Archive for Admissions – Page 106

Decision Update: Please Read Carefully

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Friday, March 5th, 2010 
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As the title of this entry indicates, I hope you will read this message carefully as I explain where we are in the application review process.  My goal is to answer questions you might have, assuage any fears, and give you the detailed information you need regarding the release of decisions.

First, as I have stated before on the blog, we do not publish all of our admission decisions on a single day.  The structure of our Committee and the coordination involved causes us to spend more time on some applications than others.  How long it takes to review a file is largely dependent upon scheduling and coordination among the Committee members and it should not be a cause of concern if you have to wait longer than some other individuals to receive a decision.

I know this is easy for me to say since I am not the one waiting to receive a decision, however because of the coordination required, neither I nor my staff can tell you the exact date when you will receive your decision.  Our goal is to release decisions as soon as possible, but if you email or call with this question, our answer will be that we are working as quickly as we are able and you will be notified by email once a decision has been posted.

I am happy to share that the Committee has finalized decisions for approximately 40% of those in the applicant pool.  A group of those decisions was posted late Thursday and another group will be posted today (March 5th).   When a decision has been posted an email will be sent to the address you listed when filling out the application.

The process of releasing decisions can be described as “rolling” in the sense that as decisions are finalized and approved by the Committee, we will post them and send out email notifications.  As hard as it is to wait, we kindly ask for your patience as we work as quickly as we are able.

If your admission decision is favorable, I ask that you pay special attention to the Welcome Page that is referenced in the admission letter.  Admitted applicants are likely to have many, many questions and the purpose of the Welcome Page is to provide answers.

The Welcome Page contains information on a variety of topics including, but not limited to:  housing, Admitted Student Day, Orientation, visa processing for international students, and our summer math tutorial.

Thank you for your attention and we look forward to rolling decisions out as they are finalized.

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips
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Idioms and Admissions: Apples and Oranges

Posted by Matt Clemons 
· Thursday, March 4th, 2010 
· No Comments

The earliest memory I can seem to muster of the idiom, “That is like comparing apples to oranges” is from high school. I can not remember if it was my Personal Finance teacher or my Cross Country coach, but it was one of the two (and comparing those two certainly is like comparing apples to oranges). I remember being stumped by the idiom at first. I did not understand the context and asked around until some other examples finally brought the point home to me.

While Wikipedia delves into the validity of the usefulness of the idiom, to me the admission decision season provides a scenario where the idiom makes perfect sense.  No decisions have not started to post to the application site yet, but I wanted to get a jump on some of the questions that might arise after we do start posting.

Most applicants apply to several different schools and it is only natural not only to compare the characteristics of those schools, but the admission decisions of those schools.

Getting down to brass tacks, (sorry, guess I am in an idiom mood) what is the point of this entry? When decisions go out each year applicants will often contact our office to discuss their SIPA admission decision. Statements and questions like the following are not uncommon this time of year:

  • I don’t understand why I was put on the waitlist at SIPA when I was admitted to all of the other schools I applied to. Can you explain why?
  • I received a fellowship offer from another school but not from SIPA. Why didn’t I get SIPA fellowship funding?
  • SIPA’s letter said that I should get more experience and apply again at a later time but other schools admitted me? Why?
  • My decision letter from SIPA said I could benefit from more quantitative preparation but I was admitted to other similar schools. Why is this the case?
  • My decision letter from SIPA said I could benefit from additional English language study but I was admitted to other U.S. programs. Why?
  • Why have I heard from other schools but not SIPA?

From an administrators point of view statements and questions like these are, well, like comparing apples to oranges.

If it were an apples to apples comparison, every single applicant would have had to apply to the same schools, have been read by the exact same committee, and the committees would need to share one big budget. Obviously this is not what happens.

Sure policy schools are similar in many ways. We have similar core classes, faculty that study, teach, and practice common subjects, and we seek to prepare students for similar careers. However each school is quite different in many ways when it comes to shaping an incoming class.

Each school has its own unique Admissions Committee structure. Each school has its own unique applicant pool. Each school has a different fellowship endowment and can choose to use it in different ways. Each school has different donors who set different criteria for awards. Each school has its own time lines.

I am not going to pretend that by reading this entry all of your questions or concerns about admission decisions may be put at ease, but I hope it does provide insight into “the big picture.” Each policy school is different in its own way and will make decisions based on its history, goals, preferences and yes, limitations.

