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any current SAIS students?


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Hey GradCafe,

 

I just got into SAIS off the waitlist and have negotiated for a few days to make a decision. I'm pretty set on attending SAIS in DC this Fall. The location and networking opportunities cannot be beat, and while I'm not much of a quant guy, I recognize I need to bolster my knowledge of economics to have a successful career in international affairs. I've never really been to the east coast/DC either, so I would look forward to being in a new environment and attending what I hear is an excellent graduate program in IA. 

 

I've been speaking with a lot of professors, colleagues, professional peers, etc in making my decision, and in so doing, I've had a few questions emerge. 

 

1.) I don't care too much about this kind of thing, but I've heard some interesting lines of rhetoric from some folks regarding a "neoconservative bent" to the SAIS curriculum and faculty. Can any current students speak to this apparent spirit? Put a different way, how would current students characterize the "ideology" or "pedagogy" of SAIS? Like I said, I don't care too much about this stuff, but for what it's worth, I attended a pretty left-wing liberal arts college and am armed with certain ideas that probably do not match so-called "neoconservative" ones. 

 

2.) As mentioned, I'm not much of a quant guy. Will need to take the online Principles of Econ course before I enroll in Fall classes. I've only taken one Econ 100 class. I am excited to study economics at an advanced level, but am also a little anxious! I knew Econ would be a part of my graduate study, and actually only applied to programs that featured an econ emphasis as these are skills I want to develop. However, SAIS is notorious for its economics instruction. I suspect economics at SAIS will kick my ass, which is fine, as this is graduate school. But really, how intense is it? What kinds of resources are available to those students who historically have struggled with such courses? 

 

3.) What is your FAVORITE and LEAST FAVORITE thing about SAIS? 

 

4.) How competitive is the student body? I would look forward to being surrounded by smart, motivated, ambitious classmates. At the same time, I would not want to feel like I am in constant competition with them. What is the community like? What kinds of adjectives would you use to describe the typical SAIS student? 

 

Thanks for reading through this and taking the time to answer! 

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I had the same thought and checked the faculty list. A significant number of former advisors in the Bush administration teach or taught at SAIS. Most famously former SAIS dean Paul Wolfowitz as deputy secretary of Defense. If you come from a left wing LAC, you will notice the difference at SAIS. SAIS isnt' Berkeley or Fletcher.

 

There are a few profs from the Carter (Z Brzezinksi) and Clinton administration. SAIS focuses more on policy analysis with a 'real politics' bent. An ambassador wrote in his memoirs that the reputation has existed for decades. When he started his career after SAIS as junior diplomat, other diplomats from Eastern Europe teased him about SAIS as the Spy School. He wrote that some adjunct profs had Langley background rather scholastic track record.

 
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  • 2 weeks later...

Any international affairs school with real power will have more than a few 'neocons' and 'liberal internationalists' on the faculty. That's just the nature of the game, so be prepared for it. You'll certainly meet plenty more as you embark on your career. 

 

Congrats on your acceptance and enjoy SAIS. I quite enjoyed the student body - found it to be fairly competitive, but mostly stimulating and just plain fun - when I was visiting campuses and making my own admissions decision. 

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