QuintiliusMaximus

@rhodeislander - thank you so much for the commentary - I think you really helped to round out this discussion. I had been hemming and hawing for a bit, despite really preferring Fletcher on almost all accounts, but your response helped push me over the edge, and I finally accepted my offer and put down my deposit! Thank you so very much for helping me and others on this thread. Paying it forward definitely works wonders!

Congrats on the full ride - that's amazing! I'm trying to decide between SAIS (no money) and Fletcher (enough money to make it count, but not a full ride), so I kind of feel your pain. I mean, not only are you getting a full ride, but you're getting a living stipend - you're getting paid to go there! You'd be sitting pretty for two years. You would really have a lot of options in terms of what you could pursue after your degree. I feel like a fair amount of students are hindered by enormous debt, and I am inclined to believe @pavlik in that SAIS students go private because they need the higher salaries to pay back loans. If Ford was a third-rate program and couldn't get you where you want to go, then I think the choice would be easier for you. As it is, it's an outstanding program and they are really giving you the red carpet treatment. I wouldn't pass that up!

@aquarius - I agree! I literally had a Full House/Michelle Tanner "How rude!!" moment when I saw the no funding letter. I'm still not sure of my decision - I think I'll go to the open house in April at the DC campus and take it from there. That said, I really loved the close-knit environment at Fletcher and the loads of classes they offer each semester. Not to ramble, but that was one big difference that I noticed in favor of Fletcher - SAIS Europe's course catalog seemed really sparse in comparison. Also, I could be dreaming this, but I swore that there was a SAIS Europe student on some thread who said that because of the limited options, he/she was occasionally forced to take classes they didn't like/weren't interested in. I know it's only one year, but that's half your degree! I never heard a Fletcher student say that.

Agreed, @bunsen!

Thanks, greenapplesea! Yeah, I don't want to be greedy, but if they sent me a random email saying "here's an extra $2k!!" I wouldn't be upset. So, the bare bones analysis seems to be that SAIS is the more professional, quantitative program and Fletcher is the more academic and diverse in terms of concentrations and classes. One thing I did hear about Fletcher is that although they offer exchange programs abroad, many students elect to remain in the area and take courses at the Kennedy School and MIT. Also, there are 3 spots max open for each exchange program, so the chances seem small that one would be accepted into their program of choice, if at all. I don't have as much international experience as I would like, so I feel like it would be beneficial if I had the opportunity to live and study abroad, which I guess is another point in favor of SAIS. If it was easier to do an exchange program at Fletcher, I think my decision would have been made already. Anyway, I'm glad this thread has elicited such detailed feedback!

Greenapplesea - that was incredibly helpful! Thanks for the breakdown. I'm curious - how did you negotiate the $2k increase in funding? I was under the impression that funding was more or less final.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one! Can't complain too much though - choosing between two awesome places is really hard but really great too.

Hey all, First off - congrats to all admits! I don't know about you all, but I'm glad that the stressful waiting period is finally over. I know I'm not the only one with a difficult decision to make, but I wanted to reach out to see if anyone else was struggling between SAIS Europe and Fletcher? Some background: Fletcher gave me $20,000 in scholarship money, SAIS - nada. I've calculated the total costs (I'm from the Boston area originally and can live with family near the school), and it looks like Fletcher, in total, would be roughly $45,000 less expensive than SAIS. I'm finding it terribly difficult to get over this financial disparity, as it essentially amounts to a year's worth of tuition. I would love to live in Europe and DC, but I don't know if it's worth that much money. I feel like the main thing that could justify the additional expense (other than the awesomeness factor behind living in Italy for a year and going to SAIS in general) is evidence suggesting that a) SAIS has better job placements (both in terms of percentage and the types of placements) and the starting salary of a SAIS grad is substantially higher than that of a Fletcher grad. From what I've seen from each school, it doesn't appear that SAIS has that much of an edge over Fletcher in these areas. Granted, students can intern during the school year, but I wouldn't be able to do that in Italy anyway (at least not easily). Does anyone have any inside info that would suggest otherwise? If my starting salary would be $20k higher and I could land my dream job at the International Rescue Committee or whatever, then that would help justify the additional cost! Also, I have minimal interest in working in the private sector. I realize that the majority of SAIS grads gravitate towards the private sector, while Fletcher grads prefer gov't and/or non-profit work. That said, it seems like SAIS grads wouldn't have trouble getting gov't/non-profit placements if that was their end goal. Anyway, thanks in advance for the advice!