lobsterphone

@DaniCM Best of luck and hope you're closer to a decision! I threw in my hat today for SIPA. I'm looking forward to hearing which you choose!

Hmmmm although I can't speak to the party scene at SIPA, I didn't perceive it as a huge emphasis of the students--if anything, I've heard more from current students about staying in the international affairs building til midnight, spending 12-15 hours on econ homework per week, and attending as many speaker events as you can. NYC offers functional alcoholics a great haven, but it also just as highly values intellectual exploration. In general, yes, there's probably way more to do in NYC and you can be out every night til 4 am if you want; and sure, maybe when you first move here you'll go a little bit nuts; and no, you probably can't find that many things to do in Medford; but at the end of the day if you want to hole up and study you'll likely find just as welcome of an environment in local libraries, coffee shops, and on campus. Just my two cents.

I received funding earlier this week from a school that had initially offered none. Granted, their acceptance letter was very clear about my being in the pool to be considered for second round funding. I haven't tried to ask other schools to match yet.

Ha! Amen @soaps! Thanks for the input. I'm also pretty torn between staying in NYC and attending SIPA, despite the big school & reputedly terrible career services. I think our hustle factor and conditioning to NYC certainly helps. My other top option is SAIS (Bologna 1st year + DC 2nd year), but I'm starting to think that the year in DC is going to be so culturally soporific that I'd rather just deal with SIPA to stay in NYC. Sorry, DC denizens!

If I choose SIPA, I'm planning to stay in Brooklyn. The L train seems like a doable commute (probably 35-45 minutes) and I've never lived (read: unwilling to live in) any other borough. My rent has also never topped $1000/month, which seems ridiculously high, but in NYC is actually on the affordable end. As for bars, I'll probably have to find some new digs above 14th St! Thanks @soap for the tips on proper dive bars. Looks like I might survive on the Upper West Side

Just feedback I heard from a professer while visiting Georgetown GPPI--Chicago is NOT the place to go if you're planning to pursue international affairs/development. I also heard the same from a current Georgetown student. I'm guessing this impacts Chicago's international job placement. My impression from speaking with Chicago's admissions director is they (like NYU Wagner and Berkeley Goldman) are trying to revamp their international programs appeal, though they're not quite up to par with other schools like SIPA, SAIS, etc. All gossip, but maybe helpful to hear!

GAH. I'd love to attempt leveraging some funding outta SAIS or SIPA (currently $0 from both), since both GWU Elliott and Fletcher offered me at least some funding. This is all brand new to me so I figure I'll give it a try. Would anyone be willing to PM the letter template that ASEANdumpling supposedly deleted? Thanks much in advance!

Ohhhhh boy the GradCafe confessional booth, hey? Here's advice from the procrastination queen: 1) GRE - Take it early. I took mine on 12/26 (a Christmas present to myself, harhar) and just hoped the score would get in on time for 1/5-1/15 deadlines. They did, but I didn't get a chance to retake after bombing the quant and writing section, which probably would have helped get me better funding. Also, study some (over 4-6 weeks is sufficient) but don't flip out because it's just like a souped up SAT, and chances are if you did well on the SAT, you'll do fine on the GRE. DEFINITELY study vocab. Vocab=instant points. 2) Prioritize your applications by your lowest choice to top choice. The lowest/safety apps will ultimately become templates for your next apps, and they'll only improve with additional re-re-re-readings. Even if you think you have the best SoP ever, put it away for a few days and revise, and have friends give it another review. They'll likely notice things that could be better. And it is totally worth your while to personalize each SoP per school. 3) Recommendation letters - Again, ask early! I asked for mine in early- to mid-December. It worked out, but definitely could have been WAY LESS stressful. Retrospectively, I should have kept in touch with professors. I've been out of school for 3 years now and had a less than stellar record of ever going to office hours, and I attended a big public school with big lecture sizes. I got lucky in finding a very willing professor who remembered me after getting ignored/turned down by two others. Office hours are worth it after all! 4) Don't decide to travel abroad for 3 weeks during this time of year. Oops--I'm missing every single admitted student visit day. 5) Transcripts - Take note if a certain anomaly of a school asks for an official hard copy. I spent some ridiculous dollars on overnight shipping, assuming that every school had switched to the much easier self-scan and self-report system. 6) Last minute apps - Hopefully none of you will have this issue, because it's pretttttttty bad. If you're planning to do your application the day it's due, at least try to look at the required SoP prompts a few weeks before. Columbia threw a curveball by asking for two essays and two resumes. I didn't learn my lesson, and then also had the same issue with Tufts' and JHU SAIS's extra essays. Like I said, I think y'all are much smarter than I was about this. 7) Budget - I spent the equivalent of one-month's worth of NYC rent on application fees, GRE fees, transcript fees, the whole deal. Count on your wallet hurting around the holidays. 8) Relax from Jan-Feb! There's not much use freaking out about your application until you start hearing results. And honestly, reading this grad forum before/during/after completing my applications caused me to freak out more and undervalue myself. There are plenty of very, very accomplished people here; that is not necessarily the norm, and consider this a statistically biased group. I find my academic/professional profile to be pretty average, and I still got into every school I applied to. 9) Subscribe to the school/program's blog or FB page. Lots of useful application information there updated in real time. Good luck 2014-er applicants!

