 graduate-level courses toward the degree must be completed at the University of Chicago while matriculating as a CIR student.
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Q: Is it possible to begin the program in winter, spring, or summer quarters?
No, we have only one admissions selection, and this is for fall quarter. The university's cycle runs autumn to spring. Master's thesis workshops are taught in winter and spring. Students complete their theses in either spring or summer quarter.
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Q: If for whatever reason it is impossible for me to matriculate in CIR next fall, may I defer my admission?
We do not "defer" admissions to CIR. You may "reactivate" your application the following year. Based on past examples, the chances are very good that you will be admitted again. The procedure is as follows: you should decline our offer of admissions for next autumn, while indicating by letter to the Dean of Students Office your intention to "reactivate" (our trigger-word) your application for the following year. This will keep your file available and current, allowing you to supplement it for the next admissions cycle with a new statement of purpose and any other new supporting materials you care to supply. The CIR director will be happy to consult with you next November or December about how to make your next application stronger for the aid competition.
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Q: How are financial aid decisions made?
All graduate student aid is merit-based. The CIR program offers full and partial tuition scholarships on a highly competitive basis. CIR does not offer stipends or fellowships over and above tuition. Assuming normal progress through the program, tuition awards are automatically renewed for the winter and spring quarters of the CIR year.
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Q: Am I eligible for tuition scholarships if I am a foreign student?
Yes. CIR does not discriminate against foreign applicants in the awarding of tuition awards. Since all awards are merit-based, foreign and domestic applicants are considered alongside one another for both admission and aid.
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Q: When do we choose classes and register? When will the course list be available?
You will not need to worry about course selection or registration until you arrive on campus for orientation week (September 17-21, 2007). The course list will be distributed on the Monday of orientation, and you will meet with your preceptor to register for courses on Wednesday.

The CIR Approved Course List changes from year to year. However, for illustration purposes ONLY, you may wish to examine this sample course list.
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Q: If I do not finish my thesis by the end of spring quarter, do I have to keep paying tuition to the University until it is finished?
No. Your tuition is billed each quarter for the nine courses required for your degree. And after that you pay no further tuition. However, there may be additional fees for use of university facilities.
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Q: I'm interested in a Ph.D. at some point in the future. Will my CIR coursework transfer to a Ph.D. program elsewhere?
That depends on the university and department in question. If a Ph.D. is your goal, we recommend you contact departments with this question. In the past, many of our students who have applied to Ph.D. programs at the University of Chicago and elsewhere have had most of their CIR coursework transfer over to the Ph.D. program.
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Q: What if I want to take more than nine courses?
The full-time load for a graduate student at the University of Chicago is three courses per quarter. You cannot register for any more than that, except for the three mandatory, noncredit courses required to graduate. (See What are CIR's graduation requirements? above.) Naturally, your intellectual engagements will extend beyond the formal courses you are taking, and some students choose to informally audit additional classes, but you cannot register for or receive formal course credit for more than nine courses during your CIR academic year. Nor would you wish to, or would anyone expect you to; due to the rigorous expectations of all courses and the pacing of the 10-week quarter system, 9 courses throughout the year offer an ample challenge.
It is possible, although very few CIR students do it, to stay at the University for a second year and register for additional courses while finishing their theses. However, in such cases, one must register not as CIR program or Social Science Division students, but as Graduate-Students-at-Large (GSAL). You apply for admission to the Graham School of General Studies and must pay full tuition for such courses, from your own or an outside agency's funds.
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Q: What is Second-year Specialization, and how does one apply for it?
The Second-year Specialization program is designed for a select few students who wish to pursue a particular research topic in greater depth than is possible in our 1-year MA program. Specialization is best designed for students who plan to continue with graduate studies in a Ph.D. program at Chicago or elsewhere.

There are two kinds of M.A. programs with Specialization:
  • The Sub-Disciplinary Specialization is for students who want to conduct advanced research in one of the Committee's non-regional sub-fields (i.e., security, international history and IR Theory; international political economy and development; international law, human rights and the environment).
  • The Regional Specialization is for students who want to conduct advanced research about a particular region: African studies, Latin American studies, East Asian studies, Middle and Central Europe and Eurasian studies, South Asian studies, Middle Eastern studies, or Western European studies.

