Author Archive for Columbia SIPA – Page 146

First of the Fall Recruiting Fairs

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 
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This message serves two purposes.  One is to remind you to check out our travel schedule to see if a representative from SIPA will be in your area this fall.  Two is to announce that this coming week the first few recruiting events of the fall will take place.  Alumni from SIPA will be attending recruitment fairs in Bogota, Colombia and San Jose, Costa Rica this coming week.

Both fairs are sponsored by the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA).  Registration is required but there is no cost to attend.  Please see the links below for details:

Bogota, Colombia Fair Details (September 9th)

San Jose, Costa Rica Fair Details (September 10th)

SIPA will also take part in the New York City Idealist.org Graduate School fair on September 10th.  Once again, registration is required but there is no cost to attend.

New York City Idealist.org Graduate School Fair Registration Page

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips, News
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Office Communication Top Ten List: Entry #1

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 
· 1 Comment

We do our best to keep up with the volume of inquires and applications our office receives but the reality is that size of our staff and the number of inquiries/applications makes it hard to keep up.

In an effort to make sure we are able to assist you as quickly as possible, I want to take the opportunity to provide some information on how you can most effectively communicate with our office and obtain information.

Lists are pretty popular for communicating such information and this entry marks the beginning of a “Top 10” list for you to consider when communicating with our office, searching for information, and applying.  I will post 10 entries over the next couple of weeks and then compile them into a single entry for future reference.

In reviewing all of the entries please understand that I am not in any way trying to dissuade you from contacting our office, rather my hope is to provide information that will allow you to receive a response as soon as possible and avoid delays.  It is our pleasure to help and we look forward to hearing from you.

Number 1 – Use the same email address when communicating with our office and when applying.

This might sound obvious, but in my experience it is common for people to have at least three email addresses:  their personal email address, their work email address, and their alumni email address.

It is highly recommended that you pick one and use the same email address the entire time you communicate with our office and that this email match the email listed on your admission application.  This helps us to research your situation in the quickest and most comprehensive manner possible.

The first thing I do when I start to research an applicant’s inquiry or question is to plop the email address into my search bar.  If all of the emails are from the same account the process is greatly simplified and I am able to provide information in the most accurate and timely fashion possible.

Also, I cannot tell you how many times someone has emailed our office with a question and used a different address than the one on their application.  When looking someone up in our system  I do so by email address.  Thus if you email with a different address than the one you used when applying it takes much longer to pull up the appropriate application record.

From personal experience I recommend against using your business email address. The primary reason is that if you are admitted to SIPA you are going to leave your employer and your email account will be terminated.  Using your personal email address will avoid complications that can arise when you might request an email address change.  While it is possible to change emails in our system, it does require us to do it on behalf of the applicant and we have several software systems so it can take time and possibly lead to missed communications.

I do have two bonus tips.  First, please include your email address in the body of your email – for example below your name (an email signature with your email included is highly recommended).  Sometimes emails get forwarded to other parties and only the body gets sent along.  If I just get the body and the header is left off, we have no email address to respond to and this leads to delays while we try to track down email contact information.

From my experience this is a very common problem when people forward me emails from their Blackberry or mobile phone.  I cannot tell you the number of times a SIPA faculty or staff member has forwarded me a message and there is no visible email address.  So, just to make sure, I recommend setting up an email signature that includes your full email address.

Second, make sure to check your junk mail box every now and then.  Every once in  while someone will send me a message and it will inexplicably end up in my junk email.  I recommended that you add our email address to your “approved sender” list and check your junk mail every once in while to ensure our messages are not being sent to where you will not be able to view them in a timely fashion.

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips
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The 2010 Application is Live

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Friday, August 14th, 2009 
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My staff did a great job during crunch time this past week and we were able to meet our deadline to make the new application for this year available. We are most excited about the fact that 100% of the required documents and information required to be considered for admission can be submitted on the application site – there is no need to send us a single document via postal mail.

We changed our philosophy this year and rather than requiring official documents from every single applicant, we will only require that official copies of transcripts and test scores be submitted if an applicant is admitted and chooses to enroll. It did not make a lot of sense for us to require official documents from everyone when in the end, required documents are only really necessary for those who enroll.

So, applicants now have the ability to upload academic transcripts and we will allow applicants to self report test scores – official score reports are not required to be considered for admission.

The application is broken into two sections:  Part 1 and Part 2.

Part 1 is comprised of three sections:

  1. Application form (mostly biographical information)
  2. Names of those who will be submitting letters of recommendation
  3. Application fee

That’s it.  Part 1 is quite simple and does not take long to fill out. We recommend that you complete Part 1 as soon as possible so that you become an active applicant in our system and so that the system can send out messages with detailed instructions to those that will be writing recommendation letters for you.

