Admitted to SIPA from waitlist, argh!

Graduate School
1

<p>Thread title says it all - I just found out today that I've been admitted to SIPA from the waitlist. The problem is that I thought I had made my graduate school decision, and now I'm in the wringer again.</p>

<p>My choices are: SIS, SFS, U of Maryland Public Policy, the Heller School at Brandeis, and now SIPA. The only school which I received a financial award at is Brandeis ($10,000).</p>

<p>I had decided on SIS, because I wanted the best program for International Development. Brandeis was out early because it's in Boston, and I really wanted to be in the D.C. area (also because I don't think their program is nearly as strong academically as the others).</p>

<p>I know UMD has a great Public Policy program, but the only way I'd pick it over SIS is if I got a Peace Corps fellowship there (which I was waitlisted for, and won't find out about until the very end of this month most likely).</p>

<p>So it came down to SIS and SFS, and after visiting both schools I chose SIS. Yes, Georgetown is a great school, but I have a very strong impression (which has been confirmed by people I've spoken with in the ID field) that SFS is a school where people go who want to go into politics or the foreign service. It's true that they do have an actual ID concentration within the MSFS degree, but I feel that their approach is more similar to SAIS, i.e. focused much more on economics. That may be great for some people, but I have zero plans on being an economist for the World Bank or IMF.</p>

<p>I'm interested in human rights and education (specifically children's rights), and SFS really has nothing in this area there, while SIS does. SFS is also ~$20,000 a year more than SIS, which was sort of the final nail in the coffin.</p>

<p>But with this SIPA admission now, I'm torn. I'm going to have to make a visit to the school, hopefully this week, but the reason I'm torn is that unlike SFS, SIPA <em>does</em> have concentrations which are of interest to me, specifically the Human Rights and Economic & Political Development concentrations.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, SIPA is also about the same cost as SFS, so again it would be ~$20,000 more per year than SIS. But it seems like a large number of students receive fellowships in their second year, which would offset much of the cost difference were I to get one. And while I have tried my utmost not to get too caught up in the whole academic snobbery thing, I do feel like a degree from Columbia is a pretty significant thing.</p>

<p>So I dunno, I guess I'm looking for some thoughts on this based on the field I want to go into. SIS is cheaper (assuming no funding, and apparently if you work full-time on campus there you get 100% tuition remission, the downside being that the degree would take more than 2 years to finish - don't know yet if they have something like this at Columbia) and is in D.C., whereas a degree from SIPA would seem to be more prestigious. And when I mean prestigious I mean in terms of helping me get a job - I don't care how my degree looks ego-wise, but if a degree from SIPA carries more weight and will give me better chances at employment, that <em>is</em> something to care about.</p>

<p>I know that SIPA is obviously a great program, but is being in New York a significant disadvantage over D.C.? SIS also is moving into a brand-new building this year, which is another point in its favor. And complicating all this are all the new federal student loan changes (specifically loan repayments can be capped at a percentage of your income and that your loans can be forgiven after 10 years if you work in public service), which make me feel somewhat less nervous about taking on a lot of debt.</p>

<p>So what do you think? If you were in my position and had already chosen SIS but then got this waitlist admission, would you change your mind?</p>

2

<p>I feel your pain. I’m choosing to turn down money from GPPI and SIPA in order to go to HKS, mainly because it really does seem like the best program for me but definitely because I think the name opens doors. GPPI was a very close second bc its curriculum is also awesome, and I’m not totally convinced that spending more money on Harvard is the right decision here. That said, if I get in off the waitlist at Woodrow Wilson with a significant aid package, I would absolutely forfeit my enrollment deposit at Harvard and go there. </p>

<p>SIPA really gives their students the pitch that not being in DC is definitely not a disadvantage. I’d look at their employment stats and see how many students they send into government. There’s a post or two up on their admissions blog about the issue. Also it appears that from your interests, proximity to the UN and the international aspect of the city might really make the 2 locations a wash. </p>

