rhodeislander

Just to be clear, that's $18, right? Good to know, since I'm going to be looking for work there! Yeah, I wouldn't be too worried about it, I bet everyone was just sizing each other up and trying to come across as serious little scholars, thus the stiffness. Just going by the second year people I've met, that all fades away pretty quickly once you get to know each other. One week to make a decision...

Overall, I was very impressed with the SAIS open house. Like, extremely impressive, almost intimidatingly so, to the point where I'm not sure how well I'd fit in there. Here are some random musings: -They definitely took an aggressive "shock and awe" approach to selling the program, basically rolling out their most impressive alumnae (Wolf Blitzer made a "surprise" guest appearance, and the former acting head of the CIA was on the almnae panel, among others) and generally trying to overwhelm us with their awesomeness. And it was awesome; the number of people they have in important policy positions is ridiculous...they were just like, yeah, all of Obama's top security advisers were our students, no big deal. It did start to be a bit much after a few hours though, but maybe that was just me. -They continually mentioned their location right in the heart of DC as a selling point. -A great many of the prospectives I met were young people working in DC, all of whom had very impressive accomplishments already under their belts. Most of the people I met were quite friendly, if not exactly the kind of people I'm used to hanging out with. Same goes for the returning students, particularly the students who did the Bologna panel. Very friendly, although again, many of them seemed a bit too..."DC" for me, if that makes sense. That's purely a personal thing, to be sure, but in the end I mostly ended up hanging out with the other people I'd met at the U Chicago open house a couple days earlier, who seemed equally shell shocked by all the people running around exchanging business cards (the differences between the SAIS and Chicago open houses were...stark, to put it mildly). -Still seems to be pretty neocon. -Wolf Blitzer gave a really solid speech, but made an awkward joke about how great it feels when your beeper goes off on vibrate in your pants. It will forever be stuck in the heads of everyone present every time they see Wolf Blitzer on TV. And now its in yours! -did not hear anyone talking about "elite B-schools" and thus did not see Revolution, unfortunately. -definitely got a study abroad vibe from the Bologna people, for better or worse. I'll post more thoughts as they come to me...

Hey guys, I didn't make it to the Fletcher open house, but after visiting U Chicago, SAIS, and Gtown this past week I think I'm still leaning toward Fletcher. I am definitely interested in hearing as many open house experiences as possible though, so this thread is much appreciated. Dani, I'm sorry to hear you didn't feel like you connected with anyone, any idea why that may have been? Personally, one of the things that I find attractive about Fletcher, and this was somewhat reinforced after visiting the DC schools, is the perception that its not quite so populated with network-obsessed Beltway people (is that harsh?), and that everyone is super friendly and down to earth. Like you said, I'm sure some of it had to with first impression jitters; I myself can come off as rather awkward when thrown into that kind of situation. If I do end up at Fletcher though I'd totally be down for some Boston exploring! Ouch! That's surprising, have you seen the student profiles on their website? Some super photogenic people up in there!

Whitehead doesn't get much press on this board, likely because it isn't in the FP rankings, but in my (admittedly highly subjective) opinion, its a pretty solid program. I have a friend there now who loves it and is interning at the UN. I can't speak much about it beyond that, and have no clue how most of their students do after graduation (that's up to you to research), but what little I've heard seems positive. Just find the figures for employment outcomes and salaries for both AU and SH and compare them. If they're similar, take the money. Or, better yet, reject both and spend a couple years building a resume. Then apply again and have much better options!

