SIPA vs SAIS

[somewhatslightlydazed]

Hi all - hoping for some advice on choosing between SIPA's MIA program and SAIS's MA program. I'm interested in studying human rights and conflict prevention/resolution and I'm hoping to work in an advocacy-based NGO after finishing grad school (though I'm also interested in multilateral work or possibly federal gov work under a different administration). I've visited both schools and overall had great impressions of both, so I'm not sure how to make a final decision.

My current pro-con list is below, but I'd love to hear others' thoughts on what I should put the most weight on or if there are other factors I should be considering!

Pro-SAIS:

• I'd get to spend my first year living in Bologna and traveling through Europe and North Africa during breaks, which seems like a really amazing, unique opportunity
• More tight-knit cohort from spending a year abroad together
• SAIS seems more prestigious than SIPA, though perhaps only marginally
• I live in DC now and probably want to continue working here long-term, so having a mostly DC-based network would be useful
• Their program is smaller than SIPA's and the classes seem smaller in general

Pro-SIPA:

• I got scholarships from both schools, but SIPA will be about $10k cheaper/year* (but I can still afford either with no debt)
• Being close to the UN and having school connections there would be a great way for me to get internship experience in a multilateral org and figure out if I like the sector
• Studying in NYC for 2 years would be a great way for me to test out living in the city and see if it's somewhere I'd be interested in living long-term (since most jobs that interest me are in DC or NYC, and I already know what I like and don't like about DC life)
• Their "human rights and humanitarian policy" concentration perfectly aligns with my career goals (I can study human rights at SAIS, it would just be under the "international law and orgs" concentration so it might be a bit less focused)
• I could cross-register with Columbia Law School and take courses in international law

*Assuming I get the FLAS fellowship, which I find out about next week. If I don't get it, I can't afford SIPA and in that case the decision is easy!

Thanks for sharing any thoughts you have ? 

[went_away]

Go wherever's cheaper (neither school is worth it without a massive scholarship). Money aside, SIPA is the clear winner here; it's not even close. The first-year in Bologna thing is way overblown (you get to attend a university that is free to basically free for Europeans while paying massive US tuition rates, huh??). More importantly you're interested in human rights and NGOs and SIPA wins that race by a mile (and breaking into anything UN-related or multilateral is extremely difficult - SIPA seems to do better at inserting their students into those circles). If Fletcher would beat or match SIPA's scholarship offer, I would take a look at them also as they do pretty well in the NGO field as well.

[European2909]

5 hours ago, went_away said:

 More importantly you're interested in human rights and NGOs and SIPA wins that race by a mile (and breaking into anything UN-related or multilateral is extremely difficult - SIPA seems to do better at inserting their students into those circles). 

 

Agree! 

[somewhatslightlydazed]

21 hours ago, went_away said:

Go wherever's cheaper (neither school is worth it without a massive scholarship). Money aside, SIPA is the clear winner here; it's not even close. The first-year in Bologna thing is way overblown (you get to attend a university that is free to basically free for Europeans while paying massive US tuition rates, huh??). More importantly you're interested in human rights and NGOs and SIPA wins that race by a mile (and breaking into anything UN-related or multilateral is extremely difficult - SIPA seems to do better at inserting their students into those circles). If Fletcher would beat or match SIPA's scholarship offer, I would take a look at them also as they do pretty well in the NGO field as well.

 

15 hours ago, European2909 said:

Agree! 

Thanks for the advice  Yeah I agree that neither school is worth paying full price for; luckily SAIS has offered me a scholarship covering 75% of tuition and if I get the external fellowship, I'll have about $60k/year worth of scholarship money from SIPA (if I get that, I'm going to see if SAIS is willing to up their offer at all).

It makes sense that SIPA's better with human rights, though SAIS has a year-long international human rights clinic that also sounds really cool (and for what it's worth, SAIS Bologna is separate from the University of Bologna so it's not free or cheaper for European students). And I do like Fletcher a lot but they've said they basically max out their scholarships at around half tuition and they gave me over half, so I doubt I could get them to up that scholarship much.

One opinion I feel like I've seen a lot on these boards is that SIPA isn't as highly regarded in the IR field as SAIS (but that might only be true in DC). Do you think that they're about equal in terms of prestige/alumni networks? I agree that SIPA's a better choice if I specifically want to work in a multilateral org, but since I'm not 100% sure about that, I feel like I want to go to a school that's going to give me as many options as possible.

[went_away]

1 hour ago, somewhatslightlydazed said:

 

Thanks for the advice  Yeah I agree that neither school is worth paying full price for; luckily SAIS has offered me a scholarship covering 75% of tuition and if I get the external fellowship, I'll have about $60k/year worth of scholarship money from SIPA (if I get that, I'm going to see if SAIS is willing to up their offer at all).

It makes sense that SIPA's better with human rights, though SAIS has a year-long international human rights clinic that also sounds really cool (and for what it's worth, SAIS Bologna is separate from the University of Bologna so it's not free or cheaper for European students). And I do like Fletcher a lot but they've said they basically max out their scholarships at around half tuition and they gave me over half, so I doubt I could get them to up that scholarship much.

One opinion I feel like I've seen a lot on these boards is that SIPA isn't as highly regarded in the IR field as SAIS (but that might only be true in DC). Do you think that they're about equal in terms of prestige/alumni networks? I agree that SIPA's a better choice if I specifically want to work in a multilateral org, but since I'm not 100% sure about that, I feel like I want to go to a school that's going to give me as many options as possible.

I would say they are equal; SAIS has some good inroads with the World Bank and defense consulting and SIPA is obviously stronger on the UN front and to a limited extent the finance world. The Bologna thing is nonsense - it's housed on the same campus and they share professors. The SAIS students just get ripped off.

[homesicksub]

If I’m interested in the State Department and/or U.S. intelligence sector, does one option between SIPA, SAIS, or Georgetown serve that interest particularly well?

[went_away]

25 minutes ago, homesicksub said:

If I’m interested in the State Department and/or U.S. intelligence sector, does one option between SIPA, SAIS, or Georgetown serve that interest particularly well?

No. And remember, an IR grad degree is one small part of a much larger career structure.

[homesicksub]

11 minutes ago, went_away said:

No. And remember, an IR grad degree is one small part of a much larger career structure.

Noted, thank you very much! 

[somewhatslightlydazed]

1 hour ago, went_away said:

I would say they are equal; SAIS has some good inroads with the World Bank and defense consulting and SIPA is obviously stronger on the UN front and to a limited extent the finance world. The Bologna thing is nonsense - it's housed on the same campus and they share professors. The SAIS students just get ripped off.

Makes sense that they're just stronger in different areas! (And for what it's worth they aren't on the same campus or with the same professors - I visited their Bologna campus last month and they're completely separate entities)

Also, just found out that I got into Princeton WWS so that's going to make the decision a lot harder (since I feel like curriculum-wise I like SAIS and SIPA better, but the money is definitely pushing me toward Princeton)...

[went_away]

40 minutes ago, somewhatslightlydazed said:

Makes sense that they're just stronger in different areas! (And for what it's worth they aren't on the same campus or with the same professors - I visited their Bologna campus last month and they're completely separate entities)

Also, just found out that I got into Princeton WWS so that's going to make the decision a lot harder (since I feel like curriculum-wise I like SAIS and SIPA better, but the money is definitely pushing me toward Princeton)...

LOLOLOLOLOLOL That is absolutely hilarious. There's pretty much no competition between Wilson and SAIS/SIPA - they're in entirely different leagues. It's like a Harvard MBA vs. Georgetown MBA.  GO TO PRINCETON!!!!!!! (and congrats!)