Top 10 Tips for Communicating With Us No. 8 Familiarize yourself with expenses, and search for fellowships ASAP COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

Top 10 Tips for Communicating With Us No. 8 Familiarize yourself with expenses, and search for fellowships ASAP COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog Updated: March 2016 This is the eighth entry in our “Top 10? list for you to consider when communicating with our office and applying. Number 8 â€" Familiarize yourself with expenses, and search  for fellowships ASAP Yes, there is no doubt about it, graduate school is expensive.  We will do as much as we can to educate you on financial options, but by far the number one thing you can do is to be diligent in searching for fellowships and grants.  Do not wait to search until you have applied, you should start the search long before applying.  Each applicant should follow what I call the “rule of 2.”   Basically my assertion is that applicants should spend twice as much time applying for fellowships as time spent working on admission application.  If it takes you 10 hours to prepare your admission application, you would be well served to spend 20 hours looking for fellowships.  A great resource to use in order to get started is our external fellowship database. Most of the information you need concerning the cost to attend is available on our financial aid website, such as cost of attendance,  types of aid,  scholarship information, and information specifically for international students.  Please do note that SIPA scholarships come from one general pool â€" there is no difference in the fellowship award process at SIPA for domestic and international students â€" all students are equally considered no matter the country of origin.