ArellaV

This forum has been of great help during my application and enrolment process at SIPA -not just this discussion thread, but the ones from previous years. So, thinking about those people who will be in my shoes in the next few years, I wanted to leave some useful information:
If you received a fellowship and are considering appealing the decision: DO IT! The worst thing that can happen is that the administration will say no. Email anyone at the financial office (or call) and they will send you a form to fill out.  I appealed mine and asked for an increase of 40% of the original fellowship and was granted the full amount asked. I don't know if there is a cap on how much you can ask, but I didn't want to ask for anything more than 50% of the original amount thinking that such a big amount could almost be discouraging. 

@Merantau Not sure if the appeals apply only to those who got funding. I'd suggest you email Grace Han about it. 
Columbia has this program with Prodigy Finance where international students qualify for loans (without co-signers) for up to 80% of full cost of attendance. Check it out and see if it works for you: https://prodigyfinance.com/get-a-loan/columbia-columbia-school-of-international-and-public-affairs/loan
Also, I recently talked to a friend from CBS and she told me that private banks will not deny loans to international students, but the interest rate will be higher if they do not have a co-signer (doesn't hurt to pay them a call and try! If you go for this, I would suggest the Chase branch that is near Columbia). She also suggested variable interest rates for sure.  
@Vgpmc No clue!! I wouldn't like to wait that much more, but I guess it makes sense. 

Thanks for this @ironheart, very helpful. 
@Merantau, are you an international student? Else, aren't Plus Loans an option? 
@Katekm, I understand that students can appeal the fellowship decision and be given a form, which has to be completed by April 15th to see if they can receive any funding for the first year. Also, I hear it is very common for students to receive fellowships for the second year: usually a combination of scholarships that are credited towards your tuition and a assistantship. For the assistantship though, I read somewhere on the SIPA website that you need to maintain a 3.4GPA.
Hope this helps!

Yes, at the bottom of the acceptance letter there was a link to another letter. 

Does anyone know if results for the International Fellows Program are out?

In for the MIA program with $50K funding!!

In for the MIA program with $50K funding!!

In for the MIA program with $50K funding!!

Congratulations to everyone that made it! May you all get a lot of $$ in funding, learn a lot and meet wonderful peeps! 
I didn't get in and I am anxiously waiting on SIPA (dream school). 
 

The following was posted on SIPA's Admissions Blog on March 8 along with an analysis of the 2017 MIA/MPA applicant pool (emphasis added):
Lastly, decisions will go out in mid-March 2017 on a rolling basis. I can’t give you an exact date, but I can tell you we’re finalizing the review process as I type out this sentence. There are checks and balances in place that the Admissions Office has to do by hand to ensure accurate results, so please be patient with us. As soon as your admissions decision is ready we will email you the news. Just be patient. And good luck to all of our applicants!
http://admissionsblog.sipa.columbia.edu/2017/03/08/a-confidential-look-at-our-fall-2017-applicants/

Congratulations to everyone that made it! May you all get a lot of $$ in funding, learn a lot and meet wonderful peeps! 
I didn't get in and I am anxiously waiting on SIPA (dream school). 
 

That is not true. For starters, HKS has been very transparent about the whole process so I don't see why they would lie about that. Second of all, check this out: http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=hks. Here you will notice how, in the past, Master students have found out about decisions (via email telling them to check out the portal). Phone calls are only made to PhD students. 

Twas the Day 'Fore Admissions
'Twas the day 'fore admissions, and all through the forum,
Not a person was working, they'd built quite a quorum. 
Their essays were written, with pride and with care, 
But would they get in? Not a one was aware. 
They paced through their offices and homes oh so stressed, 
While their little hearts beated away in their chests.
They gnawed at their nails and rended their flesh,
They rapped on their keyboards, and tapped at refresh. 
An email arrived! The time! It has come!
Oh, no, wait, it's just a letter from mum. 
"Ugh, Mom!" they did shout. "Can't you see that I wait?
For a letter from Harvard to come on this date?"
And far off in Cambridge, the admissions committee,
Laughed and sneered and guffawed without pity.
They sipped on their mai tais and laughed at the plebs,
"Having fun waiting, you dorks and you dweebs?"
But at last they decided, long enough they had waited, 
They'd read and reread, discussed and debated.
They gave off a shout and it rang through the city
"Behold a decree from the admissions committee!"
They turned to the students at The Grad Cafe
Who'd fretted and talked, and stopped working all day,
"We think you're quite swell, and you're so very cool
Welcome to Harvard's John F. Kennedy School!"