Kosmosis707 Posted March 7, 2015 Posted March 7, 2015 Hey all! I figured I would start up an offical thread for those of us who are seriously considering UCSD's IRPS program. Anyone ready to commit? Waiting on funding decisions? Apply for housing yet?
mcabby Posted March 8, 2015 Posted March 8, 2015 Hi! I've been accepted to the program as well- or at least, nominated (still haven't received an official letter). I actually originally applied to the phd program and was rejected, but I've looked through the MPIA curriculum and I'm really interested. I'm curious how we choose our subfields- was it something you had to specify in the original application? Is there any flexibility in choosing and changing your subfield after the program begins? Thanks for any advice!
occidorient Posted March 8, 2015 Posted March 8, 2015 ^i have a similar question. My understanding is that the first year is pretty Econ/quant/general degree requirements heavy, and students don't really sink their teeth into their selected concentrations and regional focuses until the second year. No doubt a given MPIA student's desired concentration may evolve or change during the first year of study, so I'm thinking maybe switching away from the concentration applicants initially indicate isn't a big deal? What concentrations are you guys thinking of doing? I'm waiting to hear on other programs, but I'm very excited to have been admitted to IR/PS. I really like their curricular emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region and relative affordability. Sunshine and golden coasts are great too. That said, I do worry about being away from more dynamic IR job markets like DC, NYC, etc. I guess career services works hard to help students out, and my impression is that IR/PS graduates do pretty well after graduation anyway.
Kosmosis707 Posted March 8, 2015 Author Posted March 8, 2015 Hi! I've been accepted to the program as well- or at least, nominated (still haven't received an official letter). I actually originally applied to the phd program and was rejected, but I've looked through the MPIA curriculum and I'm really interested. I'm curious how we choose our subfields- was it something you had to specify in the original application? Is there any flexibility in choosing and changing your subfield after the program begins? Thanks for any advice! The career track choice was something I inquired about, too. A program representative told me that it IS possible to change career tracks during the first two quarters, since the curriculum is pretty much standard for all MPIA students during this time. BUT, he stated that the sooner you know, the better for planning purposes. Also, I did select my track when I first submitted my application. I applied for the Public Policy career track and Southeast Asia as my regional focus. Of note, the program rep did tell me that it is much more difficult to change the regional focus since you start language courses pretty early on (unless of course you are already proficient in a language in your regional focus).
Kosmosis707 Posted March 8, 2015 Author Posted March 8, 2015 As far as the geographic location away from DC and NY, I read some other posts that the UCSD Career Services make up for that in a lot of ways. It seems they are EXTREMELY active in getting their students networked with people in those locations and they do set up a lot of internships out there. I can’t say any of this from personal experience, but a lot of the feedback I have seen has been very positive on the networking side of things. Right now, I’m definitely leaning towards UCSD because of the Pacific focus, the cost (I’m in-state), and the practical tool focus, but I have an offer with LSE in London that’s a bit tempting too. Still waiting on two DC schools, but unless I get some serious funding (unlikely) I’m probably heading to San Diego. Getting pretty excited! If I get any additional funding from UCSD, it’s pretty much a lock for me.
Guvutnick Posted March 9, 2015 Posted March 9, 2015 I'm in the same boat. I'm eagerly awaiting funding decisions, but I think regardless of what happens on that front I'll still go to UCSD. Even being potentially paying out-of-state rates for the first year, it's more affordable than other options I've looked at. I love the Asia-Pacific focus (I applied for the International Politics track and Korea regional focus, respectively), and like you guys said, Career Services does everything they can to make up for the location.
botbot22 Posted March 9, 2015 Posted March 9, 2015 Does anyone have any insight into RA/TA positions, and how much that will reduce the overall financial burden? I keep hearing the notion that a majority of IRPS students get those positions if they so chose, and it ends up reducing their tuition costs significantly, or completely. I've done some searching but haven't been able to find any solid numbers. I'm looking at a program at a California private that will run me about 25k for a 1.5 year program, but I don't think I could justify it if I can get by at IRPS for the same price. I've also been looking at on campus housing and have to say that it seems to be far and away the best option for housing. San Diego traffic sucks, and renting in a neighborhood that you can actually enjoy is ridiculously expensive. The money saved by not having a car/not commuting and the immersion experience of on campus living is a huge win win.
