undecided11

People at the SAIS finaid office told me that the average aid package is only 8k. That's almost nothing compared to the full cost of tuition!

Did anyone get an email confirmation or anything when they accepted their offer? I accepted on Monday night but am worried it didn't go through since I haven't heard anything from admissions.

I just emailed a professor I know at SIPA, asking her opinion on SIPA and SAIS vs my less expensive option: GSPP. She said that she "vehemently" objects to the loan burden that Columbia imposes on students, as they'll be paying it off for decades and told me to not think twice about choosing GSPP over SIPA. It really hurt to give up SIPA and SAIS - they were my top choices since before I even applied to grad school but there is no way I'm risking that much debt when there's a cheaper option (GSPP average debt is 25k, vs 80k at SAIS, and most likely 90k for non-funded SIPA students). I know that many SIPA students get funding their second year but a 20k fellowship barely puts a dent in 140k of debt plus you need to work for that fellowship which means you can't be working/interning off campus to make additional money. Obviously, you are already competitive since you got into these programs. I agree with GreenDiplomat - if you don't need to go to grad school this year my advice is do everything you can to make your application more competitive and try again next year.

GreenDiplomat - thanks, that was really helpful....especially what you said about SAIS producing more people that go into energy trading or private energy companies, which is really not my thing. I guess when it comes to SIPA, I'm just a little more freaked out about cost since NY is extremely expensive and I'm wondering how much flexibility I'll have with most likely 70k+ in debt. Ahh, the decision making process is making application process look so easy now.

I'm torn between SAIS and SIPA. I didn't receive aid at either school and they both look like a good programs so i'm having trouble choosing. I'm sure a lot of people are choosing between these two programs and I was hoping some of you can explain why you are choosing one over the other. I wasn't able to go to the SIPA open house so I'd love to hear your opinion/impressions. I currently work on mainstreaming climate change issues into sustainable development policy. While I'd like to do this long term I know I'll be taking on a good amount of debt so I will probably have to go into the private sector, probably consulting, for at least a few years after graduation. SAIS has great connections with the world bank and other development institutions but SIPA seems to have a stronger private sector connections. .