What now?

Right off the bat I should make it clear this post is aimed primarily at those who have submitted applications to SAIS Bologna.

Very little in life is simple, and SAIS is no exception. Some candidates file their applications to our Admissions Office in Washington, DC, while others send them to us in Bologna.

If you are neither a U.S. citizen nor a permanent U.S. resident, and you want to spend your first year studying at SAIS Bologna, you will have filed your application with us in Bologna.


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If you have applied to our office, you should have received an email from us telling you we have received your application. If you have not received such an email, please get in touch with admissions@jhubc.it right away.

Here are the next steps in the process:

1. Amina is busy checking each application to make sure they are complete. This is a painstaking process but it aims to make sure everyone is on a level playing field.

Amina taking a break
 from applications

Eventually each candidate will receive an email either detailing what is missing or informing the applicant that their dossier is complete.

If something is missing, we would recommend moving quickly to get the necessary document to us so that you would not be at a disadvantage in the process.

2. We will then arrange interviews with each candidate. (Please remember that those who apply through our DC Admissions Office will not be interviewed.)

Some interviews will be face-to-face: the candidate with either a SAIS Bologna faculty member or myself.

Because of the number of candidates and the geographic spread, we cannot interview each candidate in person. In fact most will be conducted over the phone or via Skype.

We will be in touch with all candidates to set the date and time of the interview.

3. Our Admissions Committee, which includes those who conduct the interviews as well as those who read the applications, will meet in the second half of March to take stock.  (Each application is read by at least two people. An interviewer will not be a reader for anyone they have interviewed.)

Applicants will be informed of the Committee's decision in early April.

4. We will be holding an Open House at SAIS Bologna in early May for those who are accepted. This gives admitted candidates a chance to visit the Center before the May 16 Admissions acceptance deadline.

After that, it's a big sigh of relief for all involved. And eyes turn to the summer online economics course for some and to pre-term.

Nelson Graves