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Posted

I will be attending the open house and I will try to write a review after for those who can't make it!

This would be amazing, please do it!

Posted

MSF is definitely a good choice for you, not many top schools hold that program though. And location is indeed somethin that matters for finance oriented ones. Tough situation, man...

Yeah tough situation... I am still waiting for some decisions now. Anyway thx for your advice. Hope to see you at SIPA if I decide to go there finally.

Posted

I am deciding between Gtown MPP and SIPA MPA.

 

I work at Gtown and will be eligible for their tuition assistance program, and won't need to pay tuition at all.

 

My career interest is in the private sector, ideally consulting firms.

 

Any advise on which one I should pick?

 

Thanks a bunch!

Posted

I'm waiting too. I called the Admissions office in this morning and they told that mine was still under review and they would release the rest in the coming weeks.

Posted

Weeks? I hope that they will release results till the end of this week.

Posted

I just turned down SIPA's offer of admission. Not enough funding and the program wasn't as much fit to my interests as other options. It still felt weird saying "no" to an Ivy League. :unsure:

 

Best of luck to all of you who are going.

Posted

1. You are like me.  Don't worry half the class is like us too :)

Unless you are interested in APEA or some levels of EPD you can take "intermediate" level econ and quant to pass requirements.  Intermediate Econ will only cover single variable calculus whereas Advanced Econ will consider multivariable.  It is difficult for me still but I manage.  

 

There is a math camp during orientation to review the basics.  At the end of math camp you take a proficiency exam (does not affect grade).  The results determine your placement in a 4 week math class (no credit).  There are three levels that vary in speed, with 1 being the slowest and 3 being the fastest in terms of reviewing the material (algebra, exponents, and calculus-single variable for Levels 1 and 2 and multi for Level 3)

 

2.  You are required to demonstrate language proficiency (Intermediate 2 in US terms) before you graduate.  There are 3 ways to do so.

 

I.  Pass a proficiency exam that is administered at the beginning of the fall or spring semester.  If you fail you must do #2

II. Earn a B+ in an Intermediate II class offered on campus

III. Forgive me for being politically incorrect, but I'm assuming you speak Chinese.  If you attended a university in China, for example, that was English medium and your high school was in Chinese the language requirement is waived if you prove that was the case.  If both were English medium, then I think you can take the Chinese exam

 

If you want to start a new language from scratch you MUST start in the first semester.  Your path will be Intro 1 (1st semester), Intro 2 (2nd), Intermediate 1, (3rd), and finally Intermediate 2 (4th and final semester and the requirement).  There are some drawbacks (language classes usually meet very early or very late so your schedule is skewed, Intro 1-2, and Intermediate 1 will not count for GPA calculation, but Intermediate 2 will be an elective) but these are so minor and there are people who are bearing the challenge and doing so admirably.

Thanks so much for the reply ! It really helps! I will give serious consideration whether to be that "admirable" lol.

Just another question. A lm a little confused here... So when I applied, I chose the EPD concentration. And I do wanna do APEA. But given my background, is it possible? Any prerequisites to meet? I think I'm being a bit greedy but just wanna give it a try. Any thoughts?

Posted

I am still waiting! Any idea when to expect any decision? Does it mean we are being wait listed or there are two admission rounds?

Posted

You are certainly not waitlisted right now. I think that they are just still evaluating your application.

Posted

I got this email last night:

Thank you for your continued interest in SIPA! The SIPA admissions review committee released the majority of decisions the last two weeks, however, they are still working on processing the remaining applications. Please allow 2 weeks for a decision to be made on your application.

2 WEEKS!!?!

Posted

I got this email last night:

Thank you for your continued interest in SIPA! The SIPA admissions review committee released the majority of decisions the last two weeks, however, they are still working on processing the remaining applications. Please allow 2 weeks for a decision to be made on your application.

2 WEEKS!!?!

Which concentration did you apply for? 

Posted

2014 SIPA Open House Review

 

Structure: Most of the day was held in a large auditorium, with members of the admissions team speaking at the auditorium. The Dean of SIPA had recorded a video welcome message that was shown on a large screen. This was the first of a series of encounters that reminded me of previous reviews of SIPA as being “impersonal.” This was definitely the largest of the open houses I went to. The academic overview was given on a PowerPoint, which had a pretty useful breakdown of how many people were in each concentration and specialization. Please keep in mind that this was a bar graph with intervals of 20, so the number I am writing is an estimate of what I inferred from the bar graph, but still should be fairly accurate.

 

Concentrations:

 

Int Finance and Econ Policy: 139

Econ and Pol Development: 137

Energy and Environment: 79

Int Security Policy: 79

Urban and Social Policy: 65

HR and Humanitarian Policy: 35

 

Specializations:

 

Management: 164

Applied Policy and Econ Analysis: 120

Int Conflict Resolution: 73

Regional (all): 50

Int Media and Advocacy Concentration: 50

 

Therefore, even though SIPA has around 1100 total students, you can certainly still find a small community within each concentration and specialization after the core courses, which make up 1/3 of the curriculum.

 

Overall impression: The “New York” attitude is very evident among the current students of the school, which I would characterize as being very much a “go-getter,” seeking out your own opportunities and taking the initiative to make your own connections to get you to wherever it is you want to be in your career. As for the concentration professors and directors of some of the regional programs (who sent members of their staff to talk to students at the open house), it’s similar. They have their careers and their research, and being a faculty member at an Ivy League institution is not necessarily about how they will invest and support you in your career, but how they need investment in theirs (i.e. TAships, RAships). With that being said, I was impressed with how the current students were able to balance their coursework with a TA or RAship, PLUS 2nd positions more related to advancing their careers. It did seem as if the professors used whatever connections they had to help the students they were working with closely achieve it.

 

Additionally, there was a fair amount of people admitted here out of undergrad both who were admitted and current students. They seemed attracted to the fact that the core curriculum forces you to develop practical skills for the work place that they had not yet had a chance to develop. This (in my opinion), at the expense of having the flexibility to take more courses that entail deeper intellectual exploration. The program also seems good for people not sure of what sector they want to work in

 

As for diversity, there were a lot of international students from everywhere and it seemed as if there was a community for everyone. Like with any program, there can always be more U.S. minorities, but for those that do attend SIPA, they are a warm and close-knit group that is really open and committed to improving diversity and inclusion within the program.

Posted (edited)

Turned down the admissions offer today because of lack of funding. Hopefully those awaiting decisions will hear good news soon.

Edited by cloud9876

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