julia9109

I just went to the GSPP and SAIS open houses and am completely confused about where I want to go now. They are totally different schools, both good in their own ways - Berkeley was so friendly, I'd get a great education and I'd have access to the business and law schools but SAIS is really pushing its network, their faculty is amazing and the program fits my international interests better. In terms of debt, GSPP is way less expensive than SAIS - I'd prob spend around 20k at GSPP while best case scenario is 75k+ at SAIS. I know SAIS has an amazing network and I'd have access to the sorts of institutions I might one day work for but does that justify an extra 55k (at least)? My interests span both the public and private sector - I've been working in climate change and development policy for about two years which I really love. There are a few small development consultancies that I'd like to work for but they draw mainly from larger consulting groups so I'd like to keep the consulting option open. GSPP makes financial sense but I'm trying to figure out if it puts be at a much greater professional disadvantage than if I go to SAIS. There are GSPP students that intern and work at large development organizations, like the world bank, but there are a lot more SAIS students there. Also, in terms of consulting does GSPP have an advantage because Berkeley is more broadly recognized than SAIS? I have no idea. Basically, if it's still possible to do the work that I want with a GSPP degree than I'll go there because I really don't want to be in debt forever. But if being in California means that it will be near impossible to network in DC or get a job in my field, then I'll probably go to SAIS. Is anyone else choosing between these programs? Any thoughts?

Compost & Recycle - I'm in the same situation! I'm torn between GSPP, SAIS Bologna, and Fletcher($$). Fletcher is a great program but I'm leaning towards either GSPP or SAIS. In terms of finances, I have some savings and if get a well paid research position at GSPP I can graduate with very little debt. SAIS Bologna is $$$ and researearch/TA seem more scarce and pay between $10-18/ hr while the GSPP ones pay around $20/hr and can remit a large portion of your student fees (I think up to 14k???). I emailed SAIS financial aid office who said the average student graduates with about 70k in debt. That makes me nervous. In terms of quantitative training (which is a priority for me), I think GSPP and SAIS are about equal. In terms of international policy, SAIS is the best. I hear GSPP is trying to strengthen its international focus - they have some international policy type electives and you can take classes outside of GSPP. But from talking to students, many in class discussion in the core courses revolve around domestic issues. In terms of network, I'm not sure. I know SAIS has a strong DC network and I don't have a good sense of Goldman's network, even after looking at the stats. Not sure about the Berkeley name v Johns Hopkins, or if it matters. The one thing I'm not clear on is which one is better for international climate change/ development policy, which is what I currently work on. SAIS has the Energy, ENvironment and Resources track but at GSPP you have access to the Environment and Resources Group, which is very well respected. Plus GSPP has electives on international climate change policy, development, us security, etc. Also, I'm with you on the whole moving thing. Living in Italy would be a blast but I just spend last year in China and the idea of moving to another country where I don't speak the language is tiring. Berkeley would be less exotic/exciting, but I hear it's beautiful and everyone I know there loves it. Which one are you leaning towards?

