New England travels in pictures COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

New England travels in pictures COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog Last week, I took my first trip as a member of the G5. The G5, or Group of 5, is what  SIPA calls its adventures when its  participating in  admissions-related events with our peer  schools. The other four schools are  Georgetown University,  Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service;  Johns Hopkins University, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS);  Princeton University, The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs; and  Tufts University, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. During my first G5 trip of the season, we traveled across southern New England; making 10 stops in five days. Each location was at a different college or university, and featured a panel presentation by G5. Its a great opportunity for students to meet with the worlds top five international affairs programs, without purchasing plane tickets.  Basically, we gave mini-information sessions, with content from  five different schools,  and allowed students to ask questions about all of our programs at once. To say the least, it was stressful.  We were always on the road (did I mention this was a road trip?),  kept a tight schedule between travel and presentations, talked a lot about our programs,  and still fit in time to complete our day-to-day office work in our hotels at night. However, it was a great experience. We met a lot of interesting students from various backgrounds who were passionate about public service. And while they all didnt know exactly what they wanted to do, they were taking the first steps to learn more about international affairs graduate schools and how to become stronger applicants. While there was little room to enjoy New England (its fall after all), I did manage to take a few photos while we are out and about. (And Im not going lie; theyre not the best photos in the world.) Enjoy! #gallery-1 { clear: both; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item-wrapper { float: left; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 33.333333333333%; } #ie6 #gallery-1 .gallery-item-wrapper, #ie7 #gallery-1 .gallery-item-wrapper { width: 33%; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { display: block; float: none; margin: 5px; width: auto !important; } #ie6 #gallery-1 .gallery-item { display: inline; } #gallery-1 .gallery-icon a { display: block; line-height: 0; } #gallery-1 img { width: 100% !important; max-width: 100% !important; height: auto !important; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { overflow: hidden; } #ie6 #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { word-wrap: break-word; } Off to a great start: this was the River View from my hotel in Boston. This was my view for the road trip portion of the week. Before our evening session at Amherst College, we took a moment to joke around. New England had an unseasonably dry summer, which means the fall colors arent as vibrant. But I did find one tree in Connecticut that looked pretty nice. Connecticut College is a private liberal arts college located in New London, Connecticut. Founded in 1911, the mission of the college is to educate students to put the liberal arts into action as citizens in a global society. The main building at Connecticut College. At Brown University my G5 colleague, John Templeton took a video of students during our information session. [Photo courtesy of Liz Wagoner] At the University of Massachusetts-Amherst there was a bit of a setback, so we had to table with the campuss student groups in the lobby of their student center. At the last minute, we made a fabulous DIY sign to tell everyone what we were there to talk about. A shot of all G5 program brochures. No one felt like showing their faces on camera today. Yale University bulldogs have found a temporary home at my SIPA desk. I couldnt decide on which one to purchase, so I snagged them both. After a long day on the road, we Googled a location restaurant that was waaay out in the sticks. I guessed right by assumming we would be dining inside someones home. Thankfully, no one lives there anymore; the house was converted to a restaurant. The G5 Selfie If youd like to  meet the G5, well be making stops in California and Pennsylvania over the next several weeks. Or, join us for a virtual information session, on Oct. 13, Nov. 24, and Dec. 8 at 12pm EST.