Columbia SIPA 2021

[IDstudent]

4 hours ago, EC1225 said:

Have any other MPA-DPs received funding? I was accepted no news about scholarship yet. 

No news for me either...I didn't expect to get a ton of money by any means, but this is the only school I haven't gotten anything from so it surprises me a little bit.

[Highteawithbatman]

1 hour ago, IDstudent said:

No news for me either...I didn't expect to get a ton of money by any means, but this is the only school I haven't gotten anything from so it surprises me a little bit.

 

6 hours ago, EC1225 said:

Have any other MPA-DPs received funding? I was accepted no news about scholarship yet. 

I wrote to them and got this response. 

"Again, congratulations on your admission to SIPA.  We hope that you and yours are safe and healthy, and we look forward to working with you.

Any admitted applicants who were offered a scholarship were notified along with their letter of admission; unfortunately, we are not able to offer such funding to all students.  We encourage you to review the information at https://www.sipa.columbia.edu/admissions/financial-aid/financial-aid-international-students to learn about other financing options, we hope you find it helpful."

? 
 

[IDstudent]

4 minutes ago, Highteawithbatman said:

 

I wrote to them and got this response. 

"Again, congratulations on your admission to SIPA.  We hope that you and yours are safe and healthy, and we look forward to working with you.

Any admitted applicants who were offered a scholarship were notified along with their letter of admission; unfortunately, we are not able to offer such funding to all students.  We encourage you to review the information at https://www.sipa.columbia.edu/admissions/financial-aid/financial-aid-international-students to learn about other financing options, we hope you find it helpful."

? 
 

Mega bummer ? Thanks for sharing this though, now I can stop refreshing my decision letter every hour waiting for scholarship info to pop up haha

[Gloria1005]

Hi everyone! Has anyone applied to the dual-degree program between Science Po and SIPA? I have been admitted to that program and I am making  a decision between it and Georgetown MPP, UChicago MPP. Is anyone comparing these three programs or two of them now?

[grad12345]

2 minutes ago, Gloria1005 said:

Hi everyone! Has anyone applied to the dual-degree program between Science Po and SIPA? I have been admitted to that program and I am making  a decision between it and Georgetown MPP, UChicago MPP. Is anyone comparing these three programs or two of them now?

Hi, congrats on your acceptances!! May I ask what profile you have? I was admitted to SIPA, but rejected fom the SIPA-Sciences Po double degree, which was my dream program (so I'm a bit gutted tbh). Would be super interesting to know what the double degree admission comittee was looking for!

[sd9000]

Would love to know how the SIPA and Berkeley Goldman MPP curriculums compare, specifically to post-graduation job markets. I know Goldman is quant heavy in both econ and data analysis, and both are very strong academically. I have my Bachelors from Columbia so I am leaning towards Berkeley for the added network. Any input from those knowledgeable would be much appreciated! 

[Gloria1005]

3 minutes ago, grad12345 said:

Hi, congrats on your acceptances!! May I ask what profile you have? I was admitted to SIPA, but rejected fom the SIPA-Sciences Po double degree, which was my dream program (so I'm a bit gutted tbh). Would be super interesting to know what the double degree admission comittee was looking for!

Hi! I am a Chinese student. GPA: 92/100 Toefl: 112 GRE:327. I am now a senior student so I do not have full-time working experience. I've interned in several companies and NGOs before. 

[aspiringmpp]

21 minutes ago, Gloria1005 said:

Hi everyone! Has anyone applied to the dual-degree program between Science Po and SIPA? I have been admitted to that program and I am making  a decision between it and Georgetown MPP, UChicago MPP. Is anyone comparing these three programs or two of them now?

Hi! I’m in the same boat - choosing between this program, UChicago MPP and Georgetown MPP. I was also accepted to SIPA’s two year program and NYU and am waiting to hear back from HKS. 

[grad12345]

22 minutes ago, Gloria1005 said:

Hi! I am a Chinese student. GPA: 92/100 Toefl: 112 GRE:327. I am now a senior student so I do not have full-time working experience. I've interned in several companies and NGOs before. 

Okay, thanks! Good luck with your decisions!

