monocle

PEPM students are awarded the MPA, but it's geared more towards mid-career professionals. They state on their website significant experience of at least 4-5 years is preferred and those with less than 2 years experience will not be considered. PEPM is a one-year as I understand it. They also have a prestigious partnership with the World Bank.

Thank you for posting! What year are you? Do you have a job lined up for after you finish your degree? Or a summer internship coming up?

I actually applied to the dual degree with Tsinghua, so I'm waiting to hear back on that end.. but Tsinghua's tuition is so cheap that it's like getting a fellowship the first year, plus you get a guaranteed $5000 (not much, but it's something) when you return to the US. I've thought about that option with SIPA as well. Spend the second year abroad and save massive amounts of money, but get two degrees for the same amount of time.. Though, I've also been saving for many years and could probably afford the first year, hopefully with assistance the second.

Congratulations on your decision! I also got into SAIS and am leaning towards picking it... but go with the money and the work experience. You will be so much better for having the work experience under your belt, you might be able to save some money, and you're getting some scholarship as you said from Fletcher. I don't think the schools have that much difference in terms of job placement.. Basically all schools will try to tell you they have 90+% employment, and it seems the employers vary based on where the school is located. But what I can tell you is that future employers will value your work experience almost as much if not more than your MA. So that's another point towards Fletcher. I'm a big advocate for not going to grad school right from undergrad (in fact I turned down law school and completely changed career paths because I found something I'd much rather do). Go work and get some cool experience under your belt! Then go to Fletcher.

I submitted. It was very simple.

Did you defer for two years or something? Here I thought you were a current student with the inside scoop. Haha

I just got my "award" package. and it was the standard federal loans, plus work study.

Did anyone get rejected? lol

Does anyone know whether the concentrations become sort of like cohorts? Also does anyone know how many IDEV students they cap?

I got IDEV track too! Super pumped..

I'm in!!! So relieved.

fingers crossed! can't sleep!

Not mine. Seems quite strange that there wouldnt be an uproar on this page. Maybe it was someone trying to will it to be true. Or maybe someone from EN that forgot to post and filled in the incorrect date of acceptance. My workday is over here in Asia... It's the 11th here and I've been stressing all day. I hope we hear before I go to bed.

Thanks for commenting! That's nice to hear from a Bank employee. And yeah, I kind of figured if that was the route I chose, I'd need to be a short-term consultant to start (it looks like that's how SAIS grads do it, too based on their employment page). I'm not praying that we hear early haha, I'm praying I get in!

Have you ever been to Wisconsin? Most of my family is from Wisconsin and went to UW (except me).. I probably would not choose to go because of the terrible weather. But more seriously, I don't think it would be worth it.. 100K of debt without any guarantee of getting into a PhD program nor a job that could help you pay off the debt? No thanks. Not to mention, you said you don't have clarity on what types of jobs you could get afterwards. I don't mean to be a downer, but have you considered studying economics courses in your home country (at a cheaper price) and then trying to enter an economics PhD where you might get funding? Or maybe TGCers can help advise if you provide more information on your goals.. and once you have all of your other application decisions.

SAIS is usually a little more generous than SIPA right? While I don't want to presume I'll be accepted, I'm probably choosing between the two. SAIS has a slight edge for me because of the language flexibility.. I'm already fluent in two languages, but I'd like to consider learning a third or becoming more academic in my second language. Although, I wish SAIS had more access to JHU's full campus facilities. And I like New York City more than I like DC. Does anyone have any information about working for the World Bank afterwards? It's not my top choice, but I think it might be interesting work and I know SAIS has a reputation for being a good feeder to the WB. But how many of the students getting those jobs/consultancies are int'l versus American? I've heard it's much more difficult being American. Would it help if I have dual citizenship with a developing country?

Rejected

Rejected here too! Weirdly I don't feel upset at all.

I've been abroad too, but thankfully have a ticket to visit home in April! V. excited for Mexican food. I applied to HKS (rejected), SIPA, SAIS, WWS (rejected in the wave today), and a couple other that I was accepted but eliminated after the SIPA acceptance. I didn't consider GTown, which I am not sure if I should regret.. but I don't want to work for the gov't nor foreign service, so I thought it might not be the best fit.

You can switch concentrations except for IDEV which can only switch out to a different concentration.

SAIS notifications are supposed to be going out this Friday according to their blog. Who else is waiting? What concentrations did you choose? Where is SAIS on your preferences? I've only heard back from SIPA so far, but I'm kind of expecting to only be accepted to SAIS and SIPA, and I should know from the other schools by Friday as well. I applied to the IDEV track at SAIS. Between SAIS and SIPA, for some reason the language aspect is drawing me toward DC.. I've also been afraid of the general SIPA is too big mantra that I see. Though, I know I need to put that out of mind because it's probably not true, and I'll go visit either way.

Whoa! Why would the MS at Wisconsin cost that much??? Cost of living in Madison is low. Can you try to get in-state tuition? Also I think you're overestimating the salary of an MS in economics graduate. 65,000 might be the high end of the spectrum depending on your work experience beforehand and the job responsibilities. Geography definitely should be a factor in your decision. You should check where their graduates are getting jobs, and see if it aligns with where you want to be. What is your first MS in? Is UW the only place where you applied/accepted? Frankly it sounds like maybe you should sit this one out, but that's only based on the limited amount of information you provided.

First, congratulations! Those are some good options. If I were you I wouldn't focus on reputation, but I think you've got the right line of thinking that the different schools will likely have much different regional networks. You should check out each of the schools' employment statistics to check where all of their graduates work, compare the salaries, and see if the job titles are the sorts of things in which you'd be interested to do. One of the main advantages to the two-year program is that you have that summer in between when you can get an internship and try out a job that interests you without having the full commitment. It also may be helpful to have the extra time to search for a job. Just based on my cursory research and personal preferences, I found the jobs out of SAIS to be very interesting and they pay better than those I saw on LSE's employment statistics. I'm American and slightly biased in favor of the American system.. Personally, I think the extra year is worth it, but in the end you still have to wait on the other two decisions anyway! Maybe SAIS will give you a sizeable amount of scholarship money. Only then can you decide on all information (most important being your financial situation). Good luck! We should be hearing back Friday!

Sigh. @loveglove I'm in the same boat.. waiting over here in Asia. Hopefully harvard brings good news while we slumber. Congrats btw! to happygomucky and everyone else that I accused of trolling hahaha

Oh well. Hahaha, maybe there's a waitlist email coming for me. Just gonna think positively