therunaround Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Since a bunch of acceptances for SAIS went out today, I thought I'd start a new thread focused on the pros and cons. I haven't found anything about SAIS specifically yet. Please enlighten me. I'm trying to decide whether to focus on international or domestic environmental policy. Any thoughts about SAIS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornell07 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Off the top of my head Pros + Consistently ranked as the #1 or #2 terminal degree for those wishing to pursue a professional policy career + Within walking distance of tons of major FP institutions in DC (e.g. Brookings) or short driving/public transport distance (e.g. Dept of State) + Near a Metro stop (unlike, say American) which means you can live in cheap areas of DC as long as they have also have Metro stops nearby Cons - Expensive (34k per year vs, for example, 25k per year at American or 31k at Yale) - Bologna is damn expensive (I think >40k per year) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impatiens Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Pro or Con (depends on your preferences and academic leanings) Really strong quantitative core in international economics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therunaround Posted March 20, 2009 Author Share Posted March 20, 2009 I like the quant aspect - majored in Econ. What do you guys think about the stress factor with oral exams for econ and language? Also, any impression of the types of students there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impatiens Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I loooooooove the quant aspect. I probably won't be saying this when I'm actually taking micro again. :roll: Oral exams: like it or not, it's a given for graduate degrees, one way or another, and especially in IR. What do you mean by types of students? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepper12 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Johns Hopkins' economics in grad level isn't very good...at least not of the same level as Columbia, Berkeley, Yale, or Stanford... so I wouldn't think that SAIS' econ is top-notch... WinterSolstice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothrop99 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Johns Hopkins' economics in grad level isn't very good...at least not of the same level as Columbia, Berkeley, Yale, or Stanford... so I wouldn't think that SAIS' econ is top-notch... What are you basing this on? Not that I'm doubting it - just that all I ever hear about SAIS is that their econ preparation IS top-notch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sroek Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Don't forget Univ. of Chicago's graduate Economic courses! It is among the top three hands down! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepper12 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 well...I am basing it on the fact that Johns Hopkins Phd program in Economics is not even top 20 in the country... the top econ phd programs are (not in order) Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, Berkeley, Stanford, UPenn, Northwestern, Chicago, Princeton, Michigan, UCSD, etc, all strong in Mirco, Macro, Development, International Economics, I.O., Public Finance and Johns Hopkins is not strong in any particular field... so given the fact that Johns Hopkins Phd program in Economics is NOT top-notch, I doubt that the SAIS (master program) has top-notch economics preparations... Of course SAIS is clearly top-notch in IR and placing people in DC organizations but in terms of economics, it may not be the case...so I wouldn't think SAIS' selling point is its economics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sroek Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invictus Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 SAIS and JHU are two distinct entities with two different sets of faculty, courses, etc. Not sure you can make assumptions about SAIS based on JHU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invictus Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I've heard from many potential post SAIS employers that the strong econ focus at SAIS is very well regarded. It's obviously not geared towards preparation for those seeking to get a PhD in Economics since the program is designed to be a terminal MA/professional degree. SAIS is one of the (perhaps the single) largest feeder school into the World Bank, IFC, etc. For me this is a huge draw to SAIS. It gives a softer degree a bit of a harder edge. Development firms and think tanks regard SAIS grads as very well-prepared on the analytical and quantitative front, especially when compared to SIPA, SIS, Elliot, MSFS, etc. I think HKS and WWS are in such a different category that its hard to compare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepper12 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I've heard from many potential post SAIS employers that the strong econ focus at SAIS is very well regarded. It's obviously not geared towards preparation for those seeking to get a PhD in Economics since the program is designed to be a terminal MA/professional degree. SAIS is one of the (perhaps the single) largest feeder school into the World Bank, IFC, etc. For me this is a huge draw to SAIS. It gives a softer degree a bit of a harder edge. Development firms and think tanks regard SAIS grads as very well-prepared on the analytical and quantitative front, especially when compared to SIPA, SIS, Elliot, MSFS, etc. I think HKS and WWS are in such a different category that its hard to compare. What's your opinion on SAIS versus GSPP? At GSPP I heard you can take electives at Berkeley's econ department and to me that is very attractive...plus GSPP is also known for its rigorous training in policy analysis ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therunaround Posted March 21, 2009 Author Share Posted March 21, 2009 I've heard from many potential post SAIS employers that the strong econ focus at SAIS is very well regarded. It's obviously not geared towards preparation for those seeking to get a PhD in Economics since the program is designed to be a terminal MA/professional degree. SAIS is one of the (perhaps the single) largest feeder school into the World Bank, IFC, etc. For me this is a huge draw to SAIS. It gives a softer degree a bit of a harder edge. Development firms and think tanks regard SAIS grads as very well-prepared on the analytical and quantitative front, especially when compared to SIPA, SIS, Elliot, MSFS, etc. I think HKS and WWS are in such a different category that its hard to compare. I've checked out the information available on the SAIS webpage about career placements already. I'm interested in employment at US federal agencies. Does anyone have any interesting stories regarding SAIS grad employment in the public sector in DC? You know, something beyond the general list of placements after graduation... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