Thus, comparing a decision from one school to another is often like comparing apples to oranges. Okay, now it is time for me to return to burning the candle at both ends . . .

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Categories : Admissions, Columbia University
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Time Line for Fall 2010 Admission

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 
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The Admissions Committee continues to read/review at a fast and furious pace and no, decisions have not started to be posted to the system yet.  As a reminder, you will receive an email from us when your decision is ready to be viewed on the application Web site.  We cannot provide estimates on when individual decisions will be published and not all decisions are published at the same time.

I did want to provide a quick overview of the time line that will follow the release of admission decisions.  Applicants admitted to SIPA should be aware of the following information.

Starting on March 22 the Admissions Office will host an internet message board that will allow admitted applicants to interact with one another and with current students.   SIPA students will be taking a spring break from March 15th to 19th and we will have the board up after their return.  Details will be sent to admitted students once the board is activated.

Second, SIPA will host an Admitted Student Day on Tuesday, April 13th.  Admitted Student Day will take place on the Columbia Campus and it will be a full day event.  Professor Jeff Sachs will be giving a special talk during the lunch portion of Admitted Student Day.

Third, May 3rd is the date by which admitted students must pay a deposit confirming enrollment for fall 2010.  In earlier communications I had noted the date would be May 1st, but since May 1st falls on a Saturday we moved the response date to the next business day, Monday.

Fourth, a series of communications will be sent to admitted applicants and these messages will come from the [email protected] address.  Please ensure that your email client is set to receive messages from this account.  Faculty, current students, administrators, and alumni will all be included in the communication chain.

Fifth, if you are admitted you will need to ensure that official academic transcripts and official test reports are in our office no later than June 15th.  We will work with admitted applicants to determine if official copies of these documents were already provided to us during the application process.

Last, unfortunately applicants placed on the waitlist are unable to participate in admission related activities until an admission offer is made.  More details regarding the waitlist will be published on this blog in the future.  We will begin to “work” the waitlist in April and this process will often continue into the summer.

For admitted applicants, specific details on all of the above information, and many other topics, will be available on a Welcome Page that is referenced in the admission letter.

Thank you for your attention . . . now back to Committee meetings . . .

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips
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The Author: Perspective on the Process

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Monday, March 1st, 2010 
· 1 Comment

A good number of those reading this blog might have met me, but chances are the majority of you have not.  I thought I would take an entry to introduce myself and provide a bit of my perspective on the admissions process.

My name is Matt Clemons and I am the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid.  My Mom is really the only one who calls me Matthew but I respond to either name.  I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon and in college I majored in history and minored in political science.  In addition to living in New York City I have lived in Pusan, South Korea and Santa Clara, California.  What would I be doing if I was not typing this?  I would likely be riding my bike.  I am an avid cyclist and ride my bike to and from work every day (except in mammoth snow storms).  I absolutely love my job and higher education in general.

Why should you heed the advice I put on the blog other than the fact that I work at SIPA?  Well, I have been working in higher education since George H.W. Bush was in office, but perhaps of more relevance to you is the fact that I obtained a professional graduate degree and borrowed money and received free money to do so.   So the advice I give is based not only on my work experience, but on my personal experience as a student.  Also of note is that I enrolled in my graduate program at age 28, very close to the average age of a new SIPA student.

I will not bore you with other details about me, but I will share a few quick personal stories that are always on my mind this time of year.  This is a tough time of year for me because not all admission decisions can be favorable.  It is tough to deny applicants that really have their heart set on something.  That is where my stories come in . . .

Many, many years ago when I was a senior in college (and the walk to classes was uphill both ways) I knew that I wanted to get out of the U.S. for a while after graduating.  I had my heart set on the Peace Corps and enthusiastically submitted my application.  A few months later I got a letter in the mail telling me a story many people hear this time of year: it was a very qualified and deep pool and I did not make the cut.  It was very hard news for me to hear at the time, but looking back, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

I still wanted to go overseas so I applied for English teaching jobs in several countries and ended up taking a job in Pusan, South Korea.  I not only had a wonderful time in Korea, I met my wife while teaching.  Looking back, I could not be more thankful that the Peace Corps letter was not the one I had hope for; even though at the time I received it I was dismayed.

