123seekay123

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...

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...

SAIS is the 19th as well. I think the deadline is the same for all APSIA schools. For those without funding I believe the deadline is in early May.

Hi all Fletcher admits!
 
To those who attended the open house this past Monday: what were your thoughts? What were you impressed with and what did you think was a bit lack luster?
 
I was very impressed with the backgrounds of the admitted students. Their previous experiences really blew me away. I asked myself more than a few times, "How did I get admitted alongside such accomplished people?" However, I was disappointed to find I didn't really personally connect with many admitted students. I'm hoping people just seemed a little stiff because they were nervous, overstimulated, and trying to make the best (professional and academic) impression possible all at the same time. (this paragraph sounds judgy. I want to emphasize that I definitely enjoyed speaking with everyone about academic and professional interests, experiences, and goals. I just couldn't see myself hanging out or socializing with many admitted students outside of class...getting a beer or exploring Boston...doing chill friend stuff with. I'm leaving an awesome group of friends in DC, and I wont know anyone in Boston, so connecting with people on that level is really important to me.)
 
I was also very impressed with the professors I spoke with and all the people in the admissions office (who bent over backwards to make the day wonderful). They seem 100% invested in the success of the students, and are consequently extremely available and hands on. I'm sure I'll receive an amazing and personalized education. I very much look forward to establishing personal relationships with my professors. It seems that most internship, research assistanship, and career opportunities come from professors (or alum) and their connections.
 
Speaking of said opportunities, I was a little disappointed with the career office. Their services seem very general. They weren't able to answer a lot of my questions, or the questions posed by those in my smaller, industry-specific break-out group. It seems they mostly help you with mock interviews and resume/cover letter writing. They can also put you in touch with alumni in the fields you want to enter, and they have a list of former internships conducted by Fletcher students, with the necessary contact info. I was hoping for more guidance on what skills I need to develop to give me the best shot at reaching my carrer goals upon graduation, and which classes will provide me with those skills. In other words, I want their help to make the very most out of my time at Fletcher, so I best develop myself to enter my prefered career. I don't think they're in the business of helping students strategically align their education with their career goals.
 
I also realized I definitely want to live around Davis Square or somewhere with more bars and restuarants. There wasn't very much going on around the immediate campus, and I can see myself getting bored in Medford fast.
 
Anyway, in summation, I know I'm going to get a stellar education at Fletcher, while interacting with incredibly intelligent and accomplished students and professors. And I think I'll have great interhship and career opportunities as a result of their network. I just hope I can find a cool place to live and some students I can relate to on a more social level.

Hahahaha. That's funny. I actually did have the same perception in that area. My bf has been worried about me going to school and meeting someone else, and when I came back I told him he didn't have much to worry about.
 
Yea, the girl that asked that question is someone I talked to quite a lot and did actually really like. Based off her reaction when they had no idea what she was talking about, I wont be surprised if she doesn't end up attending Fletcher. But that is an example of the OCS being more general and less helpful when you talk about specific career tracks. She was asking about a professional organization for Latina women in finance. I'm sure Fletcher is a member, as they have a big Latin American club, and they club probably has all the info she wants on the program. For instance, I'm in a professional org called Women in International Security, and while OCS probably knows nothing about it, the international security round table mentioned it when they spoke about the security club.
 
I'm definitely not worried about finding a job after Fletcher. The Fletcher mafia sounds like a formidable force that really gets you places. My point was more along the lines of...it's odd that professors and alumni seem to be getting students jobs more so than career services. But maybe that's the way it is at all the top IR places, or maybe Fletcher is just like that because it has such a strong community.
 
And I'm sure I'll meet some fun, socially extroverted people. I only really had substantive conversations with about 12-20 kids, and most of it was centered around SIPA or Fletcher. It's hard to demonstrate how cool you are when you're worrying about one of the biggest financial decisions you'll ever make.
 
I hope you end up going! I'll definitely be there.

And is anyone else not 100% sure about their decision? I'm pretty sure I'm going to SAIS but I wish I had more time!

Thanks for the link. Interesting stuff.
 
