SAIS2013

I can't judge how strong your spanish is, but it sounds like a good plan - whether it takes you 1 or 2 semesters to pass out of Spanish, you'll still have time to study a new language. If you've never taken Chinese or Arabic, you might struggle to get proficiency in 3 semesters - unless you do some in country study - but then to be honest there's no real benefit to proficiency in a second language. You will still learn a lot. I'm yet to meet an employer who bases my language ability solely on what is written on my CV. The language requirements vary from language to language - I think the idea is that you should be able to start from scratch and become proficient by the time you graduate. For that reason, proficiency for Chinese is not as high a standard as Spanish (due to the reading issue).

If you really want to do it, talk to the pre-term people - they may let you do it regardless of the requirements.

They don't! In my second semester I took 5 classes, audited one and took 2 languages. I almost died... but it didn't cost any more than had I just taken 4.

Definitely doable, I know plenty who are.

EasyDeezy: I did Micro and Macro in pre-term, and found it manageable. I had done a bit of econ in the past and was fairly strong on the math side, so that may have helped. I had plenty of time for social activities - though I'm not the type to get to stressed about things. I would say of the 25 in my class who did both - 5 dropped macro with in the first week as it was too much. If you have some econ experience, you will be fine. If you don't - you can't still do it, but it will be a lot of work. It does make life easier when the semester starts - you've got two core econ classes out of the way. If you struggle with math, and have no econ background - it will be very tough. PS. Great decision re. SAIS - you will have a fantastic time!

Charlotte: 1) Except in the area of foreign policy, SAIS doesn't have pure public policy classes such as those mentioned. With regards to policy memos vs. research papers - you get both, it really just depends on the lecturer, if you have an ex-Ambassador, ex-IMF leadership, ex-CIA leadership, you tend to write memos. For pure academics, they tend to like research papers. I would say half my non-econ classes have required memos, and half papers. 2) I think you're being overanxious!! People are connected to their concentration, but not to a huge extent. My closer friends are from a whole range of concentrations - you get to know a lot of people. The concentration that is the most insular is Strat, but even that's not really a problem. Kristie: I know a number of people who have done, or are doing the dual degree - including those in IDEV. It obviously makes it a little more constrained getting your requirements out of the way, but its not an issue - no ones seems to worry too much about it. I think there were 5 who went to Wharton at the end of last year, 4 that went to INSEAD in January, 1 to Stanford, 1 to Tuck, and there are a whole bunch who have come from business schools to finish their time at SAIS at the moment.

rebmaLS: With regards to integration, in first year you have around 200 students in Bologna who get to know each other pretty well and 200 in DC who do the same. In 2nd year, everyone is put together in DC and the two groups struggle a little bit to integrate - i.e. Bolognese continue to hang out with their Bologna friends, and DC folk their DC friends. It's not that big of a problem, just a function of how the program works. Regarding concentrations - I know a few people who are IR general and are pretty happy. One thing you sacrifice is priority enrollment in classes you may want to take - i.e. if there's a very popular China class you want to take, you may lose out to the China studies students who have priority, or have to spend all your bid points. You can always enroll in a concentration, use it to get priority status for a class or two, and then withdraw from the concentration (though the department won't be too excited). It's just important that you satisfy the requirements for a concentration by graduation - even IR general has requirements.