Part 2 will not become visible until Part 1 is submitted.  Part 2 will allow you to:

  1. Upload your personal statement
  2. Upload the two required résumés
  3. Indicate your native language and second language ability
  4. Submit your test scores
  5. Upload academic transcripts

Please note that test scores can be updated anytime in the system up to the deadline.  This means that you can submit Part 2 anytime you like, and come back before the deadline to update scores.

Let’s say that it is early December and you have everything finished, have taken the GRE previously, but will be taking the GRE again in late December. In this example there is no need to wait to submit Part 2.

You can go ahead and submit/upload everything and return later in December to indicate your new test scores.  Do note that once you submit Part 2 the only section you will be able to update is the test score section.  The system will not allow you to update your personal statement, résumé, or transcripts once Part 2 has been submitted.

That’s it.  Be sure to read the instructions on the site carefully and to get started simply click here.  The deadline for spring consideration is October 1st and the fall deadline is January 5th.  We look forward to working with you!

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips
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2010 Application Information Post #5: Test Score Submission

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Thursday, August 6th, 2009 
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The last major change that is being made to the application process for the 2010 cycle is that the Admissions Committee will allow for the submission of unofficial test scores for application review.  Similar to the policy of accepting unofficial copies of transcripts for admission review, if an applicant is offered admission official copies of test reports will then need to be submitted to confirm enrollment.  Specific dates by which official test scores need to be submitted will be communicated after admission offers are made.

This requirement includes the submission of the following tests:  GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, or IELTS.  SIPA will not accept LSAT scores in lieu of the GRE or GMAT.

In the past we required that a waiver form be filled out to submit the GMAT in lieu of the GRE.  Starting this year the waiver form is no longer required – we will accept either the GRE or the GMAT.

Applicants will have the ability to update scores achieved on the application Web site up to the deadline date.  Applicants should not wait until a test has been taken to submit the application.  The priority should be to submit the admission application as soon as possible.  It is not important that all admission documents be submitted at the same time.

For example, let’s say an applicant has all of the required documents ready, including a test score, on December 2nd and the official submission deadline is January 5th.  The applicant has another test scheduled for December 10th.  It is fine for the applicant to submit the application package via our application Web site and then later return to add additional test scores.  We will allow for test scores to be updated until the deadline, we will not allow for other documents once they have been submitted to be updated.

Once again we are hopeful that by allowing applicants to submit scores via the application Web site that we will be able to expedite the admission review process.  In previous years one of the great complications has been the receipt of official test scores by the deadline and we are pleased to offer a solution that should better serve both applicants and the Admissions Committee.

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips
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2010 Application Information Post #3: Transcript Submission Changes

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Monday, July 20th, 2009 
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One of the challenges faced each year by the Office of Admissions is processing thousands of application documents submitted by mail.  As you might imagine, opening, categorizing, alphabetizing, tracking, and filing documents is quite time intensive. We are constantly seeking new ways to expedite the admission review process and starting with the 2010 admission cycle we will allow applicants to upload copies of academic transcripts to the application Web site.

In the past we required applicants to submit an official copy of all academic transcripts by mail in order to review an application for admission.  By allowing applicants to upload copies of transcripts to the application site we hope to expedite the process and reduce the burden placed upon applicants to work with their previous institutions to ensure that transcripts are mailed to our office by the admission deadline.

Going forward, the preferred method to submit college/university transcripts for admission consideration will be by upload to our application Web site by the deadline.  If an applicant is offered admission official transcripts will then need to be submitted to confirm enrollment.  Specific dates by which official transcripts will need to be submitted will be communicated after admission offers are made.

We thus recommend that all applicants request copies of all academic transcripts pertaining to college/university level coursework.  If you receive these copies by mail, you will be responsible for scanning and uploading the transcripts to the application Web site.  If your school sends electronic copies you may upload these documents to our application Web site.

There are two very important points to consider.

First, it is extremely important that all transcript information is scanned.  Universities use different coding systems to report grades and most often these codes are listed on the back side of printed transcripts.  The Committee will need this information and if the codes are not part of the upload, the application will not be considered complete.

Second, applicants must submit copies of transcripts from all colleges/universities attended.  For example, if you attended one school for two years and then transferred to another school to complete your degree, we would need separate transcripts from each school – not one single transcript with grades from both schools.  Exceptions are granted for exchange programs.  We understand that exchange programs often utilize the home school’s grading system and thus a second transcript might not be necessary.  If you have doubts we recommend submitting all transcripts.  You can contact our office if you have questions or concerns.

Copies of high school transcripts are not necessary.  Applicants should include transcripts from all college/university coursework completed, even if a degree was not granted.  For example, if you graduated and then later took college level courses that were not part of a degree program, we still will require a transcript documenting the course(s) taken and grade(s) achieved.

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips, Columbia University
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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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