fenderpete Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 How did you guys get notified of aid packages? I just got an email reminding me of the Micro/Macro requirement but nothing else.
piquant777 Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 My award had some $30k (out of over $60k per year, holy smokes) but most of it is in loans, and the fellowship portion is called a "First-Year Fellowship" which I assume means it's not renewable the second year?! Would've had to do way better than that, SAIS.
MYRNIST Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 (edited) 21k here, not enough. I'll be declining my offer in the next few days. Edited March 17, 2012 by MYRNIST
charlotte_asia Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 Those of you who report receiving aid, are those in fellowships or loans? I received a heckuva lot of loans and just a tiny amount of aid.
MYRNIST Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 I received a heckuva lot of loans and just a tiny amount of aid. Ditto.
internetstuff Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 Uhhh ... Yeah... I just got mine too. 22,000 in loans and only 2000 in work study. Zero "free money" fellowships. 22,000 in loans for a school with a yearly tuition of 38,256.00? What's supposed to happen here?
fenderpete Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 Still nada on my end. I'm smelling no money. Looks like I'm down to the two choices.
judymac Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 You should have received a bunch of e-mails and your award package is in one of those. Mine is 20k fellowship for Bologna. Anybody else going to do micro/macro requirement this summer. I really need to look into that.
piquant777 Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 N Still nada on my end. I'm smelling no money. Looks like I'm down to the two choices. Not necessarily, sometimes the late notifications are the big ones However SAIS looks pretty stingy on the actual free $ front, and maybe we got replies because we filled in federal FAFSA forms that don't apply to internationals. Most of this aid is not 'aid' at all (other than some small-time fellowships) but federal loans...not appealing.
innovate Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 Anyone else considering SAIS Bologna/DC ? I am thinking about doing the Latin America/Western Hemisphere Track Yes, I was accepted to SAIS for the first year in Bologna. SAIS has given me the most fin-aid of any school thus far and so I'm pretty confident that I will be there in the fall! I look forward to meeting you then!
erry3779 Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 I just got an email on financial aid.. They give me aid of 15,000 .. THis makes it harder to choose... OMG ... I really can't choose.
internetstuff Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 I just got an email on financial aid.. They give me aid of 15,000 .. THis makes it harder to choose... OMG ... I really can't choose. do you mean 15,000 in free money? Or 15k of loans?
charlotte_asia Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 erry, did you receive $15k in loans or aid/fellowship? I wasn't really considering loans to be "aid," but now I am not sure if I received any sort of financial support (loans or otherwise) from Georgetown.... so perhaps loans are aid. I can't imagine anyone able to pay $40K/year without loans.
erry3779 Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 My $15k is the 1st year financial aid or something like that... i am not eligible for loans anyway... Now I really can't choose... since SIPA gave me 0
piquant777 Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 erry, did you receive $15k in loans or aid/fellowship? I wasn't really considering loans to be "aid," but now I am not sure if I received any sort of financial support (loans or otherwise) from Georgetown.... so perhaps loans are aid. I can't imagine anyone able to pay $40K/year without loans. Charlotte, you should qualify for federal loans at any school by filling out the FAFSA. I forget what they all are (Pell, PLUS, blah blah) but there are definitely options to take out loans. Not that this is ideal obviously, but most people do it. Erry, I got that first-year scholarship thingy too. SAIS is def out of the running for me but if I were you I would check to see if it's renewable the second year before you get stuck with the $60k bill.
charlotte_asia Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 That's awesome, congratulations erry! I wish graduate admissions was like a game of Settlers of Catan where you can trade in resources. I would gladly hand over my Fletcher and GW money for just a few thousand at SAIS... Coloradical 1
wantgrad Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 For people wondering about the first year fellowship, I had an email go into my spam which explained that if I maintain 3.25 then the fellowship is renewed for the second year. Anyone know if it's reasonable to bargain?? I have a free ride + 15k stipend (research assistantship) to AU, but would definitely prefer the SAIS programme. SAIS has given me 20k, which means it would cost me around 40k (including living expenses) per year. Is SAIS worth 80k more than AU over two years?? Of course HKS and Georgetown are more than welcome to come in with some $$$ and totally change my thinking haha. Not optimistic about getting funding from either of those two...