I'm going to assume the average range is the middle 80%. Even for financial services/trade, the average salary is a meager 50-60K. Holy cow. Are these people like getting jobs as bank tellers at the local bank of america branch?

I have very specific career goals actually and have told them to a few people through pm. I don't want to divulge them here because i'm afraid of getting outed in real life. Sorry for being paranoid about this, but i'm basically interested in a specific area of finance that is NOT banking or private equity.
 
The social stuff is secondary but it's still very important to me for personal reasons. Yes, I mean every word that I write.

Hmm. Weird coming from someone who doesn't know me since I already have a lot of finance experience. Also MFE is not a good fit with my long-term goals.
 
As far as being happy with what you have, I'm not going to engage in such philosophical topics on a grad school forum.

This will truly be our loss. SAIS is -ultimately- a school for those who want to develop skills in diplomacy. I can see you have other interests...

I would suggest calling them in the morning, declining the offer and freeing up the money for those of us who find more value in the program than you do...

Exactly. I just don't see how policy programs can charge a tuition of $40K/year. It's totally ridiculous.

Very excited to get in! Was a bit surprised by the Bologna, but am psyched.
Only problem is no funding
 
Anyone else with little econ background? I'm worried that SAIS will be too tough for me!

SAIS' cost is ridiculous. Hopefully i get solid funding from them, but from what i gather SAIS is incredibly stingy. Unreal. How do they justify such costs when the median PRIVATE sector salary coming out is only $63K?

Congratulations! Great to hear your background and that some people actually appreciate being accepted into their favored and the top schools. Good luck to you.

you see some of us actually care about IR and PP and didn´t just apply to these programs as an easy way to have an MBA, therefore we are excited, go and have your dinner.

Very true, always good to hear about the cons. I think I got caught up in this forum's weird bubble that loves SAIS and kind of looks down on SIPA, haha!
I don't love the cost of Bologna, but it's expensive in DC. I'm sure it will be easy to make connections in Bologna, which intrigues me. Plenty of time to "hustle" in DC the second year

I've accepted  Anyone else?

Very true, always good to hear about the cons. I think I got caught up in this forum's weird bubble that loves SAIS and kind of looks down on SIPA, haha!
I don't love the cost of Bologna, but it's expensive in DC. I'm sure it will be easy to make connections in Bologna, which intrigues me. Plenty of time to "hustle" in DC the second year

My feeling is that it is kind of late to consider a career on the Hill when you're doing your MA. I know it sounds weird but I did my undergrad in DC and there are tons of undergrads in DC who want to be Hill staffers and they do numerous internships there during their college career. So they have a leg up against everyone else. After they graduate they become full-time staffers and after a few years they go to a grad school with all this Hill experience and contacts etc. There are a lot of people like this. So if you're not one of these people who were lucky, rich, or savvy (or all three) enough to do your BA in DC, your odds of becoming a Hill staffer are very long. It's not impossible, but it's very, very hard and requires unpaid internships and poor salaries that people can put up with when they're doing their undergrad but it's harder to justify and live with if you have a Master's already.

Being in DC and having the ability to intern is enormously helpful. And, as already stated, it helps if your from the Congress person's district. I interned for a semester in AZ Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick's office while I was a Georgetown undergrad. There aren't too many Zonies (Arizonians) in DC, so I had a huge advantage. Getting a staff position, and even internship, in a more famous congress person's office will be a lot more difficult.
 
Unless you have prior hill experience, or connections with someone currently on the hill, definitely expect to start as an intern making nothing. Hopefully after a few  months of hard bitch work, and it is bitch work (mailing lots of form letters and answering constituent mail and calls), you might get a staff spot, probably staff assistant. They pay for the staff assistant in my office was something like $25K/year...and everyone worked from about 8 AM to 8 PM, taking their lunch at their desk. That said, when congress is slow, so is your office, and the conditions are better. You also get cool perks like attending White House events and cool dinners and receptions with members of Congress.
 
I got my internship through the Georgetown career portal - there were tons of Congressional internships posted there. I'm sure that's the same at all the DC schools. While interning, I also saw a number of candidates simply walk in the resumes - although none that came into my office got a job.
 
