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Hi Swissfroggy! Welcome to the thread. Which part of the country are you in, and are you looking for a Stipendium from your canton? That's the route I'm looking at should I fail to receive funding. (Feel free to wait until your admission before responding if you want your 2nd post to be news )

What do all of you think of posting summaries of our applications and profiles? We could begin now or wait until everyone has heard back from IHEID; I reckon it could be a great help to future candidates if they can get an idea of our backgrounds, in that it will provide them with a benchmark against which to evaluate the strength of their applications. Just a thought. Some sample questions, based on Feel free to add more: Previous schools (name, type): Previous degrees and grades: International experience (countries, reason, duration): Previous work experience (duration, type): Math/econ background: Languages (how fluent?): Intended field of study in grad school: Long-term professional goals: Schools applied to & results (funding?): Ultimate decision & why: Any advice for future applicants?

My theory was born out of despondency as well. I really hope it's wrong. I like the sound of a regional approach! Come to think of it I haven't yet heard of anyone from Europe being accepted to the programme thus far, which bodes well for me. It's entirely possible though that the admitted Europeans just haven't been posting here. I need to get my imagination under control.

Hi SIXX A.M. Second round MDEV applicant here, still under consideration.

My theory is this: 1) The crème de la crème of the first round applicants were accepted in December. The definitely unqualified were rejected. The rest were postponed. 2) The clearly qualified second round applicants were admitted over the past 2 weeks. The pool of postponed applicants remains untouched. 3) The borderline qualified second round applicants were added to the pool of applicants postponed from the first round, possibly ranked. 4) Once all the clearly qualified applicants have been accepted, they begin reevaluating the pool of applicants within the constraints of the remaining places. 5) Some of the reevaluated borderline applicants will be refused, the others placed on the waiting list for the end of April result. Long story short, I'm extremely anxious about the results and am trying to distract myself by conjuring up baseless theories.

To be very honest I've more or less resigned myself to a rejection from IHEID, though I reckon it will still be heartbreaking to receive it. The fact that so many have already received their admissions and that they've waited so long to respond to me is highly discouraging, especially when considering the highly limited number of acceptances they issue for the programme.

Congratulations Angie! That makes 9/9 programmes you've been accepted to! If I may ask, what do you think you did differently with your application to IHEID this year vs your IHEID application last year? All the best with finding alternative funding. Do you know whether you're leaning more towards IHEID or ScPo?

In my case my second choice is the MPP at Hertie, followed by ScPo and Uv Amsterdam. I'm fairly sure I'll accept IHEID if I'm admitted, but giving up Hertie will certainly hurt - I like the curriculum, the class sizes are small, industry connections are fantastic and reviews are great, plus I absolutely love Berlin . Uv Amsterdam is the only one of my top 4 that I can afford without a scholarship or loan, however, so it's by no means out of the running. Konstanz is beautiful! Absolutely stunning place, great medieval towns and inspiring scenery. Not to mention one of the biggest flea markets in Europe covering a distance of about 2.5 km and extending into Switzerland.

And in this case, hopefully also to Geneva.

Don't give up hope Angie! Perhaps there's a scholarship waiting list as well. In any case, there's always cheese and wine in Sciences Po!

If you do decide to turn down IHEID, could you ask them to give the spot to me?

Congratulations!!

IHEID estimates an annual living cost of CHF20,000 on their site, which is roughly USD22,700 (http://graduateinstitute.ch/home/admissions/prospective-students/tuition-financial-aid.html). While this strikes me as slightly conservative (my personal estimation is CHF24,000 / USD27,300 per year), those are the official figures. Having said that, my higher estimate may be due to the fact that I may remain in Switzerland even during breaks, whereas it follows that anyone spending their breaks in less expensive places would incurr lower costs for that period.

