<p>What are the best universities, preferably in the US, for majoring in International Relations/Foreign Policy? </p>
<p>So far I've looked into these schools:</p>
<p>Harvard University
Stanford University
Yale University
Columbia University
Princeton University
John Hopkins University
Georgetown University
American University</p>
<p>How would you rank these colleges in terms of their IR programs? If you were accepted to all of them, which would you attend and why? </p>
<p>I am only a sophmore in High School, so I've only recently started looking at colleges. Thanks! :)</p>
<p>JHU’s main international studies school is located in DC not in Baltimore. But the Homewood campus program is still top notch and for top students in the IS program; they can enter a 5 year MA/BA program which is 3 years on the homewood campus 2 years in DC. Tufts also is great for IR for grad school but not sure how well Fletcher works with the undergraduate schools. Claremont McKenna has no IR school only a poly sci dept so the offerings would be weaker. There are certain schools that aren’t good for IR but great for location. Columbia’s IR school is notoriously bad but because of its NYC location, there are lots of internship opportunities for undergrads. Columbia treats their IR undergrads that are in Columbia College MUCH MUCH better than the grads in SIPA.</p>
<p>Thanks for the comprehensive reply BlueJay!
Besides the Ivies and the schools around the DC metropolitan area, what are other schools that have fantastic IR departments and programs? I suppose Tufts would fall in that category.</p>
<p>I’m torn between applying ED between JHU and WUSTL. JHU has a great IR program and an ideal location like you mentioned but WUSTL’s campus and student body seems more congruent to me. WUSTL does not offer an IR major though but rather political science and international studies though.</p>
<p>WUSTL is a very well known Regional school, it lacks the international weight of Johns Hopkins. And if you are serious about international studies then Johns Hopkins is your best bet. Other good schools for international relations are Duke, UC Berkeley, University of Chicago (Birthplace of Realism theory) , MIT is surprisingly good for international relations.</p>
<p>WashU has a fantastic International and Area studies program with numerous opportunities to work in DC or study aboard. Definitely consider applying ED to WashU/WUSTL.</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins is really good at IR but they have no specific buildings dedicated to PoliSci or anything of that variety, and act like their IR program doesn’t exist when you visit. I was really invested in Hopkins until I went to campus and realized that, and I really didn’t want to go there after that.</p>
<p>George Washington has an excellent program. All the schools you’ve mentioned are good, although I’d have to say if I got into all of them, I’d probably pick Harvard. Also, you guys didn’t mention UC Berkeley and U Chicago, they’re supposedly really good too.</p>
<p>hey guys, did any international economics majors get emails requesting final grades??
also, how do you guys get to know who your AO is??
oops… posted this on the wrong forum </p>
<p>I’ve been doing a lot or college research because I would like to major in IR and maybe International Economics, if you want to go to a US college then Harvard is #1 but it’s super competitive and a little pricey. Out of the US, London School of Economics is #1 hands down. I’ve also been looking at Vesalius in Brussels which is a very good and concentrated school. In the US American University and Georgetown are amazing. Virginia Wesleyan, which isn’t very well known for it’s IR program but it is actually has a very nice program, they started with new program with NATO that has only been going for 2 years, but I know for sure they will be known for, because students have a mock NATO assembly in which each student gets a country that is part of NATO and a real representative helps them make decisions, based upon a country’s view on foreign diplomacy. When going for a Masters, Geneva School of Diplomacy would be probably one of the best decisions to make because, it is in Geneva, and it is actually a very good school just focused on diplomacy.</p>
Also, you guys didn’t mention UC Berkeley and U Chicago, they’re supposedly really good too.</p>