Kosmosis707 Posted March 9, 2015 Author Posted March 9, 2015 Does anyone have any insight into RA/TA positions, and how much that will reduce the overall financial burden? I keep hearing the notion that a majority of IRPS students get those positions if they so chose, and it ends up reducing their tuition costs significantly, or completely. I've done some searching but haven't been able to find any solid numbers. I'm looking at a program at a California private that will run me about 25k for a 1.5 year program, but I don't think I could justify it if I can get by at IRPS for the same price. I've also been looking at on campus housing and have to say that it seems to be far and away the best option for housing. San Diego traffic sucks, and renting in a neighborhood that you can actually enjoy is ridiculously expensive. The money saved by not having a car/not commuting and the immersion experience of on campus living is a huge win win. I haven't seen any consistent numbers on this yet. I read some sources that stated "a majority" can get RA/TA Assistantships and others (from the website, I think) that state "some" will. This is something I plan to bring up either in online chats or when I go down for a visit next month. The housing is definitely cheap but the wait lists are ROUGH. You may not get in when you begin the program. Waits are ranging from 9-15 months, I believe. Sign up for the wait list right away if you accept your offer. You can always change your preferences later without losing your place on the wait list. I'm hoping somehting opens up for Fall Quarter if I decide to head to San Diego, since most off campus housing wants you to sign a lease!
frozenx207 Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 In regards to the living costs, I have a few friends living in LA/SD/SF and they told me the best way to enjoy California is to have a car. The public transportation is apparently not so great even though it's cheaper. Gas is expensive unsurprisingly and unfortunately. It's about $3.50 a gallon. As for rent, it is possible to find affordable rent off campus. My friend's rent in LA is around $750. I don't know much about the on campus living yet. I'm hoping to get on-campus housing for the convenience and cost though.
mcabby Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 Anyone else still waiting on an official letter? I was nominated ages ago, but still haven't heard anything. I emailed the department last week and they said to stay patient, but I can't help feeling a little uncomfortable. Also, have you guys heard anything about funding?
frozenx207 Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 Anyone else still waiting on an official letter? I was nominated ages ago, but still haven't heard anything. I emailed the department last week and they said to stay patient, but I can't help feeling a little uncomfortable. Also, have you guys heard anything about funding? I got my letter literally 12 am San Diego Time on friday night. Hang in there. As for funding, I was notified of a fellowship but they told me more information about financial aid sources were to come out this week as well. I think you still have time. Good luck! Crossing my fingers for you!
mcabby Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 I got my letter literally 12 am San Diego Time on friday night. Hang in there. As for funding, I was notified of a fellowship but they told me more information about financial aid sources were to come out this week as well. I think you still have time. Good luck! Crossing my fingers for you! Thanks. I just got my letter! No word about funding though, hopefully there will be good news later this week!
frozenx207 Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 Thanks. I just got my letter! No word about funding though, hopefully there will be good news later this week! Congratulations!! I haven't gotten anything more about funding either yet.
Kosmosis707 Posted March 20, 2015 Author Posted March 20, 2015 (edited) Received a polite, professional letter from IRPS that states that I did not receive any fellowships...but I'm going anyway... Edited March 20, 2015 by Kosmosis707
botbot22 Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 Yeah I am a no go on fellowship as well. Letting them know I'm happy with the way they handled it though, haha. So UCSD is looking like 80k sticker price, including living costs? Then assuming you RA/TA for 5 quarters, you'd save ~$7,000 x 5 = $35,000. So the overall degree, with living costs included, will be 45k. Assuming DC privates will run you closer to 100k for degree and living costs included, so I guess the decision is getting easier the more I think about it. I'm probably going to sign up for admit day. I live 25 minutes away so there's no real reason not to.
Kosmosis707 Posted March 20, 2015 Author Posted March 20, 2015 Does anyone have any insight into RA/TA positions, and how much that will reduce the overall financial burden? I keep hearing the notion that a majority of IRPS students get those positions if they so chose, and it ends up reducing their tuition costs significantly, or completely. I've done some searching but haven't been able to find any solid numbers. I'm looking at a program at a California private that will run me about 25k for a 1.5 year program, but I don't think I could justify it if I can get by at IRPS for the same price. I've also been looking at on campus housing and have to say that it seems to be far and away the best option for housing. San Diego traffic sucks, and renting in a neighborhood that you can actually enjoy is ridiculously expensive. The money saved by not having a car/not commuting and the immersion experience of on campus living is a huge win win. In my financial aid letter, it states that around 33% of students are in TA/RA positions during any given quarter.