JFactor, from speaking with Erin Cameron at Admissions, I learned that for the core exams, you can either 1) take the class for credit, 2) audit the class and take an exam, or 3) just take the exam (no hands, Ma.) (assuming you know said topic really, really well). ___________ I'm reposting some similar info here after having discovered the untainted SAIS thread. I'm seriously considering SAIS Bologna, wavering on Georgetown PPI, and tempted by Columbia SIPA because I fucking love living in NYC and can't bear to leave. None have offered me funding, but I also didn't think I was a very viable candidate to get into any of the 8 schools I applied to (I got seriously lucky!) Pros: I agree that SAIS's "academic rigor" is appealing, especially in my position--I have a very general international development degree, 3 years of domestic work experience, and little econ experience. SAIS would be serious skills and technical training that I could not learn elsewhere. I also would kill to live to Italy and get trilingual skills! Cons: -Missing out on DC opportunities in Bologna, although the tradeoff seems to be a much more close-knit Bologna student community (with about 17 IDEV kids out of 200 students), smaller classes, better chances faculty interaction, and possibly less competition/distraction from all them type-A+ folks in DC. They don't advise interning/working during the semester, but Bologna does have some nearby internship opportunities or on-campus research positions. I attended the career services chat--their touting Bologna internship opportunities as the same as DC students sounds like a bunch of euphemistic thinking. -Class offerings: Bologna has a lot more European focused and energy policy courses; the Asia regional courses and Chinese are offered in DC only. I don't like the idea of having to plan a cookie-cutter schedule to make sure I hit all the marks to graduate. -Personal issue--I'm interested in non-profit and NGO management, program development, impact evaluation, etc. I didn't get the sense that SAIS was necessarily humanitarian or grassroots development focused, and it almost seems that'd I'd come out as a quasi-economist with neoconservative leanings. (JK? The 48% private sector jobs result is somewhat telling.) There's obviously all-star faculty, but the program and class requirements seem to leave little room for flexibility/specialization, or even the idea of aiming for "interdisciplinary" studies. For instance, you only take 2 regional classes. - I also got the feeling that administration was disorganized. The admissions director I met with couldn't name who the IDEV program coordinator was, and gave me a general email address and phone number to call: "Someone will answer." I also couldn't even get a reply to my "I'd like to visit the DC office" email until a week later. And forget trying to visit classes--the website is all like "submit your request 10 days before." Every other school I visited just made it happen overnight. Not that I'm entitled to it, nor is this a Yelp review, but the other schools have been much more welcoming. - Not always having the same academic advisor reminded me too much of the huge public school treatment I was churned out of. I'm not sure if you get a faculty advisor at SAIS? Probably not.... - Second year scholarships and fellowships are few--admissions admitted they don't have much funding to give out and that students who attend view the education as an "investment." I can't make it to any admitted student days but would love to hear your feedback!!