Good luck! It's pretty grueling work and awful pay, but if you work in a good office, with good people, it can be very exciting and rewarding.

Very true, always good to hear about the cons. I think I got caught up in this forum's weird bubble that loves SAIS and kind of looks down on SIPA, haha!
I don't love the cost of Bologna, but it's expensive in DC. I'm sure it will be easy to make connections in Bologna, which intrigues me. Plenty of time to "hustle" in DC the second year

yes, I had a very easy question Nelson couldnt answer, he said to contact the woman in charge of career services, he even forwarded my email, I then emailed her, and again and again this was 3 weeks ago she never responded

I can only speak from my own personal experience but everyone I've been in contact with (including career services) have been extremely helpful to me so far.
 
I think there are some misconceptions about Bologna. If you have a certain focus area (Asian Studies, US foreign policy etc.), Bologna is not the best place for you. To me it's quite obvious when you look at the curriculum. I'm not saying BC is horrible for these people (well maybe for Asian Studies people...), but not on par with other top-rated programs. I don't think this is a huge secret. So BC is definitely not for everyone.
 
Also, the cost is obviously a huge issue. If you're considering paying the full sticker price at SAIS (whether in DC or BC, doesn't matter), you really need to be extremely sure that the program is a great fit for you. I've heard only great things about BC in terms of academics, professor quality, and the connections you make with other students etc. But of course being in Bologna means that you can't do an internship like you can in DC - that's the summer and year two for BC students. But then again you can perhaps focus on your language skills more. And I haven't even mentioned "the softer" factors (being in Europe etc.).
 
So there are trade-offs that people must consider. I feel that the blog post was informative but it also came across as a little entitled (and I don't meant that in a derogatory way). If you're paying the full sticker price, you better be sure that you know what you're getting into. Also, the post was more about the extraordinary cost of US higher education overall and while I agree with the blogger that the situation is getting way out of hand, you knew that coming in to Bologna (or any other grad school of your choice). BC is not the best place for everyone and like flyingjellyfish said, there are many personal factors in play as well.
 
So I guess what I'm trying to say is this - SAIS for some reason has a really great reputation on this forum, especially when compared to let's say SIPA. So many of us who have been here for a while have been living in this kind of bubble with a very small sample size and we've constantly been reinforced that SAIS is awesome. But of course like with any other school, there are pros and cons. If I had a great scholarship from Fletcher or SIPA and no money from SAIS, I know the decision would be quite easy for me. SAIS seems to be an excellent school but it is not universally better than other top programs and Bologna is not a place for everyone.

@lacanadiense- thanks for sharing!
@hlove - I did the exact same thing and had the same reaction.  It's good to weigh the cons too.
@Kadisha - I agree!
 
I found this blog post and comments interesting and it does reveal a darker side that I otherwise hadn't heard.  It's definitely good to have the cons to weigh as well.  Of course, all this is really about what you most want to get out of a program. I've noticed a lot of discussion on this forum about career services and job outcomes after grad school, which is definitely important especially at these professional programs and considering the still dire job market.  However, personally I'm more focused on the experience at a school- will I like my classes, learn new things from dynamic professors, be happy, and make good friends and colleagues.  I don't particularly want or expect my hand to be held on career services.  This may be because I went to a very big school for undergrad where career services provided no guidance or help to people in my major. I got my job after undergrad by forming strong connections with mentors and professors who steered me in the right direction and advocated for me.  I expect to do much of the same at SAIS and plan to reach out to alumni in jobs of interest to me.  I'm also hopeful that my 3.5+ years of work experience, much of which has been in public finance will help.
 
In my case, I'm looking forward to not being in bustling DC for two straight years.  I feel like moving to Bologna will ease me back into school along with an interesting experience, and I'm excited about the smaller community. Plus, I'll be closer to family in the UK, which is appealing to me since I'm currently very far (1000's of miles) from all of my family. Case in point that our grad school decisions are deeply personal and based on so many factors.  This blog post illuminates cons about the program, but hasn't derailed me from my decision.