SAIS (IDEV) VS CIPA Cornell (MPA)

[marga_mae]

I thought the waiting period was the most torturing, it turned out the decision time is no less tougher.

I'm having a tough time deciding between SAIS (International Development - IDEV) and Cornell's CIPA (MPA - International Development/ Social Policy concentration). I'm actually accepted into SIPA (MPA) as well but without any funding offer, so this makes it impossible to me to even consider SIPA as a choice. I am, therefore, down to these two-- CIPA and SAIS. They offer me equally generous fundings so money is not the deciding factor here. I know SAIS seems like an obvious choice as its reputation in this field is almost second to none. It's also located in DC while I'll be rather far removed from action if I choose to go to Cornell. In short, here are my personal pros/cons of these two programs:

SAIS Pros:

- Well-regarded in the field.

- Well-structured program (IDEV) with rigorous quantitative focus.

- Good networking/internship opportunities in DC.

- Strong alumni network-- the SAIS alums in my country just organized a welcoming event for the admitted students a week ago. SAIS alumni relations coordinated and made this happen in different countries around the world. I was really impressed. There were A LOT of alums turning up and they seemed to really have been keeping very well in touch.

SAIS Cons:

- Johns Hopkins is not as well known as Cornell in my country (I'm an international student on a Fulbright fellowship; I have to come back to work in my country for around 2 years after graduation).

- As my undergraduate major was English, I have a very weak economics background and will be required to take online Principles to Economics course + Intermediate Microeconomics pre-term before the semester starts. I need to pass B- for both courses to be able to officially join IDEV. I know that I'm going to be putting my best effort in completing these two courses, but what if something happens and I don't get a B- plus? Would appreciate some insights from any SAIS students/alums here. 

- Very few courses on education development is offered. (I plan to focus on education development as my policy specialization).

- No campus life. (But maybe DC can be my campus in this case? lol)

CIPA Pros:

- The MPA program at CIPA is unique in that it offers high flexibility to self-customize my own study experience. This means I can take courses across colleges and schools in Cornell to make sure I get the skills in the area I need. And of course, more courses on education are offered.

- Beautiful campus; access to resources of the university.

- I do not have to fulfill any additional requirements before matriculation. 

CIPA Cons:

- Ithaca is beautiful but it's so far removed from action and this can affect internship/networking opportunities. I also consider myself a city girl-- not in terms of partying or nightlife--but I very much enjoy the city life. So I'm not sure if Ithaca would be too secluded in this case.

- The program is less known in the field.

- Too much flexibility in course selection can be a problem as well. 

- I only know/heard of a few alums in my country so far.

Thank you for reading this until here. It's longer than I expected but I just wanted to make sure my predicament is clear enough for you guys to give me some useful advice.

 

 

 

[monocle]

Congratulations on excellent choices! I'm a little biased towards SAIS, because I think I'm going to go there, so take my advice with a tiny grain of salt. I'll try to be helpful, though!

I've added my comments to your original post below:

1 hour ago, marga_mae said:

SAIS Pros:

- Well-regarded in the field. 

- Well-structured program (IDEV) with rigorous quantitative focus.

- Good networking/internship opportunities in DC.

- Strong alumni network-- the SAIS alums in my country just organized a welcoming event for the admitted students a week ago. SAIS alumni relations coordinated and made this happen in different countries around the world. I was really impressed. There were A LOT of alums turning up and they seemed to really have been keeping very well in touch.

SAIS Cons:

- Johns Hopkins is not as well known as Cornell in my country (I'm an international student on a Fulbright fellowship; I have to come back to work in my country for around 2 years after graduation). I don't think much attention should be paid to how well known the schools are, the hiring people are probably not going to make a big fuss whether your degree says Cornell or Johns Hopkins.