Hey Ariana14 et al, I just got back from visiting SAIS (IDEV), GWU (IDS), Georgetown (MIDP), and American (MAIDS) this week. As a disclaimer, I'm headed the NGO and non-profit route and have little interest in security studies, MBAs, foreign service, etc. For everyone else, hopefully this is helpful (or just TMI)! JHU SAIS (IDEV, Bologna) I met with Erin Cameron, Associate Director in Admissions, and a current IDEV (in DC) student named Mark. It was spring break, so I didn't get to talk to faculty or visit classes. SAIS clearly emphasizes quantitative/economics/econometrics, and the IDEV students actually have to take the most classes out of all the concentrations. You would likely end up taking 5-7 econ courses, and as IDEV, you HAVE to take microeconomics during the pre-term period, since it conflicts with one of the core/gateway IDEV classes in the fall. Although I'm concerned about missing out on DC opportunities in Bologna, the tradeoff seems to be a much more close-knit Bologna student community (with about 17 IDEV kids out of 200), smaller classes, better faculty interaction, and possibly less competition/distraction from all them type-A+ folks in DC. They don't advise interning/working during the semester, but Bologna does have some nearby internship opportunities or on-campus research positions. The IDEV course requirements are changing but are currently listed here. Bologna has a lot more European focused and energy policy courses; the Asia regional courses are offered in DC only. The largest class on either campus (most likely for the econ core courses) are around 60. Their version of a capstone project is a practicum, and there are also additional practical spring break trips that are student organized (often backed with SAIS funding). I didn't get the sense that they were necessarily humanitarian focused, and it almost seems that'd I'd come out as a quasi-economist with neoconservative leanings. (JK? The 48% private sector jobs result is somewhat telling.) There's obviously all-star faculty, but the program and class requirements seem to leave little room for flexibility/specialization, or even the idea of aiming for "interdisciplinary" studies. For instance, you only take 2 regional classes. Erin even suggested that it's better to come in knowing what you want to do, i.e. strategy and security for a private sector company, and work backwards to choose your classes to get those skills. I also got the feeling that administration was disorganized, and not always having the same academic advisor reminded me too much of the huge public school treatment. Second year scholarships and fellowships are few--Erin admitted they don't have much funding to give out. Georgetown (Public Policy Institute, for the new Master in International Development Policy program) Met with Jessye Rothstein in Admissions, Professor Jennifer Tobin, and with two current MIDP students. I also attended a class with Professor Netta Eissa, which was badass, theoretical, and applicable all in one. It's a brand new program, and 2014 will be their first graduating class of about 20 students. The students and professors were genuinely friendly and it was super easy to reach everyone (ahem, SAIS/SIPA, cough cough.....) So Tobin pretty much laid it all out--their BIG focus is on microecon and impact evaluation, because that's where they see development headed, with more pressure to demonstrate results of programs to donors. I heard some comments from current students that the professors aren't necessarily practitioners, and that there are still some kinks to work out. Tobin also commented that the MSFS MA in Human Development program is much more "touchy feely," whatever that means. A small cohort has obvious benefits (you take the entire two years of courses together, with the exception of 1 elective per semester), and since there are no PhD students to compete with, faculty consider master students first and foremost for any new opportunities. Downsides are there are few established extracurriculars--there's a brand new Int Dev club to bring speakers to campus, and the program is yet to complete their first capstone project--but that means lots of room for you to take on initiative and help provide feedback. Also huge difference--it's a policy school, not an IR or IA school. GWU Elliott, MA International Development Studies I met with the IDS Program Director Sean Roberts, Professor Christina Fink, and a current IDS student. The program is MUCH more practitioner/skills oriented with a self-created concentration. They highly encourage you to seek full-time, part-time, or internship work during the semester. (Erin at SAIS suggested this was because they have a much younger incoming class.) There is a required second-year capstone project, in which students vet and choose their client, and a required summer internship abroad in the summer. Same idea of a cohort--you take classes together in the same sequence--which also precludes any semester-long study abroad options. There are some short-term study abroad options, though. I heard over and over that econ was a much smaller focus, with only one required class, which Sean Roberts even called "econ lite"! Both Roberts and Fink are anthropologists, so that makes sense, I guess. Also, the program is fairly new and modeled after American's MA Int Dev, so there are definitely some weak points. For instance, they don't have any Africanists in house. Uh.............. But their public health and East Asian concentrations are supposed to be great! I'm wary of the econ lite perspective, but they definitely have human-focused bottom-up/grassroots development in mind. American University, M.A. International Development I met with the program director Vidyamali Samarasinghe and sat in on an Environment & Development course with Professor Robin Broad. I wasn't super impressed with the class quality--seemed like stuff I already covered in undergrad, like explaining the origins of the World Bank. However, Vidya emphasized that unlike SAIS, their program is built with the idea that development work should always start with considerations of human condition and impact. They have electives if you'd like to get more into development economics and program evaluation and monitoring, but it's not required for all MA's. They have strong regional concentrations and their 5 core faculty are distinct in that they are fully appointed to SIS, and all practitioners with prior fieldwork experience--so they all seemed well balanced. Unlike GWU or Georgetown, there is an option to focus more on academic research and producing a thesis if you're pursuing a PhD route. Or, you can do a capstone/practicum, but that program is also very new. Oh also, they were welcoming and actually seemed to care about wanting you there. Ha. Unfortunately, I won't have the chance to attend any of the admitted student days, so if you can share feedback on these schools in addition to SIPA or Fletcher, I'd love to know! I'm thinking that SAIS or SIPA are my best bet for getting serious skills/education and getting in an alumni network that will last me throughout my career, even if the curriculum doesn't feel "good" or practical at the time. Food for thought here. I welcome your thoughts! P.S. If there is a better thread for me to post this hot mess, please tell me so I don't become a spammer.