Kadisha
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Posts posted by Kadisha
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Completely agree with you, Kadisha. I only started this thread to see if any other people on the waitlist had received notifications. At this point I'm not really looking to try and guesstimate how many waitlisters will get accepted since it's probably very counterproductive!
Nothing wrong with that. Good luck with getting accepted.
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I meant it colloquially and based on what I'm seeing on the board. It seems way more people are passing up SIPA for other programs. It's true that we don't know how many people are on the wait list. I'm sorry if I wasn't clear enough/misled anyone, just a trivial attempt at encouraging optimism.
I'd be very hesitant to use this message board as a true sample size for the incoming Fall 2013 IA class.
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Those are a lot of specific questions CreamTea.
You might have better luck by just asking current students.
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Ha, for some reason I totally associated RA with Resident Advisor!
Did anyone who attend get a sense of the EDP concentration or IFEP? I'm interested in both!
http://new.sipa.columbia.edu/experience-sipa/news/sipa-live
This probably doesn't help you much but there's video of the Q&A session I believe.
They're also suppose to provide a Youtube playlist of the plenary sessions at some point.
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Wouldn't be surprised Soaps. ISP seems like a natural track for people with a military background.
Rugger,
I don't know what kind of financial aid packages each gave you, but if your interest lies in International Security, wouldn't it make more sense for you to pursue a program that is specifically geard towards that, and from what I've gathered seems to be quite good at it?
Here's the list of ISP employers given to me by the coordinator of the program.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/135144371/Copy-of-ISP-Employers-2012
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Thoughts on today's open house? I was super impressed with a lot of things but was turned off by a couple things as well. First: I was really impressed with all the admits I talked to today. Second: Very pleased with the ISP, human rights, and (especially) the conflict resolution plenaries. The faculty and current students I talked to were remarkably well-spoken and completely honest/genuine.
That's actually kind of comforting for me. Right now I'm tossing around the idea of switching to International Finance since I'm trying to avoid the public sector, if possible to be honest. Four years working for the federal government are enough for me. My only issue is that their ISP and CF classes are just so damn interesting. I find counter-terrorism to be a thrill.
I'm getting into too much detail here, but either way I'm meeting up with Ms. Jessica Baen, whose the coordinator of the program tomorrow, I'll post my thoughts here for anyone that's interested.
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I will not deny that I am overthinking this entire process.
Grad school is a huge investment of time and money, however, and unlike going to undergrad as an 18-year-old, there are a lot of other productive or more profitable ways I could be spending the next two years of my life. With SAIS-Bologna in particular, I don't have the luxury of visiting campus before committing, so blog posts from students who were actually there are invaluable resources. Plus, as other posters have mentioned, SAIS is so highly-regarded on this forum that it's good to hear the other side of the story!
I was certainly not trying to denigrate the program as a whole. I am simply moving towards the conclusion that it's probably not for me.
My post was certainly not directed at you. I apologize if that's how it seemed.
This is definitely an important decision that everyone should think about carefully. If you need clarification and advice ask away. I'm sure a lot of people don't have the luxury of everything lining up perfectly for one school that they had to take their offer.
But for some it has turned into splitting hairs, and wanting other people here to make the decision for them because they cannot decide. It has come to the point where they would rather that strangers make the decision due to their inability to commit. Those are the people that I was talking to
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Anyway, if you're used to clinical, perfect suburban housing, adjust your expectations for NYC.
Summarized right there.
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Cockroaches- lots of them
and horrible smelling hallways
read the yelp and yahoo reviews for international house
I find it difficult to believe that:
A. An institution such as Columbia would allow such conditions to exist.
B. That the NYC Health and Sanitation would allow such conditions to exist.
Let's be serious here.
While I wouldn't doubt that such conditions might have existed at one point it would be ridiculous to assume that they are still there and have not be handled.
PS: If you go to Yelp for serious reviews about anything other than food then I feel bad for you.
