mapiau

Big congrats to everyone who was admitted to such a selective program!

Waitlisted too. Tough, but fair!

I was lucky enough to receive a very generous funding package from UCSD, and am going to have a very tough time deciding between UCSD and SAIS. How much is the SAIS name and alumni network worth? I think the courses offered by GPS and SAIS are comparable in my field, but the SAIS name is surely marginally worth something. Is anyone else facing a similar choice? Any opinions would be much appreciated!

I can't speak to a degree in Energy, but I know MPPs and MPAs can be very useful in the energy space. MPPs are common in clean energy advocacy and funder communities, and I believe that they are also useful for public sector policy analysis positions. If you browse on Linkedin you can find many MPPs who work in energy, either for private firms or, for example, as PUC staffers. I also recently interviewed an MPA from a top school who currently works in efficiency assessments for a private firm. They described the MPA as a "business degree for the public sector"—a description I like—and said that MPAs are particularly common in state and federal government departments which intersect with energy.

I assume they're coming out today or tomorrow. @Stars88, do you have any sense of how much funding would tip the scales for you between UCSD and the other schools you're considering? I'm asking myself the same question. I think UCSD's courses are actually better for what I want to do than SAIS', but the brand and alumni network is much stronger at the latter.

@PhilzatBerkely I'm in the same boat. For what it's worth I think the courses offered at GPS fit my goals better than any other school, and I'm really attracted to the variety and practical nature of the curriculum. With fellowship funding from GPS I could potentially minimize my debt as well. I'm in the process of talking to mentors and former students in my field about the dilemma, and don't have a great answer.

Thank you for willingness to help all of us considering SAIS. In your experience how likely are fellowships to be renewed for the second year? The SAIS website says students with fellowships "may expect the same in the second year" if they keep their GPA up, but other posters on this board say this is less likely. What are your thoughts? And how does change if the first year fellowship is through Bologna?

GPS—under its previous name IR/PS—was established in 1987, so while it's new in comparison to other program it's not like it was founded yesterday. Though this definitely does hurt the school's name recognition and the maturity of the alumni network. I can second the location comment—I went to SD for undergrad too.

I'm pursuing coursework in energy and Latin America, though I haven't decided exactly what career track would work best for this. There's enough room for electives in the curriculum that I would take much the same courses whether I was a International Politics, Public Policy, or Environmental track, so I'm still doing research to decide. I'm very attracted to the program, and feel the quality of the classes and professors at GPS is as high as the elite east coast schools. In particular the school's weaknesses—just focused on East Asia and Latin America, and not in DC—don't impact me, given my interests. My big concern is job placement. The practically-minded and quant-heavy courses at GPS are very valuable, but the brand just isn't the same as, say, SAIS. I hear really good things about the career services department at GPS, but of course this only gets you so far.

Since SAIS seems to award aid for the first academic year (unlike some other schools which specify aid for both years) I thought I'd post this section of the website: Funding comes from federal, university, and private sources (such as corporations and foundations). Aid is awarded on an annual basis, and students must reapply for aid for their second year in accordance with stated deadlines and procedures. Recipients of SAIS fellowships in the first year may expect the same in the second year if they maintain a 3.4 cum GPA, have no failing or incomplete grades, maintain full-time enrollment. SAIS cannot be responsible for funding non-SAIS fellowships for the second year. So whether your financial decisions assume that you'll secure the same amount of aid your second year depends on your own appetite for risk.

Like many others, accepted to Bologna for ERE! Many congratulations to all. Honestly without funding it would be difficult to justify SAIS' costs, but the curriculum is fantastic for my goals. I'm kind of in shock—I had a 3.45 overall GPA in undergrad! And terrible calculus grades!

Do you have any particular reason for being wary of opening saying how much you've been offered by another program? I'd like to be able to bargain from a credible position. @Ben414, thanks for posting that template!

Looking at past threads, it look like people started getting emails at about late morning on Friday. Funding letters come later the same day, I believe.

I haven't seen a thread for UCSD's School of Global Policy & Strategy, so thought I'd start one. Are you considering GPS? What are you planning on studying, and what do you see as the program's strengths and weaknesses?

