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Tips for making the most out of your internship search

Posted by Julia Chung 
· Wednesday, April 17th, 2019 

Applying for internships can be daunting. Here are a few tips to make it more manageable:

  1. Look through the OCS Internship Report Database on SIPAlink

In order to fulfill the internship credit, all students need to complete a comprehensive questionnaire about their internship experience. I found the OCS Internship Report Database on SIPAlink a great resource to get a better idea of what other students have done. (SIPA’s Office of Career Services, or OCS, is dedicated just to SIPA students.) Before I started applying for internships, I filtered through the different career fields and looked at what organizations or companies students interned at. If you see an internship that you’re extremely interested in, you can reach out to the student or even maybe the supervisor.

  1. Attend OCS’s concentration/specialization career panels and info sessions

Every week or so OCS sends out an email with all the career panels and info sessions they planned. Make sure to look out for the email and register for as many of the events as you can. It’s a great way to learn more about the field, talk to alumni, and make connections. I recently went to a resume workshop that an alumni led. He went through our resumes one by one and provided great advice.

  1. Reach out to Alumni on the Linkedin page

We have a “SIPA Alumni and Student Network” group on LinkedIn that, as of today, has over 8,000 members. I recommend reaching out to alumni to set up an informational interview. Alumni generally are very responsive and willing to help our their fellow Seeple. Please note that incoming students will be approved as group members beginning the week of orientation.

  1. Make a list of interesting places

We often have guest speakers in our classes who are doing amazing work around the world. I started making a list of organizations and companies I found interesting. When I was looking for internships, I started with that list.

Best of luck with your internship search!

Categories : Career Services
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SKIPA: Fulfilling promises to myself as a soon-to-be graduate

Posted by Julia Chung 
· Saturday, February 9th, 2019 

Julia Chung is born and raised in New Jersey, but hopes to be considered an honorary New Yorker. She is a second year MPA student concentrating in Urban and Social Policy and specializing in Technology, Media, and Communications. After graduating from Vassar College with a BA in Sociology and a minor in Asian Studies, Julia worked at various nonprofits in New York City on issues including housing, immigration, education, and civic engagement.

As I enter my final semester, I promised myself that I would make the most of my last five months at SIPA. This semester is going to be the one when I take the classes in topics I haven’t explored before like impact investing, energy policy, and negotiations. I will go to all the talks that seem interesting (There’s an exciting one on the Green New Deal next week!). And I will take advantage of the resources that the Office of Career Services can provide (I signed up for a resume workshop and the public service networking event!).

But, SIPA is not only about academia and the job search. It’s also about living in NYC with some of my closest friends with the flexibility in our student schedules to truly enjoy the time we have together. And so I will go to all the restaurants and museums I haven’t been to yet. I will go to all my favorite SIPA events like the Publique parties and formal Gala thrown by our student government. And, not to sound corny, I will say yes to new experiences.

One of the new experiences I signed up for was this past weekend. I went to SKIPA, our student-run, three-day ski trip. I haven’t skied in over twenty years and all I remember is falling a lot and being cold. But, I knew it was going to be a great way to see my friends before the semester gets busy and a good memory before I graduate. Also, some of my classmates from warmer climates have never skied before, so I knew I’d have some company on the bunny slopes!

We drove up to Killington, Vermont, on Thursday night and us sixty Seeples stayed in condos just at the foot of the mountain. On Friday morning, my friend, who has been skiing since she was 2 years old, gave me with a much-needed lesson on how to pizza and control the skis. I stayed on that bunny slope the whole day but met up with everybody for lunch at the top of the mountain for some chili and mac ‘n cheese. The evenings were just good fun with classmates packing the hot tub with 20+ Seeples, hanging out around the fire and drinking hot chocolate, and going out to eat at local restaurants. We repeated the same Saturday — ski, hot tub, and food. I must say that I was quite proud that by the end of trip, I was able to go to on something other than the bunny slopes.

We drove back on Sunday morning, in time to do some reading for my Monday class before the Superbowl! I must say that SKIPA trip, unexpectedly, has been MVP of the semester thus far.

To see the calendar of events at SIPA, visit the calendar here!

