<p>Hi. I haven't visited Georgetown yet. Yet, I'm in love with their School of Foreign Service for I am very internationally-oriented and I'm torn between a career in law or medicine. However, I've been told by several people from all walks of life that because of the size of Georgetown and amongst other factors, that undergrads are just a "number".</p>
<p>Can someone please confirm this?</p>
<p>Also, how diverse are the study abroad programs at Georgetown? If a program isn't listed, then can you pursue a program privately that the university will accept? What about programs in the Middle East? Given in a certain time there is not U.S. travel warnings, are programs in the Middle East easily accesible? I'm looking into a semester at the American University in Beirut.</p>
<p>Hi, I'm going to be a Junior at Georgetown, and I don't feel like I'm a "number" at all. Georgetown is a pretty small school, with only 6,000 undergrads, so it's not super huge. You may take a few big classes in big lecture halls, like intro bio/chem, IR, or, but most sophmore level and above classes are closer to 25-30 students. All of my professors sophmore year knew who I was, even though I didn't participate that much. Most of the classes in your major will have 20 or lesss students, and advanced-level classes often only have 5-10 students. </p>
<p>The only time you may feel like a "number" is in a big freshman class, but you'll find that in most universities of similar rank, and it's nothing like state schools with 500+ person classes (most aren't bigger than 150, and very few are actually that big). Also, whenever the class IS large,it breaks down once a week into a lab or discussion section, with less than 30 students. </p>
<p>So while you may have one or two big classes, and the dean/registrar/etc may not know you by name, they are still helpful and it's easy to set up meetings and they are very good at responding to emails. </p>
<p>For study abroad, check out oip dot georgetown dot edu , which will give you descriptions of all of our programs. As far as the Middle East goes, we have programs in Cairo and Morocco, and we also have a campus in Qatar. You can do an outside program if you have a written proposal and valid reason to study there instead of at one of the established Georgetown programs, but it's a pain to get the credits transfered over.</p>
<p>I agree that there is no feeling at all of being a number. I'm a science person, so I took those classes of 200 people, but even in those classes, my professors knew my name. Most professors really do make an effort to learn who everyone is, often times learning the names of everyone in the classes even if there are 100 people in the class. Basically don't worry at all about only being a number, you will actually be a person.</p>
<p>I agree. Infact this can be a disadvantage if you have a habit of missing classes like me. Professors here have a knack for remembering names and faces.</p>
<p>Marhaba ya beirut...haha</p>
<p>I'm taking some summer classes at Georgetown, I have a lot of friends who go there, and my mom used to work there, and the feeling I've gotten is that there is a good sense of community. The campus isn't too big, the staff seem fairly friendly, and I'm pretty sure SFS students are treated very well because you would be in the upper echelon, as opposed to something more common like an English or PoliSci major.</p>
<p>SFS students are definitely not "in the upper echelon", as opposed to "something more common like an English or PoliSci major". I'm not sure exactly what you mean by that, but the College is actually more selective than the SFS, so foreign service student's aren't any more "elite" than anyone else. Any student in upper-level classes in the SFS OR any other school/major is treated well, it's in the big intro classes like IR, Micro/Macro Econ, USPS, etc., that all SFS students have to take, where nobody really gets any special attention.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies!
and marhaba ya MuffinKing hahah :)</p>
<p>I like Georgetown because it seems so international and really focuses on international affairs and the like. Assuming that I get into Rice and Georgetown, I'm going to have a really tough time deciding between the two. Rice is closer to home (mixed feelings about that). I visited it and I'm impressed by their strong pre-med program and the wealth of resources. But Georgetown...gosh that's in D.C. and I'm trying to see myself in four or five years what I would get out of either school.</p>
<p>Enough with rambling. What do you guys think are some of Georgetown's strengths?</p>
<p>If your very interested in both pre-med and international relations I'd suggest you take a look at the International Health program in the School of Nursing and Health Studies. Granted its not in SFS but u'd be amiss if you thought it didnt have access to the same resources plus much more practical access to the pre-med tract. </p>
<p>In terms of study abroad. The IH program requires you to spend your fall senior semester abroad completing a practical experience in medicine in one of four location in Africa, a location in Mexico or one in Australia's Bush. If your serious about medicine and international relations together, there's not really any program that can compete with it in the country.</p>
<p>Wow. I definately did not look over that program at Georgetown, mikey101. Are your courses similar to an undergrad's courses at another university who is say, majoring in International Relations and going into pre-med as well? Or is it a bit lopsided with more courses in a respective area?</p>
<p>Well I'd say it be very near impossible to be in the SFS and also be Pre-Med. There are so many requirements for both that don't overlap anywhere, not to mention the rigor of both fields in their own right. If you really want SFS and pre-med check out the STIA major, thats basically the only way SFS/Pre-med can even be attempted. In terms of the International Health major a lot of the Pre-med requirements are required for the major as well, which really helps. </p>
<p>In terms of International Relations concentrated courses in the major itself I suggest you check the course catalog for the IH major at <a href="http://www2.georgetown.edu/explore/courses/index.cfm?Action=List&ProgramID=115&AcademicYear=2007%5B/url%5D">http://www2.georgetown.edu/explore/courses/index.cfm?Action=List&ProgramID=115&AcademicYear=2007</a> Also remember you still will have time to take a few courses in the SFS that are strictly IR based using your free electives.</p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>It's not THAT impossible to be pre-med in the SFS. I know a handful of people who have done it, mostly STIA majors. To me, it sounds like a pretty masochistic thing to do, so I'd say don't apply to the SFS to do pre-med unless you plan on spending your entire four years in the library. International Health in the NHS would definitely be the way to go, although still challenging.</p>