Archive for Paying for SIPA – Page 9

Rangel Fellowship Application is live, and there’s a new deadline

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Tuesday, July 5th, 2016 
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The 2017 Charles B. Rangel Fellowship program is now open for applications and is seeking young people interested in making a difference in the world as Foreign Service Officers in the U.S. Department of State.  Applicants must be college seniors or graduates planning to start two-year graduate programs in fall 2017;  must have GPAs of at least 3.2; and must be U.S. citizens.  The Rangel Graduate Fellowship Program provides benefits of up to $95,000 over two years toward a master’s degree, arranges internships on Capitol Hill and at U.S. embassies/consulates, provides mentorship and professional development support, and leads to a career in the State Department Foreign Service.

The application deadline is September 19, 2016, several months earlier than in prior years.

Fellows must use the fellowship to attend two-year master’s programs at U.S.- based institutions to study an area of relevance to the Foreign Service, including international relations, public policy, public administration, economics, or business administration. (Yes, SIPA counts!) Upon successful completion of the two-year fellowship and Foreign Service entry requirements, Fellows join the Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State, embarking on a uniquely rewarding career of international service. There is a five-year service obligation.

The program welcomes any undergraduate major and encourages applications from members of minority groups historically underrepresented in the Foreign Service and those with financial need. Information and application materials can be found at www.rangelprogram.org. The application deadline is September 19, 2016. The Program is funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by Howard University.

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Columbia University Interschool Fellowships

Posted by Kaitlyn Wells 
· Monday, May 23rd, 2016 
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Each year, Columbia University makes a few scholarships and fellowships available to students from all schools within the university.  These Interschool Fellowships have very specific eligibility criteria, but it doesn’t hurt to take a look and see if you’re eligible to apply.  To see if you meet the eligibility criteria, please click here, select the “Funding from Columbia University” link, and find the Columbia University Interschool Fellowships in the list of links.  There you will find a link to a PDF document that serves as an application and descriptions of the awards. (I’ve also included descriptions of the awards below.)

All applications must be submitted to the SIPA Financial Aid Office no later than Friday, June 24, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. EST. Questions? Email our financial aid officers at [email protected].

 

Clifford and Siegfried Upton Scholarship
This scholarship is intended to benefit the children, adopted children, and step-children of the employees of Boston-based Houghton-Mifflin Company, its subsidiaries, or successor companies. The minimum amount of a scholarship is $1,000 for a school year, and increased according to the needs of the candidate. This fellowship is available to graduate or undergraduate students.

Required documentation: Letter from employer verifying eligibility

George W. Ellis Fellowship
The George W. Ellis Fellowship is available to graduate students who are residents of Vermont or who have graduated from an accredited Vermont college or University.

Required documentation:

  • Residents of Vermont should provide a copy of taxes, driver’s license
  • Voter registration
  • Graduates from a Vermont College should provide a copy of transcript

Leta Stetter Hollingworth Fellowship
This fellowship is available to graduate students at Columbia, to a woman graduating from or graduated from the University of Nebraska.

Required documentation:

  • A copy of the student’s transcript from the University of Nebraska
  • A letter of reference from a faculty of the University of Nebraska

Paul Nichoplas Scholarship Fund
This scholarship is to benefit a male or female student in any area of the University who has attended college or university in Greece. It is available to graduate or undergraduate students for two years.

Required Documentation:

  • A copy of the student’s Birth Certificate
  • An affidavit or transcript.

Vladimir and Olga Poder Fund
This fellowship is to benefit an Estonian-speaking students attending Columbia. The fellowship cannot be greater than $2,000 annually. It is available to graduate or undergraduate students.

Required documentation: To verify that the student speaks Estonian, please submit a letter from the NY Estonian House located at 243 East 34th Street, New York NY 10016

Westmoreland Davis Memorial Foundation Fellowship
The Westmoreland Davis Fellowship is available to undergraduate or graduate students from Virginia.

