mych

Hi Durian (are you perchance part Malaysian, given your username?) Fellow Swiss citizen here: You can indeed get a scholarship for ScPo. It's true that we aren't eligible for the Emile Bountmy or Eiffel scholarships, but we can apply for this one: http://formation.sciences-po.fr/en/content/bursaries-and-financial-assistance The information you want is under the title "Financial Assistance from Sciences Po". They do not explicitly mention Swiss citizens, but because they use the same requirements as CROUS, we are also included. I emailed them to confirm some weeks back. Do note: your parents' combined salaries need to be below a certain amount for you to receive anything. If you qualify, the scholarship amount ranges from only a tuition fee waiver to a tuition fee waiver + a few thousand Euro annually. If your parents' income disqualifies you from this, you could also look at obtaining funding from your home canton. As each canton is different I'm not sure what Geneva's conditions are, but they usually contribute towards a first degree (your first bachelor and master) even if it's abroad. The main exception is if it's a private institute. Since ScPo is a public university, that's fine. Zurich helped fund my BA in Asia, for example, including a year in China. There are certain restrictions to studying abroad vs studying within CH, but again that varies from canton to canton. You should be able to find most of the relevant information here: http://www.geneve.ch/bourses/ Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

Glad to hear something's worked out for you! Your faculty does sound truly amazing and entirely supportive, so I'm sure the best is still to come for you. Keep us updated a you go along!

In case anyone is interested: IHEID received over 600 applications for MDEV this year, with offers made to approximately 120 applicants. In other words, approximately 20% admission rate for MDEV 2014.

In all fairness they never promised it to me any earlier, so I can't fault them for only releasing it at the end of April. This was in response to my asking them if it would be possible for the result to be released by the 12th.

I contacted them last week because I needed to sort out the deadlines for responding to my offers. This was their response: "We inform you that we can't give you an admission décision before the 12 th of april 2014. The decision will be made by the end of april 2014. Should you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact us."

Terribly sorry to hear. Write us anytime if ever we can be of any help, whether tomorrow or in a year! (I'm pretending I speak for everyone. Perhaps not, but certainly for myself). I'm glad to hear you've got a solid support system there. Can't beat good people around ya, no way no how!

Except for a scholarship rejection from Hertie, not a peep out of any of my other schools. Sometimes living out your dreams, ain't as easy as it seems. You wanna fly around the world, in a beautiful balloon. Doot doot dooo....

All the best Carefree! We're all rooting for you.

Have you considered Switzerland? Most (all?) application deadlines are still over a month away. Cost of living may be high, but tuition fees are generally around CHF4,000 a year for foreign students, and the Swiss government offers a measure of support. The low fees do offset the high cost of living quite a bit. Swiss universities tend not to be among the first things people think of when contemplating universities, but a number are well ranked (if rankings are your thing). In the 2013/14 Times University World Rankings for example, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich) is ranked 14th, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne is 37th, University of Basel is 74th, University of Zurich 83rd for social sciences, and these on a global level. Swiss Master programmes tend to be two years, and also tend to combine theory with practice, which is always a plus in my book. The following link lists all the English Master programmes officially available in Switzerland: http://www.crus.ch/information-programme/studying-in-switzerland/study-offers/study-programmes-in-english.html?L=2 Alternatively, the Netherlands also offers many strong programmes you can still apply to. A large plus is that Dutch unis are affordable (around €3,000 p.a.), generally one-year courses, and cost of living is low. Plus English is very widely spoken. In the same Times University World Rankings, Universiteit van Amsterdam is ranked #34 worldwide and #1 in continental Europe for social sciences, with Rotterdam, Leiden, Tilburg, Utrecht, Maastricht, Wageningen and Groningen also in the top 100 globally. I'm not sure of the specific course you're looking into or if these are universities you would even consider, but if it's in the general field of international law or international / policy studies, you'll find things there. *take rankings with a large dollop of salt. Sciences Po is ranked 98th in the world for social sciences according to the same table, and places like IHEID and Hertie aren't even listed but are highly prized by the right people in the right industries.

It was, unfortunately. Sadly also my best bet for (external) funding. Hertie was a close second though, so on the bright side this eliminates the dilemma of having to choose between the two. I can now focus on hunting for funding for Hertie. We should all visit each other at our respective schools. Angie at IHEID, you in ScPo, me in Hertie, Mickun wherever he chooses!

Seems like they misinformed me about there being no further admissions today - just refreshed my online portal: Refused. Good luck to those of you still in the running!

I'm so sorry to hear, alchyna! You've been here since day 1, and I know how agonising the long wait has been for you. Will you definitely be opting for wine & cheese at ScPo now, or is LSE still in the running?

I've just gotten off the phone with IHEID. Apparently the admissions office is now closed, and no further results will be released today. Those of us who have yet to hear anything will definitely have to wait until next week.

Hang in there CarefreeWritingsontheWall, and all the best with your remaining applications!

I believe Angie was referring to the current last post (#19) this thread:

Also, this is the first time I'm seeing >50 users in this thread!

We're in the same boat, as is Aseth apparently. Let's go to Hertie Mickun.

Yeah this is painful to watch from the outside, must be hell to experience. The portal does say that "only the notification received by email is binding", so hopefully that holds up. IF the portal is the correct result, however, I think the administration will have no choice but to own up to it. Judging by the flood of responses both here as well as on other platforms, a great many are currently experiencing this, certainly more than the programmes are designed to accommodate.

I'm still under consideration... doesn't feel all that great really.

A delay would certainly be infuriating, but I'll take it positively. This reinforces mickun's theory that many of those left to the end are those being considered for scholarships. It's not all bleak!

This gives me hope. I think my profile would sound roughly like yours in most respects. With variations, of course, but similar enough. I'll now be even more gutted if I'm refused tomorrow, because that probably means I messed up on my motivation letter. :S

Keep refreshing. That can't be the end!

Ah, the Italian part's the part I'm least familiar with. :/ I'm in the German part myself, central Switzerland. Is working worldwide as fantastic as it sounds? Sounds like we're in similar boats (in a vague, not-really sort of way); I can cover the costs of a year, but need another source of funding to cover the 2nd. Either that or postpone my studies by another year so that I can fund it entirely out of my own pocket.

If that happens I'll take the train down to Geneva and stand over their shoulders until they finally give me my acceptance.

Goes to show how much is down to perspective I actually consider IHEID (and Hertie) the best in terms of communication. They have always been prompt, friendly and helpful whenever I've called or emailed them. I do agree that the prolonged admission response window is quite nerve-wrecking, but in all fairness the 2-week time frame has been clearly stated since the beginning. In addition to that when they realised that the online portal may have bugs (it's new, so teething problems are to be expected), they promptly sent out emails informing candidates to await email confirmations instead. I'd say that's initiative, and this clear flow of information is one of the reasons that IHEID is my top choice. I agree that they should in future provide clear staggered release dates according to programme, but for now I can't complain about the fortnight of agony given that I was prewarned. In contrast, IBEI has been absolutely terrible in terms of communication. My phone calls went unanswered and my emails were finally replied to 3 weeks after I sent them, and the reason I even had to send them was because I received no confirmation (automated or otherwise) that my application had been received. ScPo has been quick to respond to emails as well, but they often respond in French when I write them in English, and the answers provided are sometimes not for the questions asked. That's one of the reasons I moved ScPo down to my 3rd choice and Hertie up to my 2nd.