Have you made plans to be in NYC for Admitted Students Day COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

Have you made plans to be in NYC for Admitted Students Day COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog The following post is an interview with Carolina Escalera from Tallahassee, Florida. She’s a first year MPA student concentrating in Urban and Social Policy. Why did you attend Admitted Students Day? I wanted to get a feel of the school; to literally feel how I felt on campus, the environment, and most importantly meet current students so that I could get their personal feedback. A lot of times a school sounds great on paper, but to me it is important to see how I fit in and if I felt it was a place I could thrive in. Admitted Students Day is a great way to meet current students and ask real questions. What was the best information you learned? The best information I learned was getting a better understanding of the concentration and specializations. During Admitted Students Day, I was able to meet the director of the Urban and Social Policy concentration and talk to students about the classes they were taking and their experience at SIPA overall. How did it help you decide to come to SIPA? Meeting the students and learning more about the concentration is what helped me decide to come to SIPA. I liked the flexibility of the concentration and the positive experience of the students. What else did you do besides visit the school to make your decision? As a student of color, I wanted to be comfortable in graduate school. The diversity of classes, students and the New York City experience led me to choose SIPA. I wanted to be able to fit in and feel comfortable in school and just being in New York City where there is a diversity in the population, I knew the dialogue would be stimulating and studying urban policy, there would be no better place. Moreover, SIPA has a student organization SIPA Students of Color (SSOC) and to me having a safe space to talk about issues that affect my community was important. I am now currently on the board of the organization. Whats one word of advice you would give to a newly admitted applicant this year? Network! SIPA Students of Color (SSOC) will be hosting a happy hour for admitted students on Monday April 9, 2012 at Havana Central. Come network with current students and get to know SIPA better! Check here for more information about Admitted Students Day.   We hope to see you there!