JFactor

Sorry to see people are taking Revolution's silly comments so personally. I mean I get it, I have a temper "in real life", but here I find Revolution's comments just so hilarious because they're so sad. And he's basically at least half trolling so I'd say let's just leave the dude alone and laugh at his comments, whether they are for real, completely made up to piss people off, or something in between (which is my guess).

I find these quotes so hilarious!

You were at an open house in Bologna? Can you tell us a little bit more about your experience? And I wish I could give any advice about your situation but I really can't without knowing how much money each school offered you and what's the focus of your studies.

Very close to committing to SAIS Bologna. It's also interesting to see how many of us (the people who post on the board) seem to end up going to SAIS.

US News Rankings are horrible. I don't know what their methdology is but whatever it is, it can't be good. Georgetown, SAIS, Fletcher etc. aren't listed in the top 20 but Ohio State University is number 8? That's a joke.

I've been thinking that as well. The thing is that I don't know how much free time I would have because I would love to take a language class (French, which would be great for my career plans) and/or get a RA position. So much to do, so little time. But I guess that just tells you that SAIS has a lot to offer (at least to me).

I'm looking at the core exam requirements (Theories of IR etc.). I'd really like to do as many waiver exams as possible because I don't want "to waste" a course by taking a core class or an econ class that I've already taken previously (or I'm quite familiar with). It seems there is only one date for online waiver exams this summer, last year there were two, so that's slightly disappointing and really means that a lot of the first year classes might have to go to satisfy the IR core and some of the econ requirements. I love what SAIS has to offer but the curriculum is a little too rigid for my taste with the core IR component - you have to choose two out of only four options? I don't know what would be the best way to handle all these requirements with the limited opportunities for waiver exams, but perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself.

I think you definitely came to the right conclusion. MIA isn't for you really, just based on what you've written. Hopefully you'll get into a great MBA program and get to experience what your buddies have told you about.

I guess I have a few as well: - not taking the GRE sooner. Although I got a great verbal score, my quant score could've definitely been better as I underperformed in the actual exam. However, I didn't have time in the fall to take it again (after really focusing on math for a while) with everything that I had going on at the time. The summer was much more relaxed in terms of time so I should've taken my first GRE then. - not getting a stronger third LOR. It was solid I'm pretty sure, and the two other ones were most likely very, very good, but it could've been slightly better. I could've built a better relationship with that particular professor or with some other professor (I had a few options). A marginal regret for sure, don't think it made a difference either way to be honest, but a small thing that I could've done better. - not doing "the optional" Fletcher video interview. I embarrassingly just completely forgot about it when all the applications were coming due. You were able to take it after submitting your actual application and that was my plan but then I just...forgot. Idiotic. Although I got in, it might have influenced the funding decision and therefore I might have received a little less money than I possibly could have with doing the video interview. So even though I have other very good choices, Fletcher could've possibly been in contention with better funding if I hadn't screwed up.

Unfortunately I don't know anything about the language placement tests since I'm a non-native English speaker so the requirements are different for me. But what comes to the classes, I'm really excited about the combo of international econ/trade classes (e.g. Empirical Methods in International Trade), international political economy classes (e.g. Risk in International Political Economy), and European policy classes (e.g. European Economic Integration). It really is the perfect combo for me, very aligned with my interests. Hopefully, if I choose to go to SAIS, I can manage to get the classes I want.

So it seems there is no consensus? I have a feeling based on my experiences that STATA and SPSS are more popular with professors/in academia, but it seems R is becoming more popular especially in the private sector?

Here's the link to next year's academic calendar: http://www.jhubc.it/DOCUMENTS/academiccalendar.pdf The very last day is May 16. But it still doesn't give a lot of room for relocation/securing housing/going to internship interview so you're right about that. Luckily more and more organizations are happy to do skype interviews but the whole process overall will still be pretty stressful I'm sure.

I would like to know this as well.

Congrats! That's great! Can I ask what your background/"stats" are or how do you think you overcame the lack of full time work experience?

