Archive for deadline – Page 6

2011 Application is Now Live

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 
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The title of this post pretty much says it all.  The application for spring 2011 and fall 2011 is now available and we encourage you to get started by clicking here to begin your application.

There is no rush to get your application in right away, the deadline for spring admission is October 1st and the deadline for fall admission is January 5th.  However, by logging in and clicking around you can become familiar with the steps you will need to complete and with the application interface.

Most importantly, stay tuned to this blog for application advice.  I will be covering lots of topics related to submitting the most competitive application possible.

Also, if you started an application in the past and plan to continue working on it, please review any information previously submitted carefully.  We have made some modifications to the application and reviewing your previous information submitted will ensure that you submit the appropriate and correct information we need to review your application.

Thank you and we look forward to helping you complete the process.

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Go Live Date for Admission Application

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Saturday, August 14th, 2010 
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I wanted to take an entry to provide a quick update regarding our spring 2011 and fall 2011 application for admission.  It was our goal to have the application live by August 15th, however we still have some testing that we need to complete this coming Monday so the “go live” date will be August 17th.

This slight delay in filling out the application should not delay you in learning about the requirements to apply. We have posted all of the details regarding what is required on this web site:

http://sipa.columbia.edu/resources_services/admissions/apply.html

You may get started on your responses to the personal statement topics/questions and compose the two required resume documents because you will be uploading these documents to your application. You can also start on requesting transcripts, contacting those that you will ask to write letters of recommendation, and study for the necessary standardized exams if you have not already taken them.

The process of filling out the application itself is relatively simple and should take no more than an hour, so it is not the “hard part.”  Filling out the application is easy and when it is live and ready to go I will post another announcement.

Thank you.

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2011 Application Update

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Thursday, August 5th, 2010 
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For readers of the blog that are interested in submitting an application for spring or fall of 2011 I want to provide a brief update on where we are in the process.  Each summer the Admissions Committee meets to review the most recent cycle and we discuss changes we would like to make to the application.  Over 6-8 weeks we then review and approve new questions, update fields, and make sure everything is mapped out correctly.

Not to get too detailed, but getting hundreds of fields of information from an online application to print on a form correctly can be a bit painstaking.  Some day we might have a paperless review process, but for now we print several thousand applications and they get passed around the building for review.

We are about 6 weeks into the process right now and have just under 2 weeks to hit our goal of having the application live for input starting on August 15th.  As soon as the application is live I will post a message to this blog.  For now we would ask that interested applicants hold off on starting an application.  If you have started an application that is fine, but we do not recommend continuing until after we post the updates we are working on.

There area a few details that I hope to release here on the blog prior to August 15th.  For example, the Admissions Committee is in the final stage of approving the personal statement questions/topics we will use for the coming year.  We will not be using the same set of questions that we used last year.  There will likely be three topics applicants will be asked to write on and the Committee is close to agreement.  I am hopeful that the personal statement topics will be approved soon and when I have final confirmation I will post details here on the blog.

Overall the changes to the application will not be major.  We will continue to ask for two résumés, three letters of recommendation, transcripts from all coursework completed after high school, GRE or GMAT scores, an English language exam if applicable, and a personal statement broken into three sections.

Also of note is that 100% of the application process can be completed online – we do not need to have a single document mailed to our office to review an application file.  All of the necessary information can be submitted on the application site via data entry or upload.  Further details on our process will be available here in the coming weeks.

I will spend some time over the next month providing advice on completing our requirements so stay tuned.  As a reminder the application deadline for spring 2011 is October 1st and the deadline for fall 2011 is January 5th.

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2011 Application Process Notes

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Monday, July 5th, 2010 
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I wanted to take a moment to provide some insight to those that plan on applying for a future semester.  While it is possible to log in to our application at the current time to create an account, it is not yet possible to apply for the spring 2011 or fall 2011 semesters.  Our goal is to have the application live and running by August 15th.  I will keep you updated on our progress on this blog.

At this point we recommend that you wait to log in to create an account as we will be making some changes to the application in July and August.  It is fine if you have already created an account, however after the new application goes up you will want to make sure to start at the beginning of the application and review any information you filled in as some of the required fields might change.

The deadline for spring 2011 admission will be October 1st and the deadline for fall 2011 admission will be January 5th.

We will be taking the application down for a few weeks to implement the technical changes for the coming year.  This will likely occur during the first two weeks of August so we can test the system.  Our changes should not stop you from starting to work on your application materials.  Many of things we ask for will remain constant.  For example:

  • We will still require transcripts from all schools attended since graduating from high school.  Thus you can start accumulating copies of your transcripts for submission.  We do allow applicants to scan copies and upload them to our application site.  This is the recommended method.
  • We will still require two résumés.  A full description of this requirement can be found by clicking here.
  • We will still require either the GRE or the GMAT, and for those that speak English as a second language, the TOEFL or IELTS.
  • We will still require three recommendations.  These should be academic or professional, in other words, individuals that have supervised you in the classroom or in the work place.

We will most likely be making some changes to the personal statement so that is something at this point in time that is not decided.  The Admissions Committee hopes to have the final questions/statements ready by the end of July and I will post them to this site as soon as they are finalized.

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The Home Stretch

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 
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Everyone out there reading might not be familiar with professional baseball, but sometimes I compare the admission time line to a season of professional baseball in the United States.  Professional baseball teams in the U.S. play 162 games over a six month period, up to seven if a team makes the playoffs.  Baseball teams spend roughly half  their time away from home and my work life is similar, although my “road season” for the most part takes place during an intense period of time rather than month-to-month.

I feel like I play many different positions during the season, from catching applications as them come in, to pitching them to the Admissions Committee, and most of all fielding questions from applicants.  From the time our application goes live to day that we ask admitted applicants to make a decision is roughly eight months and we are quickly approaching May 3rd – the initial deadline for admitted applicants to inform us of their intentions.

You could call this final few weeks before enrollment decision time “the home stretch.”  I am not certain of the origin of this expression (probably horse racing) but it is often used to describe the end of a baseball season where teams are competing for the final spots in the playoffs – the end is in sight.

The end is in sight as well for applicants that have pitched their applications to different schools.  It could be a matter of which school to choose or how to finance the school you wish to attend.  I do not want to pressure anyone to make a decision before the date stated in the admission letter, however I do want to encourage admitted applicants to let us know when you do make your final decision.  I know many other schools require responses sooner than we do and you might have already made a commitment.

We appreciate you indicating your decision in our application system so that the Committee can take appropriate action.  You can let us know your plans by logging into the application system and accepting or declining your offer. For those that need more time, there is no rush, but for those that have already decided we appreciate a response as soon as possible.

If you have decided to attend SIPA we are truly excited, and if you have decided not to attend SIPA this is important for us to know so that the Committee can determine if we need to make offers to candidates on the waitlist.  Whatever happens, it has been a pleasure to work with everyone that applied this year  . . . from my perspective it has been a winning season for sure.  For this blog the season never really ends so continue to stay tuned for more information throughout the spring and summer, and before I know it the travel season will start up once again.

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

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