karina1

On SAIS vs. SIPA: SAIS is a much smaller school and you get much closer to the faculty etc in your everyday life. I'm sure SIPA is great, but probably won't give you as much one on one time with your professors. The close community is really what makes SAIS special. Just my two cents!

Hi! Apologies for the late reply! SAIS decides financial aid mostly based on merit, and I think they rank candidates prior to deciding. So unless everyone else above you on the list declines, I'm afraid the chances are slim. But: if you do very well in the first semester (as far as possible above 3.4), you can get funding for the second year! That certainly happened for the people that did really well. Best of luck!! Karina

Hi! Sorry about the late reply! Welcome to IDEV!! - Yes, you get your login details pretty quickly. What they probably don't tell you is how to use them.. All the useful info about Bologna and the classes there are at the website called BCweb. It looks silly but everything is there so check it out - Depends on your interests, but out of the IDEV relevant programs I've really enjoyed prof. Mazza's class on labor markets in development countries and prof. Amann's class on Latin American economies. Both are taught in the spring. I also enjoyed doing macro and international monetary theory with prof. Taddei. If you have some econ background, it's good to get your required classes done in Bologna so that you have time for all the IDEV classes in DC. - Yes you could do that, but only if you want most of your IDEV classes to be econ related I think. Generally your specializations, professional tracks etc doesn't really matter that much so would advise you to just take the classes you are interested in and see if it matches with a specialization requirement - If you're after an easy way to make some money I'd recommend the library assistant jobs. It's a nice/chill job and you can do your readings while getting paid for it. Otherwise I'd watch out for the RA positions offered by different professors. Usually they're also looking for TAs in micro, trade, IR etc. - Student life in Bologna is amazing!! You're a small group and you'll make friends for life. Make sure you don't take on too much extra classes etc - you need to have time to enjoy Italy! - If you manage to stay on top of your coursework there's a lot of opportunity to travel on the weekends. Trains in Northern Italy are great and can take you around the region for 10-30 euros. Milan, Rome, Venice, Verona ++ is just 1-2 hours away! - I've heard there's a swimming pool somewhere, but I've personally never seen it. Just ask the staff at the school and I'm sure they'll help you There's a few cheap gyms around, like Health City and Fisiolina, depending on where you live. Please let me know if there's anything else I can help you with! All the best, Karina

Hey guys, I'm a 1st year MA student at SAIS Europe in Bologna (IDEV) - let me know if I can help you with anything! People were very helpful to me here last year so want to pay it forward.

Thanks for your help guys! I was admitted to both SAIS (waitlisted for IDEV) and Sciences Po (IPM) so it will be a tough decission. SAIS offered 10K a year but is still more expensive. Wish I had a fortune teller to tell me what to choose :-)

I'm in at SAIS Europe too! Colocho, where did you get the info about 21st?

Hi everyone!I'm having difficulties choosing between LSE, Sciences Po PSIA and Johns Hopkins SAIS for my masters degree. I have received an offer from LSE, for the MSc International Relations. Waiting for response from the other two. I've applied to the International Public Management programme at PSIA and the MA (International Development concentration) at SAIS (first year in Bologna and second in DC).My background: I'm european and have two bachelor's degrees in Comparative Politics and Journalism. Professional experience from international development/foreign service, politics and news media. Not entirely sure what I want to do in the future, but interested in a professional career in development and foreign policy.I guess LSE is the uni with the best reputation in Europe and I would be done in one year, but I'm worried the degree is too "narrow" for my interests (no economics, no development classes) and perhaps too theoretical. I'd love to learn French and the courses at PSIA looks great, but I've met several alumni who were not satisfied with the school (large classes, quality of teaching etc). SAIS would give me the economics and development classes I want, but it's terribly expensive and not too well known outside of the US?Does anyone have experiences from any of these schools? Pros and cons? Grateful for all help!