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nason

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Posts posted by nason

    SAIS application for Fall 2013

    in Government Affairs Forum

    Posted

    Anyone interested in joint-degree information, here you go:

    • SAIS has formal programs with Wharton, Tuck, and INSEAD. The upside is that it's less of a hassle negotiating what credits count twice.
    • You can apply to a MBA program during your first semester at SAIS; or vice-versa if you are already in at a MBA program.
    • You have to do a full year at both institutions; the remaining year can be done in any order. 
    • SAIS will generally accept "ad-hoc" arrangements with most high-ranked MBA programs.
    • HBS and Darden do NOT allow you to do a dual-degree with schools outside their institution. If HBS is on your radar it will take 3.5 years.
    • SAIS folks have done joint degrees with Stanford, Columbia, Sloan, Kellogg, Booth, Yale, and others.
    • Strongly suggest you contact the MBA programs you are interested in to learn more about their policy toward joint degrees with outside institutions.
    • It is generally smarter to do your first year at SAIS followed by 3 semesters at the MBA program to take advantage of the MBA recruitment season and summer internships. IF you are pursuing more of a private sector career. 
    • Attending SAIS, to my knowledge, does not particularly help or harm your chances of acceptance at a MBA program.
    • Wharton caps the # of dual-degree students at around 15, most years.
    • Most schools accept the GRE, but I strongly encourage you to take the GMAT if you have the time or money to do so. GMAT math is considered much more difficult than the GRE, and includes "sentence correction" for the verbal portion. General wisdom is you should aim for 80 percent in both math and verbal; although a score of ~680 generally puts you in the running for top programs.

    That's it off the top of my head. Message me if you want more specific details. Also -- you need to be able to make a strong case on why you need both degrees; what each program is going to offer you; and, a clear sense of how you want to divide the curriculum so that you're not wasting money taking the same class twice.

     

    Thanks for the helpful info here and regarding the econ requirements.  Might reach out directly via pm in the coming weeks.

    SAIS application for Fall 2013

    in Government Affairs Forum

    Posted

    Thanks for this. Their response to who attends career fairs is a bit alarming. Do they just not want to divulge that info or do they simply not keep track of it? I asked these questions to Bahar in admissions office, and she told me to just look at the career placement info. Um, I know how to f*cking find a page. I need specific information that will help me make my decision in the coming weeks. It was maddening.

     

    The career treks sound cool. I mean academically there's no question that SAIS is a better fit for me than HKS and with the fellowship it makes it a no brainer if i had to do policy alone. Hopefully i can get into an mba program and can do a joint degree or just mba.

     

    Regarding your last paragraph, I am under no illusion that SAIS recruiting is anything like MBA. The difference is literally night and day. But if the companies i'm interested in at least post jobs in the board and there are alums at those firms who are open to helping me out, then i will just work my ass off for 2 years to get what i want. If i do go to SAIS, i imagine that i will have almost no social life and will be 110% obsessed with the job search.

     

    Not positive...I'd be lying if I said I listened to every word as I had a few things going on at once, but I agree it's a bit alarming that it wasn't so straight forward.  I would think it's easy to compile a list of attendees (at least for the most recent fair) and publish.

     

    It definitely sounded like alumni are very reachable and helpful and that they work all across the board in all sectors.  So if you're willing to hustle, as you say you are, I definitely think it can happen.

     

    Regarding MBA...I've only recently started thinking about doubling up (clearly too late for this cycle).  Any idea what it's like to apply/pursue the joint degree after one is already enrolled at sais (or any of the other schools for that matter)?

    SAIS application for Fall 2013

    in Government Affairs Forum

    Posted

    Thanks for this summary. It was quite helpful.

     

    Did they give any detail on what type of treks they went on? Were these all geared towards public sector/government or were any of them oriented towards say finance?

     

    Do any private sector firms actually recruit on campus, or do they merely post jobs in the sais job board?

     

    I e-mailed admissions office, but they were very unhelpful with these specific questions.

     

    When the question of who specifically attends the career fairs, they just seemed to point to the employment statistics/current jobs without a definite answer as to who is on campus.  No one asked directly about finance, but they did mention that several Asian banks are big players in terms of potential employers and I believe they said they are visited on the HK/Shanghai trek.

     

    Your second question is a good one...I think the answer is yes, but clearly not as much/often as on an MBA's campus.  Also mentioned that someone looking at strategy consulting, for instance, might want to look at a dual degree with wharton/tuck/insead.  And as for the job board, they talked about it being very extensive...and mentioned that 'virtual networking' is important.  Seemed to imply a good amount of networking might be necessary on our parts and not just handed to us on campus.

    SAIS application for Fall 2013

    in Government Affairs Forum

    Posted

    Did anyone participate in the Career Services talk this morning?

     

    I missed it because a SAIS second year contacted me and wanted to chat. Very nice gesture...

     

    Yep - they discussed employment rates...93% for class of 2012 6 months after graduation.  Talked a lot about career classes and workshops and that they have 17 'treks' around the globe to meet with potential employers.  As has been talked about extensively here, there was mention that the big 3 consulting firms don't really recruit on campus, but a good number of graduates find work in more niche consulting companies.  If I heard it right, 47% of 2012 class reported a job in the private sector, 19% non-profit, 18% public, 12% in intl organizations like EU, UN, World Bank, etc.

