econhawk Posted April 19, 2010 Posted April 19, 2010 I'd like to know what you thought of SIPA during and after the Open House on April 13th. I'll start with my impression of students currently in the program. 1) They seemed challenged academically and satisfied with their experience thus far. 2) Many of them did note how much the Columbia name, its location and alumni base can do for you in terms of career advancement but my impression is that job or internship placement is still difficult. (Is the current state of the economy to blame for this?) 3) Getting 2nd year fellowships is going to be quite competitive, especially for the TA positions. Better not to expect anything. Feel free to comment or add anything else.
Cali124 Posted April 20, 2010 Posted April 20, 2010 I'd like to know what you thought of SIPA during and after the Open House on April 13th. I'll start with my impression of students currently in the program. 1) They seemed challenged academically and satisfied with their experience thus far. 2) Many of them did note how much the Columbia name, its location and alumni base can do for you in terms of career advancement but my impression is that job or internship placement is still difficult. (Is the current state of the economy to blame for this?) 3) Getting 2nd year fellowships is going to be quite competitive, especially for the TA positions. Better not to expect anything. Feel free to comment or add anything else. I agree with your assessment. I thought the most useful parts of the day were attending the current student and alumni panels. I was already leaning towards SIPA but I had to go to a couple of admit days to be sure. The price tag still scares me but I think it'll be worth it. The location, alumni network and name definitely are the biggest selling points. I was impressed with the other admitted students and I think what they said about your classmates being the biggest asset to your educational experience will hold true. A downside (in contrast to other schools/programs) is that the school doesn't really promote working while you're a full time student because they say it'll already be a lot work....that doesn't really go with my idea of applying what I'm learning into real life (and earning money doesn't hurt either). As with other schools, the job/internship outlook will be competitive. They all emphasize that career services is not a job placement service...it's to help you prepare as much as possible. I think they don't want to give you the wrong impression about any guarantees.
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