Update Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, MIA Schools Applied To: SAIS at John Hopkins, Fletcher at Tufts, SIPA at Columbia, GSPP at Berkeley, WWS at Princeton Schools Admitted To: SAIS, Fletcher, GSPP Schools Rejected From: WWS Still Waiting: SIPA (on the waitlist) Undergraduate institution: top 20 liberal arts college Undergraduate GPA: 3.4 Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 3.7 Undergraduate Major: Political Science GRE Quantitative Score: 700 GRE Verbal Score: 660 GRE AW Score: 4.5 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3.5 Years of Work Experience: 3.5 Describe Relevant Work Experience: During college, two summer internships with international sustainable development think tanks. Immediately after school I spent two years at a management consulting company. I then moved to China where I interned with an environmental NGO, doing clean tech market research, while also freelancing as an environmental policy analyst. I now work full time as an environmental analyst, focusing on climate change adaptation and mitigation policy with variety of clients, mainly governments or development agencies like the African Development Bank and UNDP. Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I've been working on them for a while (since August!) so I think they've gotten pretty decent. I have a compelling personal reason for why I'm interested in my field of study (climate change/ development) and I talk about some interesting work experiences and professors I want to work with. However, I'm not quite sure how to explain those two years I spent in a job that was completely unrelated to my policy interests so that might hurt me, particularly with WWS. In terms of the process, writing the SOP was the hardest part of the application process for me and I'm really glad that I gave myself a lot of time to do it. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): I have letters from a professor, the founder of the ngo i worked with in China, and my old boss. The process was easy, I emailed them all in the summer to give them a heads up and then again a few weeks ago I told them which programs I'm interested in and why. I tried to give them as much guidance about what the schools are looking for in a rec letter as I could. I think the first two letters will be good, the last one from my old boss is flattering but not very thoughtful or in depth. Not sure how useful that will be. Other: Fluent in French. Basic Mandarin. Did a semester in Strasbourg, France during which I also interned for a human rights ngo. Grew up in Morocco, have experience living in rural impoverished regions which relates well to my sustainable development focus. Honestly, I'm stressing out over this whole process! I don't think I have a chance at WWS, Goldman or SAIS due to my weak quant background and average gpa/gre but I think Fletcher and SIPA are possible. I guess I'll give it a shot and if I don't get in somewhere, just spend next year taking classes, doing the GRE and try again. -----Update: I used this forum a lot during the admissions process so I'll write a bit about my experience, hopefully it will help someone out next year. Now that the whole process is finally done, I'm really happy with the schools I got into and little surprised. I didn't think I had the quantitative background to get into either SAIS or GSPP (I got a B- in my one and only college econ course. gross.). However, I think my work experience helped to offset that a bit. I wasn't expecting to get into Woodrow Wilson but it was definitely worth a try given their generous funding. Plus, their application was the most intense so it made drafting the others a lot easier. In retrospect, I wish I had taken some additional math and econ courses before I applied. I talked to the admission people at WWS and Berkeley and they definitely encourage people with weak quant background to take extra classes and said they don't look down on courses taken at a local community college (which might be the cheaper/more convenient option). I was lucky in that I had the opportunity to compensate for my poor quant background with some development/climate change related work but if that's not an option then I think taking extra classes could help. I would have liked a better GRE score but I asked admissions people at SIPA and Berkeley if my quantitative score was okay and they said it was good, so don't stress if you get around a 700. I also spent A LOT of time my SOPs. I researched the curriculum and professors in each program and tried to integrate that into my SOPs and was very clear about my future goals. The only school I didn't put that much effort into my SOP was Columbia and not surprisingly, I was wait listed there. So that was my experience with the admission process. Hope it helps!

Accepted into the Bologna campus. Man, I was all set on GSPP and now I have to make a tough decision.

Hey David, Do you know if people ever intern or work off campus during the school year? For some of the schools I've looked at, it's very common for students to intern/work while taking classes while at others students only work on campus or focus on school exclusively. Thanks!

Thanks for all your thoughts on the program! They were helpful.

I've also heard that Berkeley's resources don't compare to top tier private institutions (this from someone who went to harvard for undergrad and is doing an MA at Berkeley, though in a different program). I don't care so much about that, just whether or not the school is well respected enough so I can get a job afterwards. I wasn't able to visit the school so I don't have as good a sense of GSPP as I'd like. Does anyone know if Goldman has a good network in the DC/NY area? I emailed someone in career services about this but still waiting to hear back...

OnEdge, on 05 March 2011 - 09:06 PM, said: Has anyone else not received word from GSPP? I haven't gotten any emails and was (unpleasantly) surprised to not find a letter today. I live in Colorado, is there a reason a letter would get to the East Coast before it gets here? They might be sending them out in batches. My last name begins with D so maybe that's why I got it earlier. No idea how this works. I have a friend in DC who is still waiting to hear back from gspp and her name starts with M. She's freaking out but it sounds like if you haven't heard by email yet then that's a good sign.

