SSP

[USAF_applicant]

Has everyone been contacted, for better or for worse?

Still haven't heard from them. Know that their admits were contacted via email last Friday, but it seems like I would've received a rejection letter by now. Anyone been waitlisted?

[africagirl]

I got a snail mail letter from them on Wednesday (I live in NC), repeating what they'd said in the email. Don't know what to tell you...

[happyhulalola]

Has everyone been contacted, for better or for worse?

Still haven't heard from them. Know that their admits were contacted via email last Friday, but it seems like I would've received a rejection letter by now. Anyone been waitlisted?

I haven't heard a single thing either. :|

[CardinalFang]

I'm in GTown SSP limbo as well... c'mon CPASS, I can handle rejection.

[happyhulalola]

I e-mailed them and they said my decision letter was sent out late last week. I should know results by today or tomorrow! Eek!

[ashes75]

A Couple Questions:

Is SSP only 3 semesters long?

Can SSP students take classes in the other MSFS programs?

[Mulberry24]

It's 36 credits, or 12 three-credit courses. The website says that most full-time students finish it in 3 semesters; part-timers have up to 3 years.

The SSP course list (http://cpass.georgetown.edu/ssp/current/courses/) is mostly made up of SSP-specific courses, although it looks like here and there there are some courses from other departments, i.e. MSFS, Arab Studies, etc. You also have to take an "SSP-approved elective," which I guess can be in any department as long as they approve it...

A Couple Questions:

Is SSP only 3 semesters long?

Can SSP students take classes in the other MSFS programs?

[ashes75]

I was unable to attend SSP's open house. Can anyone that attended post their thoughts? Thanks.

[sgw]

I was unable to attend SSP's open house. Can anyone that attended post their thoughts? Thanks.

I'll give you my impressions, though I'm sure others have different ones. I'll say outright that the SSP open house was not as helpful as the others that I attended, primarily because it was only half a day. That means fewer information sessions and -- even more importantly, to me -- much less time to interact with other admitted and current students. As a result, I didn't come out of it with much of a feel for what the SSP students are like.

Dr. Byman, the Director of the program, kicked things off by giving an overview of the program and talking about how it compares to other similar programs. Things he said that stand out to me one week out, with the caveat that any subjective comments are his, not mine:

• [*:2n8sjoz7] Focus. The SSP is all security, all the time. If you're unsure you want to focus on security, it's probably not the best place for you. That said, if you know that's what you want to do, it's the absolute best place to do it.
  [*:2n8sjoz7]Faculty. In addition to its full-time faculty, the program has the advantage of pulling from a huge variety of practitioners in the DC area to teach courses. These professors are chosen because of their exceptional academic creds and practical experience, and are extremely dedicated to their students.
  [*:2n8sjoz7]Courses. Dr. Byman oversees the course options, and strives to keep it as dynamic, relevant, and up-to-date as possible. That means that if an issue arises mid-summer that he thinks there needs to be a course on, he'll get someone to put one together in time for the fall if at all possible. He also emphasized their small class sizes, and that they will continue adding sections as necessary rather than vastly exceed their desired size (max seems to be around 20).
  [*:2n8sjoz7]Students. Due to the tights focus, you can be sure that you'll be surrounded by other students with similar interests yet with a huge range of backgrounds. I don't remember what they said about number of international students, but theoretically the stats are available somewhere.

They gave an overview of the academic requirements, which are basically what's available on the website. The people from the career services office talked, and most of that was what you expect -- dedicated staff, lots of events, be sure to take advantage of what they offer. The one thing to note would be that as an SSP student you have both an SSP career services person AND the SFS-wide career services office to draw on. The alumni panel didn't make a huge impression on me, other to emphasize that many students work while in the program. The official stats they gave was that it's about half-and-half split between part-time (2 courses/semester) and full-time (3-4 courses/semester) students. That said, even some full-time students work or have internships.

We weren't allowed to attend classes because of the number of students who attended the open house, so instead Dr. Byman held a 'mock class' where he talked about the Lebanese Hizbollah. He did a short lecture and a little bit of discussion, which was interesting enough.

Aaand...that's about all I've got. Hope that's helpful...