Archive for funding – Page 2

An extension? More opportunities for funding?

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Thursday, December 20th, 2012 
· 1 Comment

What better gifts can you receive this year than an extension and more opportunities to get money to study?

Due to recent dislocations, Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs will extend its final application deadline to February 5.

However, for fellowship consideration, applicants must submit their application by the original deadline of January 5.

This year, we are also offering new SIPA students an opportunity to apply for additional scholarships outside the first-year fellowship process; which means more opportunities to secure money for your first year at SIPA.   Click here for details.

Happy Holidays!

 

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips, Paying for SIPA, SIPA
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Looking for financial aid?

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Friday, January 6th, 2012 
· No Comments

Financing a graduate education is a challenge. To assist in this regard, SIPA’s Office of Admissions and Financial Aid works with SIPA students to explore their options for loans, fellowships, and work study programs.  SIPA’s fellowship and assistantship funds (funds that do not have to be repaid after graduation) are very limited.

Therefore, you should be looking for external sources of funding.  A great resource to begin your search for such awards is the SIPA Database for External Grants and Fellowships that can be accessed at: www.sipa.columbia.edu/fellowships/. The database is updated regularly whenever we hear of new fellowship opportunities.  Recently, we added a new fellowship opportunity (EFN) for prospective applicants who are from Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal or the Eastern Pacific Ocean region.  We recommend that interested applicants start to search for fellowships, as soon as possible and not wait until you receive admission into a program to start the search process so you do not miss any deadlines.

 

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Categories : Admissions, Paying for SIPA
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What can I do now?

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 
· No Comments

A few prospective applicants have asked me recently what they can be doing now to improve their chances of attending SIPA.  One thing you can not do now is start filling out the application.  The application for fall 2012 consideration will not be available until September 1st.  However, the first thing you can do is become familiar with the process and what we require applicants to submit.  You can do this by visiting our application check list site.

Do note that we have not finalized the personal statement questions for fall 2012.  An update will be posted to this blog as soon as final questions/topics have been decided upon.  There will also be a series on this blog that addresses each part of the application.  The series will likely start in August.

Second, it is no secret, both graduate school and New York City can be expensive.  My advice is always to be on the hunt for scholarship opportunities.  It is never too early to start looking.  My recommendation is that applicants spend a minimum of twice the amount of time applying for scholarships and grants as applying for graduate school.

Yes SIPA does award scholarships to incoming students, but not to the majority of incoming students.  Therefore it is wise to begin the search for scholarships and grants now.  I do not recommend waiting until after you receive your admission decision to start looking for funding.  We do our best to assist by providing a database of external grants/scholarships/fellowships.  You can access it by clicking here.

Many scholarships do require letters of recommendation and so you should also start thinking about the people you are going to ask to compose letters for you.  If you are applying for several graduate school programs and several scholarship programs you should start to think strategically about who you are going to ask for letters of recommendation and when.  I do warn against letter of recommendation fatigue.  What do I mean by this?

Let’s say you are applying for three graduate programs and five scholarship programs.  It might not be wise to ask the same person for a letter of recommendation eight different times in this instance.  Perhaps you contact the person you wish to write a letter for you and tell him or her that you would like two different versions – one for admission to a program and one for a scholarship opportunity.  You can then ask  the person to give you several copies in sealed envelops so the letters are ready to submit anytime you are ready.  Or you can tell the individuals to be prepared to receive instructions via email.  This is the case with SIPA.  We ask you to fill in the name and email of your recommenders in our system and once you do so the system generates an email with instructions on how to submit their letter.

There are other practical things to consider as well.  I recommend having one or two people proofread your resume and personal statement.  Start to think about who you will ask and contact them early so they can plan this into their schedule.

So my advice at this time is to start the planning process.  Find out when application and fellowship deadlines are and start to plug them in to your calendar.  As one of my old coaches said, “Luck favors the prepared.”  The application deadline for SIPA’s two-year, full-time MIA, MPA, and MPA-DP programs for fall 2012 is January 5th, 2012.

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips, Paying for SIPA
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Admission Decisions Category #2: Admitted

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Monday, February 28th, 2011 
· No Comments

This is the second of three posts targeting the topic admissions decisions.  Decisions have not started to be released yet – this series is meant to provide an understanding of what you will see when decisions are released.  The first post covered the waitlist category and this post covers the admitted category.  The admitted category does have some different groupings.