Kosmosis707 Posted March 20, 2015 Author Posted March 20, 2015 (edited) Yeah I am a no go on fellowship as well. Letting them know I'm happy with the way they handled it though, haha. So UCSD is looking like 80k sticker price, including living costs? Then assuming you RA/TA for 5 quarters, you'd save ~$7,000 x 5 = $35,000. So the overall degree, with living costs included, will be 45k. Assuming DC privates will run you closer to 100k for degree and living costs included, so I guess the decision is getting easier the more I think about it. I'm probably going to sign up for admit day. I live 25 minutes away so there's no real reason not to. Nice! So you are in-state...definitely less costly than heading to DC with the higher cost of living. SIS and Elliott seem like great programs, but with no additional funding and the fact that I am only interested in Asia, I think this is the place for me. I'm thankful I still have 8 months of veteran benefits left. That will put me in a comfortable state of living for at least this first year. I'm hoping I can excel and land one of those TA/RA positions in the 2nd year. If you go to Admit Day, I'll be there Monday the 6th. I'm definitely feeling pumped! Edited March 20, 2015 by Kosmosis707
Guvutnick Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 No admit day for me! I'm from New York, so it's a bit of a hassle to fly out there and everything for a day or two. The first day I see the place will probably be August, haha.
outofspace Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 I wish I could attend but am in Asia at the moment and just don't have the money to fly out. I'm hoping to get in touch with an alumnus in Japan or Korea instead though. In regard to the Career Services discussion, have you all heard how well UCSD alums do overall in Asia compared to graduates of the East Coast programs? Since it's their focus, I assume they do quite well. There just doesn't seem to be a lot of detailed employment information on their site, and I'm curious what kinds of positions most of their graduates get.
Kosmosis707 Posted March 21, 2015 Author Posted March 21, 2015 I wish I could attend but am in Asia at the moment and just don't have the money to fly out. I'm hoping to get in touch with an alumnus in Japan or Korea instead though. In regard to the Career Services discussion, have you all heard how well UCSD alums do overall in Asia compared to graduates of the East Coast programs? Since it's their focus, I assume they do quite well. There just doesn't seem to be a lot of detailed employment information on their site, and I'm curious what kinds of positions most of their graduates get. I haven’t seen anything specific, but I do see that they are well networked with Asia-focused NGOs. I also decided to “nerd out” and went to LinkedIn, searched alumnus from IR/PS, and then created a spreadsheet about specific outcomes and locations that graduates are currently in. However, I only compiled info for Southeast Asia and compared it with other schools I applied to. Try going to LinkedIn, search for alumnus, and then you can enter in a location by country. That may give you some semi-reliable information. Link to IRPS alumi (you likely have to have a Linked In account first): https://www.linkedin.com/edu/alumni?id=20303
outofspace Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 (edited) Thanks for the link and suggestion. I'll give it a shot in just a few minutes. I'm mostly interested in East Asia, but out of curiosity, did UCSD fare about as well or better as the D.C. schools in SE Asia? Edited March 21, 2015 by outofspace
Kosmosis707 Posted March 21, 2015 Author Posted March 21, 2015 I should have been more specific. I just looked at information pertaining to Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia (my countries of interest). The sample size was very small for IRPS in those countries, but 1.41% of IRPS graduates from Linked In were located there, compared to .30% from American SIS and .22% from Elliott School at GWU.
outofspace Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 (edited) Sorry, meant to say I was mostly interested in East Asia. Glad to hear UCSD is placing a relatively high percentage of their graduates in your region of interest. It's encouraging for me as well since I'm much more interested in working on site in Asia than in D.C. Edited March 21, 2015 by outofspace
Kosmosis707 Posted March 21, 2015 Author Posted March 21, 2015 Sorry, meant to say I was mostly interested in East Asia. Glad to hear UCSD is placing a relatively high percentage of their graduates in your region of interest. It's encouraging for me as well since I'm much more interested in working on site in Asia than in D.C. Honestly, UCSD has much more of an East Asia focus than Southeast Asia. I may fiddle around with the numbers some more this weekend. If I find anything more, I’ll post it here.
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