New York City is experiencing a small heat wave this week. Luckily only a few [PESP & EMPA] students are on campus. Most of us are hiding in air conditioned (fan blowing) spaces and keeping out of the heat. This leaves a lot of time to think… and wonder… So what’s on your mind? What would you like to know about SIPA? About New York City? Or about the admissions process? Let us know what you would like to read about this summer on our Blog.
Archive for Application Tips – Page 30
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know before you get yourself in a financial pickle
Posted by Columbia SIPA
· Sunday,
June
23rd,
2013
The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) has issued a report that revealed a number of improper and possibly illegal tactics being used by service providers promising student loan borrowers that they can help reduce their loan burden by consolidating student loans or entering into alternative repayment plans such as the Income Based Repayment or Pay As You Earn plans…for a fee. While such strategies are perfectly legitimate – the US Department of Education offers a number of different options that borrowers can use when in repayment – under no circumstances should a qualified student loan borrower have to pay a fee to take advantage of these options. They are available as part of your rights as a borrower.
To read the NCLC’s report, go to http://www.nclc.org/issues/searching-for-relief.html.
Seven things you should do before moving to NYC
Posted by Columbia SIPA
· Wednesday,
June
19th,
2013
If you are preparing to embark on the SIPA adventure this fall to spend the next two years of your life in New York City, here is some advice on what you should definitely try and do before boarding that plane.
Pack Light
I know, you are permanently moving to New York for at least the next two years, and might feel tempted to bring along those pants that you may someday want to wear, or that old lamp you love. But New York is crowded, and space is not precisely a surplus commodity. Whether you live in Columbia housing or on your own, most likely you will have a small room, and an even smaller closet.
Read a novel
For those of you who like reading novels; this will probably be one of the first pleasures cruelly swiped away from your life by grad school. There is so much to read for every class, that reading a novel simply becomes a luxury that a SIPA student cannot afford. So use this summer to indulge in those fictitious adventures, as they will be deeply missed.
Save
New York is an amazing city, but it can also be amazingly expensive. If you want to have an occasional dinner at a nice restaurant, go to a concert, or take a taxi to avoid a 2-hour ride back from Brooklyn on a Saturday night, you should try and save some money to help you enjoy the city more.
Go see nature
You’ve heard the song. New York is indeed a unique concrete jungle where dreams are made of. But as fascinating as skyscrapers can be, they can also be overwhelming. So make sure you get a good dose of wild mountains and blue oceans before you head this way.
Get some rest
SIPA will be lots of fun, but also lots of work. You will have endless nights in our basement library, for which you will need plenty of energy to help you cope. So get some serious sleep and rest before going back to school.
Let go of your prejudices
If you are coming to SIPA, you are probably already on track, but it doesn’t hurt to think about this once in a while. New York is a truly diverse place, and that is a central part of its magic. So open your mind and be ready to learn from other worldviews, cultures, careers and human beings. The more prepared you are to learning new things, the better your experience will be.
Be ready to be merry
Grad school, for most of us, happens once. Chances are this will be the last time in your life to be a student at a formal academic institution. Be consciously grateful for the endless opportunities, experiences and freedom the next two years will give you.
SIPA Admissions Blog devotees will remember that my favorite part of the SIPA experience has been my participation in the Gender Policy program. For that reason, I am thrilled to announce that thanks to the incredibly hard work of SIPA’s Gender Policy Working Group, Gender Policy and Practice will be offered as a specialization for the first time this fall. This will mean more funding for programming, classes and faculty in the field of gender. Hooray! I really can’t express to you how much even for those of you who do not choose this specialization will benefit from GPWG’s efforts. When you get here, make sure to hug a gender policy 2nd year! (With her permission of course.)
In light of this new and exciting development, I wanted to share a couple of my favorite classes in the Gender Policy Program. I am not sure when these will be taught next year, but if you have the opportunity to take any of these courses with any of these professors, I would highly encourage you to do so.
Women and Power in the 21st Century with Carolyn Buck-Luce– This was my first gender class I ever took at SIPA. It is a ½ semester long course usually offered in the fall. (Pro-tip, be sure to check the short course listings every semester. They usually have very specific skills driven offerings.) Carolyn brought in phenomenal guest lecturers like Marie Wilson (http://vitaminw.co/giving/marie-wilson-talks-white-house-project-feminism-and-how-fix-it) and Stewart Emery (http://stewartemery.com/) to talk about their paths to success and the lessons they have to share with young professionals. Our final project was a personal power plan for success and work/life balance over the next 5-years. I loved this class because it focused on concrete strategies for overcoming social and institutional barriers to achievements. From readings and from my hearing classmates’ experiences I felt like my concerns, challenges and observations from being a young professional woman were validated.
Gender Mainstreaming with Kristy Kelly- Gender mainstreaming is the practice of incorporating a gender perspective not only into new public policy (although that too) but also into the design of policy-making and administrating institutions. It is the official policy of most countries, although notably not the US. We started off with a refresher course in some feminist theory and then moved on to practical experiences and implications for policy makers. My favorite thing about this course was how excited and passionate Kristy is about the subject material. Even though this was a course with an international development bent, I got to tailor it to apply the lessons I was learning to my career in domestic politics.We got to choose our final projects with ranged from a survey and evaluation of gender dynamics at SIPA to research papers to literature reviews. I designed and lead a gender mainstreaming workshop of campaign operatives that has led to a journal article I am still working on with Kristy.
Work-Family Policy in Advanced Industrialized Nations with Claire Ullman– This is one of the few courses in gender policy that focuses on industrialized nations (although thanks to the new specialization, hopefully that is changing!). In this course we learn about childcare, parental leave, workplace discrimination and how different policies impact fertility, women’s workforce participation and child development. We also learn about the history and political processes behind passing these types of legislation. Claire is clearly knowledgeable and passionate about the material and she is able to make a somewhat dry subject very engaging. This course counts for a lot of graduate programs across the university so we had a fun mix of Social Work, Journalism and SIPA students in our 12 person class.
Now all we need is an elections specialization!
-Nancy
SIPA is committed to honoring those who have served our country by being one of seventeen individual schools at Columbia University participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The Yellow Ribbon Program is an initiative authorized by the Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (the Post-9/11 GI Bill) in which educational institutions provide eligible student veterans with a tuition waiver or grant matched by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. This program supplements the base educational benefits provided by the Post-9/11 GI Bill. To be eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program, you must be a US veteran eligible for the maximum level (100%) of benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill according to your VA Certificate of Eligibility. If you are a veteran of the US Armed Forces and would like to learn more about eligibility for these benefits, please visit the GI Bill website at www.gibill.va.gov/.
An application is required and will be available on Monday, June 10, 2013 at 12pm EDT (New York) at http://new.sipa.columbia.edu/admissions/applying-to-sipa/applying-for-financial-aid under a link that will be labeled “Yellow Ribbon Program Application.”
Prior recipients must apply if interested in receiving the scholarship; it is not automatically renewed. SIPA cannot guarantee funding for every eligible candidate, and funding will be on a first come, first served basis.
For general information about Veteran Affairs at Columbia University, please visit: www.veteranaffairs.columbia.edu.
"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
Office of Admissions & Financial Aid
514 West 113th Street, New York, NY 10025
Main: 212.854-6216
Fax: 212.854.3010
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