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

[Anonymous]

Congrats OP and thank you for coming back to give us an update!

(My son will be going through this process next year and Tufts is high on his list.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are immigrant parents and aren't as familiar with US colleges so it's been a real learning curve for us! Our DS is interested in pursuing a degree in International Relations or Poli Sci/Econ but all with an international context.

He was accepted into the following schools. He is very strong student, but also easygoing personality with lots of playful curiosity about the world. He wants to be around other motivated students who also have other interests besides IR. He wants to pursue policy work, UN type jobs, diplomacy. Which do you think is the best offer of admission for this type of student?

Tufts
GW
USC
Middlebury
Occidental
American

His language is French.

Why did your son apply to these schools? Have you visited? Does he have a preference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are immigrant parents and aren't as familiar with US colleges so it's been a real learning curve for us! Our DS is interested in pursuing a degree in International Relations or Poli Sci/Econ but all with an international context.

He was accepted into the following schools. He is very strong student, but also easygoing personality with lots of playful curiosity about the world. He wants to be around other motivated students who also have other interests besides IR. He wants to pursue policy work, UN type jobs, diplomacy. Which do you think is the best offer of admission for this type of student?

Tufts
GW
USC
Middlebury
Occidental
American

His language is French.

Why did your son apply to these schools? Have you visited? Does he have a preference?

the op just commented that her son just revisited some of these schools this week, while also reading our comments and talking to students and parents. her son ended up choosing Tufts because it was the best academic/social/campus/location fit for him. all's well that ends well!

[Anonymous]

OP made such a bad decision. I can’t believe the parents here are encouraging Tufts as a serious option. People here cannot for the life of them separate undergraduate and graduate programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you so much for all of your detailed perspectives and insights! I am the OP and I have read every comment and shared this thread also with my family. We were in the middle of visiting, attending admit days and vetting these schools one more time when I made my post.

After traveling to visit or revisit these campuses, and talking to students and parents at length, and consulting alums, our son has made his decision. He has decided on Tufts! He is so excited, he loved the community of students in addition to academics, sat in on a class, spoke with alums in addition to research my husband and I were doing simultaneously and absolutely loves the location. We feel very satisfied he has made the right choice and fit for him.

Thank you everybody! This board is so helpful.

Congrats OP. I commented several times on GW but as I mentioned, from this list to me it was always GW and Tufts. Great choice, hope he enjoys it.

[Anonymous]

Congrats OP!! My older DS is a sophomore at Tufts studying IR at Tufts and he couldn't be happier. Your son made a great choice.

Go Jumbos!

[Anonymous]

great choice OP - "playful curiosity" seems like a good fit for tufts.

separately, do you mind sharing stats or tips for how you got into tufts and these other schools? really great admission results and we're going through the process next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middlebury would be my choice, with time spent in DC over the summers in DC (potentially through the Middlebury in DC program). It's a substantially stronger school (along with Tufts) overall and also has very strong international connections which is particularly important now that internships in DC are so hard to come by (and those that are available tend to be politically charged).

Also, in my view an IR degree is by far best when part of a double degree in a substantive area. There are so, so many IR degree kids looking for jobs, and employers need people with substantive skills in relevant areas.

+1 Middlebury is a stronger school with a better alum network

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Middlebury would be my choice, with time spent in DC over the summers in DC (potentially through the Middlebury in DC program). It's a substantially stronger school (along with Tufts) overall and also has very strong international connections which is particularly important now that internships in DC are so hard to come by (and those that are available tend to be politically charged).

Also, in my view an IR degree is by far best when part of a double degree in a substantive area. There are so, so many IR degree kids looking for jobs, and employers need people with substantive skills in relevant areas.

+1 Middlebury is a stronger school with a better alum network

sorry midd booster but midd is not definitively a "stronger school" by any means. both midd and OP's kid's choice - tufts - are equally academic. it depends what experience OP's kid is looking for: suburban with easy Boston access by T/shuttle, or rural vermont where activities are more outdoorsy and it's hours by car or train to nearest big city. tufs undergrad is rated much higher in IR specifically for undergrad by the only relevant authority in the field: foreign policy's survey of IR professionals and faculty (see link here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_the_Ivory_Tower). as you see for yourself, tufts IR undergrad program ranks #14 (by IR faculty), #7 (by IR policymakers) and #9 (by IR think tank staffers). midd by contrast, does not rank at all in the top 25 (by IR faculty), ranks #22 (by IR policymakers) and does not rank in the top 25 at all by IR think tank staffers.

gw was the only other true peer to tufts for undergrad IR, but OP factored in revisits, meeting students and alums, and seems to have done a lot of research outside of posting on this board and said their kid picked the best fit for him. so can't argue with that!

in this area for IR undergrad, midd is not a peer to GW, much less tufts. midd is nice LAC in a remote area of vermont for those who seek the isolated LAC away from it all vibes. GW is an IR powerhouse right in ideal location of DC, but with no defined campus. you can make arguments for GW much easier than midd here. but tufts seems to be the ideal fit for OP's kid so why should we randoms argue with OP's kid's settled choice after the fact?