Required documentation: To verify that the student meets this criterion, please submit a tax return or driver’s license

 

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Yellow Ribbon Program Scholarship is open

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Monday, May 16th, 2016 
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SIPA is pleased to announce the availability of the Yellow Ribbon Program Scholarship for the 2016-17 academic year. SIPA is committed to honoring those who have served our country by being one of seventeen schools at Columbia University participating in this program.

The Yellow Ribbon Program supplements the base benefits of the Post-9/11 GI Bill by allowing educational institutions to enter into dollar-for-dollar matching agreements with the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. Participation in this supplementary program is determined by Columbia’s participating schools on a first-come, first-serve basis and is available only to students who meet the 100% entitlement according to their VA-issued Certificate of Eligibility.

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.

The SIPA application will be available here  on Monday, May 16, 2016 at 12:00 p.m. EST.  For more information about the program, please email [email protected]. You may also email the Office of Military and Veterans Affairs at [email protected] for general guidance as a veteran.

[Photo courtesy of Student Financial Services]
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A Seeple’s take on managing a student budget

Posted by Adriana Popa 
· Monday, April 11th, 2016 
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Being a student generally means you’re poor. Or you feel poor. There, I’ve said it! Now, that’s not necessarily the case for everyone, or all the time, or an inescapable situation. SIPA makes shrinking budgets particularly painful, because most students come from working for a few years before SIPA (it is a graduate/professional school, after all), and losing that stream of full-time income can be downright depressing. However, fear not, future or current SEEPLES, there is a method to the (financial) madness! Read on!

If you’re lucky enough to have generous support from your family, significant other, awesome government, etc., and ALL of your living and tuition expenses are covered, great! You may read the rest of this post as pure amusement or if you really care about saving a few pennies. But really, you can just skip the rest of the post and go have a relaxing afternoon!

For the rest of us plebes: it really comes down to three things: take advantage of cost-managing resources (campus and off-campus), try finding additional sources of income, and manage your expectations.

  1. Cost-managing resources: while general wisdom dictates that being a student is financially sucky, I tend to disagree. Students have a variety of perks available to them, which allow them to get access to everything from academic resources to leisure/entertainment choices for a fraction of the cost “normal people” have to pay for them. A few of my personal favorites include:
    • Cuts on buying and renting books (if you think you need to pay at all! I haven’t bought a book since my freshman year of college. They’re all usually at the library, or the profs have copies you can borrow).
    • Cuts on electronic and IT equipment and software (stores from Apple to B&H offer student discounts)
    • Fitness/physical education discounts at gyms throughout the city, including Columbia’s own Dodge Fitness Center, where you get special rates
    • Entertainment/art discounts (see Columbia’s Art Initiative for free concerts and plays, discounted performances, and special events; also, if you’re a Met Opera fan, like me, check out their Met Students Program – you pay $ 25 for seats that are normally in the hundreds!) Cost management also includes assiduous financial aid research – apply to everything you are eligible for!
    • You should also talk to the Admissions and Financial Aid Office, OSA, advisors, etc., and identify external and within-Columbia/SIPA fellowships, scholarships and funds you can apply for. I had my second year and half of my first year entirely covered, tuition-wise, all thanks to fellowships and scholarships! I also got reimbursed for participating in conferences and other academic opportunities, such as research fellowships.
  2. Find additional sources of income: from campus opportunities (assistantships: TA-ships, PA-ships, Reader-ships; paid research opportunities; fellowships and scholarships) to off-campus streams of income (paid internships, part-time jobs, consultancies, etc.), you will find that with careful planning and excellent time-management skills, SIPA allows for enough room to take advantage of these options. But it’s up to you to find them. They will rarely fall into your lap. I have successfully supplemented my income with most of the above-mentioned (some of the oddest, and least-SIPA related have involved modeling and selling stock photography. Some of the most-SIPA related have included paid research and assistantships).
  3. Manage your expectations: you will see this stressed everywhere, and even though I’m not personally a great believer in it (do you adjust your dreams to your life, or your life to your dreams?), it is worth mentioning. My mother always reminds me that I’m a “student” now (again! gah!), and that I’m supposed to live within my means. Luckily, I have a SO who disagrees, and an ambitious, resourceful personality that helps me in finding opportunities to support my needs and interests. But generally, yes, it is a very wise and mature approach to downsize your travel, living arrangement, eating preferences, entertainment, etc. to match your available resources while at SIPA. It might hurt in the beginning, but you’ll get used to it, and remember: it’s temporary!

