soaps

The room rates seem accurate for the area. Any other apartment in the area that aligns Riverside Park would be prohibitively expensive for most, and I-House also includes utilities and amenities like gym access in that amount, which makes it more than reasonable by Manhattan standards. Comparing it to Columbia subsidized apartments, it is more expensive, but those apartments don't include the apparent perks of I-house. That said, you can find a much better deal outside Morningside Heights. I've said it twice already but I'll say it again: adjust your expectations for living in NYC. If you expect to be able to afford a studio or 1-bedroom apartment, you're in for a shock.

You're getting 28k from SIPA without even considering second-year fellowships, right? The average fellowship the second-year is between 15k-20k. SIPA also has a loan forgiveness program if you're going into public service. I think most SIPA students start taking 5 courses after their first semester anyway. If you aren't working, I don't think it's that big a deal. 3.4 is also a minimum threshold... once you reach it, everyone gets the same consideration for fellowships. It has more to do with your relationship with departments/professors.

I think if you're not doing work-study, 5 courses might not be too unreasonable. I know most don't recommend it for the first semester, but given your situation, the extra effort might be worth the $28k SIPA is offering you. They also recommend non-quant people (like me) take quant. analysis the second semester, so that could make things easier for you. The question is, should your focus on a language you want to start learning be to the exclusion of other career-relevant courses? After all, Fletcher and SIPA are both international affairs schools, not area studies programs. While the area studies system is antiquated, it almost sounds like you want to convert Fletcher/SIPA into one. Anywho, good luck deciding. That's a tough dilemma.

You need to e-mail the sipa_new address. Apparently SIPA has been having trouble adding people... might be a Google issue.

Yeah, I think you should seriously consider changing your housing priorities. It can't be that much less expensive to live in dorms, and utilities are a marginal cost in NYC. I can't imagine you'll pay more than $50 a month for utilities... even less with more roommates.

This sounds like the standard American dorm experience. This is nothing particular/unique to Columbia. The average age of entrance for SIPA is 27, so naturally no one is considering dorms.

I don't think that's true even on this forum which often seems like the Church of SAIS, so it just seemed like another pointless jab at SIPA.

I honestly don't know what you're talking about re: languages. If SIPA told you you can only get credit for intermediate level languages, this doesn't mean you have to audit beginner-level courses. It just means that whatever beginner level courses you take, they don't count toward the total credits needed to graduate from SIPA. This is true for anyone who has to gain language proficiency. For me this actually incentivizes taking a more difficult language, as it won't factor into your GPA the first semester. Is it possible you've misunderstood SIPA's language requirement, or am I missing something here?

What "rate" are you talking about? Just as many are accepting as are declining, the same as other programs. Yields for public policy programs are also so unpredictable that it's silly to say "most people on the waitlist are bound to get in."

Hm, isn't Columbia really well-known for languages? I could be wrong. Someone asked about Turkish at one of the info. sessions and they said they have an affiliation with a language center in Istanbul. There's also the new Columbia Global Center in Istanbul and the Turkish Studies Program that's a part of Columbia's Middle East Institute. SIPA's quant. requirements don't preclude taking language courses... SIPA requires competency in a language prior to graduation if you're in the MIA program. Also, your language courses (I'm told) don't get factored into the GPA calculation that determines fellowship eligibility. SIPA requires 2 econ courses, stats, and finance... not sure how that's any more quant heavy than any other program. Lastly, while I think some aspects of SIPA administration (including career services) are probably very impersonal, I received the opposite impression about accessibility to professors. Current students (including friends) I've talked to said professors make themselves very available. SIPA has a dedicated/permanent faculty, so I'm not sure why people think this wouldn't be the case. As for internships, you don't need to be in DC to get a DC internship, nor is NYC going to be looked at any differently. I interned with two federal agencies, the Senate, and a think tank, all while applying as an undergrad on the west coast. In any case, being a little fish in a big pond is sort of the nature of being in NYC. People who love NYC will (similarly) be attracted to and thrive in a program like SIPA. The school provides more possibilities/resources than any other international affairs program, and it allows you to customize your degree/concentration/specialization more than anywhere else. People I've talked to have described it as being a kid in a candy store. This can be overwhelming and even detrimental to some if you aren't sure what you want out of the program. A more structured program is probably better for people who aren't sure what they want to do, but for people who want to hone specific skills/knowledge, SIPA is an excellent choice (including, I think, for languages).

SIPA is traditionally an international affairs school and its MPA has a heavy international focus. I don't think it excels with welfare and labor issues. If you assume you get the average second-year SIPA fellowship, you're basically looking at a 15-20k difference. If you don't want to study international affairs, HKS (aside from the better brand name) is probably the better bet.

I don't think the choice is obvious between SFS and SIPA, but you should give the latter more serious consideration. You seem to be convincing yourself not to go to SIPA based on stereotypes this forum is good at perpetuating. IFP, from everything I've heard, is an amazing program and fellows basically experience SIPA with a tinier cohort with special access to a bunch of things (not just a trip to DC). It doesn't create a special advantage for scholarships the second year, but it means you're the cream of the crop and are likely to get the average fellowship (15-20k) at the very least.

Yes, from what I remember, that concentration requires the higher econ track. My understanding is that the higher-level econ uses calc, and the lower track doesn't (or it uses less). The core quant. analysis course isn't what people usually complain about... it's the econ.

