Sciences Po Opinions?

[aspiringmpp]

9 minutes ago, grad12345 said:

I also applied to that program, have you heard back from them yet? As I'm also only an applicant I can't really speak to the concerns you raised, but hopefully we can revive this thread a little bit and someone will be able to!

I haven’t heard back yet either! Hoping to hear back on Friday and starting to think through if it would be a good academic fit in addition to fulfilling my desire to live in Paris and travel again after COVID! 

[grad12345]

Same, looks like Friday will be when the rest of the SIPA decisions are released - but since Sciences Po governs the process for the dual degree, I feel like it might be later.. Well, we'll see! I chose the program because I'm from Europe (but love the US), and both schools have a lot of clout on their respective continents, so it would help me either way. And I'd love to attend Columbia, but the price tag for the full two year degree is quite unjustifiable in my opinion?

[Zeppelin17]

I also applied to Sciences Po MPP and Columbia MPA! Got my admission from Sciences Po in early December. 

Anybody heard back from Eiffel and Emily Boutmy scholarships? It says "your scholarship request is pending" for both of them on the admission portal for me. 

[aspiringmpp]

2 hours ago, Zeppelin17 said:

I also applied to Sciences Po MPP and Columbia MPA! Got my admission from Sciences Po in early December. 

Anybody heard back from Eiffel and Emily Boutmy scholarships? It says "your scholarship request is pending" for both of them on the admission portal for me. 

Did you apply to the Sciences Po MPP separately from the dual degree program? I applied (to the dual degree only) back in November prior to their early admission deadline but never heard back - I assumed the dual degree admissions would be released in just one batch with the Columbia decisions. 

[grad12345]

What I know is that the dual degree admissions are not rolling. Instead, all applications are evaluated after the dual degree deadline (in our case January 10th), and then they make their decisions. So SIPA-SPIA dual degree admissions will be released in one batch. But if people applied to a dual degree and a normal sciences po degree, then they may hear from the dual degree at a different time than from the "normal" degree

[Zeppelin17]

21 hours ago, aspiringmpp said:

Did you apply to the Sciences Po MPP separately from the dual degree program? I applied (to the dual degree only) back in November prior to their early admission deadline but never heard back - I assumed the dual degree admissions would be released in just one batch with the Columbia decisions. 

No I did not apply to any dual degree program. Applied to Sciences Po and Columbia seperately. 

[aspiringmpp]

1 minute ago, Zeppelin17 said:

No I did not apply to any dual degree program. Applied to Sciences Po and Columbia seperately. 

Makes sense - good luck with your SIPA decision!

[Zeppelin17]

Just now, aspiringmpp said:

Makes sense - good luck with your SIPA decision!

Thanks and good luck to you too! 

[grad1346]

On 3/10/2021 at 10:50 AM, aspiringmpp said:

Did you apply to the Sciences Po MPP separately from the dual degree program? I applied (to the dual degree only) back in November prior to their early admission deadline but never heard back - I assumed the dual degree admissions would be released in just one batch with the Columbia decisions. 

Dual degree admission committees release their decisions all in one batch 2-3 months after the application deadline. I have a friend who was accepted to the dual degree with the Munk School at UofT less than two months after the deadline but I guess that's not the case for us... Still awaiting the decision as well for SIPA/PSIA, I was hoping it would come out this week because I was at Sciences Po for my bachelor's and we have to select our master's programs this weekend. Would've been nice not to have to apply to a second choice! 

 

Good luck to everyone who applied  

[grad12345]

 

19 minutes ago, grad1346 said:

Dual degree admission committees release their decisions all in one batch 2-3 months after the application deadline. I have a friend who was accepted to the dual degree with the Munk School at UofT less than two months after the deadline but I guess that's not the case for us... Still awaiting the decision as well for SIPA/PSIA, I was hoping it would come out this week because I was at Sciences Po for my bachelor's and we have to select our master's programs this weekend. Would've been nice not to have to apply to a second choice! 

 

Good luck to everyone who applied  

Interesting! Did you study at the paris campus? Good luck to you too!

[grad1346]

On 3/9/2021 at 1:07 PM, aspiringmpp said:

Resurrecting this thread - what is everyone’s opinion of the Sciences Po / Columbia SIPA dual degree? Given how affordable Sciences Po is, it would be more cost effective than a two year degree at SIPA.
 

Does completing your second year at SIPA outweigh the concerns about Sciences Po’s career support, or would it be too challenging to secure a strong internship placement over the summer? Would it not matter if Sciences Po is less well known in the US if I could lean on SIPA’s reputation? Any thoughts on integrating back into SIPA’s community my second year?