So there you have it, peeps, the essence of managing a student budget! Fret not, you will not be on it for long! 🙂

[Edited Photo by Donald Bowers Photography | Adriana Popa, MIA 2016, holding stacks of money and listening to music, because why not?!]
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What Fall 2016 admitted students should know going forward

Posted by Kaitlyn Wells 
· Wednesday, March 9th, 2016 
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Most of you reading this blog post received the admission decision you were hoping to get when you applied to SIPA this year. You should be proud of your achievement. There was a competitive applicant pool and your application was exemplary. And now that the celebrations have died down a bit, I wanted to recap a few things that every newly-admitted student should know going forward.

The Welcome Portal

The Welcome Portal has everything you need regarding next steps. It tells you about upcoming deadlines and special events, offers advice on how to apply for student housing, includes details about Admitted Students’ Day in April, and even explains the visa process and ALP requirement for international students. So review the Welcome Portal to explore the many benefits of being a Columbia University student. This is also where you’ll go to accept your admissions offer by April 15/May 1, depending on what your admission letter says. (Log-in details for the Welcome Portal may be found in your admissions letter.)

I also invite you to follow us on Instagram (@Columbia.SIPA) and share your admissions story with us using #IGotIntoSIPA. (There’s also a hidden surprise in the Welcome Portal that’ll make sharing your good news so much easier!)

Your Status Page

Before the academic term starts, you’re going to get sick and tired of me mentioning the Status Page (especially through reminder emails). But I only bug you because I care, and I want you to start off the school year without any delays. Your Status Page is where you go to review your Application Checklist. There are a few items on your checklist that we must have in order to finalize your academic record before August 2016. And if your record isn’t finalized, you won’t be able to register for classes during Fall 2016 orientation. (Gasp!)

Official Documents
When you review the Welcome Portal, you’ll notice a section that outlines upcoming deadlines for the Application Checklist materials, also known as official documents. These are hard deadlines for the Admissions Office to receive your official documents, mainly transcripts and test scores. I can guarantee that 90% of you have not submitting all of your official documents to our office. Here’s what I mean: You applied to SIPA. You submitted a scanned copy of your college transcript(s). You were admitted to SIPA with that scanned transcript(s). But guess what, it’s still a scan of a transcript, which means it is an unofficial copy. Even if your college registrar’s office handed you an official transcript, since you opened it and scanned it, we must considered it as an unofficial copy. It’s technically been altered, so it doesn’t count as an official document.

To help you remember that fact, I added these nifty little notifications at the top of your Status Page that tell you which documents we’re missing.

teaser-officialdocumentsmissing

But wait, your Status Page has a green checkmark next to your transcript(s) and you’re still seeing these notifications. Well, chances are the notifications are there for a reason. The checklist is referring to your unofficial copy tied to your admissions application: just cross check the upload date and hover over the checkmark to see if the pop-up text reads “Received Copy” or “Received.” Still confused? Then read this blog post,  “Dissecting the Application Checklist.” (And yes, the blog post is highlighted in yellow on your Status Page for all time.) (P.S. These messages will not appear on your Status Page until after you have responded to your admission offer and paid the enrollment deposit.)

statuspage-highlightedlink

Got it now? Good! The process for sending us your official transcripts and test scores is outlined in the Welcome Portal. I’ve also included it below:

Official transcripts and test scores are due by July 1, 2016 (unless instructed otherwise).