Okay, so here are a few of my random musings from my afternoon touring Fletcher: -The Tufts campus is really pleasant, but you are on a college campus, amongst the undergrads (the horror!). Boston is a quick subway ride away, but you are in your own little campus bubble somewhat. Whether that's a positive or a negative is up to your own personal preference. Personally, I don't mind it at all, since I'm more excited about the academic element than the networking of DC. Its obvious the community is very tight-knit and judging by the fliers they had up there's always plenty of cool stuff going on. -The main things they stressed were "community" and "flexibility," the ability to tailor your education as you see fit, which they directly contrasted to, ahem, certain other schools which tell you what to do (to which Fletcher responds, in their best Cartman voice, "Whatevah! I do what I want!"). You can pick from 22 fields of study, or design your own to suit your needs. You can also enroll in ANY school in the Boston area for credit. Harvard is the easiest, but so long as you get approval from the other school and can show how it is relevant, they'll let you do it anywhere. Otherwise, you can study abroad with one of the many schools worldwide they have a relationship with, or set up your own ad hoc study abroad semester with their help (unfortunately, you can either do this or do the Boston consortium, but not both). I was really excited about going to the Graduate Institute in Geneva, but apparently this requires fluent French, which I don't have, le sigh. Still, one of the main advantages SAIS has for me is study abroad, so the thought of being able to do it at Fletcher is nice. -Those who don't wish to do a formal academic thesis can now do a "capstone" project instead. This is more professionally oriented than writing a 90 page thesis and I get the feeling people are happier with it. -The people, as has been reported elsewhere, are all super friendly. I sat in on a class with Professor Kim Wilson, and she was very accommodating. One of the students, unprompted, stayed after class to talk to me and offer his advice, which was cool. On a similar note, the prospective and admitted students at the info session all seemed really accomplished (one guy directed an African field office for a very well known and respected NGO). All had extensive international experience, which made me feel like I was around people who shared my interests and I could get along well with. -The sandwiches at the Fletcher cafe are pretty atrocious, but there were several nice looking little restaurants nearby. And a Dunkin Donuts, which is clutch. So anyway, that's all that's coming to mind right now, but I'll be sure to post more as I think of it. Overall, I'll just say I got a very good vibe and Fletcher might be my frontrunner now (although that's subject subject to change after next week, when I hit up Chicago and DC). Feel free to ask any further questions you may have on here or through private message. For those of you going on Monday, have fun, its a really lovely place!

Hey guys, just spent the day at Fletcher, I'll try to post my thoughts on here at some point in the next couple days. Stay tuned.

aaaand here we go again...

I kinda hope he does visit, and when someone raises their hand and asks about how SAIS compares to "elite b-schools" we can all grin and nod to each other knowingly.

Not out of the link per se, but apparently its a much tougher process to take classes there vs. HKS. It can be done though. Also, for anyone who is unable to make the open house on the 8th, apparently Fletcher holds information sessions every Monday, which also allow you to sit in on a class. I'm probably going to do this. If anyone out there can't make the open house but still wants to check Fletcher out on another day shoot me a message, maybe we can coordinate and make things easier for the admissions people

I'll be headed to Chicago on April 8th and SAIS on April 10th, and will try to get to Fletcher for at least some of the events on the 7th. If not, I talked to the admissions office and they hold admission sessions every Monday which also allow you to sit in on a class, so I'll hit one of those up.

This is just an educated guess, but UT might be really good for Latin American stuff (assuming that's what you're looking to study). I know their history department is arguably the best in the country for Latin America, and its not too far-fetched to assume that carries over into other departments as well...

Out of curiosity, what schools did he most recommend?

I'm deciding between SAIS and Fletcher right now in addition to Chicago CIR, and am truly not sure what to do. I figure the open houses will help a great deal, but those are still a couple week away. I don't think there's anything to stop you from basically taking the exact same econ classes at Fletcher you would have taken at SAIS. The only difference, I think, is SAIS makes you take them whereas at Fletcher its optional. Now, whether the SAIS name adds a certain bonus when applying to economics jobs, I'm not sure, but my educated guess is that if they look at what courses you took and saw you took the same number of courses as someone from SAIS, it shouldn't be an issue. I wouldn't say there's an objectively "right" answer for you. Both are great programs and as long as you do your part I think you'll do just fine with either. No need to drive yourself nuts over it!* *I should really try to take my own advice...

You do realize this thread was started specifically because you ruined the other one, right? You made your choice, now please have the courtesy to not post in here, thank you.

That's really too bad, since MIT has some excellent course offerings for what I'm interested in. I make still give it a shot though if I end up at Fletcher. Basically what the guy told me is that MIT was getting very little out of it, since Fletcher was sending way more students to them then they were to Fletcher (makes sense, since Fletcher is a way bigger program).

I think of those three, Fletcher would definitely be the best option for someone seeking employment in US government. Alumni/contacts will be much better, and a Fletcher degree is much more of a known quantity. Plus the background check would be a hell of a lot easier...granted, I'm admittedly far from an expert in this and that's just my opinion, so maybe get in touch with the government agency you want to work for and ask them?

