I’ve spent the last few days in the place I will call home from August ’16 to May ’17: Bologna, Italy. Here I will attend Johns Hopkins SAIS Europe, and on my trip I stayed with current students and met many more, taking in all of their experiences and advice. I am incredibly excited to come to this beautiful city in the middle of Northern Italy as I gain the tools and experience for a career in international relations. Some of the current [American] students were surprised to hear that I had never taken standardized tests to earn admission to the program, but many of the European counterparts were in the same boat.
Standardized tests are not for me
I’ve been wanting to write this article for a while because it highlights a way of thinking that is familiar to me, though I am far from being the only one who has avoided standardized tests to be accepted at the universities they wanted to go to. In fact, most of my friends from the Political Science department at UC Berkeley got there the exact same way I did, finding an alternative to the standardized test entrance requirement. Why avoid taking standardized tests? Well unless you enjoy the torture of studying for tests like the SAT for undergraduate study or the GRE for graduate school, it’s a pretty sweet way to go. Likewise, it offers a chance of redemption if you didn’t do so hot in high school (like me) but are willing to work hard.
Partner Programs instead of Standardized Tests
Before attending UC Berkeley, I was figuring out what I wanted to do while attending Diablo Valley College (DVC). Luckily, DVC like most other community colleges in California had a partner program that allowed for guaranteed entry into most of the University of California schools. Though UCB (nor UCLA) was not one that had a guaranteed entry track, there was a program that allowed me to take one class at Berkeley for free while attending DVC as long as I had above a 3.4 in my first two semesters at DVC. Being able to take this class (History of the Middle East) at UCB and getting an A showed that I was ready to be at Berkeley, and without a doubt it helped in my admissions process. With a bit of work experience and good grades at an undergraduate community college, one can come far without needing to take the standardized tests as part of the admissions process. Again, most of my friends at Berkeley took this route, and they were all brilliant and hardworking people.
At the end of my undergraduate track, I had planned out my road towards grad school: get some work experience, take the GRE and apply to several International Affairs programs. I did very much have my eye on Johns Hopkins SAIS however. Now I’m not entirely sure of the availability of partner programs for graduate schools, but I had the good fortune of being motivated to check grad schools in the Netherlands by my former boss, Ard van der Vorst, while I was working at the Dutch Consulate in San Francisco. As luck would have it, Leiden University in the Netherlands had a partner program with JH SAIS. One year in the Netherlands and one year in Bologna Italy at the SAIS Europe Center and receive Master of Arts Degrees from both universities. For me, a dual Netherlands / US citizen, this is ideal, as this keeps my career options open to be able to live and work in the US or Europe.
Pros and Cons of Partner Programs
There are many pros to doing a partner program to get into your dream school. I believe that it actually makes your application much stronger because you are offering a proven track record at an institution that has been validated by the school you want to attend. I’m speculating, but from experience it seems that the target school allocates some spots for students from partner schools, and you’ll see that the competition is lower as opposed to applying without a partner program. Nonetheless, it is wise to boost your application by participating in extracurriculars and make yourself standout.
Likewise, you’re offered more time to think about your choices and of course you get to skip out on those standardized tests. Furthermore there is the advantage of cost savings. These programs are generally better priced, most often with significant cost savings.
Tuition per school year:
- UC Berkeley ($13000) vs DVC ($1100)
- Johns Hopkins SAIS (€32000 ) vs Leiden University (€2000 Euros)
College and grad school is costly, which can make partner programs significant cost savers. Attending a greater variety of schools gives you access to wider networks and more perspectives than wearing the blinders that staying at one institution can cause. On the other hand, you have to be prepared to rebuild your social circle when you change schools. Likewise, you might find that missing out on ‘dorm life’ during a BA or sticking with a single two-year (or more) grad school program is something you prefer. These are consideration that should be taken into account when deciding which route to take. Last but not least, this does take some planning and awareness of these partner programs. As most students will experience, there exist amazing opportunities throughout student life, but no one will knock on your door to tell you about it. You must go find these yourself. This as just as true for find the opportunities to make your life a little easier, such as partner programs.
I highly recommend this route for both students coming out of high school and recent BA graduates trying to figure out the next step. Don’t allow yourself to be restricted by the “normal” routes of achievement.
See you in Bologna!
After this trip to Bologna, I am incredibly excited and really look forward to my time this coming fall at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Hope to see you there on a visit or as a fellow student!