Hi! So I've been lucky enough to meet three people from alumni of the dual master (they all took the PSIA/MIA track) and I can hopefully answer some of your questions from my conversations with them. First of all, I wouldn't worry too much about Sciences Po "lowering" the value of your degree. All three of them integrated SIPA really easily once they physically arrived in New York, since SIPA students are really outgoing and sociable. You'd just have to get involved in student activities and initiate conversations with people who already made friends with others during your first year.

Having been a Sciences Po student myself, I never had any problems obtaining internships both in Europe and in Canada. I worked for the EU, for a museum in France, in Canadian public service and for private companies. Two of the dual masters students I mentioned are American and they did their internship in the US, they didn't mention that Sciences Po hindered their search in any way (although its evident that Columbia would help you more than Sciences Po for the American job market). Finally, Columbia releases weekly emails with internship opportunities that you wouldn't be singled out from during your year at Sciences Po. Ultimately, I think you just have to figure out if you are really interested in spending a year in France! That will make the real difference in whether or not you think the dual masters is worth it.

Academic life is very, very different at Sciences Po than in North American universities. You have to follow a strict program with upwards of 9-10 courses a semester. There is less room for electives (indeed, there are barely any elective courses at all) and you would be spending more time on coursework at Sciences Po than at SIPA. It's rigorous but has its own advantages, most dual degree students in general fare very well academically once they move to their partner university. 

All three of those alumni have interesting professional lives now and it doesn't appear to me they are struggling in any way more than their SIPA peers. But again, I'm sure some people wouldn't find it worth it if they only wanted to stay in the US for the rest of their lives. Chances are if you get in to the dual masters you would get in to SIPA alone anyways so you'll have the choice! Let me know if you have any more questions  

[grad1346]

Just now, grad12345 said:

 

Interesting! Did you study at the paris campus? Good luck to you too!

I was in Reims actually! I took the dual bachelor's with UBC and followed the North American track in France (dual degree students could not select Paris as a choice of campus)  Did you go to Paris?

[aspiringmpp]

12 minutes ago, grad1346 said:

Hi! So I've been lucky enough to meet three people from alumni of the dual master (they all took the PSIA/MIA track) and I can hopefully answer some of your questions from my conversations with them. First of all, I wouldn't worry too much about Sciences Po "lowering" the value of your degree. All three of them integrated SIPA really easily once they physically arrived in New York, since SIPA students are really outgoing and sociable. You'd just have to get involved in student activities and initiate conversations with people who already made friends with others during your first year.

Having been a Sciences Po student myself, I never had any problems obtaining internships both in Europe and in Canada. I worked for the EU, for a museum in France, in Canadian public service and for private companies. Two of the dual masters students I mentioned are American and they did their internship in the US, they didn't mention that Sciences Po hindered their search in any way (although its evident that Columbia would help you more than Sciences Po for the American job market). Finally, Columbia releases weekly emails with internship opportunities that you wouldn't be singled out from during your year at Sciences Po. Ultimately, I think you just have to figure out if you are really interested in spending a year in France! That will make the real difference in whether or not you think the dual masters is worth it.

Academic life is very, very different at Sciences Po than in North American universities. You have to follow a strict program with upwards of 9-10 courses a semester. There is less room for electives (indeed, there are barely any elective courses at all) and you would be spending more time on coursework at Sciences Po than at SIPA. It's rigorous but has its own advantages, most dual degree students in general fare very well academically once they move to their partner university. 

All three of those alumni have interesting professional lives now and it doesn't appear to me they are struggling in any way more than their SIPA peers. But again, I'm sure some people wouldn't find it worth it if they only wanted to stay in the US for the rest of their lives. Chances are if you get in to the dual masters you would get in to SIPA alone anyways so you'll have the choice! Let me know if you have any more questions  

Thank you so much for the super detailed response! That is really reassuring - the program is my top choice and I would love the opportunity to spend a year in France.

[grad12345]

2 hours ago, grad1346 said:

I was in Reims actually! I took the dual bachelor's with UBC and followed the North American track in France (dual degree students could not select Paris as a choice of campus)  Did you go to Paris?

Ah okay! No, I didn't study at Sciences Po, I went to a school in Germany I just asked because if you had studied in Paris, I would have asked you how it was. But your detailed answer is really helpful anyways, thanks!

[grad1346]

15 minutes ago, grad12345 said:

Ah okay! No, I didn't study at Sciences Po, I went to a school in Germany I just asked because if you had studied in Paris, I would have asked you how it was. But your detailed answer is really helpful anyways, thanks!