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People need to adjust their expectations for NYC housing in general. You can probably expect to have at least a few things wrong with the room or apartment even with a $1000/mo price tag. Most of the buildings up here are pre-war and therefore not as luxurious on the inside as they are on the outside. It looks like International House is directly aligning Riverside Park, and while it's a bit north, it's a beautiful area.
I'd be curious to know what some of the horror stories are, though, to see if they're consistent with NYC living in general.
I'm curious as well.
I'm also curious to see what the "horror" witnessed truly was. Let's be honest. A lot of people can be fussy over the silliest things, especially if they've been accustomed to luxury living.
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Out of curiosity, by when do admitted students have to put in a deposit/accept offers? Just want to know so us waitlisters can ballpark around when we might receive updates. I know in previous years they have even extended it to May.
I'm not sure which program you applied to, but the deadline should be stated in your admission letter.
Mine says the following:
To reserve your seat in the Class of 2015, please respond to this offer of admission and submit the nonrefundable tuition deposit of $1,000 no later than 5/1/2013
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I'd just like to add to the other people saying that the best way to get a hold of them is just by calling. It's really the quickest and easiest way to get an answer for your question. Even if they don't have an answer right away, they will have some one contact you within a day or so.
Also for anyone interested we're having a get together the Friday after admitted student's day. PM me for more info.
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I have a feeling that a lot of people are overthinking this entire process.
Yes it's always a good idea to get different opinions and discuss things, but it shouldn't be this difficult people.
Look at the program. Look at the funding, and then look at your career objectives and see how they align with the school. It's not an exact science. If you don't feel that a certain program will live up to its expectations then you either shouldn't have applied there, or you should just stop considering it.
- JFactor, rhodeislander, 123seekay123 and 1 other
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I've heard that claim too. There was some evidence being sighted as their employment stats, but honestly when I looked at it I didn't see anything that was too out of the ordinary, especially when I took into consideration their size. There seemed to be a larger amount of people who were still unemployed after six months or had not reported, but the program is larger so I'm assuming % wise it makes sense if compared. The starting salaries was comparable and at times higher than other schools. I think someone said that they weren't much help unless you were interested in finance/consulting which is strange but it could be that since that is harder to break into with an MPA instead of an MBA, maybe they put an emphasis on it because it's easier to get a non-profit/public service job without as much assistance?
Not sure, and I won't know for sure until I start. However, I will say that I went to a fairly large undergrad with a fairly large business program. At the end of the day, there were people that complained about the career services and people that liked it and thought they did a good job. Often times, I find with large programs and so many students it just depends on how much you are willing to partake in. If you get out there and attend info sessions and make appointments to discuss resumes and cover letters, or interview prep you will get a lot out of it. If you expect them to seek you out or make a huge effort to get you to put in the time and continuously reach out the way a smaller program might, you'll be disappointed.
But you never know. It could be their career services is terrible and once I'm in SIPA, I will find that out!
I'm currently out-processing out of the military, and it's amazing how big of a difference your resume and cover letter make. Not in shape, but in content. In my opinion the military does a fine job at preparing people to leave the military and go back into the civilian world. With that said, we STILL have homeless veterans and some living of welfare. Like everything it all comes down to your own initiative and ,like you said, how involved you are, and how much you're willing to put into the job search.
I don't know why people expect their hand to be held during the entire process of finding a job. As long as the career services gives me an opportunity then I'll be happy. I'm in the MIA program, and I'm going to have at least two years to set myself up for a job once I graduate. I think that's more than enough time.
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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!
You know I'm really interested how this claim has been perpetuated. Based on what evidence? Don't get me wrong this isn't directed at you, but it's not the first time I hear such a claim on here.
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I think there's more than one thread of these going on which is an issue. Either I'm attending SIPA as well.
ASEANdumpling, I can ask a friend that is currently attending Columbia and lives in the housing what he's heard about it.
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200 months versus 100 months of payments.... is that supposed to be a question?
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I think it was all the trolling that did this thread in.
If that's considered trolling by our future classmates then we've got issues.