So I actually had a good 30 minute conversation with a Fletcher alum today who had some very good things to say about the program (although I was disappointed to hear MIT has all but pulled out of the consortium). He said the main drawback of the program is its all too easy to get caught up in the flexibility and never really buckle down and focus on one or two skill sets, which leaves you way less marketable. Something to keep in mind. He also said those set on a career in DC are at somewhat of a disadvantage, although this is obviously not insurmountable...just have to do more work getting your foot in the door, it sounds like. He had good things to say about career services and the alumni network, as well as the vast majority of the students and just the education in general. I was happy to hear while difficult it is definitely possible to take a language. Hmm, I'm trying to remember what else and blanking right now (long day!) but will post if I remember anything else I've left out. In addition, for anyone interested in the curriculum, I asked Dan in admissions to describe what most people do with all those electives and this is what he sent back: You have the basic idea right. The breadth requirements (i.e. taking coursework in all three curricular divisions) and depth requirements (i.e. fields of study) can and often do overlap. E.g. you could take International Organizations to fulfill your ILO (international law) breadth requirement, and also use that course toward fulfillment of the International Organizations field of study. However, you’ll notice that some courses are listed under multiple fields of study. In these cases, you cannot use one course to count toward two separate fields of study, if that makes sense. Having been a student here myself, I can tell you that the curricular requirements are pretty easy to fulfill with a little bit of planning on your part. While most students stick with two fields of study, it is very possible to complete even three (I would say four is pretty rare), though of course not required. I focused my first year here on completing as many of my requirements as possible, and that left me in the nice position my second year of having a lot of freedom in my course selection, and leaving a good amount of room to stretch myself and explore some courses that were unfamiliar to me. If you use this strategy, it will also leave you room to go much deeper into whatever your areas of interest are (e.g. if you’re an economics guy, you’ll have the freedom to get into the advanced econ curriculum if you complete your requirements earlier in your time here). I hope all that makes sense. It’s a little bit complicated, but you’ll have a lot of resources once you’re here to help you navigate through all the requirements (and the registrar will provide you with a helpful checklist you can use to make sure you’re staying on track with everything) – I think you’ll find that you’ll get a handle on things pretty easily once you arrive. In the meantime, I’m happy to answer any other questions you may have.

Took the words out of my mouth - your reasoning is exactly the same as mine. Italy/quant/language are SAIS's main selling points for me, whereas Fletcher's are price/flexibility. I would argue that Fletcher would probably be more than 38k cheaper for you, since SAIS's tuition is a little bit more to begin with, and cost of living will be much higher. Fletcher is probably closer to 50k cheaper for you once you crunch all the numbers... I hate to be a downer, but I don't think SAIS does a second round of funding, as per a poster in another thread who asked. I also hinted strongly at it in an email to Nelson to no avail, haha. It seems what you see if what you get.

Although I must say, for those of you saying he's a troll because no one could possibly be this douchetastic in real life.... http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/fashion/03native.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3& http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/confessions-of-an-ivy-league-frat-boy-inside-dartmouths-hazing-abuses-20120328 They're certainly out there...

I'd be happy to. Yeah, I was offered 20k for the first year and nothing for the second, but told I would be "competitive" for funding so long as I do well enough the first year. I'm actually a little peeved about it, haha. I got the impression Bologna gives out a lot more aid than DC. Question: is the Bologna preterm online or in person? Sorry if that's been answered... Just out of curiosity, where is everybody on here from?

Okay then, now that Revolution has made his decision, can we please get off the MBA stuff and back on topic? I feel like the last 12 or so pages of this thread have just revolved around Revolution and his needs...

You think that's crazy, you shouldve been here a few days ago for his "I have to go to business school because I'll never get any girls with a crappy IR degree" spiel

...on that note, for anyone considering the Bologna program who's sick of all this MBA talk, or simply finds it irrelevant, someone started a new thread on SAIS Bologna that will hopefully stay on topic and won't devolve into a cesspool of negativity. Ya'll are welcome to find us over there!

Yeah that would be awesome! I'd be down for meeting up with some people when we're in DC, if anyone is interested. I would email him again. He responded to my email within 24 hours, so I'm guessing it just got lost in the fray. I'm sure they're receiving a crush of emails right now. If you don't mind me asking, where you from?