Experience from DMV parents - which school is best for International Relations recruiting/jobs/faculty?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Princeton Review includes a sampling, "Great Schools for International Relations and Affairs Majors," in which nearly all of your son's potential choices appear. For context, this the entire list:

Claremont McKenna
Middlebury
Occidental
Connecticut College
Lewis & Clark
Hamilton
Bucknell
Lafayette
Gettysburg

UChicago
Georgetown
Tufts
George Washington
American
Clark
Harvard
Yale

bruh this list is not credible list for IR except for Georgetown, Tufts, UChicago, GW, American, Midd, Harvard, Yale.

Clark, Gettsyburg, Bucknell, CMC, Lafayette, Hamilton etc are not it.

Although the attributes of the IR programs at these schools could be discussed, none appears to be an option for this student.

[Anonymous]

Based on other schools on the list and your student’s interests and personality, I’d consider adding William & Mary. It’s strong in IR/poli sci/econ. Plus has very good music programs that are open to non-majors. I know several bright W&M grads that went on to work in the diplomacy and IR world, including Peace Corps, State Dept, etc.

[Anonymous]

Whoops, I suggested W&M but see now the student was already accepted to colleges and is making a final decision. I’d go with GW or Tufts, depending on which campus and location he prefers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on other schools on the list and your student’s interests and personality, I’d consider adding William & Mary. It’s strong in IR/poli sci/econ. Plus has very good music programs that are open to non-majors. I know several bright W&M grads that went on to work in the diplomacy and IR world, including Peace Corps, State Dept, etc.

Note that this student is a high school senior.

[Anonymous]

This College Transitions site of recommended schools for IR includes all of your listed colleges:

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-colleges-international-relations/

[Anonymous]

Personally I’d choose Middlebury from this list. Beautiful campus (an actual campus, as opposed to GW which is a cluster of unremarkable buildings), with a very strong emphasis on international studies, econ, and languages. Midd students do just fine when it comes to internships. Of course you’ll find more GW and American students in internships in DC—a function of proximity and school size. GW has 26,000 students—Middlebury has 2,700. Tufts would be my second choice. Didn’t love the campus, but it’s close to Boston and has a strong IR program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally I’d choose Middlebury from this list. Beautiful campus (an actual campus, as opposed to GW which is a cluster of unremarkable buildings), with a very strong emphasis on international studies, econ, and languages. Midd students do just fine when it comes to internships. Of course you’ll find more GW and American students in internships in DC—a function of proximity and school size. GW has 26,000 students—Middlebury has 2,700. Tufts would be my second choice. Didn’t love the campus, but it’s close to Boston and has a strong IR program.

academically, midd is great but "fit" is very dependent on the student. there's not much to do at midd outside of outdoorsy pursuits. middlebury is in rural vermont. yes it's a 4.5 hour amtrak to nyc but that's hardly doable for a day trip. montreal, canada is the closest large city (and you have to pass a border patrol) and it's a 2.5-3 hour drive.

I like tufts, followed by middlebury, for academic reasons. either would work well for this student and the student should decide if they want to easy access to a major city (tufts wins) or if they want to be in a buccolic campus in a rural town far away from it all (midd wins). BUT if they would get bored in a remote location, do not go to midd. also, while tufts has easy access to boston on the T, it also has walking distance access to davis square and red line access to cambridge. so much more to do outside of campus if that matters to this student. both are strong in IR, tufts is a bit stronger but midd is close as well.

gw is great if the student knows they want to do IR, and nothing else but.

good luck OP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks PP for the detailed information. My DC got accepted to GW with merit and to Georgetown SFS. Sounds like there isn't much difference between the two schools and, maybe, she should consider GW with the aid. GW kids got more internships where you worked?

Of course, your family needs to consider finances when making your decisions. But Georgetown is definitely more prestigious and has a thicker/ more influential alumni network in the field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks PP for the detailed information. My DC got accepted to GW with merit and to Georgetown SFS. Sounds like there isn't much difference between the two schools and, maybe, she should consider GW with the aid. GW kids got more internships where you worked?

Of course, your family needs to consider finances when making your decisions. But Georgetown is definitely more prestigious and has a thicker/ more influential alumni network in the field.

Bruh why are you pasting in and replying to comments from another thread about IR? This isn't a thread about G-town vs GWU. OP is focused on the following schools for IR:

Tufts
GW
USC
Middlebury
Occidental
American

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally I’d choose Middlebury from this list. Beautiful campus (an actual campus, as opposed to GW which is a cluster of unremarkable buildings), with a very strong emphasis on international studies, econ, and languages. Midd students do just fine when it comes to internships. Of course you’ll find more GW and American students in internships in DC—a function of proximity and school size. GW has 26,000 students—Middlebury has 2,700. Tufts would be my second choice. Didn’t love the campus, but it’s close to Boston and has a strong IR program.

But proximity is a feature, not a bug. Getting better access to professional opportunities is a positive for GW and American and a knock on the others.

And size alone can’t explain the difference. GW may be 10x the size but its students fill far, far more than that in terms of number of internships/jobs.

[Anonymous]

Tufts and GW are best known for IR. But what if your child changes their mind along the way? Overall Tufts, I would say, is considered academically stronger than GW. I would choose Tufts.

[Anonymous]

Really? GW?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First tier: Tufts and GW

Second tier: American and Middlebury

Forget the rest unless there is something specific that really appeals.

Take advantage of all of the offerings on campus, find internships during the summers and even during the semester, plan for grad school.

I don't think you know Middlebury very well. It is EXCELLENT for econ and international/languages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tufts and GW are best known for IR. But what if your child changes their mind along the way? Overall Tufts, I would say, is considered academically stronger than GW. I would choose Tufts.

yes, this is my vote for the same reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Personally I’d choose Middlebury from this list. Beautiful campus (an actual campus, as opposed to GW which is a cluster of unremarkable buildings), with a very strong emphasis on international studies, econ, and languages. Midd students do just fine when it comes to internships. Of course you’ll find more GW and American students in internships in DC—a function of proximity and school size. GW has 26,000 students—Middlebury has 2,700. Tufts would be my second choice. Didn’t love the campus, but it’s close to Boston and has a strong IR program.

academically, midd is great but "fit" is very dependent on the student. there's not much to do at midd outside of outdoorsy pursuits. middlebury is in rural vermont. yes it's a 4.5 hour amtrak to nyc but that's hardly doable for a day trip. montreal, canada is the closest large city (and you have to pass a border patrol) and it's a 2.5-3 hour drive.

I like tufts, followed by middlebury, for academic reasons. either would work well for this student and the student should decide if they want to easy access to a major city (tufts wins) or if they want to be in a buccolic campus in a rural town far away from it all (midd wins). BUT if they would get bored in a remote location, do not go to midd. also, while tufts has easy access to boston on the T, it also has walking distance access to davis square and red line access to cambridge. so much more to do outside of campus if that matters to this student. both are strong in IR, tufts is a bit stronger but midd is close as well.

gw is great if the student knows they want to do IR, and nothing else but.

good luck OP!

I would agree with this -- after having done a lot of research on schools because my kid has the same interests. I think on academics/prestige/strength in these areas, the choice is between Tufts and Midd. After that, the student needs to pick based on fit, location, etc.