[Tabmex93]

I got admitted to the MPA, concentration: HRHP, specialization: DA&QA.

Funding: 50k/year.

I still can't believe it!!

I have almost 3 years of relevant full-time professional experience in civil society and government doing data analysis for human rights projects, plus many internships and experiences abroad.

Strong LOR, PS and extra essays. I know they were strong because I asked many SIPA alumni to read them. The key was to connect the dots from my personal and professional experiences to my goals in the future. 

I graduated with a high GPA from a top university in my country. 

GRE: quant: 155, verbal: 159, awa: 4.5

 TOEFL iBT :111

I also speak Chinese fluently.

Hope it helps

 

 

 

[ya711]

1 hour ago, Gloria1005 said:

Hi everyone! Has anyone applied to the dual-degree program between Science Po and SIPA? I have been admitted to that program and I am making  a decision between it and Georgetown MPP, UChicago MPP. Is anyone comparing these three programs or two of them now?

Didn't apply to Sciences Po, but just so you have another perspective, I'm most likely confirming UChicago Harris for the MPP program! McCourt seems to have a bad rep (and there is one alumni on here that provided a lot of information on why McCourt is a difficult school to be in), which factored into my decision a lot, plus I don't love quantitative subjects and Harris is much more abstract in terms of that than McCourt.

 

In regards to SIPA, if you didn't get funding then I would say it's not worth it to spend so much. As someone who already studies in NYC, I know how crazy the cost of living is here. Add the SIPA tuition and it seems like too much (to me, at least.) Harris is ranked higher anyways, I believe. But I do get that since Columbia an Ivy League, that can make your decision harder! Good luck!

Edited March 17, 2021 by ya711

[gradcafe2021]

Hi,

I got admitted to MPA, but received no funding  

Do you guys think SIPA is not the worth the huge amount of debt? It just pains me to think how many years I will have to live with the burden of huge amount of debt. 

 

[Floating_Bee]

11 minutes ago, gradcafe2021 said:

Hi,

I got admitted to MPA, but received no funding  

Do you guys think SIPA is not the worth the huge amount of debt? It just pains me to think how many years I will have to live with the burden of huge amount of debt. 

 

Hey. It obviously depends on your own personal financial circumstances and you could also factor in how much you anticipate making after you graduate. But SIPA is expensive as heck. I also got in with no funding and it's my dream program...but I can't justify accepting the offer without funding. The degree is just not worth that amount of debt IMO. Likely will accept my offer at SAIS. 

[izzywho]

Hey everyone. I'm interested in the SIPA + LSE dual international program but only applied to SIPA and received $$ in scholarship over two years. How would applying to spend my second year at LSE impact the $$? Does anyone have any insight? Thanks!

[g_9525]

5 hours ago, SimeonB said:

 

 

 

Hi guys, I also got accepted with the conditional offer. Apparently, the quant background that I provided is not adequate for them (tho I think my quant background is quite strong ? Have anyone clarified any requirements for the courses they required (like do they have to be from US institutions)? I have checked some online courses with graded scores, it can cost up to $2K. Personally, that is quite costly for a prerequisite for me (considering that I already got accepted in Harris UChicago). Do you guys have any resource on the academic institution that provides Calculus/Econ classes with cheaper price? Any information would be appreciated. Thank you!

Hi SimeonB, all my letter says is "accredited academic institution" so I believe you just have to find an institution that offers credit that can transfer. I'm a domestic student but if I take this offer, I would likely be finding a course at a local technical college to save $$$ and double-check with SIPA that the credit will transfer (I'm 99% sure it'll be fine). All of the courses I found were online. I'm not entirely sure how it works for int'l students, but if you can find an institution near you with good transfer courses *or* if you can take an online course from, say, a NY-based technical college before the term starts, that might work/be a bit cheaper? It's tough though, I'm not yet sure I could make it work myself.

[intlapplicant]

3 hours ago, Gloria1005 said:

Hi everyone! Has anyone applied to the dual-degree program between Science Po and SIPA? I have been admitted to that program and I am making  a decision between it and Georgetown MPP, UChicago MPP. Is anyone comparing these three programs or two of them now?