Avr2012: 1) I don't think there's a huge chance of an incoming student serving as a pre-term TA. There tends to be a lot of interest from current students for those jobs. That said, I would email the Summer Programs / Pre-term office with a CV and cover letter outlining your experience. You could give them a call too. You never know! In terms of participating in pre-term - if you don't want to enroll but you're in DC, happy hours are open to all, so go along to those. 2) I can't think of any advanced econ classes that have gone to bid. You can see bid reports from 2005 onwards on the website - http://www.sais-jhu.edu/students/registrar/bidding.htm. So have a look there. Charlotte: Regarding "technical" classes, SAIS offers quite a few. Within econ: Organization and regulation of infrastructure, Public finance, enterprise regulation and development, cost-benefit analysis, etc. Not to mention all the finance classes. There are practical conflict management classes, and a bunch within ERE and I-Dev - ie. microfinance. Is that what you mean by technical/practical/public policy? Maybe if you give me an example of a GPPI class your looking at. I missed your fourth question from the previous post regarding democracy and governance: Off the top of my head there have been a number of classes on democracy and governance. I took one on Democracy and Democratization in Southeast Asia, Africa studies has a democracy class, as does Latin American Studies, and there are a number in I-Dev on democracy/governance related issues - i.e. corruption, political development, etc. Madoublet: 1) You can easily do both and I know plenty of double concentrators. It will limit the electives you can take, as you need to satisfy the requirements for both concentrations. Note that you will have a primary concentration and a secondary concentration, which is important, as you only get bidding priority for classes in your primary concentration. Given more ERE classes go to bid - I think, but check the bidding history - I would make that your primary concentration (but again, check that out). 2) I know a number of people who have taken Chinese from scratch and passed proficiency by graduation. Its obviously a bit of work, but definitely doable. The proficiency standard for Chinese isn't as high as some other languages - I think the idea is that someone who starts from scratch should be able to pass proficiency by graduation. Chinese classes at SAIS are really well taught - its one of the better run languages, and is very popular. If you speak any chinese, don't be surprised if you skip a few levels - that happened to me.

Charlotte: Working while at SAIS? Is this possible? Yes it is. A fair few students do paid work, more do unpaid internships. With the exception of on-campus jobs, few do work that's unrelated to their area of study - though some do. On campus you can work at the library, writing center, in admin at various places - career services, dean's offices - then there are a fair few research assistant's jobs that pop up. In winter break there are a fair few admissions-related jobs that go around. Working part-time affecting your social life It won't make a difference at all. I would say 65% (maybe more) of my friends are interning 20-30 hours a week and we still see each other all the time. You will still have a great time. Other concentrations In terms of jobs - I'd agree concentrations matter very little. The fact that SAIS is on your CV is all that matters. The exception would be jobs that have a finance angle, then the finance specialization might help somewhat. In terms of class selection, they matter a lot more, and there is a fair range of approaches by different departments. IDEV has a lot of requirements and is more restrictive than other - ie. you can't take as many electives. For most regional studies programs, its more relaxed - 4 classes in your area and two in a related area (check the website for specific details). If you are in a concentration, you will generally have priority enrollment in its classes, especially in your 2nd year. This is really important for ERE, Strat, and IDEV - which each have a class or two that often fills up completely with concentrators, and others that only have a few spots left for non-concentrators (so you may need to use lots of bid points). In terms of teaching quality, no concentration is terrible, but some are weaker than others (send me a PM, and I'll see if I can help re. your specific concentration). Regardless, you can use your electives to sort things out. You can "play" the concentration system if you really want. Enroll in a concentration so you get priority access to their classes, then drop it later on. It might annoy the concentration coordinator (departmental funding is based on enrolled students), but that's about all. jct329: Bologna was set up in 1955, allegedly as the US was trying to get a presence in a major socialist hub in Italy. Now it just functions as another campus. There is no "point" per se other than offering a chance to go study in Europe. Its generally considered easier to get into Bologna - though not much - and the subjects offered are more limited, and don't suit every concentration. I.e. If you're concentrating in Asian studies, I think last year there was only 1 class offered. Its obviously much more suited to European studies. You can't study every language in Bologna either. Among the student body, Bologna students (or Bolognese) have a reputation for partying and the DC students for being a bit nerdier. Everyone is in DC for year 2, which provides for a few integration problems.