In addition to SAIS, I applied to American SIS (Global Governance), Georgetown SFS (MSFS), Syracuse Maxwell (MAIR, a combination of a MPA and IR degree), Tufts Fletcher (MALD), and UCSD GPS (MIA). SAIS is definitely a good fit for my goals, but I'm trying not to think about ranking schools until I know more about my funding situation.

I put myself down for both. I don't have any real draw to study in Bologna and don't speak any Italian, but figured it might increase my chances of getting in.

I'm about the same. I'm in the upper range of the middle 50% for the GRE quant, and far above for the Verbal. Though in undergrad I was a double major in Econ and poli sci-focused International Studies, which is really a double edged sword—it's good that I have strong econ preparation for SAIS, but my transcript also makes it obvious that I'm far better at qualitative than the quantitative. I'd hoped to minimize the spread between the two on the GRE to compensate, but unfortunately really didn't. I have no idea how the SAIS admissions committee will view this.

I applied for the Energy, Resources and Environment concentration, and would plan to pursue the Latin American studies minor. In a perfect world SAIS would probably be my top choice, since I'd like to work in clean energy policy in the Americas and SAIS' curriculum exactly matches these goals (Specifically, the Electricity track here plus some climate change track classes. It's perfect!) In the real world I'm comfortable admitting that even getting into SAIS is gonna be tough with my literally below-average undergrad GPA, and I'm vanishingly unlikely to get the level of funding that would make SAIS competitive with UCSD (another of my top choices whose curriculum is also perfect for me). That said I'm moderately hopeful. Even getting into SAIS would be a feel-good victory for me, and I think my Analytical Essay did a good job of showcasing my defined professional interests and writing skills. So who knows?

One thing that I didn't consider, and should have, when deciding where to apply is courses offered. Sure, I researched different programs' strengths and weaknesses, but in the stress of deciding where to apply and beginning my essays I didn't research deeply into schools' course lists or build potential schedules of classes I would take. Now that I'm researching more deeply there are a few schools I applied to who offer exactly the classes that want, and others that while are in my area of interest aren't as tailored to what I want to study. Lesson learned.

I'm struggling with this (perhaps prematurely, since I've only heard back from half the schools I applied to, and haven't gotten any news on funding from two of those). It's easy for me to say that I want to minimize debt, which I do. It's also easy to build spreadsheets showing how much debt I'll take on for each program. But how much debt is worth taking on? What's the marginal price that I'm willing to pay for a more prestigious program? Ultimately there are so many unknowns that it's a judgment call, which isn't comforting at all.

I don't have an iron-clad source for this, but I've repeatedly read that the State Department does not care how prestigious of a school you got your Masters from when applying for the Foreign Service (as long as it's from a US university). So aspiring FSO certainly have good reason to go to lower-ranked schools if they offer significant tuition remission.

My focus doesn't cover security at all, but is instead more on the policy side. I previously worked for a large NGO in the field, and am unsure whether I'd like to eventually work in the public or private sector. So, keeping my options open! It is hard to get over the allure of Georgetown (and SAIS), including the more practical side of this allure. I'm still unsure just how much I should value these prestigious schools' brand, especially given how much more expensive they are likely to be than their less-prestigious (but still academically rigorous) peers.

I'm anxiously waiting to hear back from SFS, but at this point I do not really see myself attending Georgetown. A big part of this wariness is cost, of course. My area of focus is energy issues (electricity, rather than oil and gas) and Latin America. I applied to SFS' Global Politics and Security concentration, and my sense is this doesn't quite fit my goals as well as other programs, like Fletcher (which has a dedicated Resource Policy field of study), SAIS (Energy, Resources and Environment policy area), or UCSD GPS (which offers lots of policy and energy courses). Of course it's often difficult to know exactly whether a program fits your goals while looking in from the outside, but while MSFS offers a number of energy courses, but I don't find these offerings quite as interesting as other schools'. I've heard fantastic things about SFS' small cohort size, career services office, and location, though. And while it's a bit silly, Georgetown has a bit of romance – DC! Diplomacy! Old statues on snowy days! – that other program don't. I'm attracted to this, and I don't even particularly care about being in DC!