cannotdecide

this was great! i have been going back and forth between CIPA and SIPA but have always leaned towards cornell. i couldn't even visit the campus so this was great.

same here. I am in the same boat as many here. I am trying to decide between SIPA (huge loan/debt) and others. SIPA is definitely making this process much more difficult for me (and many here) to choose!

Wow I am in the exact dilemma between SIPA and CIPA! I also got 28k and no funding from SIPA and seriously considering CIPA....It is a thriving, growing program, and I feel that if you work hard enough and make connections, you can get the internships you want, and CIPA (unlike SIPA) seems to really try to help their students because they realize the distance and such could be an issue. And both schools don't have that much of a huge margin in terms or career placements, especially given CIPA is newer. I also got almost full ride at UMD and up for a fellowship, but biting and thinking of more known names...though I can't say UMD hasn't crossed my mind.

I would love to hear what people have to say on this regard... I am facing a similar situation. I would love to go to SIPA, but not funding, and thinking seriously about CIPA, which is a growing, rising program, and which has given me 70%! Both are Ivy names, but SIPA obviously ranked higher and in a better position location-wise, but the 100k loan/debt is freaking me out. Thinking that if I work hard enough, I can potentially get a similar job and opportunities from CIPA with less loan intake.

Given it seems many of us got into SIPA without funding, is it worth it to spend SO much money to go there and earn an MIA degree? I am extremely interested in SIPA, and the name of the school and the wide array of opportunities certainly help. However, I just don't know if spending so much money to go to Columbia is worth it if one has been accepted to other, very good institutions with some funding.Given the current economy and job potential after a two year master's...and I am not lucky enough to have a company sponsor me either. I mean, there is a saying that it's not the place you go to, but what you make of your experiences with the resources given. I have been hearing a lot about SIPA's 'impersonal' style, and how it is a place where you have to really work hard to be noticed, and the "cash cow" sentiment has certainly been emphasized. Furthermore, if you look at career placement statistics, it is not that drastically different from Tuft's or Chicago's numbers.... I am just not sure what to do at this point I guess (similar situation, where I am thinking about SIPA, Tufts, and CIPA as well....). Lots to think about!

they sent an email at 4 pm march 15....got 10k. given the cost is around 65k per year, not a lot

email sent at 8 am yesterday (march 14).

different one.. no idea about RF.

right? now I realized, uh oh.....i have to make a decision.

my fellowship information came with my acceptance letter, dated march 1....very generous offer and the admission people are SO kind in answering back all of my little questions.

SERIOUSLY! I was so thankful for that. and then when i opened the letter i closed my eyes waiting for the worst but i got IN! yay.

random in the sense that I knew the SOP/work experience matters, but until you go through the process, you really don't know. In my case, I think I had a very, very good SOP and I had the Fulbright, among other factors which helped, but my GREs were definitely not 'amazing', nor the quant background. Anyways, happy about this one!

good luck! anything can happen, i have been surprised at how for some schools the SOP/experience has mattered more than the numbers this year, etc., the opposite on others. At least in my perspective.

is this the only way to find out for now? hmm...

IN with $! Wow. grad school application process is SO random indeed.

finally heard from UMD and got in! they sent the mail to the alternative domestic address i provided, not my current MAILING address abroad, which is more than strange...so the family friend had to tell me and i couldn't ask her details and she got it 5 days ago.

accepted to harris (MPP)! super excited, and especially given my lower than average GRE score and lower than average GPA...

did you all find out via email?

the video interview is not one on one and asks only one question and you have time to record and rerecord, etc. has to be less than 4 minutes long. pretty simple.

So decisions are sent via email in addition to post? I have not heard anything. Hmm...This is super annoying since I live in the other side of the world and fear I will hear back much later than everyone else.

So....if I didn't get a preliminary acceptance letter and I applied Jan 17...does this mean I am just not accepted or is this specifically for people they accepted and are considering giving funding to? Getting sad.

So, is it that if you were accepted and being considered for funding that you got an email from GPPI? I applied jan 17 and haven't heard anything...email or post wise. Also, as I am abroad but applied as a US citizen, I am guessing that I will receive all of my notifications later than everyone else. Are schools that strict about notifying their candidates only by post? I also applied to Maryland but have not heard anything thus far.

Thanks for this. I ended up emailing two of my schools, and not one of them. This makes me calmer. It was, yes, by a percentile. and more importantly, my scores themselves were the same, just the percentiles which seems to change all the time. indeed, a very stressful application process. at least i was able to change the reporting for my other applications in time. too bad my percentiles now make me look worse in the quant and verbal.

I am applying to MPP programs and I just submitted an application, and as I did, I double checked my GRE scores, the hard copy that was recently sent to me and saw that I have been reporting the percentile wrong all this time! All this time meaning, I have submitted two applications already to top tier universities, and one of them wants self reporting, the other wants hard copies and self reporting. I could have sworn that when I looked online at my GRE scores, they were the way that I reported and I am not someone who makes such petty mistakes. Anyways, I have no idea what to do. The difference is small- my verbal score percentile rank according to the hard copy is one percentile lower, my quantitative one percentile lower, and my AW two percentile higher. My apprehension in sending an email to the admissions office is a) I don't want to bring attention to my less than average GRE scores in the quant and verbal department to the schools, especially since the new percentiles are lower, and I have already emailed them so many times and they know me and I don't want it to seem like I am bothering them and remembering my application as such [which may sound stupid, I know]. My actual scores were reported correctly, and just not my percentiles, apparently. And one of the schools will receive my official scores and reported scores and see that they are different! Will this hurt me? If I get into my school that just required reporting, would they reject me after they get official scores?

If you guys don't mind, would love to be evaluated as well since I am applying to similar schools: Schools applying to: HKS, Chicago Harris, GPPI, Columbia SIPA, Brown, and looking to add... Undergraduate institution: Top 10 liberal arts college Undergraduate GPA: 3.37 (much higher in my last two years) Undergraduate majors: Poli Sci-IR, minor: south asia studies GRE scores: 680 Q 520 V (ouch) 5.5 writing Work experience: 2 years: Fulbright Fellow, + extensive internships in large NGOs, congressional office, and consulting abroad. Misc,: Speak 4 additional languages (one I studied as an award from the state department)), been to 21 countries, studied abroad in two countries in the middle east, have taken micro, macro, stat, math (though not high grades in any), journalist for a paper, highest (multiple) leadership positions in college that range from editorial, academic, governance, to cultural.