tingschu Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Did anybody happen to catch the online chat this morning? Was there anything interesting mentioned (i.e. not already on their website)? If you are interested in second-year aid, they award around 50-60% students, higher than first-year (25-30%), and the amount starts from 8k. And they wont re-consider first-year aid, as they are all basically out, except for a few named fellowships. If you are interested in working with the World Bank, they have 400 SAIS alumni now working there. Pre-term in DC is attended by 75%(?) of incoming class. If you are not accepted by IDEV, dont get upset. You can still attend all the classes, it is just that if the class were full, IDEV students have higher priority. You can still work out with your supervisor to come up with a curriculum that makes you competitive in the eyes of international development fields. They arrange career trips for graduating students each year all over the world (asia, europe, etc) to network with the 15,000 alumni world wide, but all the costs have to be born by the student. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wantgrad Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Thanks tingshu! Very helpful. Have you decided on which school to attend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingschu Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Thanks tingshu! Very helpful. Have you decided on which school to attend? I am leaning towards SAIS now--I am really impressed by their network with the Bank. How about you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wantgrad Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Yeah SAIS is looking very attractive to me too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grtheman Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 For those about to attend SAIS, what program of study are you choosing? I'm currently torn between China Studies and ERE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRToni Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I'm not quite sure if I'll attend, but I'd be torn between China Studies and General IR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlotte_asia Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 How are non-World Bank/finance folks feeling about SAIS? Everyone I know who is geared towards SAIS is either focused on WB, finance, consulting, or South Asia. I am not headed towards work in those areas and am thus having a hard time convincing myself that it's the right place for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cali Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 If you are interested in second-year aid, they award around 50-60% students, higher than first-year (25-30%), and the amount starts from 8k. And they wont re-consider first-year aid, as they are all basically out, except for a few named fellowships. If you are interested in working with the World Bank, they have 400 SAIS alumni now working there. Pre-term in DC is attended by 75%(?) of incoming class. If you are not accepted by IDEV, dont get upset. You can still attend all the classes, it is just that if the class were full, IDEV students have higher priority. You can still work out with your supervisor to come up with a curriculum that makes you competitive in the eyes of international development fields. They arrange career trips for graduating students each year all over the world (asia, europe, etc) to network with the 15,000 alumni world wide, but all the costs have to be born by the student. Thanks tingschu! I called the admissions department and found out that the odds for second-year fellowships go up when you maintain a GPA above 3.25. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MYRNIST Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 How are non-World Bank/finance folks feeling about SAIS? Everyone I know who is geared towards SAIS is either focused on WB, finance, consulting, or South Asia. I am not headed towards work in those areas and am thus having a hard time convincing myself that it's the right place for me. This was a big factor in deciding not to go there. I was accepted to the Strategic Studies program, and while it's quite an illustrious program, I also got the sense that within SAIS it's a bit of an ugly stepchild - as you said, finance and i-dev is SAIS' calling card. It makes me feel less confident that the career services, curriculum, etc. will be relevant to what I want to do. The SS professors are amazing, it's more the relation of SS to the larger SAIS institution that turned me off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaworhalo Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 This was a big factor in deciding not to go there. I was accepted to the Strategic Studies program, and while it's quite an illustrious program, I also got the sense that within SAIS it's a bit of an ugly stepchild - as you said, finance and i-dev is SAIS' calling card. It makes me feel less confident that the career services, curriculum, etc. will be relevant to what I want to do. The SS professors are amazing, it's more the relation of SS to the larger SAIS institution that turned me off. MYRNIST, did you get the sense of what other concentrations might have more or less support at SAIS? Also, congrats on the full ride to GW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlotte_asia Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 MYRNIST, did you get the sense of what other concentrations might have more or less support at SAIS? This question wasn't directed at me, hope it's ok if I chime in my two cents. I have a few friends who went to SAIS and have spoken to about 7 recent alums/current students in the last two weeks. My general sense is that ERE, IDEV, South Asia, and Latin America are some of the stronger concentrations. All have money, great faculty, and strong support from the school. A few people have told me the concentration you choose doesn't really matter- that it is useful in giving you a core network of students and faculty but not critical for your experience. Several have said that some of the functional studies have loose concentration requirements that help in providing flexibility for course selection, which they saw as a positive. However, a friend from undergrad who graduated from SAIS last year and concentrated in South Asian studies strongly recommended pursuing a regional, not functional concentration. This may have been influenced by his normative belief that understanding cultural context is critical, but I also got the sense that he felt the regional concentrations are stronger than the functional ones. I should also add that almost literally everyone with whom I have spoken have been within the concentrations I outlined above (specifically, IDEV, South Asia, and Latin America). I would really like to speak with students who are in some of the less popular functional studies to get their take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaworhalo Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 This question wasn't directed at me, hope it's ok if I chime in my two