<p>I’ll tell you the same obnoxious thing people kept telling me-- you are into two great programs and either way you decide, you’ll have a great experience. That said, if you’re a really ambitious person, I’d go with Columbia. I wouldn’t go into it banking on that government program though. Take an honest look at what the debt would be, and think long and hard about those monthly payments. If you borrow $120K, (I do happen to think an Ivy League degree is worth it), your payments (if they aren’t capped at 15%) will work out to be about $1200/mo depending on what kinds of loans you get. If you can find housing after grad for $800/mo, and you have no other installment debt (car loans, credit card payments, undergrad debt, etc.), you can make $60K/yr and still keep your debt ratio below 40% of your pre-tax income, which is a lot but not terrible. A bank will approve you for a mortgage up to 45% (used to be higher). </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>ETA- I should add that I’m coming at this obviously from the perspective of someone who doesn’t have experience with the job market post-grad (or with student debt for that matter). I would love to hear opinions on that, and the premium placed on different degrees. I just have anecdotal evidence that hierarchy of degrees in MPA/MPP/MIA programs is similar to the law school hierarchy, including the fact that different degrees play differently in different markets. I have heard from someone at the GS 14 level at USAID that HKS still trumps GPPI at hiring there nine times out of ten; don’t know about SIPA trumping AU though. When I think about accepting GPPI’s offer, it’s still a lot of debt and then I think I should just scrap this admissions round and reapply to GW and AU in the fall, which are much less expensive and I could probably get through debt free, and are ranked the same as GPPI and probably play nearly as well in the DC market. In fact, my dad makes six figures heading up a nonprofit in DC, and his MPA is from American. So, moral of the story–either way, you’re probably fine, and you can’t know the “right” decision. Just do what feels right. :)</p>

3

<p>Hi, I was waitlisted at SIPA too and I was wondering, did you submit any supplemental materials, a letter stating your interest etc… in short, what do you think, helped you get off the waitlist?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

4

<p>Hi, I was waitlisted at SIPA too and I was wondering, did you submit any supplemental materials, a letter stating your interest etc… in short, what do you think, helped you get off the waitlist?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

5

<p>Nope, I didn’t submit any supplemental materials. I basically treated the waitlist like a rejection - I sent in the form stating I’d like to remain on the waitlist, but that was it. I figured getting in from the waitlist wasn’t likely, so I pretty much wrote SIPA off.</p>

6

<p>I got an e-mail yesterday that says I am on an exclusive waitlist for SIPA now. I already committed to SAIS. Is Sipa better than sais? are they both cash cows? 120k.</p>

7

<p>And by the way, I think you go to SIPA. I have talked to several people who graduated from SAIS and did the entire thing on loans. One is the managing director of an investment bank, the other is a private energy consultant. Both have said the SAIS degree got them to where they are now. I have not heard of one person who went to SAIS or SIPA and regretted it. I have seen a lot of people who went to other schools and telling people to go to the cheaper schools because they wont ever make enough to pay off the loans. There is a reason for this, better schools pay off. Even if you graduate and make the same as someone from a lower school, you will quickly rise above them. An extra 50k now will pay an extra million down the road. Just put your head down and stay focused; you have this opportunity for a reason.
;)</p>

8

<p>tcfrank,</p>

<p>what did your email say? How do you know its an “exclusive waitlist”… Could you post the exact words in the letter that tell you its exclusive! Sorry- I just want to know if the letter I received is also the same so that we can see if SIPA has two waitlists or something! </p>

<p>Thanks so much and Congrats on SAIS- from what I hear, its definitely a very very useful degree, even more than SIPA it seems. I think SAIS makes you instantly diverse and marketable because of the professional tag associated with the program whereas with SIPA it seems like people do get jobs, but its more on the difficult side since its very development focused for which there are only a handful of UN jobs. I also hear its not as quant based as SAIS which is a very favorable skill to have especially if you want to get into the World Bank etc. </p>

<p>Anyway, SAIS is great so congratulations!!!</p>

<p>Kiliminjaro- thanks so much for letting me know! Have you come closer to making a decision?</p>

9

<p>Yep, I’ve decided on SIPA. I really like their Human Rights program, I actually think being in New York isn’t really much of a disadvantage at all (especially since I don’t really have plans for working for the government), and I do think that Columbia carries a lot more name value than American does.</p>