Official test scores must be sent to us by the testing company (e.g., ETS, GMAC).

  • GRE/TOEFL ibt school code: 2161 (no department code)
  • GMAT school code: MIA is QF8-64-56; MPA is QF8-64-99

You may mail your official transcripts to:

Columbia University | SIPA
Office of Admissions & Financial Aid
514 West 113th Street
New York, New York 10025

Or email to [email protected], but the transcripts must be sent from the registrar’s office through a service like eSCRIP-SAFE in order to be considered official.

Official Test Scores
The same rules outlined above apply to your official test scores. But if you truly know you sent us your official scores, there may be a workaround from re-ordering your test scores. Chances are your application name and email address aren’t the same as the name and email address you registered to take the GRE/GMAT or TOEFL/IELTS with a few months ago. (You may recall us warning against this in the application instructions.) Thus, we couldn’t match the exam to your account because of the mismatch. If that’s the case, contact the testing center and confirm your full name, date of birth and email address associated with your account. You’ll need to send us that information, along with the batch number/cycle number for GRE and TOEFL scores; the appointment number and identification number for GMAT scores; or send us the official score report hard copy for IELTS scores.

Fellowships & Scholarships

Financial Aid & Fellowships
If you received a scholarship or fellowship, you will have received a separate notification letter about your funding along with your letter of admission. (Early-action candidates had to wait until now to learn about their funding status.) For domestic students, we’ll also communicate student loans and work-study details in award letters, but you’ll only receive that letter after you’ve submitted a FAFSA at www.fafsa.ed.gov, using school code 002707. In order to be considered for financial aid, it’s important that you submit your FAFSA as soon as possible. The sooner you submit it, the sooner our financial aid staff can issue your award letter. Most financial-aid packages are released one to two weeks after your FAFSA is received.

statusupdate-viewupdate-awardletter

To see your funding letters, go to your Status Page, scroll down to where it says Status Update and click on the View Update link. From there, you’ll be directed to your admission letter (confetti! yay!). Then you’ll need to scroll down to the bottom of your letter. This is where you’ll see if you have one (or several) letters available to read. If there’s an additional dated hyperlink then that means you have another message in your account. So click on it!


admissionvsawardletter-hyperlink-nosignature

All students, whether funded their first year or not, will be able to apply for second-year funding. Most of this funding is in the form of assistantships for second-year students who succeeded in their first year of studies. (You’ll learn more about these opportunities during the spring semester of your first year.)

We also encourage you to visit https://new.sipa.columbia.edu/financial-aid for more information about funding your education, which includes a database of external funding opportunities.

Dual-Degree Funding
If you’ve been admitted to SIPA as a dual-degree student and were offered funding, the first year of funding is for 2016/17 and the second year of funding is for 2017-18. So if a dual-degree student starts at SIPA and spends Year 2 elsewhere, they get their first-year award, but not their second-year award from SIPA. (The same holds true in reverse.) We can’t extend any part of your second-year award beyond the spring semester of 2018, so you really have to complete your studies at SIPA prior to moving on to the next institution. Why? Well, in order to receive four semesters worth of aid from SIPA, you have to attend SIPA all four semesters. So if you decide to start your studies at another Columbia graduate school, then you actually become one of their students, and not ours, so funding and tuition payments become your responsibility with the other school. And keep in mind if you decide to defer your admission, you forfeit all of your funding because we awarded you merit-based aid on the condition you start at SIPA in the 2016/17 academic year.

Additionally, if any admitted students have any specific financial-aid inquiries, please email them with a descriptive and informative subject line to [email protected].

That’s all the advice I have for now. If you need anything give us a call or send an email. And once again, congratulations to our admitted students!

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

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