I'm a current SAIS'er, here's my two cents on the school. I relied on Gradcafe a lot when I was deciding and thought an inside view might help. Note these are only my views, other SAISers may disagree. Overall, I've been really happy with the school and highly recommend it. First, being in DC is a huge plus - you are in THE global international relations hub - IMF, World Bank, US Govt, and a thousand think tanks / NGOs are all right around the corner. If you want to work at the Bank, SAIS is the place to go. It is the biggest source of Bank staff - basically, if you want to work there, you will. SAIS also has great networks, particularly at the IFIs, but also in US Govt and across the NGOs and Think Tanks. Living in DC there are conferences, seminars, talks, panels going on constantly - you can't get to everything. On top of that, SAIS gets top speakers in. In my time - Hank Paulson, Tim Geithner, Stanley McChrystal, Zbigniew Brezinski, Madeleine Albright - are some of those who have come through. But you'll get lots of foreign heads of government, ambassadors, CEOs, etc. And as a student you get to attend a lot of candid closed door talks, which are great. Second, SAIS has fantastic course offerings, if you haven't seen them already follow this link: http://www.sais-jhu....urses/index.htm (see the bottom of the page). It has a lot of fantastic teachers, and a few not so fantastic teachers. But if you do your research when picking classes, you can avoid the poorer classes with ease. Be warned, this isn't business school, you will work hard. SAIS students tend to be pretty hardworking - especially on the DC campus - while also squeezing in lots of seminars, conferences, clubs and societies, and happy hours. Third, SAIS can prepare you for any job. The Econ syllabus is fantastic - if that's what you like, if not, you can avoid it (aside from the mandatory 4 subjects). The Finance program is also top notch - the head of the department, Gordon Bodnar, is ex-Wharton and runs classes of that standard. He also has put together a really solid faculty. Whether you want to go into banking, consulting, government, third sector, media, SAIS can get you there. If you're not sure, SAIS is even better! Note that a lot of private firms, esp. the consulting firms, don't treat SAIS as an MBA - you will enter at the pre-MBA salary. Fourth, there are GREAT people in the student body - military, government sector, private sector, media, NGOs - there are a lot of interesting people at SAIS, most of them really smart too. The social side of SAIS is a real highlight. In terms of downsides, there are a few minor shortcomings, but I'm sure they're not unique to SAIS. First, overenrolled classes. In recent years, the student body has grown, but course offerings haven't really adapted. A lot of classes are over enrolled and you have use bid points (everyone given the same amount) to try and get in. The upshot is you simply cant take a lot of classes you might like to. This is becoming a problem - over 20 classes went to bid this semester. Other classes are limited to concentrations, or give concentrators priority - i.e. you can't take a class with Eliot Cohen unless you are in Strategic Studies. Second, the student body seems to be getting younger. If you've got three or four years of real work experience, you'll find a bunch of people like you, but there is an increasing number of students either straight out of undergrad or with 1 year worth of internships. This can be frustrating. Finally, career services isn't what you'd get at a top business school, to a large extent you're on your own, especially if you're interested in private sector jobs. One other issue to consider is branding. SAIS is THE brand name in DC, but the further you get away from the US, the less well known it is. If all you're worried about is brand name, columbia and harvard tend to resonate better overseas than SAIS. But this is slowly changing. Looking at concentrations, in my view (and this is only my view!) the better concentrations are: - Strategic Studies: Very well run by Eliot Cohen, with great faculty. It has a conservative bent. - China Studies: Headed by David Lampton - one of THE China guys. Great classes, good language program. - American Foreign Policy: Michael Mandelbaum - Energy, Resources, Environment: Great course offerings, very practical. - Latin American Studies The SAIS International Development program is traditionally good, but has been in a state of flux. Francis Fukuyama left in 2010 and a new director has only just been appointed - Deborah Brautigam from American University. Will be interesting to see what happens. A final point is that SAIS has just appointed a new Dean - Vali Nasr - who seems like a good pick, but only time will tell! Again, I would highly recommend SAIS. I've had a great time here and talking to people from other schools, I'm more confident I made the right choice today than when I first accepted (over HKS, SIPA, MSFS, LSE, HEI Geneva). Happy to try and answer any specific questions.