I have friends who study there currently in their masters and it seems like the Paris campus is quite small; it's a bunch of little buildings scattered around St. Germain-des-Près and depending on your "School" you would have most of your courses in one. As a result students don't get a true "campus life", however that might change with the "Artillerie" extension that is currently being built (not sure when that will open). If you went to the PSIA you would be on Rue des Saints-Pères! I've been inside it's actually one of the larger buildings of them all, everything is made of stone with some newer renovated areas made of wood. Classrooms are small and that's where most of the seminars would take place, it feels a bit like a high school setting honestly. However I know that living in Paris was really hard during Covid because of the rent and expensive groceries... If I do end up studying there, I'm considering living slightly out of Paris itself so that I'm closer to green spaces with hopefully less expensive groceries and etc. Just make sure to be near a metro line  

[fkeod021]

On 3/10/2021 at 10:26 AM, Zeppelin17 said:

I also applied to Sciences Po MPP and Columbia MPA! Got my admission from Sciences Po in early December. 

Anybody heard back from Eiffel and Emily Boutmy scholarships? It says "your scholarship request is pending" for both of them on the admission portal for me. 

I applied and was accepted to a different PSIA program, but I’m also waiting on Boutmy scholarship results. I contacted admissions about a week ago to ask if they had any more information on when results would come out and they just said “generally by the end of April.”

[grad1346]

Still no news today  

[aspiringmpp]

1 hour ago, grad1346 said:

Still no news today  

No news here either - I’m hoping they’re waiting to release them with SIPA’s results this afternoon/evening, but I know that’s the middle of the night in Paris. 

[grad12345]

Hey guys, did you get news?
I was admitted into SIPA yesterday, and now just recieved a rejection from Sciences Po for the SIPA-PSIA dual degree.

[aspiringmpp]

3 hours ago, grad12345 said:

Hey guys, did you get news?
I was admitted into SIPA yesterday, and now just recieved a rejection from Sciences Po for the SIPA-PSIA dual degree.

Congrats on your admission to SIPA! But I imagine it must be bittersweet. 
 

I received an acceptance today for the dual degree, but there was no information about financial aid. Hoping to negotiate carrying over my financial aid offer from the two year degree. 

[grad12345]

10 minutes ago, aspiringmpp said:

Congrats on your admission to SIPA! But I imagine it must be bittersweet. 
 

I received an acceptance today for the dual degree, but there was no information about financial aid. Hoping to negotiate carrying over my financial aid offer from the two year degree. 

Congrats on your acceptance!!

Yeah, thing is that I didn't recieve any aid from SIPA and I was not prepared for having to pay their full tuition fees for the full two years. SIPA with aid, or SIPA-Sciences Po without aid would have been kind of okay, but looks like I'm gonna have to turn down SIPA and just not go to grad school this year ?

[grad12345]

15 minutes ago, aspiringmpp said:

Congrats on your admission to SIPA! But I imagine it must be bittersweet. 
 

I received an acceptance today for the dual degree, but there was no information about financial aid. Hoping to negotiate carrying over my financial aid offer from the two year degree. 

Actually, can I ask you as well - what is your profile? I'm thinking about re-trying next year, so any insight would be nice

[aspiringmpp]

34 minutes ago, grad12345 said:

Actually, can I ask you as well - what is your profile? I'm thinking about re-trying next year, so any insight would be nice

Of course - American student with 168V/161Q 5.0AW, 3.7 GPA from top 5 public university, double majored in undergrad. Work experience is 2 years Peace Corps and 2 years social impact consulting. Best of luck! From what I’ve heard on this forum, next year should be a more promising cycle for acceptances and scholarships. 

[grad1346]

4 hours ago, grad12345 said:

Hey guys, did you get news?
I was admitted into SIPA yesterday, and now just recieved a rejection from Sciences Po for the SIPA-PSIA dual degree.

Hi! I was also rejected from the dual degree sadly  I'm a bit bummed because I put a lot of hopes in it but I think I'll work for a year and reapply next year. Congratulations to those that got in and good luck to the ones who didn't, we all have other options  

[grad1346]

2 hours ago, aspiringmpp said:

Of course - American student with 168V/161Q 5.0AW, 3.7 GPA from top 5 public university, double majored in undergrad. Work experience is 2 years Peace Corps and 2 years social impact consulting. Best of luck! From what I’ve heard on this forum, next year should be a more promising cycle for acceptances and scholarships. 

Did you take a gap year or two after your undergrad to work? I'm wondering if that played a large factor in the admissions. Congratulations by the way!!