Agree completely with PP. I would say the most useful part of an IR degree is the economics component. If you already have a masters in econ then I would not do one.

Why do you want this degree? Do you have tons of family money or are you taking out loans? I fail to see how this well help you get a better job, ESP since you already have a masters. Ir degrees are pretty useless. Don't take out loans for it.

Anonymous wrote:I have worked for the IMF and World Bank. I would say it is not easy to get into either of those with a SAIS degree - while there are many, they are still a little looked down upon compared to those with economics PhDs etc.

I have never met anyone with an MA from Chicago's IR program, and I think it would be significantly harder to get into the WB/IMF with a degree from there. One advantage SAIS has is the network - there will be no such network from Chicago. Then you would also have to deal with the lower ranking issue - these things matter in those kind of places...

OP here. Thanks for your insight. I was just using SAIS-WB as an example but didn't mean it is a walk in the park to get in to those institutions you mentioned just with a SAIS degree. I do know what you mean about being looked down if you don't have a ph.d because at the Fed (and the constituent regional branches), within Econ Research, a Ph.D is necessary to progress. Though a SAIS grad did end up running the NY Fed and most recently Treasury.

I do have an econ grad degree but I am highly interested in honing my IR knowledge and analytical skills specifically though a structured IR program. A lot of chicago's attraction is length of program and the overall university name but if it'll hurt much professional prospects that much due to lack of network compared to even GW-Elliott or even American, then it doesn't seem like I should look into it

I have worked for the IMF and World Bank. I would say it is not easy to get into either of those with a SAIS degree - while there are many, they are still a little looked down upon compared to those with economics PhDs etc.

I have never met anyone with an MA from Chicago's IR program, and I think it would be significantly harder to get into the WB/IMF with a degree from there. One advantage SAIS has is the network - there will be no such network from Chicago. Then you would also have to deal with the lower ranking issue - these things matter in those kind of places...

I wanted to post about this on here as well in the job forum regarding IR grad school/jobs but this thread is specifically about Chicago's CIR MA program.

How good is it and how well does it place in DC in terms of employment?

Foreign Policy mag seems to rate it around 10th (well below Georgetown and SAIS and below GW-Elliot and American).

I've worked a couple of years in DC and have run into many grads of various UG and MA IR institutions, and while I have come across Chicago UG alums and Booth alums, I've never come across an IR Master's alum from Chicago.

For instance supposedly SAIS is a big target feeder for World Bank positions and other positions that are looking for a cross between IR and Economics. The ranking and location helps as well I'm sure.

I can get some perspective on gradcafe and other admissions type forums but I wanted a more DC-centric perspective.

What attracts me to Chicago's program is the price (due to the compressed and focused length of the program) and time it would take to finish. The Chicago name is attractive as well, though I know for grad school, program strength counts for much more than overall school strength (an example would be Yale MBA). Another positive for me is the non-DC location. While I probably would want to come back to work in this town, if I have an opportunity to get out (for instance school), I want to take advantage of that.

The downsides seem to be the ranking relative to other schools and the non-DC location in terms of access to recruiting/networking.

Thoughts? I know a few in the IR community have commented on threads in this forum when others have asked about their children's UG choices so I was hoping to tap into their experiences/opinions as well as anyone else that would like to share.

Thanks.