Archive for decision – Page 5

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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When Will I Know?

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Thursday, February 18th, 2010 
· No Comments

The most common question we are getting on the phone and via email these days is, “When will I find out about my admission decision?”  In a perfect world I could tell you all the exact date and time, and I could also guarantee that every decision would be published on the same day.  However, we live in the real world and not the perfect world.

The real admission world, just like the real policy world, can be a bit tricky.  With numerous people reading files and some subcommittees meeting to discuss certain applications in more detail, it is a balancing act.

When applications are first completed they are assigned to readers and begin the review journey.  When the readers have made their comments we then compare the comment sheets and break files into groups.  There are three broad groups.  Let me elaborate on the process by describing the following picture –

Pile #1 is representative of applications where there is unanimous agreement among Committee members.  I would say that about 60-65% of applications fall into this group.

Pile #2 represents those where the readers of the file did not entirely agree and they have asked for additional review by a Senior member of the Admissions Committee prior to making a final decision. Approximately 20-25% of applications fall into this category.

Pile #3 represents those who the readers believe should be considered for first year fellowship awards – approximately 15-20%. These files take longer to process because they have to go through additional rounds of meetings.

This is not an exact science and decisions may not go out in this exact order, but this is generally how the process works.  Rather than make the majority of applicants wait until the Committee has reviewed all of the files, we will start to send out decisions as soon as there is agreement.

Our goal is to start sending decisions in the first or second week of March.  When we enter a decision into the system you will receive an email message telling you to log in to the application site to view your decision letter. Thus you will find out your decision on the application Web site.

Admitted applicants will receive a paper copy of the same letter posted on the site a number of weeks later. Applicants who are not admitted will only see the letter on the application Web site; we do not send a paper copy of letters to those who are not admitted. We also do not send a paper copy of the letter to those who are placed on the waitlist.

I hope this provides a bit of insight into the process and please wait to receive an email letting you know when you can view your decision letter on the application site.  I will continue to post updates on this blog so stay tuned.

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips
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Seriously, I Do Not have a Cat

Posted by Matt Clemons 
· Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 
· No Comments

You might not think it, but the process of assembling and reading admission files can take a physical toll on those that work in the office.  I have gotten burned by hot printer parts, gouged by staples, strained muscles when lifting boxes of paper with my back instead of my legs, and felt pain in my wrist after using a manual stapler for days on end.  But the most common injury by far is the paper cut.  Actually we took it to a whole new level a year or two ago when we moved from paper admission folders to plastic ones.

Okay, I know I probably just made all those interested in environmental studies and policy cringe with that last sentence . . . but wait, there is logic to it.  When we used to use paper admission folders they were one time use.  We would write all over the front of a file and once the year was done we shred them up and ordered thousands more for the following year. Now we simply reuse plastic file folders year after year and the cover sheet is on the inside of the file, viewable through the plastic.  Take  a look . . .

filefolder

Yes, your file will be placed in a folder just like this one.  All of your precious information is on the inside and when the year is over we can reuse the plastic folder the next year.  Plastic is wonderful for this purpose, but I found out that plastic folders possess the same ability to slice human skin as paper folders.

Little paper cuts are annoying but generally do not cause me a lot of grief.  A single sheet of paper will sometimes slice me and I will wince but move right along because upon initial glance there is an indication of the damage, but little to no blood.  However, there are those paper cuts where I wince, grasp at the cut, and immediately shut my eyes.  From the second the slice occurs I can just tell that what I am going to see when I take my uninjured hand away is not going to be good.

Maybe you know the kind of cut I am talking about.  Like one in the webbing between your thumb and index finger that is really deep and each time you move you can feel the cut separating in the webbing.  Paper cuts from paper folders, which are pretty heavy gauge, can be brutal and it did not take me long to discover that plastic files can be just as potent.

With paper cuts and staple gouging occuring quite frequntly this time of year, I could easily be mistaken a cat owner.  My hands almost appear as if I have tried to give a cat a bath –  something I tried in my childhood when my parents went out one night and learned quickly never to do again.  Although I could be mistaken for a cat owner, I am instead the owner of several thousand admission files . . . some of which like to exact their pound of flesh.

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Categories : Admissions
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Miscellaneous Information: The Process

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 
· No Comments

A few applicants have submitted inquiries regarding the application review process.  Here are answers to some of the questions that have come in recently.

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Does the completion date of my file impact the admission decision?

No, the date a file is completed has no impact on the decision process.  The process of completing files in the office is time consuming and we appreciate your patience as we work quickly to make sure everything has been received so that we may forward the file to the Committee for review.   If we are missing any required documents we will let you know.

When/how will I find out about my decision?

Our goal is to make decisions available in early March.  We do not send out all decisions at once.  Some files take a bit longer to review than others and we do not wait until a decision has been made on every file before starting to send decisions.  When your decision is ready to view you will receive an email from our office letting you know.  The email will instruct you to visit the application site to view your decision letter.

I will post updates on the process on this blog so please make sure to subscribe to the blog by entering your email into the Feedburner box in the right hand menu or add this blog to your RSS reader.

Are interviews a part of the admission process?

With thousands of applicants applying from all over the globe, it is not possible for the Admissions Committee to conduct interviews with students.  In rare cases I may be asked to follow up with an applicant regarding a detail in their application.  As stated, this is rare so you will likely not hear anything from our office until an admission decision has been made.   However, you can stay up-to-date with the admission process by following this blog as I do provide updates on the process.

Will there be an opportunity for admitted applicants to visit SIPA?