- As my undergraduate major was English, I have a very weak economics background and will be required to take online Principles to Economics course + Intermediate Microeconomics pre-term before the semester starts. I need to pass B- for both courses to be able to officially join IDEV. I know that I'm going to be putting my best effort in completing these two courses, but what if something happens and I don't get a B- plus? Would appreciate some insights from any SAIS students/alums here. I doubt you'll do worse than a B-. In the US grade inflation is a real thing (the curve generally gives people higher than B's so that graduates are in better position for employment).. I expect the pre-term course is not a weed out course but just making sure you have the vocabulary/context to understand the courses you'll be taking.

- Very few courses on education development is offered. (I plan to focus on education development as my policy specialization). This is valid. I only saw one course that specifically mentions education in its title. However, I did find 8 courses that had education in the course description. Also, I'm sure that a lot of the more general courses and quantitative courses can be taken through the lens of international education.. but that'll be up to you to steer your education.

- No campus life. (But maybe DC can be my campus in this case? lol) Sad, I know. I was disappointed too, but I felt not having a proper campus was not a strong enough reason to tip the scales, so I removed it from consideration. And you're right DC is a city, so it has all the resources you could want, it's just that you'll have to get them a la carte.

CIPA Pros:

- The MPA program at CIPA is unique in that it offers high flexibility to self-customize my own study experience. This means I can take courses across colleges and schools in Cornell to make sure I get the skills in the area I need. And of course, more courses on education are offered.

- Beautiful campus; access to resources of the university.

- I do not have to fulfill any additional requirements before matriculation. 

CIPA Cons:

- Ithaca is beautiful but it's so far removed from action and this can affect internship/networking opportunities. I also consider myself a city girl-- not in terms of partying or nightlife--but I very much enjoy the city life. So I'm not sure if Ithaca would be too secluded in this case. As above, I think the campus/city comparison isn't strong enough to be a deciding factor. But that's up to you.

- The program is less known in the field. I don't think the reputation is going to play that much of a factor in your career. That being said, I didn't apply to CIPA because I felt the curriculum for international development was too decentralized beyond the core courses.

- Too much flexibility in course selection can be a problem as well. Are you a self-starter? If so, this shouldn't be a big problem. You'll have counselors and professors to help guide you on the right path.

- I only know/heard of a few alums in my country so far. I wouldn't worry about this too much.. I would recommend asking CIPA about alumni in whichever country you live.

Thank you for reading this until here. It's longer than I expected but I just wanted to make sure my predicament is clear enough for you guys to give me some useful advice.

Final word: To me it sounds kind of like you want to go to SAIS  but had some reservations. I mostly addressed those reservations, the biggest one being the lack of education courses(?). I think you'll be able to focus on education as much as you'll need and probably won't have any regrets about choosing SAIS.

If you were leaning towards CIPA, and I misread it... It seems that there's not really much downside to choosing it.

Basically, I came here to tell you that you can't make a bad choice.. (so choose SAIS and study with me!)

[marga_mae]

@monocle, thank you very much for your advice  You're right-- I'm leaning towards SAIS but still haven't made the final decision. I agree with you that, despite the lack of education courses, I should be able to steer my own interest towards education as IDEV will be giving me tools to tackle development challenges, be it education or other areas. I assume, from your comment on CIPA's international development, that you'll be doing IDEV at SAIS too?

 

 

[monocle]

@marga_mae Yup! But thankfully I don't have to do the pre-term.

 

[jasper8625]

On 2016년 3월 27일 at 0:28 PM, marga_mae said:

@monocle, thank you very much for your advice  You're right-- I'm leaning towards SAIS but still haven't made the final decision. I agree with you that, despite the lack of education courses, I should be able to steer my own interest towards education as IDEV will be giving me tools to tackle development challenges, be it education or other areas. I assume, from your comment on CIPA's international development, that you'll be doing IDEV at SAIS too?

 

 

hi,

this was posted a year ago but i was wondering if you finally accepted sais.

i'm interested in education development too

how is sais? does it match your expectations?