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Go to Buffalo Wild Wings. Order some good food, and enjoy your time there drinking good beer. You can do that anywhere really, and your friend can proceed to get drunk and be distracted by all that's going on at the same time.
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Hey now, let's not paint the entirety of "the people in the Middle East" with one brush. Saying everyone in the Middle East "hates" Israelis or Jews is belittling, essentialist, and just plain wrong. It's also totally irrelevant to a conversation about where someone should pursue higher education. It betrays a lack of sophistication about Arabs from someone who claims to have lived in Lebanon for 17 years.
As for the comments disagreeing with me about Tel Aviv: that's totally fine, like I said before, I'm just one biased opinion and I did say Tel Aviv was a very modern, cosmopolitan city. That said, I'll add that I'm a dark skinned woman, so it's possible we've experienced different things because of how we look, if you happen to look different from me.
It's called being realistic.
I do not get paid in my current position to look "sophisticated", and neither will I bend the truth to make sure people do not get their feelings hurt. I think this is essentially the issue with people that have actually been to the Middle-East and have had conversations with people there versus somebody who just wants to be politically correct. It does pertain to this conversation, because mranderson was wondering about work in the Middle-East. So no thank you for much I'm not going to fix my opinion as to not offend you. And FYI, I doubt anyone gave you the privilege to decide what is relevant or irrelevant to this conversation.
The level of indoctrination from pre-school against Israel and the Jews in the Middle-East is quiet astonishing and completely racist. It is based on pan-Arabist ideology, that mind you due to the Palestinian cause is infallible. It starts of with the conspiracy theories about Zionism and ends with a completely subjective portrayal of said conflict . To disagree with such a view will either get you arrested or killed. I dare you to find a significant number of Arab intellectuals that dare to speak on the mainstream media about the ridiculousness of the Arab-Israeli conflict. And if you do I would like you to find the amount of those intellectuals that actually live in an Arab country.
It's these kinds of deluded tree hugging opinions that I look forward to seeing in grad school.
Forgot to add:
Since your "dark skinned" woman. I really hope you know Arabic fluently, and are not basing this of translated media coverage. I can assure you that Arabic Aljazeera and English Al-Jazeera are not exactly the same thing.
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If you're planning to get any kind of employment in the ME outside of Israel then you're probably looking at the wrong program. The amount of hate towards Israel and Jews in general harbored by the people in the ME is leaps and bounds beyond what anyone that doesn't live there can come to understand.
I lived in Lebanon for 17 years. Have been to Iraq, Egypt, and Jordan. The opinion of Israel is almost 99% everywhere. I admire your goals though. I just would not get a degree from an Israeli university.
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Why don't you contact Chicago's international student office to get the most accurate information possible?
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Not really sure why this thread is dead, but thought I'd point everybody that might be attending to the Columbia Meet and Greet thread.
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On a final note, Revolution. I have no problem with you voicing your opinion about the program but at this point your just saying the same negative things over and over. I appreciate the opposing view points even if your negatives aren't my negatives, but you aren't saying anything that you haven't said before.
The bolded sentence is why people are attacking him and dismissing his opinions. It's fine and dandy to be a moderate, but for us that have been on these forums for nearly a month his attitude has grown stale and annoying. This is about our freedom of speech to tell him to stfu as it is about his freedom to be annoying.
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Forgot to say. I've made my decision to attend SIPA based on several reasons even though I believe that SAIS is an excellent school for those interest in public service. At the same time you don't see me demeaning everyone else that's going to SAIS or HKS, which is precisely what Revolution has been doing since day one.
Concentrations in Columbia SIPA MPA
in Government Affairs Forum
Posted
You can change your concentration any time and it does not matter what you put on your application. They usually use it just to group you with like minded people during orientation. You can switch and change it yourself, and yes as long as you satisfy the requirements you can do what you want.
also, it doesn't matter what your concentration is because it's not on your degree. It's all about how you market yourself to employers.
Source: just graduated in May and was a peer advisor my second year.