SIPA will host an Admitted Student Day on Tuesday, April 13th.  It will be a full day event open to all applicants admitted to SIPA for the fall 2010 semester.  We also have information sessions each Monday and Friday, with exceptions for holidays.  If you wish to register for an information session, you may send an email to [email protected].

Registration for the Admitted Student Day on April 13th will take place after admission decisions have been made.  Registration for Admitted Student Day takes place on a secure Web page and admitted applicants will be given access to this page.

I have more information that I would like to include in my file, can I send it to you?

The application review process at SIPA is paper based.  All of the required documents are placed in a file and that file then is sent to Committee members for review.  Although we know what individuals are reviewing particular files, it is not possible for us to quickly track down files once they are batched and sent out for review.

As you might image, it would not be possible for members of our staff to try to track down a file and add additional documents as this would be incredibly time consuming.  If you submitted all of the required documents and your file is complete, the Committee will have the information it needs to make a final decision.

What size of class does SIPA plan to enroll?

The final enrollment goals may ajust slightly as time progresses, but at this point this is a good estimate of the number of students we wish to actually enroll for fall 2010:

  • MIA: 325 students
  • MPA: 120 students
  • MPA-DP: 25 students

How does being an international student affect my consideration for SIPA fellowships?

First let me say that fellowships at SIPA are mainly reserved for second year students.  Unfortunately we are only able to offer roughly 10-15% of first year students fellowship funding.  Approximately 70% of second year students that qualify to apply (by obtaining at 3.2 GPA at SIPA) receive a second year award and the average award is roughly $20,000.

Second, SIPA fellowships are not based on citizenship.  We have one fellowship budget and it is used to award funding to qualify applicants, no matter the country or origin or citizenship.  Therefore, citizenship has no impact on the fellowship process at SIPA.

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As a reminder, I highly recommend that you print this diagram and place it somewhere where you can see it on a daily basis.  The bottom of the diagram shows that you should be at step 3 and you can review steps 4 and 5 to know what to expect starting in early March.

On the top, steps A-G are meant to help provide you with information that will help increase your chances of making attending SIPA a reality.  A thumbnail photo of diagram is below, but click here for the full diagram.

ScreenShot355

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips
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Now What?

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 
· No Comments

So you have submitted your application and you are patiently waiting for us to match documents to your application and manually confirm that everything has been received – remember, this can take up to 10-15 business and we will reach out to you if we need additional information.  You will receive an email when your application has been sent to the Committee.

As much as I can understand the desire to contact our office and request confirmation of individual documents, we ask that you please resist this temptation.  We have a process set up and things move much faster if we stick to our system.  If we believe applicants have made a good faith effort to submit documents by the deadline and there is a hang up of some sort, we will work with you.

So the question you may be asking yourself is, “Now what?”

The answer for most of you is to not just wait – there is more to do if you want to increase your chances of making your goal of attending SIPA a reality. More on that in a bit but first some notes on our time line.

We will have our first batches of admission files ready for distribution to the Admissions Committee in the third week of January. It takes four to eight weeks for a file to run through the review process. Our goal is to have the majority of our decisions made and available on the application Web site by early March.

About 80% of our admission decisions are posted to the application Web site on a single day. Can I target the specific day?  No, but if you stay tuned to this blog I will provide updates.  We do not post decisions as they are made and we do not want to wait until all decisions are made to send out notifications. Approximately 20-25% of applicants selected for admission will be set aside for the SIPA Fellowship Committee to review. This takes an additional one to two weeks so some applicants may have to wait an additional period of time for a decision.  Decisions are made know to applicants on the application site.  You will receive an email from us when your decision is ready to view.

Applicants who are admitted will have the opportunity to participate in an online message board in order to interact with current students and we will host an Open House for admitted applicants on Tuesday, April 13th.

A concern for most of our applicants is how to pay for all of the costs associated with attending graduate school. Tuition, housing, food, travel, books, and all of the associated costs for a two year program can be well over $100,000.

Some applicants have already obtained funding commitments through government agencies, private foundations, and other scholarship programs. If you have not obtained funding it is certainly not too late to start looking and my highest recommendation is that you make the process of searching for funding a part of your weekly routine.

The more time you spend looking, the more you increase your chances of obtaining funding that does not need to be repaid. While it is not a perfect analogy, think about retirement. When is the best time to start saving for retirement? The answer is . . . as soon as possible. It is not wise to wait until late in your life to start saving for retirement.

Similarly, the time to start searching for graduate school funding is as soon as possible. That means if you have not already incorporated scholarship research into your routine you should start today. Just like you may plan time to go to the gym or watch your favorite T.V. show, you should set time aside on consistent basis to look for funding opportunities and fill out applications.

The Internet is certainly the easiest way to get started. Search engine queries and RSS feeds should be at the top of your list. If you do not know what an RSS feed is, see this previous entry. We have our own RSS enabled, searchable scholarship database to assist you as well – click here to access it.

You can also network. Talk to people who have gone to graduate school, former professors, and to work colleagues. If you are U.S. citizen become familiar with federal aid options as well as options available through your state of residence. If you are an international student you can start researching opportunities here.  General search engine queries will reveal sites such as these:  Gradview and Education Database.

I know it might be easy to simply sit back and await an admission decision in March, but if you are interested in increase your chances of obtaining funding that does not need to be repaid, the time to start looking is now.

Finally, please do yourself a favor and print this diagram and place it somewhere where you can see it on a daily basis.  The bottom of the diagram shows that you should be at step 3 and you can review steps 4 and 5 to know what to expect.

On the top, steps A-G are meant to help provide you with information that will help increase your chances of making attending SIPA a reality.  A thumbnail photo of diagram is below, but click here for the full diagram.

ScreenShot355

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips
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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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