Revolution

This is 100% right. It's the reason I did not apply to SIPA even though it was on my list. I talked to several alums as well as people in industries of my interest, and they all said similar things about SIPA and told me to not go there. They said great things about SAIS and HKS however. The PRIMARY point of any professional program is to get the job you want coming out. If you fail to do that, you have wasted your time and money. The classes are of secondary importance.

Just out of curiosity, anybody know what the admit rate for SAIS MA is? Also, do a lot of admits get the $20K/year fellowship?

Hmm. Weird coming from someone who doesn't know me since I already have a lot of finance experience. Also MFE is not a good fit with my long-term goals. As far as being happy with what you have, I'm not going to engage in such philosophical topics on a grad school forum.

I have made several main points regarding this. First, I have raised concerns about the tuition at policy programs and the lack of funding at some of these programs, something that A LOT of admits have complained about. Second, I stated explicitly that given my interests and career goals, a joint mba with hks or sais is very appealing. However, my concern is whether i should attend a policy program alone if i don't get into any of the mba programs i applied to. Simply put, given the high opportunity cost, can a SAIS or HKS alone, get me to where I need to be career-wise? And on that front, I have heard mixed things, and this is a legitimate concern. Third, I never disparaged public policy or people's desire to enter the field; I have not hid the fact that my interest is primarily in the private sector. Heck, my SAIS personal statement was all about macro investing and research, with not a single word on diplomacy, public policy, or government.

I've gotten interviews at several top mba programs and am awaiting for final results. You should refrain from making ad hominem attacks since you don't know me and my credentials. Also what part of my statements are factually inaccurate? If you disagree with my points, feel free to do so in a respectful manner.

Does HKS give less aid to MPA2 than MPP? Is it worse than SAIS in terms of aid?

Yup. I heard this from people at both sipa and columbia business. I thought about applying to sipa but don't want to spend 2 years playing second-fiddle to the MBAs while dropping tons of cash. Also, SIPA's job placement for Americans is very questionable. Most of the good private sector jobs go to the rich internationals with connections.

SIPA is a cash cow for columbia that gives basically no aid and gets the full price from rich internationals who are not smart enough to get into a top grad program but wants the columbia ivy league pedigree.

SIPA students try very hard to cozy up to the MBAs and attend their events, but they're prevented from gaining access to MBA recruiting events and job postings. This also happens at HKS but to a lesser extent.

SAIS' private sector placement is something I'm gong to dig deeper into in the coming weeks. I contacted admissions office to see if they can set me up with a student or alum who is in my profession of interest. It seems like SAIS does reasonably well in world bank/imf/fed and political/econ consulting type jobs, but when the median PRIVATE sector salary is a meager $63K, you do wonder what the heck is going on at SAIS. And it makes you wonder how they can justify such an insanely high tuition. Anyways, best of luck to everyone.

Thanks man. Yeah I've been fantasizing about going to a top b-school for a while and have worked my butt off for it. My dream combo is wharton-hks. I felt absolutely nothing when i got into sais with fellowship, but getting into a top b-school such as Wharton will be the greatest day of my life and the mba will be a truly transformational experience professionally, personally, and socially. As much as I like SAIS' curriculum, it just won't do the same: questionable private sector placement, and I don't think I will learn that much from my classmates.

Sorry. I was being facetious. In the database around 80-90% of the people who reported SAIS results were offered admission. I thought SAIS's acceptance rate was around 30%, but judging from this forum it seems way higher. Of course i am fully aware that this forum is not indicative of the overall applicant pool.

I applied to mba programs as well and waiting to hear back from them.

From looking at the results database it seems like 90% of the applicants get into SAIS. Whats their acceptance rate? Is SAIS really that easy to get into?

Exactly. I just don't see how policy programs can charge a tuition of $40K/year. It's totally ridiculous.

B-schools use a security service called kroll to verify the background info of admitted applicants. It's pretty basic: college, gpa, gmat, recommenders, companies worked at, dates of employment, job titles.

Check your junk mail. That's where my login info e-mail went.

It's a general merit fellowships. This is separate from the named fellowships that required additional essays.

I got the $20K fellowship as well just now. Given that the total cost of attendance is a whopping $65848 per year, not sure if this is enough. Mind blowing that SAIS' tuition alone is $40K when top b-schools tuition is $50-55K. The latter obviously delivers so much more economic value to students. Unreal.

Do D.C. MA admits get funding information along with the acceptance or do we have to wait for financial aid info?

What high paying job could you get out of sais given your lack of work experience? Any decently lucrative private sector job will go to MBAs. My case is a bit different because i am older and have 7 years of experience in a very niche area of finance. But even for me, i don't think i can consider sais unless they offer to pay for half the tuition.

SAIS' cost is ridiculous. Hopefully i get solid funding from them, but from what i gather SAIS is incredibly stingy. Unreal. How do they justify such costs when the median PRIVATE sector salary coming out is only $63K?

Congrats. It's great to see people get really excited about getting into sais. I honestly felt nothing when i saw the letter. To be honest, i'm more excited about what i'm going to have for dinner tonight. Lol.

Just logged in. I got into the MA program at D.C. campus. Financial aid info is coming in the next week for those who submitted the aid form and FAFSA by 2/15. For those who submitted after, it's coming in the next 2 weeks. Good luck everyone! Now, I pray to the MBA gods to bestow their blessings on me, so i can have the best 2 years of my life.

That's what I thought as well. Got the e-mail at 6:39 PM eastern time. Basically telling me that a decision has been rendered and that I should log into the site to check. Signed by Sidney T. Jackson, director of admissions. DId you apply to the MA program for D.C. as well?