Applications for specialization are made at the end of the second quarter of the first year. On average 4-6 apply and approximately 2-4 are accepted. The specialization application, which is normally 3-to-5 pages, must include:
  1. A cover letter with name, address, phone number, e-mail address and a statement of the nature of the specialization (i.e., specific sub-disciplinary field or regional focus);
  2. An M.A. proposal related to the objectives of the specialization-including a tentative bibliography and a statement of research methods;
  3. A list of the six courses to be taken in the second year as the basis of specialization (students should make an effort to determine whether faculty may be away on leave next year, and plan accordingly); and
  4. A letter of recommendation from a faculty sponsor who is either a member of the Committee or approved in advance as eligible for this role.

In addition, all six grades for Fall and Winter Quarters must be on record with the University Registrar. For missing grades (i.e., for uncompleted multi-quarter courses), students must submit a written evaluation by the instructor, assessing student performance. Admission to the M.A. with Specialization requires a minimum GPA of 3.50 for the six courses taken in the first two quarters of residence.

A CIR faculty committee meets early in the spring quarter to recommend which students will be permitted to specialize. Admission is competitive. Typically, students recommended for second-year specialization receive assistance toward tuition, though these grants are at the discretion of the Committee and the Dean of Students.
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Q: If I do especially well in my first quarter of work in CIR, can my financial aid be increased?
No. The Division of Social Sciences does not increase tuition scholarships during the academic year.
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Q: How difficult is it to find part-time work on campus?
It is not difficult at all. There are plenty of campus jobs available, both work-study and not. For some time now every student who has sought work on campus has found it, though naturally, some jobs are more desirable and pay better than others. Some students prefer to work off campus and the city of Chicago offers a large market for part-time employment. Some CIR students also take part-time internships or contract work with companies or public institutions they have targeted as potential full-time employers after graduation, particularly in the winter and spring quarters.
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Q: Can I get a teaching assistantship or research assistantship?
The University of Chicago does not believe in appointing first-year graduate students to teaching assistantships and never makes assistantships a part of any financial aid package. Research assistantships, on the other hand, are widely available and approximately 20% of any CIR cohort will hold an R.A. position at one time or another during their CIR year. Research assistantships are not arranged in advance of the student's arrival on campus or through any central office or application mechanism. Faculty members obviously prefer to hire graduate students they have met and evaluated directly.
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Q: How do I get information about loans?
Upon receipt of your acceptance of admission to the University, you will be sent a packet of information on loans, health insurance, and other related matters. You may also contact the Student Loan Administration office. The Social Sciences Dean of Students office will also provide general information on loans during Spring Campus Days or by phone at (773) 702-8414.
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Q: As an international student, am I eligible for loans or term-time employment?
Loans are not available to international students. Generally speaking, international students are limited to certain types of on-campus employment. The Dean of Students office, at (773) 702-8414, can provide more detailed information. Also, international students should consult the website of the Office of International Affairs.
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Q: What do CIR graduates do after they complete the degree and graduate?
CIR students are a diverse group and their goals vary from year to year. In general, one third of our students go on to do policy-related work in government or in non-governmental organizations. One third go on to work in the private sector. The final one third go on for additional graduate work, usually for a PhD or a J.D.
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Q: What is the difference between the IMBA offered by the Graduate School of Business (GSB) and the joint MBA/MA offered jointly by CIR and the GSB?
The International MBA degree offers an applied, experiential degree program in international business which requires studying for one quarter abroad and provides students with practical skills and training in intercultural management and business education. It is supervised entirely by the Graduate School of Business.

The MBA/MA degree approaches international business through theory and an interdisciplinary curriculum which incorporates a thorough knowledge of international issues, cultures, or regions. Students in the joint program must complete all CIR program requirements, including the master's thesis. The joint degree takes longer to complete than the IMBA.
 
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