SIPA vs. SAIS

[kayokolyons]

Rose1 - I second your response. I've spoken with someone in admissions at SAIS and a former student as well as some other friends who work in IR and across the board everyone talks about the support system SAIS provides as well as the ability to develop a strong network with your peers while being in Bologna. I even emailed a couple other faculty members at SAIS to set up times to meet with them when I am visiting DC and they have all been very responsive and helpful.

I am not yet rejecting SIPA as I want to go to the open house and give it a final chance, but my mind is pretty made up that I will be enrolling at SAIS this fall!

[msal]

hey guys, has any of you changed or made up his/her mind on SAIS vs SIPA?

[erry3779]

hey guys, has any of you changed or made up his/her mind on SAIS vs SIPA?

Hai msal! I thought you already made up your mind! I'm still weighing! tough tough tough!

[msal]

Hai msal! I thought you already made up your mind! I'm still weighing! tough tough tough!

yes I mostly made up my mind. are you still weighing your options? maybe you can consult with your supervisors, they might have an idea on your future career and give you some insight.

[msal]

Hai msal! I thought you already made up your mind! I'm still weighing! tough tough tough!

yes I mostly made up my mind. are you still weighing your options? maybe you can consult with your supervisors, they might have an idea on your future career and give you some insight.

[msal]

Hai msal! I thought you already made up your mind! I'm still weighing! tough tough tough!

yes I mostly made up my mind. are you still weighing your options? maybe you can consult with your supervisors, they might have an idea on your future career and give you some insight.

[kayokolyons]

My mind is pretty set on SAIS! I am still going to both open houses though and will make a final decision after that.

[IRbkk]

Hi Guys,

New to this. I was recently accepted to SAIS Bologna but rejected from the IDEV program

which is my area of interest. I find myself leaning towards the program at SIPA and

I am quite eager to find out regarding the waitlist. I would much rather prefer to go

to SIPA as Columbia is more well known in South East Asia where I plan on working after

graduation. From my research, although the SAIS program might be regarded as highly

prestigious in the US. It is not as well known in Asia in EU. I Would love to hear your thoughts.

I am extremely eager to get off the waitlist at SIPA. A yes or a no would save dozens

of sleepless nights.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Accepted: JHU SAIS-BC, ISS (Hague), GSD (Geneva)

Rejected: Georgetown MSFS, LSE, SOAS, IHEI (Geneva)

Waitlisted: Columbia SIPA

Waiting: Dual Program Sciences Po/LSE

[spedteach]

It would be nice if you guys can share what happened with your degrees and where you ended up, 7 years later! 

[Grospatapouf]

I guess I am just going to revive that topic rather than create a new one. 

I was accepted at both SAIS (70k) and SIPA (30k) and I can't really make my mind about it. 

Since I am currently graduating a BSc in IR in the NL and I have a military background (6 years in an SF unit), I thought it would be safer to stick to IR. However, being more attracted to the private sector and jobs such as consulting/IB, I would rather get an MBA.

Now, I could try to defer for a year and try to apply for MBA programs, but that would require me to fill the blank for the next year, and I am not sure this would help any MBA applications. 

Conversely, I would have to pick a school and then apply to an MBA program (ideally one of the partners of Columbia or SAIS). Regardless of the public policy school go for, I will most likely concentrate in finance and econ. Yet I am not sure what would be the best strategy for me 

• First, to secure a spot in a prestigious MBA program (e.g, is it easier to break into CBS with a foot in SIPA? is it easier to secure spot at Wharton / Tuck / GSB with a foot in SAIS?) 
• Second, to increase my odds to break into in consulting/IB without going to a business school

Hope you guys can help me with that! 

 

Edited March 20, 2022 by Grospatapouf

[DevEconGrad]

On 3/19/2022 at 8:30 PM, Grospatapouf said:

I guess I am just going to revive that topic rather than create a new one. 

I was accepted at both SAIS (70k) and SIPA (30k) and I can't really make my mind about it. 

Since I am currently graduating a BSc in IR in the NL and I have a military background (6 years in an SF unit), I thought it would be safer to stick to IR. However, being more attracted to the private sector and jobs such as consulting/IB, I would rather get an MBA.

Now, I could try to defer for a year and try to apply for MBA programs, but that would require me to fill the blank for the next year, and I am not sure this would help any MBA applications. 

Conversely, I would have to pick a school and then apply to an MBA program (ideally one of the partners of Columbia or SAIS). Regardless of the public policy school go for, I will most likely concentrate in finance and econ. Yet I am not sure what would be the best strategy for me 

• First, to secure a spot in a prestigious MBA program (e.g, is it easier to break into CBS with a foot in SIPA? is it easier to secure spot at Wharton / Tuck / GSB with a foot in SAIS?) 
• Second, to increase my odds to break into in consulting/IB without going to a business school

Hope you guys can help me with that! 

 

Hey there - similar boat as you : accepted to SAIS and SIPA, doing econ and finance, and interested in the Dual Degree MBA program.

From what I've seen, its a bit of fallacy that being admitted in to SIPA or SAIS will help you get a foot in the door for their respective partner business schools. You're evaluated as any other applicant to those schools - they just have worked out an agreement that you can meet your MBA credit requirements using SAIS/SIPA classes and as a result get two degrees in three years rather than four.  Although you may bring a unique slant to your application as not many will have that IR background, I wouldn't go off on thinking you have a better "in" because you're at SAIS/SIPA. From a numbers standpoint, you have more dual degree MBA/MAIR options at SAIS so better chance at being admitted to an MBA program. There's also JHU Carey... 

[Grospatapouf]

3 hours ago, DevEconGrad said:

Hey there - similar boat as you : accepted to SAIS and SIPA, doing econ and finance, and interested in the Dual Degree MBA program.

From what I've seen, its a bit of fallacy that being admitted in to SIPA or SAIS will help you get a foot in the door for their respective partner business schools. You're evaluated as any other applicant to those schools - they just have worked out an agreement that you can meet your MBA credit requirements using SAIS/SIPA classes and as a result get two degrees in three years rather than four.  Although you may bring a unique slant to your application as not many will have that IR background, I wouldn't go off on thinking you have a better "in" because you're at SAIS/SIPA. From a numbers standpoint, you have more dual degree MBA/MAIR options at SAIS so better chance at being admitted to an MBA program. There's also JHU Carey... 

Ah good too hear I'm not the only one. 

Do you have a preference so far?

I read that Columbia could have more reach in the private sector, especially for 'dev-unrelated' industries. But the funding is not the same and it is still not an MBA. I assume that the fact that I'm a foreigner is not going help job research in the US, even with the STEM stamp.  

On the other hand, SAIS seems to carry more weight in IR, although less focused than SIPA's IFP + Data Analysis specialism.

Realistically, I give myself little chances for Wharton or Stanford GSB but Dartmouth and CBS seems in reach somehow - so the tradeoff here is not major.