SAIS decisions are out, apparently:

[dft309]

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.

SAIS Strategic Studies Class of 2012 here (Also a Bologna alum, if anyone has any questions).

While you are right, somewhat, in your perception that Strat is a bit outside the "SAIS orthodoxy", you are absolutely incorrect with regard to the level career services support. Of our four career counselors, one is dedicated to the IC/DoD/defense contractors/other "strat employers". We have a lot of on campus recruiting, career treks, and career fairs that are pretty much targeted to Strat students. Furthermore, the department is pretty active in going to bat for getting jobs for its students and has the power to pull strings.

With regard to the curriculum, while you are right that you have to deal with the econ, you only have to take four of them for credit (assuming you take Macro and Micro during pre-term), and they do give you a leg up when applying for jobs. Aside from those four, the only requirements are that you take two non-Strat IR courses and an additional IR course, either in or out of Strat.

Something else to keep in mind-Strat is the second largest single concentration at SAIS, after Energy, Resources, and Environment. It also has a very active and well-funded extracurricular component, especially the Staff Rides. The end result is that while Strat is a bit distant from the mainstream, it is pretty powerful in its own right.

Also, I really think the perception of SAIS as a primarily finance/development focused school is grossly overblown. It has a very strong presence within the US National Security Establishment and associated organizations. That side of SAIS just doesn't show up in our marketing materials (I note that there hasn't been a Strat student in Voices of SAIS for two years), and I think for good reason.

[babybaby]

in @ SAIS Bologna!

[MYRNIST]

Also, I really think the perception of SAIS as a primarily finance/development focused school is grossly overblown. It has a very strong presence within the US National Security Establishment and associated organizations. That side of SAIS just doesn't show up in our marketing materials (I note that there hasn't been a Strat student in Voices of SAIS for two years), and I think for good reason.

Thanks for the interesting take. It also serves to confirm that while in reality SS might be a well-supported, relevant program with good professional prospects, SAIS does a horrible job of marketing it. The website, brochures, chats, etc. all gave a strong impression of it being, at best, a sideline institution to the finance+econ stuff. In that sense your statement about SS' lack of presence in SAIS Voices is not at all surprising.

I am curious, why do you think this shunning is a good idea? Because touting up its US + national security ties would scare off international students?

[dft309]

Thanks for the interesting take. It also serves to confirm that while in reality SS might be a well-supported, relevant program with good professional prospects, SAIS does a horrible job of marketing it. The website, brochures, chats, etc. all gave a strong impression of it being, at best, a sideline institution to the finance+econ stuff. In that sense your statement about SS' lack of presence in SAIS Voices is not at all surprising.

I am curious, why do you think this shunning is a good idea? Because touting up its US + national security ties would scare off international students?

Pretty much. I don't think the non-Strat students, especially the Europeans, really have a good idea of what it is that we do, and, in my opinion, it's better if we keep it that way.

That, and given that most of the non-military-sponsored Strat students have at least some level of interest in the IC, appearing in a promo would not go over well. PERSEC issues all over the place. I saw the SAIS PR crew out last month trolling for students to interview on camera, and I got the heck out of there.

Even of the the military-sponsored students, I can only think of 3 who aren't either SOF or MI and so would likely have an interest in not attracting too much publicity. The problem with using them, of course, is that they all have a minimum of 8 years of service and are mostly going to teach at a military academy as their next assignment, so they aren't terribly representative.

Given that there have been serious discussions about capping Strat, a la IDEV or ERE, it appears we haven't really been hindered by this lack of publicity anyway. Bottomline, if you're interested in this sort of thing, you probably know about SAIS somehow anyway.

Interesting story, I met a Strat student last summer who was completely unaware that SAIS had an econ requirement prior to showing up for orientation and getting a very rude shock. Some DC Strat students don't quite go the same school as everyone else...

Edited April 8, 2012 by dft309