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Trey M

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  1. Hi Anna, First of all congratulations on being accepted to SIPA. I am currently a first year MPA student at SIPA finishing up my second semester. I will try my best to give you a well rounded answer to your questions based upon a consensus of those that I have talked to in my class and my own personal opinion. "I know that SIPA has more of an international affairs rep and half the students are international, but figured this was not reason to avoid it given I thought it was a prestigious and highly regarded school." SIPA is a prestigious and highly regarded school. Their alumni network is unmatched and their everywhere. Now, that is a reason in itself to go, although its a gamble if you do not have full funding because if you go to SIPA for that reason, there is the chance you may be disappointed. But there is an equal chance that you will love it. I chose to go to SIPA for the customizability of my degree and for the student body. The one thing I can say about SIPA is that the classes are very interesting and can be very specific. With that said, one of my biggest qualms about the program are its core courses. While they look great on paper, they tend to be a hassle. To be honest, the only class that I have found to be of significant interest was my statistics course. Thats not to say that you wont enjoy them; this is my person opinion. Secondly, the student body is amazing. I love the fact that there are so many people from all over the world studying together under one roof. The people who go to SIPA are come from a variety of backgrounds and have so many experiences. These people become your best friends and peers for life. I would argue that this is reason alone to go to SIPA. "Any thoughts on whether concentrating on social/urban policy is a good idea at SIPA and/or on its quality in general?" I cannot comment on this. I am not concentrating in social and urban policy. However, there are a lot of great events that social and urban policy concentrators can attend. They tend to be popular. I have organized a few myself. "I recently spoke to someone who surprised me by saying SIPA could be a poor choice and is a cash cow, with a large acceptance rate and students who are not cared for. It seemed like a limited perspective that was learned mostly from one person's input." I am not going to lie, this is a common feeling on campus. I would argue that it is not a limited perspective. However, I do not have any evidence to prove it to be true. Is it a poor choice of a school? That really depends on what you are looking for. For me, I ate the debt because I did not have any former debt going into my first year and I thought the benefits of going to SIPA outweighed the negative. Is it a cash cow? People feel like it because SIPA does not seem to give out many scholarships (seem being the key word). Many people who receive scholarships tend to keep it to themselves, even when asked. I would compare it to asking someone what their salary is. Are SIPA students not cared for? I would disagree. SIPA does care about their students although you would not know it by looking at the facilities and amenities. (Definitely come look at the school if you are able to before you make a final decision) I have recently heard from an alum that she did not enjoy the majority of her classes. She said there are tons of opportunities for connections and networking, though, which partially comes with NYC. She said that the branding of Columbia is very valuable (this we know), so that is a lot of what you're paying for, which is important but frustrating because I want the program to match the reputation, but I'm not sure the educational experience does. Then again, another alum said that he really loved the professors and felt respected by all and had an overall good experience. Ultimately, you will get out what you put into SIPA. Many people come for different reasons and many people go away happy and disappointed. The networking is great, the friends are great, the core courses are ehh, but the other courses are interesting. Ulitimately, I am happy I chose to go to the school and would do it again. I hope this helps. Anyone in this thread can feel free to message me with anymore questions.
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