Hi FindingWays, welcome! Have you tried emailing / calling Hertie about your application? They're exemplary at responding to enquiries - prompt, helpful and friendly. In my case I submitted my application to Hertie on 14th February (my referees submitted their references on 17th and 20th February) and received my Offer of Admission on 27th February. As you mentioned, this appears to be the normal timeframe for applications to Hertie. I am still waiting on the results of my scholarship application, however. Hertie has also been steadily climbing my list of preferences; the more I read and hear about it the more impressed I am - to the point that it's almost on par with IHEID in my book. Good luck!

Finding independent housing is indeed quite tricky. In many cases it can also involve having to write a "motivation letter" explaining who you are, what your background is, why you're moving to Geneva and how long you're planning to stay. A few tips I can give is to have (a) recommendation letter(s) from previous landlords / real estate agencies handy (ideally in French for Geneva). If your current / previous landlord / agency is willing to be contacted by phone or email for verification purposes, so much the better. I reckon IHEID is reputable enough in Geneva that landlords would accept your acceptance there as a reflection of your reliability, so a copy of your IHEID acceptance letter will likely go a long way too. Also be aware that it's considered normal for landlords to request between 1 and 3 months' rent as a security deposit. This amount will only be returned when you move out, with potential deductions for cleaning or to cover any damages that may have occurred during your stay. The following websites may help with your search: - whole apartments/studios: Comparis.ch (EN/FR/DE/IT), Immoscout24.ch (EN/FR/DE/IT). - a room in a shared apartment: wgzimmer.ch (only DE) *WG = Wohngemeinschaft, German for "flatshare". Edit: I should mention that applying for a room within a flatshare generally allows you to skip the complicated process mentioned above. As everywhere else in the world, it only requires that your prospective flatmates like you.

Wow. Lots of news to wake up to! Congratulations everyone who's been accepted! Looks like the long wait period has been worth it.

We've got the same idea. If I don't get into IHEID I'm leaning towards attending Hertie and exchanging to IHEID in the 3rd semester. That thought is keeping me sane through this endless limbo of dwindling hope.

Sorry to hear about the Hertie scholarship. I also assumed that the scholarships and tuition waivers were separate entities; am surprised to hear this isn't the case. I'm meant to hear from them about it this week, although I'm not too optimistic given that I haven't yet found anyone who has received a positive response for the 2014 intake. Hertie seems great, but €29,500 is a lot of money for tuition at a European instutition.

Has anyone heard anything from IHEID today? Also, has anyone heard anything yet about scholarship decisions at Hertie?

I have no experience with the cost of living in the US, so I can't compare, but perhaps this will help provide a frame of reference for what to expect in Geneva: I currently live in a Swiss city that is on average considered cheaper than Geneva. Without any partying etc my monthly expenses generally hover around CHF2,000. That roughly breaks down to CHF760 for an apartment shared with one other person, CHF300 for compulsory insurance (I believe students pay a quarter to a third of this, though I'm not 100% sure), CHF60 a week on groceries (without much meat), approximately CHF50 per week for subsidised lunches at work, around CHF100-150 for transport if I don't travel much, plus utilities and mobile phone which add another CHF50 monthly (this varies, of course, according to your preferred package). I imagine the transport costs can be eliminated if we were to live and study in Geneva city, and there are likely savings in insurance as well. Based on the Edgar Picollo housing information IHEID provided, however, it seems that student accommodation will be going for around what I'm paying now.

It's just struck 18:30 in Switzerland. I guess we'll hear next week.

Not someone I know personally, but there is someone who was accepted to MDEV last night (I say last night, but that's according to my time zone. Based on her/his profile s/he seems to be in Cali). S/he seemingly found out via the online portal as well.

Congratulations dpgu800! I've applied to the MDEV programme as well, but have yet to hear any news. In case you're interested, there's another thread on gradcafe with many who have applied to IHEID. Most of us are still waiting on results, but do feel free to join us.

You're right. The_Freak was admitted to MDEV with a scholarship 2 days ago: