This post was adapted from a previous version.

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!

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 2017. And if your record isn’t finalized, you won’t be able to register for classes during Fall 2017 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 submitted 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 consider 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 tells you which documents we’re missing.

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 may not appear on your Status Page until after you have responded to your admission offer and paid the enrollment deposit.)

Hover over the check mark to confirm to see if the document was an unofficial or official copy.

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, 2017, unless instructed otherwise. (International students who won’t have conferred degrees until after the deadline can email us and we’ll make a note in their account.)

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 are not recorded 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 for IELTS scores.

Conditional Admission

Supplemental Quant

Some students are required to take additional quantitative preparation prior to enrolling at SIPA. Follow the instructions in your admission letter, but it basically says this:

To complete this requirement (as described in the admission letter/Welcome Portal), you must take two courses in Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of Macroeconomics or a single combined course in Principles of Economics.

These courses may be physical or virtual (online) but must be from an accredited academic institution. This course can be completed abroad as long as the institution is accredited in its home country. If you’re unsure, check the university’s website for their accreditation notice or consult with World Education Services for assistance. Free courses through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) or certificate programs through Coursera and other online services do not fulfill this requirement. Successful completion is defined as a letter grade of B or higher or its numerical equivalent.  I can’t recommend any institution over another, so, unfortunately, I can’t offer further guidance on where to complete this requirement.

Please submit final transcripts verifying your successful completion to the Admissions Office by July 1, 2017. If you are completing the economics course(s) during the summer, you must send proof of course registration to the Admissions Office by July 1, 2017; the final transcript must be received by the Admissions Office no later than August 18, 2017. By completing this requirement, your admission to SIPA will become final.

SIPA Summer and/or Fall ALP

Some international students are required to enroll in summer and/or fall ALP as a condition of their admission. Your admission letter states if you are required to complete this coursework. I’ve already gotten several inquiries about waiving this requirement, and the answer is no. This is a policy set by the university and we cannot change it. The only way to waive out of it (as described in the admission letter/Welcome Portal), is to provide new TOEFL or IELTS scores that show at least a score of 110 on the TOEFL or 7.5 on the IELTS. Improved scores must be submitted to the Admissions Office no later than June 1, 2017.

All About Money

Your Admissions Deposit
You have until the date on your admission letter to accept your enrollment offer AND pay the $2,000.00 USD admission deposit. You do not have to pay these items at the same time. So you can submit your response form and select “yes,” and then access your Status Page in a couple weeks to make the deposit payment. However, your deposit payment must be paid in full at once (no partial payments). This should be paid through the online portal. Just click on the corresponding hyperlink to submit your payment. And keep in mind that you’ll  continue to see a lovely reminder (below) on your Status Page until your deposit is paid, and only after you’ve submitted your response form.

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.

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!

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.

Tuition, Fees, and Billing
Annually, Columbia University releases the estimated cost of attendance. To date, we only have access to 2017-18 figures. You can review them here. We won’t know how much tuition will increase

Regarding your tuition bill: this will be generated closer to the start of the academic term. You also have the option to set up a payment plan or coordinate your payments with a third-party sponsor. For more information on that process, browse the Student Financial Services website. (Note: The Office of Admissions & Financial Aid is not involved in this process.) You can also browse this site to get a historical look at the tuition and fees SIPA (Columbia University) has charged each year.

Contact Us

If any admitted students have any specific financial aid or fellowship inquiries, please email them with a descriptive and informative subject line to [email protected]. Admissions queries can continue to go to [email protected] or [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!