make a decision.. Elliott VS Sipa

[comcom]

Hi, guys.

Making a decision is always the hard part. I am kind of torn here. Elliott vs SIPA, any thoughts?

SIPA attracts me because of its big name.

Elliott seems a bargain.

I am still in college now, have no full time-experience. I am not sure if SIPA is a good fit, given the huge cost and the fact that many people there are very certain about their future, and have around 3-year work experience.

Both schools did not offere me money.

Hope somebody can give me some advice here.

Thx:-）

[s33]

Hi, guys.

Making a decision is always the hard part. I am kind of torn here. Elliott vs SIPA, any thoughts?

SIPA attracts me because of its big name.

Elliott seems a bargain.

I am still in college now, have no full time-experience. I am not sure if SIPA is a good fit, given the huge cost and the fact that many people there are very certain about their future, and have around 3-year work experience.

Both schools did not offere me money.

Hope somebody can give me some advice here.

Thx:-）

SIPA rarely admits students without work experience (or so I'm told), which suggests to me that you are a very strong candidate. Have you considered working for a few years before going to graduate school? If you do, you are far more likely to obtain funding. The time away from school would also help you to define your career interests.

[comcom]

Thanks.

Look forward to more thoughts....

[sypher2k3]

Thanks.

Look forward to more thoughts....

Congratulations on getting into SIPA as an undergrad! I didn't even bother applying there because they almost never accept people without work experience. If you can get into SIPA at this point, then you should keep in mind that if you work for one or two years and then reapply to lots of schools, you are likely to have a very good shot at all the big ones - georgetown, hopkins, columbia, tufts, gw, harvard. you are also likely to get funding from at least one of them.

That said, going to SIPA now would be a great opportunity, and I would take it over GW, unless there is something about GW that really stands out to you and fits you well (I had to decide between a half-ride at Georgetown and a full-ride at GW - chose Georgetown because it lets me get an area studies certificate of 5 courses in addition to the M.A. in security studies, and because there is a thesis option which i think is better for long-term academic goals).

But, if you are already in lots of debt, and you are worried about cost, working for a couple years might not be a bad idea. I would not be so worried about not having focus now though... through the internships, coursework, professors, connections, presentations, etc that you are going to have excellent access to at SIPA, i think you would come out of there pretty good to go.

also, i am not so sure i'd be very excited about throwing myself out on the job market right now. it might be difficult to get IR-relevant work experience in this climate, esp. in D.C., competing with so many qualified people.

I think, if I were you, I would go to SIPA. But take that with a grain of salt. Because it depends on whether there is something that really fits you at GW, whether you are in lots of debt right now, whether you think you can find a good job, etc. Congratulations though again on getting into Columbia as an undergrad - you should be proud of that.

[Magnolia2011]

Hi Sypher2k3,

If one of the reasons why you chose Georgetown over GWU is because Georgetown has a thesis option-- GWU does too. Maybe they didn't when you applied? Of course, your decision is still justified, given the area studies certificate of 5 courses at Georgetown, but I just want to clarify for any peering eyes that might be debating GW acceptance.

[carpecc]

How much more debt would you get for going to SIPA? What do you want to do after school? The programs are quite different and I prefer SIPA over GW (interested in poverty alleviation and environmental issues), but GW is no slouch. One thing to look at might be the course offerings, see which one has more electives that would help you or interest you.

Remember, especially if you go to Govt or NGO work, you're not going to be making a lot of money after school. An exercise would be to fill out a spread sheet, then measure how much you would be making and owe in debt right after school, five years after school and ten years after school. So assuming SIPA gets you a higher paying job, if GW is cutting you a good deal then you'll be surprised how much more money you'll have in the bank by going to GW and how long a higher salary from SIPA (presumably, might not even) takes to pay off that debt. Less debt also means more flexibility in picking your jobs.

But GW is no slouch and DC is great. For example I got into SIPA but not into GW. The GW grad I know has done very well (one is not a big enough sample though). If you look at their job outlook after school, the results are very similar unless you want to go in the private sector, where SIPA has a definite edge. SIPA students in the private sector make 10k more than their counterparts at GW based on the reports I read issued by the schools.