Take a tour of SIPA COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

Take a tour of SIPA COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog You asked and we answered! The Office of Admissions Financial Aid is officially offering tours of the SIPA building, known as the International Affairs Building.  Tours of IAB   are offered following SIPAs Friday information sessions at 1:30 p.m. The tours are only of SIPAs building, and they are guided by current SIPA students. (Contact the Visitor Center  for  a tour of the Columbia University campus.) To take  a tour of the SIPA building, please register in advance. Students are encouraged to attend an information session in conjunction with the tour since tours are offered immediately following the sessions, and it gives applicants the chance to ask the presenter questions about the program. (If  youve already attended a session, dont worry about it. Just make sure you arrive on time for the tour so youre not left behind.) While tours  arent required for applicants, students have found them helpful. Unsure if  its worth it? To help answer that question,  I asked our  program assistants what they thought about leading SIPA tours and IAB. Heres what they had to share: How does attending a tour and/or information session address concerns applicants may have? Eloy Oliveira, MPA 16: You can see if the infrastructure is adequate for your education purpose. See if the library offers enough books, computer Lab, check if the classrooms are well equipped (projectors, recording system, etc). You may ask questions and discuss issues with staff. Whats your favorite feature of IAB? Yiting Xu, MPA 16: My favorite feature of IAB is the 13-15th floor where offers  a magnificent view of the upper town Manhattan and the campus. Whats  unique  about IAB, or something unexpected/something that surprised you about the building? Allison Walker, MIA 16: I was surprised when I arrived at SIPA to find that IAB is connected to the law school building this is helpful for finding extra meeting spaces or changing up where youre studying or grabbing food from. Would you recommend students attend an IAB tour prior to applying to SIPA? Adriana Popa, MIA 16: Like with the info session, if they can, yes. Its an opportunity to see SIPA, visit the IAB, and meet current students and staff. Most importantly, its perhaps the only opportunity to feel what its like to be a current SIPA student. Allison Walker, MIA 16:  Its not crucial to take a tour, and those applying from abroad shouldnt feel like they are missing an important component of the application process. Why do you like leading tours? Adriana Popa, MIA 16: I enjoy sharing my personal experience with prospective students, and try to give as much useful advice as possible as they embark on the application process and on their life/studies at SIPA. In truth, I see myself in them, and welcome the chance to tell them what I wish someone had told me when I applied/first came to SIPA. I also enjoy seeing SIPA through their eyes as if looking at it for the first time. Familiarity breeds contempt, they say, and after spending 3-4 days a week on campus, one tends to forget some of the things that first seemed attractive. The novelty evaporates. Tours are a great guard against routine, and they not only refresh my memory in terms of what was most striking and appealing to me when I first came to SIPA, but also show me new great things, because the students on my tours point them out. *** Register for an information session here, or  a building tour here.