erry3779 Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 For people wondering about the first year fellowship, I had an email go into my spam which explained that if I maintain 3.25 then the fellowship is renewed for the second year. Anyone know if it's reasonable to bargain?? I have a free ride + 15k stipend (research assistantship) to AU, but would definitely prefer the SAIS programme. SAIS has given me 20k, which means it would cost me around 40k (including living expenses) per year. Is SAIS worth 80k more than AU over two years?? Of course HKS and Georgetown are more than welcome to come in with some $$$ and totally change my thinking haha. Not optimistic about getting funding from either of those two... will u consider SIPA if you got admitted? I am now torn between SAIS or SIPA...
wantgrad Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 It will depend a lot on the funding, which SIPA is notoriously stingy with! When I visited schools, I really liked SIPA, but I don't know if I would pay more than an additional 5k/year to go there over SAIS. I'm rather econ inclined, and SAIS is the most explicitly econ-y of the programmes I'm looking at. But I do want a bit of management training, and it seems SIPA is best for that.
charlotte_asia Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 Anyone know if it's reasonable to bargain?? I have a free ride + 15k stipend (research assistantship) to AU, but would definitely prefer the SAIS programme. SAIS has given me 20k, which means it would cost me around 40k (including living expenses) per year. Is SAIS worth 80k more than AU over two years?? I think bargaining is worthwhile if they have thrown a decent amount of free money your way already. It's clear that you are among the top of SAIS' applicants and they really want you. Telling them that you have a more competitive offer from another university, that SAIS is your top choice you would like to explore ways with them to make it financially feasible to attend may get you somewhere. It's at least possible. I have no problem bargaining (I've lived in developing Asian countries for most of the past four years, haggling is a way of life here!) but I also know when it's not the right time to bargain. SAIS is a large program with lots of acceptances- they offered me only loans, no free money, they are not going to throw some my way because I asked for it. I am not going to bargain with them (though I might with other smaller programs to which I was accepted). You, however, have already been signaled an extra "we want you!" with a relatively large aid package. Try and see if they can sweeten the deal a bit more for you. They already want you- make them work for it a little more
IRToni Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 I'm in a similar situation. Got 20k from SAIS (all fellowship), but have full rides in Europe (external fellowship for Europe). I really want to go to SAIS, so I'm still waiting what's gonna happen with SIPA and then talk to them. At the same time, I'm also thinking of deferring for a year, working in that time and apply for some more external sources (that I couldn't apply to this year due to location). I'm quite confident I could get one of those, they're not full rides, but usually cover tuition up to 25.000 and living expenses. Since SAIS website states that usually, you will be made the same award of aid if you defer, that would be very feasible. Just not sure if I'll find a good job inbetween. I'm just so torn and still waiting on some schools. But SAIS is my dream and I'd hate for money to influence that. Then again, I have great offers elsewhere. It's just so hard...
erry3779 Posted March 18, 2012 Posted March 18, 2012 (edited) I got the SAIS First Year Fellowship (from the SAIS General Fund) of 15k.... To think of it, I don't know in what way SAIS will grant this fellowship, the only information I get is that they will distribute the 15k in two, 7500 in the fall and another 7500 in the spring. Problem is, my Edward E. Masters fellowship is covering up my full tuition fee, no matter which school I choose as long as it is an IR school in the States. So if this 15k from SAIS is in the form of like a discount for my tuition fee, then the aid will basically doesn't mean anything to me... But if the 15k will be given to me in cash, I will definitely go to SAIS and not having trouble making decision between SAIS or the other schools. PLease if anyone happen to know the mechanism of this first year Sais fellowship, would you be kind enough to share it here? Edited March 18, 2012 by erry3779
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