     

    There was some talk about internship opportunities as well -- students are discouraged from interning first semester regardless of campus.  After that, Bologna is more of an "academic city" so few have internships off campus, but some DC students do find outside work.

     

    Hope that helps.

    2nd Round Funding?

    in Government Affairs Forum

    Posted

    Georgetown designated me an "alternate" merit fellow today and said that we should be notified IF it becomes available on April 19th, after admitted students submit responses. It was also kind of the school to extend alternates' response deadline to April 26th.

    I speculate second round funding will only be offered when they know who is coming (ie after April 15), though I would try to negotiate a deadline extension if you haven't heard by then.

     

    Can I ask which gtown program you received this from?  Good luck

    Advice for someone rejected from every school

    in Government Affairs Forum

    Posted

    So it happened and I'm pretty devastated.  Not one school of the 3 even wait-listed me.  It's ironic because for college admissions, I got into every school I applied to including Ivy League.

     

    Would it be better to take college-level or grad-level courses this summer?  I might be able to get a certificate in Nonprofit Management by Fall 2013.  My GPA was 2.87 so I'm hoping taking courses now can prove that the undergrad GPA is not representative of who I am.

     

    I could really use any advice you guys could give.  Trying not to give up.

     

    Damn - really sorry to hear that.  I think the first thing I would do is contact admissions and see if they're willing to provide any advice.  Show them a commitment to their programs and that you are very excited to improve your candidacy over the coming year.  If you already have a relationship with a specific admissions officer, great...if not, hopefully someone will be willing to discuss your options...and just ask your questions directly.

     

    As for college- or grad-level courses, I'm no admissions consultant, but I can't imagine it matters all that much...but I also would imagine just repeating undergrad courses wouldn't be too useful.  You'll have to do well so I'd think taking whatever courses (college or grad) show a headstart and commitment to your program of choice and that you know you can succeed in would be best.

    2013 Decisions Thread

    in Government Affairs Forum

    Posted

    Recently accepted to the SAIS Bologna campus for International Development (funding coming soon?), AU SIS for Development Management (half tuition + 12k research assistantship/year), and GWU for International Development Studies (10k/year). I'm still pretty sold on Georgetown's GHD program, though a little funding from them would make all the difference.

     

    Same deal for SAIS (IDEV @ Bologna 1st year with funding info to come next week) and Gtown's GHD.  Also just received acceptance email for Berkeley's MDP this afternoon -- recommended for admission email...no official letter yet or mention of funding.  Waiting on SIPA and then some fun/stressful decision making.

    Columbia (SIPA) MDP

    in Government Affairs Forum

    Posted

    Nason, I wrote them and they said they´ll be releasing notifications at the same time than the rest of the programs (the week of the 18th) so we can´t do anything but wait ksflkdgfjfgdlkjdfgklfdjslsjfkdsljfds :(

     

    Thanks for the heads up.  This whole waiting game is the worst

    Columbia (SIPA) MDP

    in Government Affairs Forum

    Posted

    Hey, so I decided to resurrect this post for those of us who applied to the MPA-DP program at SIPA. I have a question: Are they going to release notifications on the 18th just like in the rest of the programs? Since the program has an independent admissions committee I was thinking that they may manage things differently? I don´t know... 

     

    I was wondering/hoping the same thing, but haven't come across anything to imply they might release sooner.  I guess they were sent out earlier last year going by this post though...so anything is possible.

    Goldman School MPP 2013

    in Government Affairs Forum

    Posted

    All - any idea how highly regarded the new MDP program is at Berkeley?  I realize it's not in the Goldman School (so possibly wrong thread to post this), but rather in the College of Natural Resources...does it carry the same weight with the Berkeley name?  Or not as strong as, say, the MPP since not within Goldman?

    2013 Decisions Thread

    in Government Affairs Forum

    Posted

    Question for those who were accepted to the Georgetown GHD program.  How much international development experience do you have?  Did anyone get accepted that had minimal or no development related experience?  I got the impression that to be competitive for the GHD program you needed several years of intl development experience already.  And I believe it is a very small program, something like 20 people accepted in its first year (last year).  I think they are planning to double the incoming class of students this year to 40.  I applied to MSFS Intl Dev instead of GHD because I had less international development experience, and instead international finance experience, so thought I would be more competitive for MSFS than GHD.  I am planning to switch careers to intl development.  Any insight you can share would be helpful.  Thanks

     

    I was accepted with minimal development work, but I feel my experience is relevant.  Several years in finance, less than a year in human rights work in developing country (current), but I have also traveled internationally a ton, had 2 semesters abroad in university, and studied IR in undergrad.  While experience is obviously a huge part of the admissions process, I think a lot of has to do with the story you tell..and how much it makes sense.  I imagine the large majority of students (and possibly applicants) have a good amount of development work under their belts, but some are looking for the career change you mention...and with a top ranked degree to jump start that move.  Adcoms are looking to see a commitment to the new career -- experience is just the easiest way to show that.

     

    On the topic of class size for this year -- where did you hear they plan to double the size?  Any idea how large the applicant pool was/acceptance rate?

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