IFP at SIPA is a big deal, in my opinion. Take a look at this video if you haven't already: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrCO5KQTtso. As for it being "insanely impersonal," I think that's a huge exaggeration and I haven't seen any evidence for it, especially after the open house day. The SIPA community is very socially integrated and the professors make themselves available. The quant emphasis is also on two tracks: one that's quant. heavy and the other not as much. Despite the competition you can probably count on getting the average second-year fellowship award, which is comparable to the first year award you'd be receiving. I can't speak for the other programs but IFP is an amazing opportunity and you should consider it seriously. (Didn't mean to embed the video)

For people receiving scholarships the first year, if they're renewable, I think they're dependent on the 3.4 GPA. I could be wrong but I don't think those scholarships are even available for second-year students since financial aid only talks about fellowships the second year.

What do you mean by SIPA scholarships? I think you're confusing fellowships for free money. The fellowships are awarded as TAships, RAships, etc. That means you are working in order to get a combination of tuition awards, stipend, whatever. I don't know what you mean by SIPA scholarships.

I've been here a few years and I've never dealt with mice/roaches. I had a cockroach fall on me in the stairway once, but that was it. If you take care of your trash and don't let food stay out, you'll be fine. Most people who deal with roaches do not keep clean apartments. If you do get roaches, it's your landlord's responsibility to get rid of them. If they don't, you contact the city. That goes for bed bugs and most apartment problems. Anyway, no one should be scared away by these isolated incidents. They're rare.

It's unlikely you'll be able to work for any substantial sum of money the summer in-between first/second years given the internship requirement. NYC does provide flexibility in how much indirect expenses you'll incur. If you really want to live frugally, the COA isn't as high as SIPA advertises. They're assuming most people will want to live in or around Morningside Heights, which will be more expensive than somewhere else in Harlem, or one of the other boroughs. Many students live in Queens/Brooklyn... wouldn't be surprised if many commuted from Jersey. Edit: And regarding the internship requirement, financial aid said either SIPA or some other Columbia department has $1700 it can allot to each student to help fund internships, but not nearly everyone takes advantage of it. From my understanding, if you get into a practicum for your concentration or specialization, your travel/living expenses are covered as well (in addition to its fulfilling the summer internship requirement). I don't see any other school offering the practicum or capstone opportunities SIPA has. It should really be making this a selling point, rather than letting everyone know the specifics after they're admitted.

I met current students (the departmental research assistants) but I don't remember their backgrounds. I wouldn't be surprised if they had both been military, though (they seemed to stand at attention). There were several military people attending the session and many questions about defense and intelligence career trajectories. Prof. Betts went into an impressive list of people who did ISP and ended up as top brass in the DoD, CIA, NSA, etc. He also indicated the intelligence community recruits out of SIPA. Any SIPA student can cross-register with the poli/sci department, although I think it's the poli/sci students who cross-register with SIPA in order to get international security classes. The ISP cohort is the third largest, I think. I don't remember exactly how big, but it was mid-range.

There are definitely research assistant positions available (they're Departmental Research Assistants), or individual ones with professors if they have funds. Financial aid said that even if you don't maintain a 3.4 your first semester, there's still a possibility you can get funding by reapplying with a higher second semester GPA since they give out fellowships up until the start of the school year. It's not guaranteed and it might not be much, but...

I went to SIPA's open house today and the international security policy plenary was one of the sessions I was most impressed with. The director (Richard Betts) was extremely candid about the program, job prospects, etc. (he was also very funny and affable). The course selection is like a candy store, and some of the most prominent IR scholars in the world that are at SIPA teach in this category. SIPA alumni apparently do very well in defense, intelligence, and diplomacy, and the faculty is a mix of academics and practitioners. I can't speak for HKS, but SIPA's ISP concentration may be the deciding factor for why I'm going there.

Thoughts on today's open house? I was super impressed with a lot of things but was turned off by a couple things as well. First: I was really impressed with all the admits I talked to today. Second: Very pleased with the ISP, human rights, and (especially) the conflict resolution plenaries. The faculty and current students I talked to were remarkably well-spoken and completely honest/genuine. Some things I didn't like: the alumni panel seemed like a mouthpiece for admissions, which made it rather unhelpful. Some people asked really pointed questions that were basically ignored. The current student panel was much more open. But most disappointingly (for me), no one from the South Asia specialization showed up for their panel. I'll be e-mailing them to see what's up, but hopefully everyone else's plenaries went as planned. Overall everyone was super helpful and friendly. The first half of the day left me feeling really good about maybe attending, but the second half left me with some (maybe minor?) questions. Any other thoughts?

I can believe people having cockroaches if they're isolated incidents but the city/university would take that very seriously. Some of the Yelp reviewers are complaining about stupid things, though, like fees for having an AC, for locking themselves out of their rooms, etc. People expect free AC? And to have it installed for free? It is also a luxury to have staff available to let you back into your apartment... would they prefer paying $300 for a locksmith to let them back in? As for smelly hallways, I don't think I've lived anywhere in NYC that didn't have a smelly lobby/interior. These are old buildings. If that bothers anyone, you won't survive a summer here when the entire city starts to reek. Anyway, if you're used to clinical, perfect suburban housing, adjust your expectations for NYC.

People need to adjust their expectations for NYC housing in general. You can probably expect to have at least a few things wrong with the room or apartment even with a $1000/mo price tag. Most of the buildings up here are pre-war and therefore not as luxurious on the inside as they are on the outside. It looks like International House is directly aligning Riverside Park, and while it's a bit north, it's a beautiful area. I'd be curious to know what some of the horror stories are, though, to see if they're consistent with NYC living in general.

I usually get responses within 24 hours. I'd give them a call. They're really courteous over the phone.