<p>Plus, what I also realized is that, if I do decide to go the public service loan forgiveness route, it actually wouldn’t cost me more money to go to Columbia versus American. Why? Because of the income-based repayment plan that’s now available for Federal loans. Say I go to SIS and graduate with $90,000 worth of debt. If my gross adjusted income was $50,000 after graduating with a 6.8% interest rate on the loan, I’d be paying $420 a month (there’s a calculator on studentloans.gov that shows all this).</p>

<p>Likewise, if I went to SIPA and graduated with $130,000 worth of debt and my gross adjusted income was also $50,000, I’d be paying…$420 a month, the exact same amount.</p>

<p>Now with the loan forgiveness program, after 10 years I’d be eligible to have my remaining loans canceled. But after 10 years of paying $420 a month, I would have only paid back about $50,000. Therefore, it would cost me about $50,000 to attend either school (obviously it would probably be a bit more than that because hopefully I would be getting raises, but the point still stands).</p>

<p>So yeah, the only reason I was considering SIS was because it was cheaper, but with the income-based repayment and public service loan forgiveness programs, there really isn’t a cost difference.</p>

10

<p>Take it from a Policy School grad who had debt: GO WHERE YOU GET FUNDING! If you want to go work for a bank after your MPA and make tons of money, then by all means, go $120K into debt. But if you want to go and work for USAID or the World Bank and make $60K a year, then you do not want crushing debt payments. GWU is not amazing but they do give scholarships. Princeton Woodrow Wilson is FREE, but they only take in about 70 people per year. Michigan gives good scholarships. Also, if you are still in undergrad try to do JPIA, look it up. Some schools give a lot of attention to JPIA alumni.</p>

11

<p>I’m having a similar debate, so this discussion is really helpful. Though my case is a bit different, I was accepted into AU SIS for Int’l Peace and Conflict Res. (IPCR) and Columbia SCE, not SIPA, for Neg. and Conflict Res.(NECR) - also waitlisted at SAIS. I ruled out SAIS for similar reasons - very foreign service/diplomat focused where I’d like to be doing on-the-ground conflict res. with afflicted populations. I’ve visited AU and the new SIS building is beautiful, and the grad student who gave me a tour interns at Amnesty Intl, very cool. I like how SIS program has a clear international focus. Columbia is a smaller program, which has its benefits, but the program is more broad conflict res and does not focus on the international aspect. Students can take a international concentration if they like through a couple electives taken at SIPA, but it does not have that primary focus that SIS does. The program at Columbia is also very new, and small, so there isn’t a whole lot of discussion around it online. I plan to fly out to visit Columbia next month. In the meantime, my question is do people know much about the School of Continuing Ed (SCE) at Columbia? Will a degree from this school be as useful in getting a job post-grad that SIPA does? Will I be more prepared to kick butt (in a non-violent way) with a degree from Columbia or AU in conflict resolution?</p>

12

<p>If you do not mind me asking, to the TC and those who got accepted into SIPA (either initially or off the wait list), what were your credentials? Meaning what was your GPA, GRE, and how many years of work experience had you done prior to applying? Reason I am asking is that I will be applying to SIPA in a few months (currently a junior) and am trying to gauge my chances of getting accepted.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

13

<p>If you are currently a junior in college, your chances are already lowered. The average age of a SIPA student is 27, which means on average they’ve had 4-5 years of work experience post-college. It’s not that SIPA never admits students right out of undergrad, but work experience usually benefits the students - they learn more from their classes and bring their expertise into the classroom. FWIW, I go to Columbia and have a few friends at SIPA, and I’ve never met one who didn’t have work experience.</p>

14

<p>Thanks julliet. Yeah I understand that, I am aware that at least 3 years of work experience is essential. I will still apply but I know I have a low chance of getting in, especially since my grades are not great enough for them to overlook (3.8 Major). One can hope though right? I just hope that 10months of work experience and the sizable level of EC’s and research experience I have will help somehow. But I am probably grasping at straws…</p>