Just got accepted via snail mail. I live in Boston and the letter was postmarked March 2. Good luck everyone!

I am so nervous. Haven't heard anything yet but I got a weird message last week saying they still needed my official transcript, even though I received an application complete email in January and my college says they sent my transcript last November. The next few days are going to suck.

Yep, they do require a quant/language CV. I think the importance of your quant background will depend on what field you're interested in....i was talking to an admissions guy who said they don't pay as much attention to it for people who are going for say Human Rights. For someone like me, it's probably more important to have a strong quant background so who knows if I have a chance. I've heard of people getting in with weaker stats than mine but I also think more ppl are applying to grad school these days so they are probably more selective now. (i read somewhere that their admissions rate was 40% a few years ago, just talked to someone in admissions and now its below 20%) Also, I've only just started filling out the online applications but I noticed that although certain schools, like Goldman, don't require a supplemental quant cv, they do ask for that information on the application form itself.

I was wondering if there are any current Fall 2011 applicants on this forum who are reapplying (i.e. you've been through this process before). It would be great if you could talk about your experiences. All the schools I'm applying to are top programs with low admission rates (for example, Woodrow Wilson accepts 8%) so while I have a solid application, I realize that I might not get accepted to the programs that I really want to go to. If this happens, I plan on reapplying for 2012 and spending next year improving my application (retaking GREs, taking econ courses, etc). For people who have been through this process before, how did you go about improving your application? Did you take night classes, volunteer, work abroad, etc? I'd really appreciate any advice you have since come March, I might be back at square one. Thanks!

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPA, MIA Schools Applied To: SAIS, Fletcher, SIPA, Goldman, WWS Schools Admitted To: Schools Rejected From: Still Waiting: Undergraduate institution: top 20 liberal arts college Undergraduate GPA: 3.4 Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 3.7 Undergraduate Major: Political Science GRE Quantitative Score: 700 GRE Verbal Score: 660 GRE AW Score: 4.5 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3.5 Years of Work Experience: 3.5 Describe Relevant Work Experience: During college, two summer internships with international sustainable development think tanks. Immediately after school I spent two years at a management consulting company. I then moved to China where I interned with an environmental NGO, doing clean tech market research, while also freelancing as an environmental policy analyst. I now work full time as an environmental analyst, focusing on climate change adaptation and mitigation policy with variety of clients, mainly governments or development agencies like the African Development Bank and UNDP. Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I've been working on them for a while (since August!) so I think they've gotten pretty decent. I have a compelling personal reason for why I'm interested in my field of study (climate change/ development) and I talk about some interesting work experiences and professors I want to work with. However, I'm not quite sure how to explain those two years I spent in a job that was completely unrelated to my policy interests so that might hurt me, particularly with WWS. In terms of the process, writing the SOP was the hardest part of the application process for me and I'm really glad that I gave myself a lot of time to do it. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): I have letters from a professor, the founder of the ngo i worked with in China, and my old boss. The process was easy, I emailed them all in the summer to give them a heads up and then again a few weeks ago I told them which programs I'm interested in and why. I tried to give them as much guidance about what the schools are looking for in a rec letter as I could. The first two letters are great, the last one from my old boss is flattering but not very thoughtful or in depth. Not sure how useful that will be. Other: Fluent in French. Basic Mandarin. Did a semester in Strasbourg, France during which I also interned for a human rights ngo. Grew up in Morocco, have experience living in rural impoverished regions which relates well to my sustainable development focus. Honestly, I'm stressing out over this whole process! I don't think I have a chance at WWS, Goldman or SAIS due to my weak quant background and average gpa/gre but I think Fletcher and SIPA are possible. I guess I'll give it a shot and if I don't get in somewhere, just spend next year taking classes, doing the GRE and try again.