A look behind the application curtain COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

A look behind the application curtain COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog Im often asked what the average applicant looks like. Honestly, theres no set formula to getting in at SIPA. And I mean this literally no single career, academic background, country of origin or volunteer experience is going to earn you a seat at SIPA. Thats something you have to do on your own as an applicant by  playing to your strengths and submitting a superb  application for admission.  But, I do have some interesting stats to share from this years MIA, MPA, MPA-DP applicant pool. Heres a glimpse into a few charts from our application system. The chart  Applications Submitted  is pretty  telling. The Fall 2016 application cycle opened in August 2015, and applications were quietly coming in throughout the early fall. Then you can clearly see spikes in the submission rates right around our application deadlines of    Nov. 2 for the early-action round, Jan. 5 for the fellowship round, and Feb. 5 for the final round. What does this mean? Well, you all really do wait until the last minute to submit your applications. (Thats not a practice I recommend our future applicants to follow.) Not surprisingly, most of you  said you wanted to be reviewed for SIPAs merit  aid. (Blue is yes and green is no.) Thus, that is why  our fellowship (aka scholarship) deadline is a month earlier than our general deadline. (And why we do not  consider anyone for aid past the deadline.) We need the extra time to review your application and consider for fellowship. Generally speaking, the top third of applicants receive funding, but that can vary depending on how strong the applicant pool is; and while awards can go up to full tuition and fees, the average award for incoming students is half tuition and fees.  So if youre still researching funding sources, check out  our External Funding database  today. Heres a look at the concentration breakdown our applicants have applied to this year. I often get asked what the breakdown of our applicants are by concentration. As you can see from the chart above its almost an even six-way split.  The follow-up question usually is  about the  chances of admission increasing or decreasing depending on the concentration  selected. The short answer is absolutely not. (The longer answer is it depends on if youre a good fit for that concentration and if you tailored your application to it or not.) Since were on the blog, I decided to share a breakdown of what our readers look like. Thanks to a fancy stalking tool that links our application system to the blog, I can easily tell  who has visited  the Admissions Blog.  But wait, this chart is broken down by concentration as well. Great catch! Its pretty interesting to see that the  applicants by concentration breakdown closely mirrors that of the ones who have visited the blog. I like to interpret it as meaning the blog is so  popular that  everyone  is reading it! (OK, so its not an exact link, but you get the hint.) When we say our students hail from every corner of the globe, we mean it. This year, our applicants come from 142* different countries. (Depending on who you ask, there are 195 or 196 independent countries in the world today). Our applicants are from: 1. Afghanistan 49.     Greece 97.     Paraguay 2. Albania 50.     Guatemala 98.     Peru 3. Algeria 51.     Guinea 99.     Philippines 4. Andorra 52.     Haiti 100. Poland 5. Argentina 53.     Honduras 101. Portugal 6. Australia 54.     Hong Kong S.A.R. 102. Qatar 7. Austria 55.     Hungary 103. Romania 8. Azerbaijan 56.     Iceland 104. Russia 9. Bahrain 57.     India 105. Rwanda 10.     Bangladesh 58.     Indonesia 106. Saint Lucia 11.     Belarus 59.     Iran 107. Saudi Arabia 12.     Belgium 60.     Iraq 108. Senegal 13.     Belize 61.     Ireland 109. Serbia 14.     Bhutan 62.     Israel 110. Sierra Leone 15.     Bolivia 63.     Italy 111. Singapore 16.     Bosnia and Herzegovina 64.     Jamaica 112. Slovakia 17.     Brazil 65.     Japan 113. South Africa 18.     British Virgin Islands 66.     Jordan 114. South Korea 19.     Bulgaria 67.     Kazakhstan 115. Spain 20.     Burkina Faso 68.     Kenya 116. Sri Lanka 21.     Burundi 69.     Kuwait 117. Sudan 22.     Cameroon 70.     Kyrgyzstan 118. Sweden 23.     Canada 71.     Latvia 119. Switzerland 24.     Chile 72.     Lebanon 120. Syria 25.     China 73.     Liberia 121. Taiwan 26.     Colombia 74.     Lithuania 122. Tanzania 27.     Congo (Brazzaville) 75.     Madagascar 123. Thailand 28.     Congo (Kinshasa) 76.     Malawi 124. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 29.     Costa Rica 77.     Malaysia 125. The Gambia 30.     Cote DIvoire 78.     Mali 126. Timor-Leste 31.     Croatia 79.     Mauritania 127. Togo 32.     Cuba 80.     Mexico 128. Trinidad and Tobago 33.     Cyprus 81.     Moldova 129. Tunisia 34.     Czech Republic 82.     Mongolia 130. Turkey 35.     Denmark 83.     Morocco 131. Uganda 36.     Dominican Republic 84.     Mozambique 132. Ukraine 37.     Ecuador 85.     Myanmar 133. United Arab Emirates 38.     Egypt 86.     Namibia 134. United Kingdom 39.     El Salvador 87.     Nepal 135. United States 40.     Eritrea 88.     Netherlands 136. Uruguay 41.     Estonia 89.     New Zealand 137. Uzbekistan 42.     Ethiopia 90.     Nicaragua 138. Venezuela 43.     Finland 91.     Niger 139. Vietnam 44.     France 92.     Nigeria 140. Yemen 45.     Gabon 93.     Norway 141. Zambia 46.     Georgia 94.     Pakistan 142. Zimbabwe 47.     Germany 95.     Palestine 48.     Ghana 96.     Panama And as  always, it is going to take us some time to review all of the applications, so please be patient with us. Admissions decisions will  be  released in  mid-March and rolling thereafter.Alright! Those are all of the insights I have for today. I hope you found this information interesting.  While I cant share any additional details about our application pool at this time, you are welcome to email us at sipa_admission@columbia.edu if you have any questions about the status of your individual application  or the  application requirements. Until next time. [Photo courtesy of  http://imightneedanap.com] *updated list includes self-reported citizenship and mailing and permanent addresses.