SIPA vs Fletcher

[Nffasa14]

Hey guys, congratulations to everyone who has been receiving acceptance letters the past few days! As the title suggests, I'm tryna weigh these two particular schools. Fletcher gave me 10K in total aid while SIPA gave me none. I'm also from New York so SIPA would be the hometown choice, while I went to college in Massachusetts so I'm also very familiar with Boston and New England. I have a pretty open mind about the two and I feel like they are on par with one another academically, I was just looking to see what people thought about some of the unique aspects of each one and which would be better for someone who was thinking about public/military sector after completing their studies. Thanks! 

[Pedrocc90]

Hi, I got into both as well and I am taking this very decision! Any recommendations?

[kasbah]

I'm a Fletcher student, so I'm biased, but I chose Fletcher over SIPA because (actually I didn't end apply to SIPA because of these reasons)

• Too expensive
• I heard through SIPA grads and current SIPA students that the big name professors are never there. Like, you'll never actually get to face time with Jeffrey Sachs
• I knew SIPA grads who were still looking for jobs a few months after graduation. Yeah, that happens to some Fletcher grads too, but I figured that if I end up in that position, I'd rather be in that position with a lot less debt
• Larger class sizes at SIPA

At the same time, I'd rather be in NYC than Medford any day of the week.

Edited April 17, 2017 by kasbah
a word

[Nonprofitguy]

As there is no $$$ to really discuss & unless Fletcher has a unique program that you are interested in, this seems like an easy decision for Columbia SIPA:

1. Infinitely more fun to live in NYC, esp. if you're in your 20s
2. Networking opportunities
3. Access to Columbia & its resources 

Now if you haven't actually visited both schools, I highly recommend it as it's really hard to assess fit based on info you find on the internet.

 

[Pedrocc90]

15 hours ago, kasbah said:

I'm a Fletcher student, so I'm biased, but I chose Fletcher over SIPA because (actually I didn't end apply to SIPA because of these reasons)

• Too expensive
• I heard through SIPA grads and current SIPA students that the big name professors are never there. Like, you'll never actually get to face time with Jeffrey Sachs
• I knew SIPA grads who were still looking for jobs a few months after graduation. Yeah, that happens to some Fletcher grads too, but I figured that if I end up in that position, I'd rather be in that position with a lot less debt
• Larger class sizes at SIPA

At the same time, I'd rather be in NYC than Medford any day of the week.

Thank you for your comments!

As an international student I have a particular worry of how much image Fletcher has abroad, but I do like the MALD program and the smaller ratio of students to teachers.

As to the place, NY obviously sounds amazing, but if it's too expensive one ends up being unable to enjoy the experience.

Thanks again.