<p>1) SAIS Johns Hopkins / Bologna Centre:
28,000 tuition fees... 10,000 Euro SAIS scholarship + very likely 20,000 EUR from national scholarship... i.e. great - no tuition fees</p>
<p>2) LSE MPA in Public and Economic Policy:
No LSE financial aid but the 20,000 EUR from national scholarship which I have to compete for... (i.e. if I get the scholarship all tuition fees paid for the first year... then potentially at SIPA for my second year)</p>
<p>and 3) Oxford - MSc in Forced Migration
I'm waiting for financial aid decision. If I get a full scholarship, I was thinking of going there (9 month programme) and reapplying for the two US universities that rejected me - Harvard Kennedy School and Princeton's WWS.</p>
<p>I'm really interested in forced migration, human rights law and refugee affairs - but at the same time in development too (SAIS IDEV concetration)...</p>
<p>Should I go to Oxford and postpone SAIS + reapply to WWS and HKS?!</p>
<p>Make sure that you have been admitted to the SAIS IDev program and not the general one. Idev is capped and you MUST be admitted to it during yr application and cannot migrate from a diff concentration. Just a general suggestion.</p>
<p>If you’re getting into SAIS for free (or on the cheap), go there with no questions asked. It’s by far the best IR school out there and not worth passing up on in the hopes of getting in HKS and WWS which are both inferior programs, from everything I’ve heard.</p>
<p>Depends with what you want to do with your graduate course buddy. If you want to get a job in the US, stick to US universities. If u are looking for a challenge, LSE would be my first choice, then Oxford, though their Msc FM is not that impressive. Only three years old! Maybe the brand name of Oxford might be attractive. Forget about funding in Europe if you cant qualify for the Rhodes Scholarship. Get a loan or sell that sport car and go to LSE, you will get your money back once you start working for World Bank or the EU.</p>
<p>Well, the MSc in Forced Migration is an 11 years old programme (having started in 1998). It is also based at the world’s most reputed centre for the study of the subject and it is part of the Oxford International Development Department (Queen Elizabeth House).</p>
<p>As you rightly comment, however, it depends where I really want to end up. I’d be more at place working for the UN / UNHCR / UNDP or the EU, rather than the World Bank or an American firm… I guess I’ll have a look around SAIS during the Open Day in Bologna and then decide. As for the LSE, I think I’m fed up with London after 3 years here. LSE is challenging, but not nearly as challenging or inspiring as Oxford. </p>
<p>Still, the prospect of getting Oxford in my CV and then going to SAIS or another top-tier US IR/policy school seems very tempting…</p>
<p>I was offered an interview for funding (tuition fees and stipend) for Oxford. If I do get it, I don’t see why I shouldn’t do it.</p>
<p>Then if SAIS offered me 10k this year, I don’t see why it wouldn’t do so next year after an advanced degree at a very prestigious university.</p>
<p>Anyway, I am not accustomed to paying for my education (a very European value - almost unheard of in the US setting) and it’s definitely not an issue of cash-sneezing…</p>
<p>I would be interested what choices did you make in the end as mine are extremely similar!
I am hesitating between MSc in European Political Economy at the LSE, MPhil in European Politics at Oxford and IR programme at SAIS Bologna centre… Got 20,000 scholarship from SAIS which makes things a tad easier but I’m still hesitating between Oxford and SAIS. (I’m also rather done with London after having done my BA here)</p>
<p>Have you been to the Open Day in Bologna? Maybe we have met?</p>
<p>Let me know what you decided to do or we can discuss the options further via email/fb etc.</p>
<p>P.S. Don’t count on SIPA with the LSE programme. Apparently just 1 or 2 people are usually allowed to complete the course in NY and the allocations are based on the number of years of experience. Last year the only person that got it was a guy with 7 years of experience in the Mexican government…</p>