Archive for Admissions – Page 64

Top 10 Communication Tips 2011 – #9

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Wednesday, September 14th, 2011 
· No Comments

This is the ninth entry in our “Top 10″ list for you to consider when communicating with our office and applying.

Number 9 – Attend an information session or recruitment event.

While I realize not everyone can make it to New York, if you can the best way to obtain information is to attend an information session.  If you live nearby or are visiting New York this is probably the best way to learn about our programs and how to put together a competitive application.  Due to the large number of visitors and our small staff we are unable to arrange walk in appointments.  You are always welcome to visit and someone will assist you, however we are rarely able to provide extensive individual counseling appointments.

If you would like to attend an information session, which are held every Monday at 6pm and every Friday at 12pm excluding holidays, it is best to send an email to [email protected] and we will respond with a confirmation message and directions.

We also attend recruitment events in the U.S. and abroad.  You can view our fall 2011 recruitment schedule by clicking here.

No Comments
Categories : Admissions, Application Tips, News
Tags : , , , ,

Top 10 Communication Tips 2011 – #8

Posted by Matt Clemons 
· Monday, September 12th, 2011 
· No Comments

This is the eighth entry in our “Top 10″ list for you to consider when communicating with our office and applying.

Number 8 – Familiarize Yourself with Expenses and Start searching for fellowships/scholarships/grants as soon as possible!

There is no doubt about the fact that graduate school can be expensive.  We will do as much as we can to educate you on financial options, but by far the number one thing you can do is to be diligent in searching for fellowships and grants.  Do not wait to search until you have applied, you should start the search long before applying.  Each applicant should follow what I call the “rule of 2.”  Basically my assertion is that applicants should spend twice as much time applying for fellowships as time spent working on an admission application.  If it takes you 10 hours to prepare your admission application, you would be well served to spend 20 hours looking for fellowships – minimum.  A great resource to get you started is our external fellowship database.

Most of the information you need concerning the cost to attend is available on our Web site, such as cost of attendance, types of aid, scholarship information, and information specifically for international students.  Please do note that SIPA scholarships come from one general pool – there is no difference in the scholarship award process at SIPA for domestic and international students – all students are equally considered no matter the country of origin.  Everyone that applies for admission is considered for scholarship funding.

No Comments
Categories : Admissions, Paying for SIPA
Tags : , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Communication Tips 2011 – #7

Posted by Matt Clemons 
· Friday, September 9th, 2011 
· No Comments

This is the seventh entry in our “Top 10″ list for you to consider when communicating with our office and applying.

Number 7 – Check out our student, alumni, faculty, staff interview page.

One of the most common requests we get is from prospective students is the opportunity to speak with alumni, students, or faculty. The top priority of our faculty is to work with current students and they often are unable to respond to the high volume of email requests. We generally reserve contact with our alumni to current students for the same reason – sheer volume.

We do have student volunteers but their top priority is to focus on their studies and professional development. We do our best to put applicants in touch with current students but often this takes a bit of time and coordination.

However, you can hear from students, alumni, staff, and faculty by visiting our interview page. We have text and video interviews and biographies available and we continually try to add new content. This is a great way to hear directly from those with experience in our programs without having to wait.

collage copy

No Comments
Categories : Admissions, News
Tags : , , ,

Top 10 Communication Tips 2011 – #6

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Thursday, September 8th, 2011 
· No Comments

This is the sixth entry in our “Top 10″ list for you to consider when communicating with our office and applying.

Number 6 – If you must mail something to our office use a private mail courier and request receipt confirmation.

Columbia is a huge university with one central mail room.  All “standard” mail is funneled to the main mail room and it can take a week or more for mail to be sorted and sent on to us.  This spells D-E-L-A-Y.

By utilizing a private mail carrier the parcel will be sent directly to our office, avoiding delays.  Also, we highly recommend getting a tracking number or receipt confirmation whenever something is mailed to our office.  This way the moment we sign for the package the courier will log delivery and you will be notified if you have signed up for email notification.

Even better, 100% of your documents needed for admission consideration may be submitted on our application site so you may want to consider uploading your information rather than sending anything by mail.  We want to make the process of applying as simple as possible so we accept self reported test scores and unofficial transcripts uploaded our application site.

It may sound funny to applicants but I cannot tell you how excited I get when we print an application and everything comes out in order.  When applicants upload all of the necessary documents and recommenders upload their letters as well, everything prints in one batch.  This means we can forward your application to the committee quickly.

If documents are mailed, after we print the application and review it we then have to go on a perilous search for missing documents.  The natural question you might ask is, “What is so perilous about searching for documents in an office?”  Well, I can tell you from lots of experience that paper and staples possess the unique capacity to slice human skin.  During the application season band-aids and hand lotion are a must and often times my hands look as if I got into fight with a cat.

No Comments
Categories : Admissions, Application Tips
Tags : , , , ,

Recommender Link on the Admission Application

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Wednesday, September 7th, 2011 
· No Comments

We field our fair share of questions regarding letters of recommendation and we will offer specific advice regarding letter content and choice of recommenders in some future blog entries.  To get the recommender conversation started I just wanted to highlight where the letter of recommendation section can be found in the online application.

Most of the data input for the application follows a “tree” starting with “Getting Started” and finishing with the checklist (see the white text below “Application for Admission” in the following screen shot).

Some applicants will cruise through the tree of information and then wonder where to input their recommender information.  Although the recommender link is in view, it is easy to miss.  Take a look at the screen shot above and see the end of the red arrow.  To enter the name and information pertaining to your recommenders just click on “Recommendations” and read the instructions and input the appropriate information.

Here are a couple of things to consider:

  • Each applicant must choose three recommenders – no more, no less.
  • Recommender information can be entered at any time.  Once you start an application you can enter the recommender information as soon as you like.  Note that when you enter the information and submit it the recommender will receive an email a very short time later with instructions on how to submit their letter.  You might want to let them know ahead of time that the email is coming.
  • An applicant does not need to wait for recommenders to submit their information prior to submitting the application.  There is no problem with an application being submitted before all of the recommendations have been submitted.  The opposite is true as well – there is no problem with a recommender submitting a letter before the application is submitted.

We will have more specific letter of recommendation advice in future entries.  The main purpose of this entry is to clarify where the information can be found.

No Comments
Categories : Admissions, Application Tips
Tags : , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »

"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

Boiler Image