Next SAIS Bologna online information session: January 16

You're putting the finishing touches on your application for SAIS Bologna. Or you're scouting around for possible graduate programs.

Whatever your situation, you probably want to learn more about the Bologna Center and you have some questions. That is why we hold regular online information sessions.

What happens to my application after it is submitted? How is it reviewed -- and who does it? When will the interviews be held and just what happens during them?

If you are just getting acquainted with SAIS Bologna, you might have a question about the curriculum, career options or about the city of Bologna.

The next information session -- and our last before the February 1 deadline for applications from non-U.S. citizens -- will be held on Monday, January 16 at noon Italy time (1100 GMT).

If you are interested in participating, please send an email to admissions@jhubc.it. We will then send you the log-in details.

To participate, all you need is an Internet connection and a telephone. The Internet connection gives you access to a platform we use to show video, documents, chat and poll participants. The telephone provides a low-cost audio connection (we provide a list of toll-free numbers).

We look forward to the session and to trying to answer any and all of your questions.

Nelson Graves

Deadlines, our next information session and social media

First things first in our inaugural post of 2012: Happy New Year to our readers around the world.

We hope that most of you will continue to follow this journal and send us comments and suggestions -- or even contributions -- as the year unfolds. We are in our second year of this journal, but we are all ears when it comes to tips and recommendations. I was a journalist for nearly three decades: my skin is pretty thick.

DEADLINES

Many of our readers are U.S. citizens who want to start their SAIS studies in Bologna. They are in the final throes of applying as their deadline is January 7.

Non-U.S. citizens who want to start in Bologna face a February 1 deadline. We devoted a post to some of the finer points of our somewhat arcane process last month.

U.S. citizens who have dual nationality have the choice of having their applications handled by SAIS Bologna or SAIS DC. If you are in this situation and you have questions, you can fire them off to admissions@jhubc.it.

INFORMATION SESSION

Our next information session, and the last one before the February 1 deadline for applications, is set for Monday, January 16 at noon Italy time (1100 GMT). We expect it will last about 45 minutes.

These sessions give applicants and prospective candidates a chance to learn more about SAIS Bologna and ask questions. We expect many candidates will have finished their applications by then or be in the final stages of doing so. Still, you might have questions about what happens after February 1: the interview, the admissions process and timeline, financial aid.

If you are interested in participating in this session, please send an email to admissions@jhubc.it, and we will send you the details for logging in.

KEEPING UP WITH US

Many of you are followers of our journal or receive it by email. Last month we started using Twitter, where you can find us @SAISBolognaBlog. We push out links to our posts on Twitter. And of course we are on Facebook at Johns Hopkins SAIS Admissions.

Nelson Graves

Online information session: Tuesday, November 22

It's recruiting season, and so over the past few weeks we've connected with prospective applicants, both near and afar. Nelson and I have traveled to a half dozen European cities to meet hundreds of potential candidates.

Still, as much as we like to travel, many applicants are outside of our physical reach.

Luckily, technology is a help. Some readers know that we had our first online information session in October. This month, we'll be holding a second such session. Please mark this date and time in your calendars if you are interested in learning more about SAIS Bologna:

November 22 at 7 p.m. Italy time (1800 GMT or 1 p.m. U.S. East Coast time).

If you'd like to attend, please send a message to admissions@jhubc.it and we will send you details on how to connect.

The session, expected to last about 45 minutes, is timed to accommodate applicants based in the Americas. The next session, which will be in December, will keep in mind those located in Asia.

At the start of the session we will introduce you to SAIS and the programs we offer. Alissa Tafti, a first-year student in Bologna, will be with us. Then participants will be able to ask questions, either via the audio connection or chat.

In October, we offered a separate audio connection that ran in parallel with the presentation platform. Participants told us that was awkward, and so this time we will use the audio application inside the web platform, called Adobe Connect. We'll be sure to send you clear instructions ahead of the information session.

We'll be looking for feedback after November's session, too, to help us hone our skills.

Other important dates to remember:

- OPEN DAY on Friday, December 9. You can register online here. 

- Online information session, tentatively set for Tuesday, December 13 and aligned with Asian time zones.
- February 1, 2012: deadline for applications submitted through the Bologna Admissions Office (U.S. citizens and applicants interested in starting in Washington have a January 7, 2012 deadline) 

Amina Abdiuahab

Online information session: change of date

Please take note that our first online information session will take place on Wednesday, October 19. We had initially announced the day after that. So the date to mark on you calendars is:


WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19

The session will start at 5:30 pm Italy time. That is 1630 GMT, 11:30 am U.S. East Coast time and 11:30 pm Beijing time.

The session will be by computer and telephone hookup. If you are interested in participating, please send an email to admissions@jhubc.it, and we will send you the details for connecting. If you choose to dial in by phone, it will be a local or toll-free call.

We will be holding subsequent sessions in November and December that align better with time zones in the Americas and Asia. In the poll that we recently conducted, respondents expressed a preference for information sessions in the late afternoon or early evening.

This first session on October 19 will be our trial by fire. We've never conducted such sessions and are still getting acquainted with the software that will allow us to show you a short film and some other digital content, and to take any questions you might have, either via a chat function or by phone.

Nelson Graves

Online information session: Wednesday, October 19

To prospective applicants:

Write down this date:

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19

That is the day when we'll be holding an online information session to help anyone interested in SAIS Bologna to learn more about us. We hope that is you.

We travel to quite a few cities in Europe to spread our message. But every year we get applicants from all over the world -- from 72 countries last year -- and we simply cannot travel to all of them.

This online information session will be a way for anyone, anywhere who has a computer to connect to us.

The session on October 19 will start at 5:30 pm Italy time. That is 1630 GMT, 11:30 am New York time, 11:30 pm Beijing time. We plan similar sessions in November and December that will be better aligned to time zones in the Americas and Asia.

We plan to show a short video at the start of the session and then to speak briefly about what makes SAIS Bologna different. One of our current students, Ellen Duwe from Germany, will be on hand, as will Amina Abdiuahab from Admissions. We plan to set aside plenty of time for questions, which can be sent in via chat or on a phone line that will be provided. We expect the entire session to last about 45 minutes. 

If you are interested in participating in this session, please send an email to admissions@jhubc.it and we will send you the details.

We hope many of you will take advantage of this opportunity to connect with us. We'd very much like to meet you, to hear your questions and to answer them as best we can.

Nelson Graves