younglions Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 I've heard time and time again that SAIS's economics preparation is overrated. The required economics courses are at the same level of rigor that most economics majors experience during their 4-year degrees. SAIS is only known for economics because it requires all students to take more econ courses than some of the other IR programs. However, many others offer the same courses, just don't require them. For those who aren't well versed in economics, and want to be forced into taking those courses, SAIS is a great option. Otherwise, it just represents less choice. (*Note: there are some IR programs that don't offer that many econ-courses... this "less choice" statement doesn't apply to SAIS relative to them.) Don't get me wrong, SAIS is firmly a top-4 pure IR program (along with SIPA, Fletcher, and SFS)... but if you studied economics in undergrad, prepare to be disappointed if the only reason you choose SAIS is their econ-focus. In the end, I didn't apply to SAIS because it's expensive, and doesn't seem to offer many of its students decision-shaping funding. On the other hand, SAIS alumni network is quite strong. Taking out extra loans might be worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
younglions Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 I've checked out the information available on the SAIS webpage about career placements already. I'm interested in employment at US federal agencies. Does anyone have any interesting stories regarding SAIS grad employment in the public sector in DC? You know, something beyond the general list of placements after graduation... At USAID, SAIS seemed to be the most represented school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invictus Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Agreed- as well as USAID contractors and project implementers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impatiens Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 On SAIS' economics "prestige" compared to others: SAIS is not an economics school. I meant that the econ/quant requirement is a pro (or con) for a policy/IR program, not as an economics program on it's own. The SAIS quant requirement makes it stand out in terms of hard functional skills that employers will KNOW a SAIS grad has, which are intended to complement other policy/area-type specialization. Many other APSIA degree programs do not have this built-in "feature," so to speak. Further, as I understand it, the MA at SAIS is intended to be a terminal degree in the sense that it's designed with the intent to train practitioners, as opposed to train theorists. If you wanted to eventually do an econ PhD, you probably should do an MSc in Econ as opposed to any APSIA degree, really. Having said that, from what I understand from speaking to a prof at a top-4 IR program (well two actually, he teaches/is affiliated at two programs), no MA-IR type program (he specifically cited SIPA, Fletcher, SAIS, but really anything along that vein) has an economics core on its own that will suffice to train you for an economics/finance-intensive job. For that you should do an MBA or an Econ degree. And because SAIS' Int'l Econ is mandatory, if you're not economically/quantitatively inclined it may be a con for you. If you are (or if you want to be), then it's a pro. I'm not trying to say it's the best econ program or anything to that effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
younglions Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 impatiens - yes I agree. I forgot to include another positive with SAIS. Since they demand all students to fulfill the economics requirements, they can make incorporate the "economic worldview" into all of their classes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irgraduatedr Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 The only thing that worries me about SAIS. at least in comparison with programs like Columbia, Georgetown and especially Harvard, is that Johns Hopkins does not really have a lot of prestige outside the U.S. If you are an international student (like me) that could be a major downside of going to SAIS instead of one of these other programs if you actually want to go back to your country to work. Even so, SAIS is still the school I most want to attend, at least unless Georgetown comes through with some decent funding (and SAIS doesn't). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anxiouslywaiting Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Any idea when we will hear about potential funding from SAIS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irgraduatedr Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Funding info will definitely come with your acceptance packet. I remember reading in the SAIS chat that the reason why they waited so long to send out the decision was so that they could include the financial aid package with them. Seems like people complained about finding out about funding weeks after they were accepted. So I guess just check your mail everyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revolution Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 On SAIS' economics "prestige" compared to others: SAIS is not an economics school. I meant that the econ/quant requirement is a pro (or con) for a policy/IR program, not as an economics program on it's own. The SAIS quant requirement makes it stand out in terms of hard functional skills that employers will KNOW a SAIS grad has, which are intended to complement other policy/area-type specialization. Many other APSIA degree programs do not have this built-in "feature," so to speak. Further, as I understand it, the MA at SAIS is intended to be a terminal degree in the sense that it's designed with the intent to train practitioners, as opposed to train theorists. If you wanted to eventually do an econ PhD, you probably should do an MSc in Econ as opposed to any APSIA degree, really. Having said that, from what I understand from speaking to a prof at a top-4 IR program (well two actually, he teaches/is affiliated at two programs), no MA-IR type program (he specifically cited SIPA, Fletcher, SAIS, but really anything along that vein) has an economics core on its own that will suffice to train you for an economics/finance-intensive job. For that you should do an MBA or an Econ degree. And because SAIS' Int'l Econ is mandatory, if you're not economically/quantitatively inclined it may be a con for you. If you are (or if you want to be), then it's a pro. I'm not trying to say it's the best econ program or anything to that effect. I know i'm bumping an old thread, but this really interested me, especially the second to last paragraph. Is SAIS's economics focus relaly not sufficient for getting one a job in finance? Is it actually overrated in that aspect? I would love to hear from current SAIS students or alums on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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