Erminia_LL

You can actually still get access to the live chat session of Oct. 26 by clicking to this link. As you can see, nothing excessively eye-opening has been revealed, but still it's worth reading through the Q&A I guess. Hope it helps!

Guys, I don't know any of you nor I am aware of your academic/professional backgrounds. But trust me, DON'T track down people attending IHEID on the internet, as I just did. It's pretty discouraging and it isn't worth it, especially during the waiting game. Most of the students I've ran into obtained BAs from great univs and did multiple prestigious internships before landing in Geneva. Just be positive. We did a great job with our applications, we did our best and WE ALL CAN MAKE IT!

Where did you read about this deadline for the pre-registration fee? On GISA website, they say this deadline is around mid-April. I mean, they mention that it refers to those who apply by mid-January (and yes, it refers to two years ago, too, but I am pretty sure these sort of things do not change over the years), yet it should still be valid for students applying by mid-November, as the scholarship notification is supposed to be delivered in March. How can you pay your pre-registration fee if you don't know whether you got the scholarship? Personally, I can't afford the living costs without it, and I am not ready at all to cough up CHF 1,000 without knowing my destiny. It would be kinda reckless, wouldn't it?

I believe I am speaking on behalf of every single applicant following this thread: Could you please be more specific and tell us how do you know all these things (both the notification period - earlier than expected - and this last thing about the admission decision? The fact that the Committee might have already decided whether I am in or not definitely freaks me out. Thanks!

Same thing happened here. Somewhat it made me hope that the final decision is approaching, but I am sure they will keep their word and send us notifications by mid-January rather than in a couple of weeks! ;)

Wait, what? The website says mid-January.

First off, I am very happy this thread is increasingly becoming alive, as I believe that it is quite useful as well as less stressful to go through the waiting game together! To go back to what @haru_ko brings up about our SoPs, I personally structured mine in three main parts: my academic background (and how the MIA Programme is its sort of natural continuation), my extra-academic background (again, linking it to the IHEID general philosophy and, specifically, to the MIA Programme), and finally how I'd seize on the Programme to achieve my long-term professional goals. As you can see, my SoP was pretty straight-forward and nothing compared to the motivation letter @taeyeon posted, which is definitely written by a one-of-a-kind candidate that the IHEID rightfully did not miss to admit. I believe @unagi is right when he/she says that we should stress as thoroughly as possible that we do fit in the program, without necessarily aiming at having 7+ yrs of experience in the UN. The fact that the guy @su_nayana mentioned got rejected perfectly explains what I am saying: as long as you have a decent GPA and a strong motivation, nothing should prevent you from being admitted to an Institute that, yes, it is competitive but, still, it is not unreachable. I have three friends who applied last year, and only of them got in. She had a great GPA, pretty good language skills (both English and French), one semester abroad, and NO work experience at all. We all can make it!

The I'm not crying, it's just raining on my face comment is kinda hilarious. Don't you guys think it would be sort of helpful knowing the real profiles (home institution, GPA, TOEFL score, professional experience, and so on) of those admitted through the last years? Are there any ways to do that? Just to get a sense of what our chances are, you know.

Hey, would you please give me the link to those GradCafe profiles you mentioned? Same over here. Checked twice a day till yesterday, and keep doing it, although I know for certain there is nothing interesting to see!

Yeap, I applied for the MIA as well. 1. I don't actually know the exact number of students admitted, but statistically the Graduate Institute accepts 1 out of 3 students every year (Master's and PhD together). 2. Hope we'll be informed earlier than January 15th. Before I started my application, I remember quite clearly that the decision notification was set on mid-December for both the admission and the scholarship! However, I believe Taeyeon is right! They don't want to find themselves in the same situation as last year! And yes, the thread has already been moved to the Waiting It Out section, don't worry ;)

Did you make it with your recommendation letters, eventually?

I asked an admin to move the thread in this section so as to gather other early bird applicants and share the (awful) waiting time together!

Once you click 'save and continue' the first time, the referees you mentioned should automatically receive an e-mail from the Institute. That's how it's supposed to work, and how it actually worked with me. Don't excessively worry, though. Refererees' deadline is November 21st, they (and you) are still in time! As far as the title goes, you might want to try to edit your first post, maybe, and then the thread title? I guess you're the only one who can do that, being you the author. Otherwise, you can contact an admin, who will be happy to both change the title and move the thread in the appropriate section.

Guys, wanna turn this thread into something to gather all the IHEID early applicants, maybe by changing the thread title and moving it in the Waiting It Out section?

Taeyeon, in the PDF attached, it is clearly stated that the very last deadline for referees to submit their letters is November 21st. I found this file on my follow-up module, recommendations section. You do not have to worry then! DOC_delais_referents.pdf

Yes. The deadline is the 15th. However, I wanted to get access to the follow-up module and check whether the Institute had received the reference letters. This is why I submitted my application before the very last day.

Submitted my application a minute ago, just in time. Still waiting for a referee to submit his letter. Good luck everybody!

Hi guys! I am applying to the MIA as well. I am almost done with everything, still working on the SoP though. Do you guys think the Committee will be pretty strict with the 800-word limit? Cause I'm little beyond it and still have a couple of things to say. Good luck everybody!