Yeah, I think there are two factors in play. First, some schools simply don't have much money to give compared to others. For example, in my case, I believe SAIS Bologna gives funding to most incoming international students but Elliott has much less resources. Second, "the fit" matters too - I knew I was a pretty good fit for SAIS and my interviewer said so clearly as well so perhaps that's why they were willing to give me more. But other schools stress other factors more, e.g. work experience (SIPA, HKS, Gtown etc.) and base their funding decisions alongside admission decisions on these factors. I think these two explain most of the variance. And then of course it just comes down to the fact that in the end the selection process is fundamentally subjective and different people will read your resume/personal statement in different ways. But a scenario like SIS rejects you but you get into SIPA or Gtown? That would be quite absurd no matter what.

Yeah I was able to see my admission letter yesterday and no word about funding so didn't get any. So Georgetown is out. Surprised (and pleased) I got in though.

Yeah, hearing his background I think he should go to SIS as well. It seems schools really value your background if it's "exotic" so they can use that when promoting their program.

Yeah, the what ifs are the worst. Also, I think we are all aware of the importance of money. But some programs are clearly better than others and might be worth the extra debt, hence the debate. For example, I would definitely say that SAIS is worth an extra $20k compared to SIS (although if you're int dev then that's debatable because AU's program is very good and well connected as well). But $65k? Debatable. And it obviously depends on how risk averse you are.

I'm pretty much exactly in the same situation. It's SIS vs SAIS for me. SAIS gave me some money and SIS gave me a full ride. I'm going to focus on international trade (and int'l political economy to a lesser extent) with the goal of either working as a policy analyst for one of the multilateral organizations (including the EU) or working as a risk/trade analyst at a private consulting firm (preference in that order). I know SAIS is more rigorous academically and has better career placement. SIS is known to be strong in international development and peace and conflict resolution but not in international economic policy or quant classes. So the question really is whether SAIS is worth the extra $65k. (Also, my relationship situation means that going to SAIS Bologna would be quite stressful with the whole long distance ordeal). I would also be interested to hear what others think.

I will also be attending the SAIS open house (and also most likely the reception for Bologna students the following day) so I'd be willing to meet up as well.

Thanks for your comment. I've been thinking of doing just that (contacting current students). If I get good feedback from them, SIS will definitely be more appealing to me. It's just hard for me to turn down SAIS that I am pretty confident is ahead of SIS in terms of academics, career placement, and the student body. And I think very highly of SIS, don't get me wrong.

I'm also heavily considering SAIS Bologna. To be honest that's what my heart and head says is the best thing to do for similar reasons others have already mentioned in the thread (great course selection for me, provides good quantitative skills, great career services, the year in Bologna in terms of great social life and future opportunities working in Europe etc.). But I also have a long-term girlfriend and it's hard for us to figure out how she could join me and we both absolutely hate long distance (we have experience of that) and also the money I've been given from AU and Denver are also appealing. So the debate for me is the best education + career opportunities vs. possibly miserable relationship status + spending more money. The Bologna admissions people have been very helpful and quick to respond to me, and what I've heard of Bologna and SAIS in general makes the program sound like a very solid option.

Thanks for your input dyavrom, that's what I was thinking as well. Does anyone here know someone who's studying at SIS (and specifically International Economic Relations) or is anyone considering going to SIS? I'm really torn between not paying anything and going to SIS or going to SAIS and taking an extra 65k in debt. I've been trying to figure out how good the econ/quant component is at SIS and how the career services are at the school.

Do any of you know how far behind AU is behind SAIS in career placement after graduation? I'm really contemplating between AU and SAIS because of the great money AU offered. I know the curriculum at SAIS is way more to my liking and I know AU isn't known to be as strong in international economics/trade (I got into their International Economic Relations program) as it is in peace and conflict resolution and perhaps international development. I know SAIS is quite universally ranked as better than AU but how much better is it? Is SAIS worth an extra ~65k in debt? One of the primary career goals I have at this point is to work for the top multilateral institutions (and perhaps for the EU in the future) as a policy analyst and I'm wondering how going to AU instead of SAIS will impact my chances. It's the classic money vs. top program dilemma.

I agree, and I think the same goes with Economics in general as well. So many people I know who studied IR "hated" econ just because it looks and feels a little different from your basic IR texts (or other qualitative stuff) but once you actually start doing it, you realize that the image you have of econ (or math) is different from reality.