SIPA vs. SAIS, Finances Aside?

[Carol72]

Hey all,

I'm looking to discuss SIPA vs. SAIS in a non-financial context. Both schools, when all is said and done, will cost roughly the same for me to attend, so I can't really look at the decision through the lens of "go where it's going to be cheaper." I find that that tends to be the advice given in these forums, and while it's genuinely smart advice, it's not really a factor for me right now.

I am really just looking for some insight from students who may be making the same decision, who maybe have attended the schools, and who have opinions on which is better. For reference, I'll be studying conflict management with the hopes of working with overseas NGOs such as IRC and ICRC in the Middle East. I have been accepted to SAIS' MAIR track as well as SIPA's Humanitarian Aid track. Any insight into student life, access to professors and alumni networks, overall prestige in the working world, etc. would be appreciated. The choice is an exciting but difficult one, and it's tough to make these decisions when everything has to be done remotely/over zoom due to COVID :(. Normally I'd visit campuses and meet up with people to get a feel, but that's obviously not an option right now haha

[GradSchoolGrad]

On 1/22/2021 at 2:11 PM, Carol72 said:

Hey all,

I'm looking to discuss SIPA vs. SAIS in a non-financial context. Both schools, when all is said and done, will cost roughly the same for me to attend, so I can't really look at the decision through the lens of "go where it's going to be cheaper." I find that that tends to be the advice given in these forums, and while it's genuinely smart advice, it's not really a factor for me right now.

I am really just looking for some insight from students who may be making the same decision, who maybe have attended the schools, and who have opinions on which is better. For reference, I'll be studying conflict management with the hopes of working with overseas NGOs such as IRC and ICRC in the Middle East. I have been accepted to SAIS' MAIR track as well as SIPA's Humanitarian Aid track. Any insight into student life, access to professors and alumni networks, overall prestige in the working world, etc. would be appreciated. The choice is an exciting but difficult one, and it's tough to make these decisions when everything has to be done remotely/over zoom due to COVID :(. Normally I'd visit campuses and meet up with people to get a feel, but that's obviously not an option right now haha

I think there are 5 main ways to think about this.

1. DC gravitational pull or Global Non-Profit Space. 

Both schools are strong for both. However, SAIS has strengths in being connected to the DC oriented think tanks, institutions, and very importantly streams of funding (which I would argue is generally more robust). SIPA is stronger in niche non-profits and non-economically oriented NGOs. 

2. Super Quant vs. Quant

SAIS is famous/infamous for its aggressively quant curriculum. A lot of people go from SAIS to analytical / analytically oriented jobs. Additionally, the analytical rigor of SAIS also gives its graduates an interesting level of career flexibility. By in large, SIPA is less Quant oriented (although you can always sign up for harder quant classes). 

3. Clique Community vs. No Community

SAIS is interesting because it is a self-contained school that does not participate in the DC consortium (so its students can't visit classes in neighboring schools). The culture tends to be clique (or so I have been told) driven and a lot of community interaction (keep in mind I speaking of the pre-COVID experience). SIPA is infamous for having a weak community because everyone has their NYC friends and social groups that they rather hang out with. My friends who went to SIPA pretty much tell me they didn't really make new friends via their program. 

4. Greater University Access

Although SAIS is part of JHU, it really doesn't historically collaborate with JHU's other schools (not that there are that many schools to begin with within the DC area). SAIS does do an amazing job of giving you a lot of academic resources though, but when you don't have a law school, prestigious MBA school, and undergrad - nearby, the scale of resources is less. Columbia as you you imagine has the entire University at your finger tips - however it is like big corporation and cross-discipline collaboration isn't always fluid. 

5. Alumni 

Go on LinkedIn and check where their alumni go - you should be able to see trends. You'll broadly see that SAIS is more DC focused while SIPA has a bit less DC.