Current SAIS IDEV student

[lsaiki87]

Hey everyone,

 

I'm currently a SAIS IDEV student - if you have any questions about this program or SAIS in general, don't hesitate to let me know!

[occidorient]

Hi lsaiki87,

 

Thanks for your reply to my other thread. I'm very interested in studying IDEV at SAIS and wonder if I could pick your brain a bit:

 

-international economics is a salient component of studying international development, and is of particular importance to the wider SAIS MA curriculum. However, I'd imagine it shouldn't be the only part of worthwhile masters level investigation of international development studies. In your understanding, is the IDEV concentraiton at SAIS especially heavy on economic training? What about classes in grant writing, m&e, csr, etc? It's difficult for me to get a comprehensive view of SAIS IDEV curriculum from the website.

 

-In particular, does SAIS IDEV offer any classes that explore the role of microfinance in sustainable development?

 

-What made you select SAIS and its international development program relative to other schools you were accepted to?

 

-what do you plan to do with your SAIS degree? How do you think SAIS is best armed to take you there?

Edited November 3, 2014 by occidorient

[lsaiki87]

Hi occidorient,

 

Let me answer these questions first and then I will answer the questions you asked in the other thread.

 

- I think that every SAIS concentration is economics-heavy in a sense. Nevertheless, I don't find it to be completely overwhelming. You have to take (or place out of) the basic international economics requirements, which include macro, micro, trade theory, monetary theory, a development course, and then another quant reasoning class (you have a choice between stats, econometrics, or applied econometrics). After you've completed those requirements, you have to take (or place out of) two of the SAIS core classes (you get to choose between comparative national systems, theories of IR, American foreign policy, and evolution of the int'l systems). As you can probably imagine, these classes aren't econ and math-focused at all. And, after you complete the international economics and quantitative reasoning requirements, you can choose classes from an IDEV track that are less econ intensive (you can see all the requirements here: http://goo.gl/sZyqVi). All IDEV students must pick a track to follow, and the tracks include: development economics (this is very econ and math heavy), finance and development (this is also a bit math heavy), global health, governance & development (this is the one I'm doing), management for development, social entrepreneurship, social policy and programs, and trade & development. You can see all the IDEV tracks here (http://goo.gl/SeGTqC) with the course offerings for each. 

 

- As for classes that focus on CSR, grant writing and M&E, we don't actually have those, but these topics seem like they would be covered in modules or a short class series. I think there is a research class that is offered (which I think I need to take at some point), but SAIS is really good about creating different modules and short classes tailored to the needs and demands of each class. 

 

- Since I am not in the finance track, I am not sure if SAIS offers a specific class that looks solely at the role of micro-financing and development. Nevertheless, I have seen a lot of classes in the IDEV track listing that could be of interest to you, including financial inclusion (cross-listed under the finance & development track as well as social entrepreneurship), impact investing (also under both tracks), and topics of development finance (under finance & development only). Why don't you look over the course offerings (http://goo.gl/SeGTqC) and let me know which ones interest you? I could try to get you the syllabi for the classes from our JHU portal. 

 

- I selected SAIS over SIPA and MSFS because it seemed to have the most structured program. I wanted to opportunity to live abroad (I'm currently in Bologna and will be in DC next fall) and SAIS really did seem like the best fit. I was also offered a great financial aid package from them, so that also made making a decision a lot easier.

 

- After graduation, I am open to working either in the private sector or a multilateral organization (I've already worked in the public sector and it wasn't for me). I would love to focus on CSR if I join the private sector or trade if I join a multilateral. In either case, having a SAIS degree has incredible benefits. Aside from the fact that you leave SAIS with an amazing academic background, the alumni network is impressive and everyone who does a career trip (we do several each semester) picks up on how enthusiastic SAIS alumni are to hire one of us. Career services and the IDEV program in particular are extremely involved in our internship searches and future job prospects. I spoke to other SIPA and MSFS alumni and I was told that this wasn't the case for them (in particular for those in SIPA). I feel this is one of the biggest advantages to going to SAIS and it's absolutely priceless.

 

Hope this helps!

I'll try to answer your other questions on the other forum soon.

Edited November 3, 2014 by lsaiki87