tingschu

SAIS has an admissions blog?! Oh my...this is the first time I heard of it. I am also looking forward to the facebook group for 2014 SAISers--will surely join when it is ready.

thank you for the re-assurance! Worst case scenario-I will cut short my summer vacation and fly to DC one month earlier.

Good luck with that... I confirmed my place, and sent in the deposit like two weeks ago, but I haven't heard from them ever since.

Yeah...GWU is better for you.

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Thank you IRToni! This is a brilliant idea. Considering the potential 9,000 USD that I can save, my grad school balance sheet can finally break even. This really means a lot for someone who is scratching her head for the past two weeks, thinking about every penny that she can potentially squeeze/save. This forum has been so helpful! Thanks again.

Dont worry about floating alone, if you attend SAIS, charlotte_asia. After taking a closer look at SAIS curriculum, I think i am also interested in ERE and China Studies, in addition to the IDEV program which I got into. So I am pretty sure there are still many out there who would be interested in courses from several other concentrations. I can foresee my coursework wont be a very focus one and that i will sit in classes from several concentrations. As far as job prospect is concerned, I heard as long as you have SAIS on your resume, which concentration you are in doesn't matter that much anyways. So it might be wise for me to just pick the courses that I like and try to devise a smart strategy to use up my bid points. I guess all i am saying is that, not everyone is as determined as you are--you are interested in democracy and government only, which might result in you having to take courses from several concentrations to fit in your interest, since SAIS doesn't have this concentration per se (actually i think IDEV has a sub-field dedicated to this topic). For people like me, even though I have a concentration, I dont have a strong preference for a fixed topic of courses, I might end up taking courses here and there anyways. I actually see it as an opportunity for me to make more friends. Just my two cents.

Thank you so much again Oregongal and Charlotte_asia! People on this forum are so helpful and upbeat. Searching for housing now indeed seems early, but it remains my biggest joy everyday at work, now that I have told my boss to start looking for my replacement, and that I pretty much dont have much to do (except for checking gradcafe every other hour)! The rational side of me though, tells me to work hard and try to get a good half-year bonus before I hop on a plane to DC. In that case I dont have to worry about housing budget like this. Oh well, who says human beings are rational creatures. Pre-school summer vacation officially starts for me!

Thank you charlotte_asia! It seems from your calculation, 1300 for room and board per month is unavoidable, if one wants to live in a relatively safe and nice neighbourhood, one that's comparable to Dupont Circle. Budget wise, the two options are similar, so the big decision becomes: communal bath vs. private bath, dorm vs. house, prepared meals vs. cooking by myself, walking to campus vs. taking trains. Each option has two wins and two lose--now I am back to square one, what a wonderful world... Thanks again for your help though!

Thank you charlotte_asia and dcenergygirl for your helpful local knowledge. I was wondering have you heard of "International House of Washington DC" near Dupont Circle? It seems they have an option of 1300-1400 per month per room including 13 meals per week. Does this sound like a good deal compared with a similar and nice neighborhood like 13th street and Woodley?

Thank you for the tip dcenergygirl! I just "google-walked" the 13th street, the neibourhood indeed looks very nice, albeit a little over my budget. It seems for someone with a $700 budget+utilities, who dosesn't mind longer commune time as long as it doens not involve public transport interchange (e.g. metro line orange interchange to metro line red, or bus interchange to metro), but prefer a quiet, safe, and nice neighbourhood with retail facilities, DC does not present much choice. I should probably start saving money...

Dear Classmate-soon-to-be, I can't agree with you more. I can't imagine how i could survive mid-march without the support from friends of this forum, even though the days that we refreshed our mailbox like crazy already seem far away. Oh well, I am sure we are not the first batch to go through this roller coaster mood, nor will we be the last. But the support and friendship we have all along will remain as a lasting memory. Good luck with all the gradcafers here. I am sure we will do great wherever we end up!

Second this. I am attending SAIS this fall as well, and am now looking at housing options. From it seems, the Woodley Park neighbourhood looks very nice and it is only one metro stop away from DuPont Circle. Any input from current SAIS/MSFS students would be tremendously helpful, especially for someone who is looking for a nice, safe, and quiet neighbout with lovely cafes where I can read.

I would say, go for it! Not everyone has a perfect portfolio to show to the adcom. In fact, most of us have bumps here or there. You will regret if you dont at least give it try. Cheers!

I did.