SAIS PhD?

[ajl1239]

Greetings,

I'm just curious. Does anyone have any knowledge of how competitive admission is to the SAIS doctoral programs? I imagine it is pretty strong, but I'm curious if anyone here has more details or actual experience.

Cheers,

J

[sonnyday]

Extremely competitive. But remember that the program is mainly to train those wanting to work in the field (like policy analysts and the like) not necessarily academia. Its in DC and is considered above Georgetown, GW, american, etc. for international relations/studies.

But I say go for it. Never self-select yourself out and always go with your best foot forward.

[polisciphd]

Correction, Georgetown was ranked above SAIS last year for top IA schools. (for masters degrees)

SAIS is the only one of the DC schools that offers a Ph.D. in International Affairs, mainly because those places are run similar to what you would get with an MBA.

I can tell you from talking to people who have gone to SAIS, the Ph.D. program is of secondary importance to the masters, most are like "do you really need a ph.d.?" Also, if you want an academic poli sci career, a SAIS ph.d. is not going to serve you better than a poli sci phd. With a poli sci phd, you can work in international affairs schools or poli sci depts, whereas a IA phd is not going to get you hired by a poli sci dept.

[polisciworries]

I gather this year they admitted 8 out of an applicant pool of over 100 (friend is currently in the program). Most PhDs from SAIS go into policy, though some do go into academia.