SIPA essays

[indyir]

Hello ,

I am having nightmares ( truly) , with my SIPA essays, ive read the essays of someone who got through last year and they are so well written, I dont even know where to start especially for the policy essay .. i mean i am interested in international economic policy .. i am interested ins everal but none have impacted my life...

i am just so confused and nervous dunno where to start

[just4u1530]

Hello..

Are you from India..I am also applying this year but SIPA is not on my radar..have already submitted my application to princeton and Fletcher is due on 15th.. What exactly SIPA is looking for in the policy essay..Actually I haven't gone through the SIPA website and m not sure about the application requirements...my test scores have been killing me..didnt study a bit for the gre and got the result I deserved..plan to retake it..

Hello ,

I am having nightmares ( truly) , with my SIPA essays, ive read the essays of someone who got through last year and they are so well written, I dont even know where to start especially for the policy essay .. i mean i am interested in international economic policy .. i am interested ins everal but none have impacted my life...

i am just so confused and nervous dunno where to start

[indyir]

they have asked about a policy issue that has impacted my life... but since none have ( atleast not significantly ) im going for the conversation or experience that changed my perspective .. i still find my SOP lacking in several departments!

and yes I am from india.. are you German ?

[just4u1530]

All the best for your policy essay.

I am from india but right now m working in Germany. As for your SOP, you may feel that your 'story' is not strong enough but others may find it compelling. be honest with what you write and try to weave your past experiences into future goals. easier said than done!!

they have asked about a policy issue that has impacted my life... but since none have ( atleast not significantly ) im going for the conversation or experience that changed my perspective .. i still find my SOP lacking in several departments!

and yes I am from india.. are you German ?

[gratas]

I am having the exact same issue...wrote a general personal statement for my LSE application, but the SIPA questions seem to be asking so much (and with a limited word count, as well).

Which program are you applying to?

I am applying to the MPA, International Finance & Economic & Policy Stream.

[emoleys]

I'm apply for the MIA program at SIPA as well. I found that the policy one would be really broad for me to write about so I opted for the experience one instead. Just start writing and don't be distracted by the word count. You can edit what you have down to the required word count afterwards. I've found that tactic to be really helpful to developing my essays. Good luck!

Edited December 27, 2010 by emoleys

[indyir]

I'm apply for the MIA program at SIPA as well. I found that the policy one would be really broad for me to write about so I opted for the experience one instead. Just start writing and don't be distracted by the word count. You can edit what you have down to the required word count afterwards. I've found that tactic to be really helpful to developing my essays. Good luck!

I am writing about the experience as well ! I am applying for MIA international economic and finance policy stream .. what about you ?

[emoleys]

I am writing about the experience as well ! I am applying for MIA international economic and finance policy stream .. what about you ?

I'm applying for MIA in Human Rights. I can't wait till the 5th to have this part of the process done and over with! :-)

[gratas]

I think I am having the most trouble with the last question...not sure what to say in terms of "Any additional information". Are you all touching on specific issues (maybe a poor grade or other gap in your application) or giving more information about your career goals?

[surprisecake]

This thread makes me so glad I decided not to apply to SIPA.

[laks0004]

Haha, the SIPA essays were actually not too bad once you got down to it!

I applied for the MPA in Development Practice. If it helps (since its due today!) - for the last one, I decided to focus on skills I had gained through my experiences (academic and extra curricular) that would be helpful for my goals. I guess this was sort of given, because my undergraduate major (computer science) is very remote from what I want to do now, but still gave me a unique skillset that I wanted to put forth somewhere in the application.

I found their admissions blog quite useful btw, have a look if you have time. I'm not very comfortable talking about a poor grade/gap in the application (I feel it just draws attention to it), but the website mentions "Part three can focus on things you are proud of, or perhaps not so proud of".

Good luck!

[indyir]

thank you !

am pretty satisfied with mine as well !

i wrote about my global experience and the soft skills it helped me acquire !

but what exactly si double spacing ?

teh essay looks horrible after making the line space double instead of one

[apsuwa]

I probably wont look at anything related to SIPA until the decisions are made. The strict directions and 500 words limit for the first essay made it really challenging to finalize. It actually required some sculpture skills to find the best proportion between different sections of the essay. Finishing the whole process is such a relief (2 down, 4 to go!).

[emoleys]

GASP. A total novice mistake. I forgot to double space my personal statement.