The first and largest category in the admitted group is standard admission.  Due to our limited fellowship budget for first-year students, most admission offers to SIPA do not include first-year funding.  Most of our funding is reserved for second-year students.  It is very difficult to select recipients for first-year awards and those that receive an admission offer without funding should not take this as an indication that the Committee was not extremely impressed with your background, experience, and potential.

Approximately 15% of admitted candidates will receive funding to help pay for costs during their first-year of study.  Awards vary in amount and specifics will be included in the admission letter.  All first-year students, whether receiving funding or not, can apply for a second-year award.  Applications for second year funding are submitted in the spring semester.  A first-semester GPA of 3.4 or higher is required to apply for second-year funding.

One common question we get from admitted candidates that do not receive funding is, “If someone is offered an award but decides not to attend SIPA, can I be considered for the money that is ‘freed up’ when they decline their funding offer?”

While I can understand what might lead one to a conclusion like this, the Admissions Committee knows that not everyone we offer funding to will choose to accept our offer.  We thus spend about twice the amount of money we have in our budget, meaning it is not as simple as offering funding to another candidate if one candidate chooses not to attend.  It is thus incredibly rare for us to be able to make a funding offer to a candidate that is not initially chosen to receive an award in the first year of study.

Admitted candidates will have until May 2nd to pay a $1,000 deposit to secure a space in the fall 2011 class.  A variety of resources will be made available to admitted candidates including a Welcome Page, Admitted Student Day (April 12th), an Internet based message board, and a summer math tutorial.

One final note is that we do have one category of “conditional” admission.  Some admitted applicants that do not speak English as a native language will be required to attend an intensive English language class in the summer on the Columbia campus prior to enrolling in the fall.  If this program is required, information will be included in the admission letter.

One more entry on admissions decisions to go . . . and no, admissions decisions have not started to go out yet.

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips
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Fellowship Opportunity for College Sophomores

Posted by Matt Clemons 
· Monday, September 27th, 2010 
· No Comments

SIPA is proud to partner with several organizations that provide scholarship funding to individuals interested in international and Public Affairs and one such organization is the Institute for International Public Policy Fellowship Program (IIPP).

Individuals apply in their sophomore year of college and participate in academic and professional programs to help prepare for graduate school.  Funding is also included and SIPA agrees to match funding provided by IIPP.  If you are a college sophomore or know someone who is, please pass along this great opportunity.

___________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Application Opened September 16th for UNCF Special Programs Corporation’s Institute for International Public Policy Fellowship Program

Background: The UNCF Special Programs Corporation’s Institute for International Public Policy (IIPP) Fellowship Program is now entering its 17th year. The Institute seeks to enhance U.S. national security and global competitiveness by promoting excellence, international service, and awareness among a representative cross-section of the American citizenry. The IIPP also seeks to broaden access to international education and training opportunities for underrepresented minority college students.

The IIPP Fellowship Program provides students from underrepresented minority groups with education and training experiences critical to entry and advancement in international affairs careers. Ours is a comprehensive program of summer policy institutes, study abroad, intensive language training, internships, graduate study, and student services that include mentoring and career development. Additionally, the Institute provides students with the education and training necessary to successfully enter, advance, and provide leadership in international affairs careers.

Fellowship Components:

  • Sophomore Summer Policy Institute
  • Junior Year Study Abroad
  • Junior Summer Policy Institute
  • Summer Language Institute
  • International Internship
  • Internationally Focused Advanced Degree Program
  • Wraparound Student Services (academic, study abroad, and career advising)

Eligibility Requirements – We welcome applications from undergraduate sophomores who:

  • Are enrolled full-time at an accredited, four–year baccalaureate-granting institution.
  • Are U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents (documentary support required).
  • Will remain enrolled at their undergraduate institution for two years following their acceptance to the Fellowship.
  • Have a minimum 3.2 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale).
  • Have a strong demonstrated interest in international affairs.
  • Are an underrepresented minority (African American, Hispanic/Latino American, Asian American, American Indian, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander).
  • Plan to seek admission to an internationally focused advanced degree program.

Students from underrepresented minority groups, especially those from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Other Minority Serving Institutions (OMIs) are particularly encouraged to apply. Though not a requirement, applicants are strongly encouraged to complete at least one of the following courses before starting the IIPP Fellowship: international affairs, foreign policy, a foreign language, political science, sociology, macro/micro-economics, statistics and/or journalism.

Application Deadline: February 1, 2011

Website: www.uncfsp.org/iipp

Email us with comments or questions at [email protected]

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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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