haupia

OMG YES!! I got readmitted again to Harvard this year!!!! Currently a Master of International Affairs student at Columbia, looking at pursuing a dual Master's! Congrats to all--looking forward to meeting you at admit receptions!! Woo!!

Hi there! Interesting question because I was working in Myanmar for a few years and as a trainer in a program where I met several SIT students who helped develop curriculum for a civic education program at one of the organizations I work for. As I'm currently in a larger, more traditional IR program--kind of wished I considered SIT!! I don't know much about SIT outside from that experience alone, but what I can say from having that experience is that having a hybrid program that emphasizes work is far more valuable, I think, to get you into the field. But again, that's all just anecdotal. I can't say anyone in my current program gets that kind of access and experience while they're in school...

After weeks of deliberation, I received interesting/weird advice from the director of Harvard's IEP program: he suggested I go to Columbia SIPA first since I was offered 80% tuition there and then consider applying to the IEP program again after I finish. The two degrees don't have to be mutually exclusive and he says that I would be an even stronger candidate after the first MIA. That's a lot of schooling, but hey -- it's a possbility.

I haven't and I'm really struggling with this....

Sure! PMing you now

If you've already lived in NYC and feel that you could benefit from another network or place, I'd go to Oxford. How much are each of the programs, with funding factored in? I'd definitely take that into consideration. I don't know about middle east related work but as for Southeast Asia I've met both Oxford MPhil and Columbia SIPA grads and both are doing great. Have you contacted people at both Oxford and SIPA? That'll be very helpful. I've also found LinkedIn to be helpful too; do a LinkedIn search by graduate school and see where people end up, and see if there's many that are in positions that you'd like to do. I'd also research the major thinktanks and organizations in both areas to see if there are many that match your interests. I'm not much of a help (different region and focus so being kinda general haha) but I hope these are factors that can help!

Oh, I've also found it helpful to do a school search on LinkedIn to see where people end up! I feel like a lot of HGSE graduates stay domestically to do work on international issues, whereas I've seen more SIPA grads actually work in other countries. I'm wondering if this has to do with the networks people built up over their program, or if they already had connections lined up previously.

Thanks so much for the responses!! It's extremely helpful to hear employers' perceptions on both types of programs (and especially USAID -- I want to be an education officer for them!). I've had the opportunity to check out both Columbia SIPA and Harvard GSE, and I have a few thoughts on both programs: SIPA (being two years) provides more opportunities to understand the broader picture of development whereas HGSE wouldn't necessarily provide that (especially being one year) HGSE provides cross-registration (though only up to 4 classes) with the other schools at Harvard (Kennedy, Public Health) as well as Fletcher I've meet all types of SIPA and HGSE students who both praise and criticize their program: The main issue I hear from SIPA students is that their career placement isn't very dedicated and that there's massive grade inflation. I've met someone doing a dual Fletcher-HGSE degree (I actually got accepted to Fletcher too but am trying to be cost-effective with one degree) who tells me that Fletcher is a better choice than HGSE, primarily for the fact that the HGSE program doesn't go into the broader picture of development and paints only part of a picture for education specialists getting into the field. SIPA would have a summer internship component as well as the spring capstone, creating at least 2 opportunities for direct, in-country experience. HGSE offers virtual internships in certain courses (I know at least with UNICEF) Being in NYC and Boston respectively, SIPA is well suited for those interested in the UN, Human Rights Watch, International Rescue Committee; HGSE's primary connections seem to be UNICEF, UNESCO, a few going into FHI 360. SIPA is more oriented toward IR (obviously) but as such, more people seemed to understand my field experience. This is both with students and faculty. SIPA has connections with the country I worked in; HGSE not as much. Since it's an education school, most people are focused domestically -- the small International Ed Policy cohort is internationally focused, but the curriculum focuses on middle-income countries (China, Brazil) and not necessarily developing ones. I was fortunate enough to receive $80k in funding from SIPA; with SIPA's program totaling about $140k, I'd be $60k. HGSE gave me $20k in funding; with HGSE's program totaling about $70k, it'd cost me $50k. So both programs are about the same price. I'm not sure how much more beneficial it is to be in a program for 2 years versus 1 year. I feel like 2 years would provide more opportunities to gain depth in knowledge and networking than 1, but there's been several HGSE students I've talked to who've refuted this and told me the 1 year program of HGSE has been more than enough. Decisions!

WOOOO SAIS IDEV!!!!

Hey -- I also applied for this scholarship too, and I also worked in Myanmar! And judging by your user name, I'm guessing there's a Vietnam tie as well (where I worked before too). Do we know each other?? Hilarious if we did! I am most likely not attending SciencesPo and if I did, it would be a joint with Columbia SIPA. Best of luck!

First rejection of the year and it feels so good!!! Makes my decision slightly easier!

Hi all! New to this board, so please be gentle...haha. I applied to international development programs at IR/public policy schools and international education policy programs. I'm sure there are several others out there, like me, who sort of stand at the middle of international development and education issues. Here's my background.... I worked in developing countries for 4 years, mainly in education, but a particular vein of human rights education in a politically unstable country during massive ongoing democratic reform. I was primarily involved with curriculum development, teaching, and conducting teacher trainings, where my students ranged from IDP youth camp volunteers to political prisoners. I was really blown away by the humanitarian application of education by my experience. My interest therefore is to take that another step, but I'm really unsure of how. I'd like to be a director of a program like that, somehow get involved higher up, or somehow get deeply involved with human rights work in other capacities. But am a bit lost as to the skill sets I'd need to do this. That's where I'm trying to envision the grad school program coming in. Moving forward, I'm looking for a program that can make me competitive in the NGO world, and allows me to still work with those populations. I want to gain skills that are going to be well received. Again, pardon my vagueness here, as I'm still a bit lost as to what skill sets I need to develop. I've been accepted to a number of education schools so far (Stanford IEPA, Harvard IEP) and IR/public policy schools (Columbia SIPA and Georgetown SFS) so far. I've talked to a Regional Senior Director of Save the Children, who says both types serve well: The difference you have here is that two get you on a more technical path (education), while the one along a broader development management/policy type career. Either of the degrees will be well received by the NGO world. I still am waiting to hear back from other programs, but they're all within the same two groups of programs I've applied for. If anyone who's graduated from these programs and have similar work experience to me would like to PM me sharing how much they liked/disliked their program, please do! I have heard from some already I've contacted (thank you so much for sharing your experiences, as they've all been insightful), and it's great to hear more experiences on this...especially since there's only a few weeks to decide! (And of course, money is a massive issue, given the nature of the type of work I'm interested in...funding will definitely determine programs as well, but I'm just curious to hear from those who've completed these types of degrees if they were satisfied with their experience, and if it helped them significantly in their int. development career.)