cents. I have a few friends who went to SAIS and have spoken to about 7 recent alums/current students in the last two weeks. My general sense is that ERE, IDEV, South Asia, and Latin America are some of the stronger concentrations. All have money, great faculty, and strong support from the school. A few people have told me the concentration you choose doesn't really matter- that it is useful in giving you a core network of students and faculty but not critical for your experience. Several have said that some of the functional studies have loose concentration requirements that help in providing flexibility for course selection, which they saw as a positive. However, a friend from undergrad who graduated from SAIS last year and concentrated in South Asian studies strongly recommended pursuing a regional, not functional concentration. This may have been influenced by his normative belief that understanding cultural context is critical, but I also got the sense that he felt the regional concentrations are stronger than the functional ones. I should also add that almost literally everyone with whom I have spoken have been within the concentrations I outlined above (specifically, IDEV, South Asia, and Latin America). I would really like to speak with students who are in some of the less popular functional studies to get their take. Thanks charlotte_asia! This is all very helpful and informative. Some of those who I have spoken to have said that the functional concentrations are generally stronger, but others mentioned that regional concentrations like China and Korea are well regarded and funded. I've spoken to fewer alums/students, but some include the SAIS staff. I wonder if anyone else can chime in with what they have learned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IR_Lion Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 SAIS is the best in the country for ASIA related IR, the China department has David Lampton who is considered the godfather of all Chinese foreign policy, an extremely old and well known Japan studies program that has birthed such noted alumni as former Japanese Prime Minister Nakasone, and the new Korea program is flushed. The functional programs get a lot more press but the asia concentrations are the real cream of SAIS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nouveau.ukiyo Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 SAIS is the best in the country for ASIA related IR, the China department has David Lampton who is considered the godfather of all Chinese foreign policy, an extremely old and well known Japan studies program that has birthed such noted alumni as former Japanese Prime Minister Nakasone, and the new Korea program is flushed. The functional programs get a lot more press but the asia concentrations are the real cream of SAIS. I'm trying to decide between MSFS and SAIS; although SAIS is stronger that MSFS in Asian IR, for me, MSFS has a few advantages also. At MSFS, I intend to pick the International Business and Commerce concentration; I'll pick up a lot of business skills as well as IR related skills and knowledge. However, I spoke to a current student and he said the program is my generalist based and their students don't really focus on a particular country or region. If I choose to go to SAIS, I'd gain a lot of economic and Asia IR knowledge. But I'm not sure what kind of skills I'd have when I graduate. Am I wrong in my thinking? For SAIS students who don't pick a functional concentration, can anyone tell me what skills they'll gain? It's seems like regional concentration programs are heavy on theory and research but I don't want to be a researcher nor want to get a Ph.D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grtheman Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Has anyone else sent in their deposit yet? Looking forward to meeting fellow SAIS 14'ers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingschu Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Has anyone else sent in their deposit yet? Looking forward to meeting fellow SAIS 14'ers. I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolognese Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 If anyone here applied directly to the Bologna Center, please let us know when you get hear back from the admissions department! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlameLily Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Bolognese: I applied directly to BC and am waiting for the decision, which I expect to receive tomorrow! The AdCom posted on their blog that they aim to release all decisions 'by April 6th' so not sure if any other direct applicants have already heard. If anyone here applied directly to the Bologna Center, please let us know when you get hear back from the admissions department! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolognese Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 The AdCom posted on their blog that they aim to release all decisions 'by April 6th' so not sure if any other direct applicants have already heard. I saw that post, but was hoping that "by April 6th" didn't simply mean "on April 6th"! Best of luck tomorrow, FlameLily! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlameLily Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Same here, but oh well...Best of luck to you too Bolognese! I saw that post, but was hoping that "by April 6th" didn't simply mean "on April 6th"! Best of luck tomorrow, FlameLily! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolognese Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Further indication that the Bologna Center admissions team should be sending out notifications tomorrow (Friday). From the admissions blog's comments section, Nelson Graves, earlier today, wrote: "As for the emailed letters, we plan to send them out tomorrow -- if all goes according to plan." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcenergygirl Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 (edited) Just spoke with fin aid, the philip merrill will be awarded by email to one lucky person TODAY. good luck everyone. there will also be a few class fellowships made available this summer to the incoming class of about 1 - 3k. you will have had to sign on before those are awarded though. Edited April 6, 2012 by dcenergygirl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlameLily Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 I'm in...Yay! Further indication that the Bologna Center admissions team should be sending out notifications tomorrow (Friday). From the admissions blog's comments section, Nelson Graves, earlier today, wrote: "As for the emailed letters, we plan to send them out tomorrow -- if all goes according to plan." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolognese Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 I'm in...Yay! Me too! Very exciting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlameLily Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 Me too! Very exciting! Woo hoo!!! Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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