SIPA Admission - got it

[greendiplomat]

hey...for those still waiting...i just heard back today and was accepted without funding

i was excited...until i saw the cost

anyone know how seriously to take the reputation of sipa as a "cash cow"

i know it's still a great school but how do you think that affects outside perceptions in terms of hiring etc...?

SIPA definitely isn't considered a cash cow outside of the admissions-forum world.

Take as an example Foreign Policy's rankings, which are a good representation of program reputability, given that respondents are asked to name 5 of the programs that they deem to be best in the field. Columbia ranks in 5th ahead of Princeton (though with a very slim margin). My point is that, while Princeton is THE program to get into on boards like these due to its selectivity and high availability of fellowships, the difference isn't as pronounced once you enter the job market.

My 2 cents on the issue is that Columbia has by far the largest class size out of its peer programs. While this means that they end up taking a few of the candidates that wouldn't be competitive at, say, Princeton (and thus aren't able to offer as much aid per student), they do have the funds to offer a much wider variety in its course offerings. More importantly, however, since they have much more students coming out of the program, they do end up having a considerably greater representation in the "real world" (esp. in international organizations and in the private sector).

Whether it's worth the cost, though, boils down to your personal finances and whether you think it's worth it.

[cms3595]

Is anyone on here still waiting on a decision from SIPA?? I haven't heard yet, and I find it hard to believe that if they were at 90% on the 18th, they couldn't release the rest of the decisions by yesterday. I was being cautiously optimistic, but I'm really starting to worry at this point...

[Putoots]

Is anyone on here still waiting on a decision from SIPA?? I haven't heard yet, and I find it hard to believe that if they were at 90% on the 18th, they couldn't release the rest of the decisions by yesterday. I was being cautiously optimistic, but I'm really starting to worry at this point...

I still haven't heard. Sadly, I've all but given up hope. The only other school I didn't hear from finally told me that I was on the waitlist.

Hopefully we find out something on Monday.

[Hopster]

Hey, is there anyone likely to defer their enrollment to january 10?

Good luck to all those waiting!

[ganymed]

I wrote SIPA and received an answer today:

We still have a little over 100 files under review. An email will be sent

when a decision has been rendered.

Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,

Office of Admissions

[Putoots]

I wrote SIPA and received an answer today:

We still have a little over 100 files under review. An email will be sent

when a decision has been rendered.

Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,

Office of Admissions

Ha! I did the same thing and got the same reply. Poor admissions office...they were bombarded by a bunch of stressed-out applicants at once!

[ganymed]

it seems so. just checked their blog:

Review Update

March 22nd, 2010 by Matt For those of you that have applied and have yet to hear from us, thank you in advance for your patience. We are creeping toward the 95% completion mark and as decision are made, emails are sent to the email address you listed on your application.

[fallmpp2010]

it seems so. just checked their blog:

Hi,

Did any of you guys get your financial aid/loan packages yet?

Just wondering when SIPA is sending those out...

[lomsaku]

Received SIPA admissions offer today. I think I'm among the last applicants notified.

[mab9ve]

If people don't think that paying 100k for a masters, albeit, from Columbia, is a cash cow, then they're really kidding themselves.

[LeeLeeLove]

Just wanted to let someone on the waiting list know that I turned down my offer from SIPA this afternoon. Looks like a great school-- enjoy!

[dearestpriya]

I will need to deffer Columbia till 2011. Family Medical Problems.

[ganymed]

finally got my decision. waitlisted - actually more than i expected.

[Hopster]

I will need to deffer Columbia till 2011. Family Medical Problems.

yeah same here I will deffer to jan 11...

[Putoots]

finally got my decision. waitlisted - actually more than i expected.

Not bad considering you had to wait so long.

As for me, I'm still waiting for a decision. It can't be good news at this point.

Edited March 25, 2010 by Putoots

[grad2]

yeah same here I will deffer to jan 11...

Hopster,

It sounds like you are planning to defer for half semester. Do you know if this will affect fellowship application during the second year as I am thinking about defer as well? I did not get $$ for the first year so desperately rely on 2nd year fellowship but not sure if deferral for half semester will affect my chance of getting funding or not?

[Putoots]

I don't mean to swing this discussion in another direction, but is there anyone else out there worried about the language proficiency requirement? (International students, this obviously doesn't apply to you.)

I have a year of Spanish in undergrad, but that was a while ago (I was a freshman when I took those courses), and all of my traveling took place in the early part of the decade.

I thought for sure they wouldn't take me because my language proficiency was pretty thin, but now that I am accepted I wonder if I will have to spend a good part of my time (and my summer) trying to catch up in language study.

Anyone in the same boat? If not, I may reconsider this option...

[gazelle]

I took a summer intensive course in Japanese in the summer of 2006. It was a year's worth of beginning Japanese (12 credits), crammed into 10 weeks, M-F 4 hours/day. Granted I've been living in Japan for two years now, but still language development is slow.

I'm not too worried about getting a B or better in intermediate language courses, you'll be fine.

PS, congrats!!

[Hopster]

Hopster,

It sounds like you are planning to defer for half semester. Do you know if this will affect fellowship application during the second year as I am thinking about defer as well? I did not get $$ for the first year so desperately rely on 2nd year fellowship but not sure if deferral for half semester will affect my chance of getting funding or not?

Hey grad2,

I haven't sent the application email yet and didn't get funding neither. I guess it wouldn't be fair if sipa wouldn't let us apply for fellowships just because we started 3 months after the others. I guess that could be a good question for the admitted student message board!

Btw, I sent u a PM.

[Batignolles]

For those of you considering SIPA, I thought I'd share a link to a class offered at SIPA that you can watch in its entirety (10 classes) online. The class is Conceptual Foundations of International Politics, offered by professor Lisa Anderson. It's a good way to test-drive the teaching and material in program before enrolling!

http://www.academicearth.org/courses/conceptual-foundations-of-international-politics-graduate

[Hopster]

For those of you considering SIPA, I thought I'd share a link to a class offered at SIPA that you can watch in its entirety (10 classes) online. The class is Conceptual Foundations of International Politics, offered by professor Lisa Anderson. It's a good way to test-drive the teaching and material in program before enrolling!

http://www.academicearth.org/courses/conceptual-foundations-of-international-politics-graduate

thanks batignolles, very useful for those not able to go to NYC