When I think about it a bit more, some of my greatest “failures” have turned into success stories.  I played soccer most of my young life but did not make the team in high school.  I was devastated but a friend recruited me to run cross country and I ended up getting a distance running scholarship in college.  Shortly before moving to New York I had applied for what I thought was the perfect job for me on the west coast.  The school took a pass on me and a short time later the door opened for me to move to New York which was the best thing that has happened for me professionally.

I share these stories because it is not easy for me to sign off on deny letters and I always hope that people realize that life is full twists and turns.  We often grapple to understand why things do not always turn out the way we want them to, only later to realize that difficult news opened doors we were later happy to walk through.  Many of you will receive offers of admission and you will come to SIPA and do wonderful things.  I have no doubt that those who do not come to SIPA will also go on to do wonderful things to help make the world a better place.

We have yet to start sending decisions but stay tuned for updates.

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips
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A Challenge: Paying For School

Posted by Matt Clemons 
· Thursday, February 25th, 2010 
· No Comments

The admission season is filled with ups and downs for applicants.  You may receive admission offers from some schools and not from others.  Those who are admitted may experience the exhilaration of all their hard work paying off only to experience the worry of how to pay for the tuition and all of the related educational expenses.

When I speak with prospective students I always try to be upfront and state that I do not like surprises.  I do not want people to be surprised by the fact that the cost of attending SIPA for two years can well exceed $100,000.  This figure includes tuition, fees, housing, food, travel, health insurance and everything it will take to support your studies for approximately two years in a city known for a high cost of living (slightly combated by selling pizza by the slice).

I also do not want to hide the fact that we are only able to award funding to approximately 15% of first year students.  I am happy to say that 70% of those who apply for funding in their second year at SIPA and qualify (by achieving a 3.2 GPA in the first year at SIPA) are awarded a scholarship in the second year.

Having worked in higher education for many years now, I can say that it is quite common to have very emotional conversations with students about money and financial aid.  I can both empathize and sympathize with students I speak with because I attended graduate school and took a considerable amount of loan funding to do so.  I am also happy to say I did apply for and receive scholarships to attend school, although no where near the amount to cover the full cost of attendance.

Unfortunately when I speak with students and ask them about the effort they have put into searching for scholarships or other sources of free funding, very few are able to respond in the affirmative.  It is common to hear responses such as: “I simply don’t have time.”  “I don’t know where to look.”  “I started to look but there was nothing out there.”

For me searching for scholarships is like many other things in life – the effort you put in equals the result.  If you want an “A” in a class you have to put in the time.  If you want to find an apartment in New York City you have to search, talk to people, and expend a great deal of energy.

In a way searching for scholarships is like saving for retirement.  First, the sooner you start the better off you are.  Second, it is wise to keep researching for ways to make your money and opportunities grow.  So my question to you applicants out there is, “How much time have you spent looking for funding?”

My hope is that you have been looking but if not it is never too late to start.  My advice to you would be to make scholarship searches a part of your normal routine.  Most of us have things we like to do that we will not miss.  It can be watching a T.V. show, going to the gym, or taking time to write a letter to a friend.  Schedule a time once a week to look for scholarships and it literally can pay off.  Here are some ways to get started:

• Check out SIPA’s own fellowship database. We search for scholarships for you and post them to the database.  The database is not SIPA specific.  As we search for and hear about funding, we make the information available to you.

• Use RSS technology to deliver news to your email account or RSS Reader.  RSS allows for news to be delivered to you without having to go look for it every day.  As an example, Gmail accounts have something called the “Alert” tool and I am sure other providers have the same capability.  All you have to do is put in text for searches and a search engine will perform the searches daily and deliver news to your email account.  You can type in search terms like “Graduate School Scholarships” or “International Affairs Scholarships.”  You can also utilize an RSS reader.  They are free and if you do not know what an RSS reader is, click here for a YouTube tutorial.

• Talk to people you know who have gone to graduate school and find out if they were able to find scholarship opportunities.

• Contact people who are willing to write you a letter of recommendation and have them make multiple copies of the recommendation letter and give them to you in sealed envelops so you are ready if a scholarship opportunity arises and there is a tight deadline.

I will not say the process of searching is easy and it can take a considerable amount of effort.  However, if you wish to reduce the amount of loan funding you might need to pay for school it is well worth the effort.

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Categories : Admissions, Paying for SIPA
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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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