I don't know about these other programs, but I was also admitted to the dual degree between Sciences Po and SIPA, which is super exciting -- it seems like a great program! However, to my knowledge there is no funding for the dual degree specifically, or is there? If we got funding for SIPA alone, could that be used on the dual degree?

[aspiringmpp]

2 minutes ago, intlapplicant said:

I don't know about these other programs, but I was also admitted to the dual degree between Sciences Po and SIPA, which is super exciting -- it seems like a great program! However, to my knowledge there is no funding for the dual degree specifically, or is there? If we got funding for SIPA alone, could that be used on the dual degree?

I am also curious about this!

[grad12345]

2 minutes ago, intlapplicant said:

I don't know about these other programs, but I was also admitted to the dual degree between Sciences Po and SIPA, which is super exciting -- it seems like a great program! However, to my knowledge there is no funding for the dual degree specifically, or is there? If we got funding for SIPA alone, could that be used on the dual degree?

Congrats on your acceptance!   Would you mind telling me a bit about your profile? I know I keep asking this question in this thread, but as the cohort for this double degree is only about 20 people, each answer is super valuable to me in deciding whether I should give it another shot next year

[ps10]

If students are funded but decline the place, does their funding get reallocated to other students who did not receive funding? 

[intlapplicant]

7 hours ago, grad12345 said:

Congrats on your acceptance!   Would you mind telling me a bit about your profile? I know I keep asking this question in this thread, but as the cohort for this double degree is only about 20 people, each answer is super valuable to me in deciding whether I should give it another shot next year

Thanks so much!! No worries, I actually didn't know the cohort was this small...
I'm international (as the username says), my GPA is 9.5/10, I have 2 years of work experience in public policy and around 5/6 in nonprofit work  Hope this helps somehow!

[EC1225]

15 hours ago, Neer said:

Is there anyone whose result is not showing on SIPA’s website yet? I am an international student and had applied for MPA DP program. 

I’m still holding out funding hope as long as not a single MPA DP student has reported funding. It doesn’t make sense! 

[academiaenthusiast]

Have any of you heard back from the International Fellows Program, the Dasturdaza Doctor Jal Pavry Award for International Peace and Understanding, and the Most Honorable Bapsy Marchioness of Winchester Award in Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms?

 

[Gloria1005]

11 hours ago, aspiringmpp said:

Hi! I’m in the same boat - choosing between this program, UChicago MPP and Georgetown MPP. I was also accepted to SIPA’s two year program and NYU and am waiting to hear back from HKS. 

Wow Congrats! Do you think that living in New York is much much more expensive than Chicago? I'm a little worried about that. BTW, hope that you can be accepted to HKS! Good Luck!

[Gloria1005]

9 hours ago, intlapplicant said:

I don't know about these other programs, but I was also admitted to the dual degree between Sciences Po and SIPA, which is super exciting -- it seems like a great program! However, to my knowledge there is no funding for the dual degree specifically, or is there? If we got funding for SIPA alone, could that be used on the dual degree?

Actually I have no idea about the funding to this degree. I applied for Boutmy Scholarship in Science Po and the result haven't come out yet. I don't know whether we can apply for funding during the second year. 

[Gloria1005]

11 hours ago, ya711 said:

Didn't apply to Sciences Po, but just so you have another perspective, I'm most likely confirming UChicago Harris for the MPP program! McCourt seems to have a bad rep (and there is one alumni on here that provided a lot of information on why McCourt is a difficult school to be in), which factored into my decision a lot, plus I don't love quantitative subjects and Harris is much more abstract in terms of that than McCourt.

 

In regards to SIPA, if you didn't get funding then I would say it's not worth it to spend so much. As someone who already studies in NYC, I know how crazy the cost of living is here. Add the SIPA tuition and it seems like too much (to me, at least.) Harris is ranked higher anyways, I believe. But I do get that since Columbia an Ivy League, that can make your decision harder! Good luck!

Thank you so much for sharing that with me! I haven't been living in US before so actually I have little knowledge about the living cost. Do you think the living expense in NYC is much much higher than that in Chicago? It's really a kind of problem haha.