Categories : SIPA, Student Life
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Best apps and websites for the grad school application process

Posted by Niara Valerio 
· Sunday, November 18th, 2018 

One of the most important things about applying to graduate school is staying organized. There are so many deadlines/things to remember that it becomes hard to keep track.  However, there are plenty of apps and websites that will make things easier. Below is a list of some popular apps/websites that will make your graduate school application process easier. Feel free to add your own in the comments below. 

Wunderlist: This app is great, it is very easy to input reminders and you can even create a shortcut on your laptop to create notifications with ease. It also syncs with your calendar automatically. 

Wolfram Alpha: This is essentially a very fancy visual calculator. It is able to solve problems across a variety of topics, including probability, money and finance, and statistics. This comes in very handy for the GRE. 

Trello: This is a great website for keeping track of projects with multiple tasks and assignments. Trello is a popular tool for many startups, which means it can handle a large number of tasks at the same time. 

Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock: This is a great alarm clock that works naturally with your sleep cycle. It keeps track of your natural sleeping patterns and REM cycles to wake you up when you naturally would. The application process can be stressful and getting plenty of rest is important.

Youper: This mental health tracking app helps you handle stress. Although there are many apps out there that work similarly, this app stands out among the rest in that it helps you better understand your emotions in real time. Never underestimate the importance of taking care of your mental health!

Categories : Academics, SIPA, Student Life
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My Experience with Cross Registration

Posted by Niara Valerio 
· Sunday, November 4th, 2018 

One of the great things about SIPA are the many course offerings across concentrations and specializations. Although the majority of students spend their first year focusing on the core curriculum, by your second year there are plenty of opportunities to branch out and take electives. One of the great things about SIPA is that it allows you to cross register at other schools within Columbia University. This is a really great add in because it allows you to mix and match across a variety of fields and courses. The process itself is fairly straightforward and varies between each individual school. For example, Columbia Business School offers two cross registration phases during the semester. There are a limited number of seats available for SIPA students in specific business school courses; however, there are a lot of courses to choose from. In my experience, you will generally get your first choice if you apply. SIPA students are able to cross register at several schools at Columbia University, including Teachers College, Columbia Law School, and the Mailman School of Public Health.

Overall, my experience with cross registration has been very positive. I’ve taken courses at the Mailman School of Public Health, the Institute for Research in African American Studies (IRAAS) and Columbia Business School. At IRAAS, I took “Gender, Labor and Sexuality in the Caribbean” with Dr. Pinnock. The course explored the concepts of gender, sexuality and labor and the historical and contemporary perspectives of work in an increasingly globalized society. Taking the course in my second year was really beneficial, as I’d spent my first year at SIPA focusing on the core curriculum and taking classes in my concentration, International Finance and Economic Policy, which gave me a strong background in macroeconomic theory and analysis. The course allowed me to combine my two interests, gender and economic policy and apply my coursework from SIPA in my final paper in the class, which was on Sex Work and the Dollarization of the Economy in Contemporary Cuba.

I highly recommend cross registration and taking advantage of the many courses across Columbia. It is especially important for those of us who are interested in public policy to gain a breadth of experience across a variety of sectors.

Note from Admissions: Graduate school is a big commitment and “fit” is hugely important. Take advantage of SIPA class visits and register here.

Categories : Academics, Columbia University, SIPA, Student Life
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Meeting Africa’s funding gap to meet the SDGs and how an MDP student is part of this ambitious objective

Posted by Diane Nguyen 
· Tuesday, October 16th, 2018 

Africa faces an annual funding gap of $1.3 trillion if it is to meet the SDGs by 2030. MPA-DP student Ji Qi traveled to Kigali, Rwanda, as part of the program’s summer placement, to work at The Sustainable Development Goals Center for Africa and look at how development banks can improve their performance against international best practices and benchmarks to contribute to the achievement of the #SDGs in the continent. In his own words “I’m really glad to be part of this ambitious continent-wide initiative which can help turn the development banks into the true driving force behind Africa’s sustainable development.”

 

Categories : Academics, Meet Seeples, SIPA, Student Life
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"The most global public policy school, where an international community of students and faculty address world challenges."

—Merit E. Janow, Dean, SIPA, Professor of Practice, International and Economic Law and International Affairs

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