<p>Because that would be you, right?</p>
<p>I love how Gtown SFSers get so offended when not everyone thinks their school is the best.</p>
<p>Again, I am so glad not to be in that environment, because then I might be really depressed to hear that many people are pretty sure Princeton is #1 for IR/Polisci; others think it's JHU; others Tufts; others Columbia... and so on.</p>
<p>vienna man,</p>
<p>I never claim to be. However, I do think that I have a good amount of practical and academic experience on the subject. At least more than the average person on CC.com.</p>
<p>I do think that SFS is excellent, and a clear leader in IR. But I think that SAIS has a slight lead right now in prestige.</p>
<p>What's SAIS</p>
<p>JHU's IR school (School of Advanced International Studies); keep in mind that UCLAri seems to now be talking about grad school IR programs. He said before that he feels that the Gourman ranking is pretty accurate at the undergrad level.</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm just throwing out grad programs...</p>
<p>
[quote]
I love how Gtown SFSers get so offended when not everyone thinks their school is the best.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Are you behaving any differently? If this Gourman person put SFS in the #1 spot and we were celebrating, I doubt you would sound any different than we do. </p>
<p>Interestingly, the wikipedia list of notable Tufts alumni includes many respected government officials, many of whom probably work for people on the SFS list.</p>
<p>BTW, the wikipedia article on the Gourman Article is priceless, as is this gem:</p>
<p>No, I would not be. I would not have even posted the Gourman ranking had it not been that I noticed Akajjred had taken it and re-worked it to his heart's desire. (As he duly noted thereafter). And yes, there are some people who don't believe in the Gourman ranking; yet there are just as many people who think it has value. You're only showing one side of it. He's the only person to do undergrad rankings by department, and since that was new, people get freaked out about it.</p>
<p>If you check my posting history, I say over and over that Tufts, Gtown, and JHU offer the best undergrad IR educations in the country. I never single one out as better. My problem with Gtown posters is that they always single themselves out as the frontrunners. I don't think this is the case.</p>
<p>And you know what, many SFSers probably work for Fletcher/Tufts grads. And so it goes. Who cares, as long as they're happy and successful in what they're doing.</p>
<p>This is so pointless, lets stop this for now even though its funny. I got deferred from Georgetown and I'm the valedictorian of my high school who really really wanted to study their above anywhere else. Unfortunately, that wasn't good enough, so they obviously have a competitive program.
I'm not bitter, I swear</p>
<p>The Gourman Report is useless garbage, based on flawed and/or non-existent data with a magical system of evaluation that hasn't been disclosed to anyone. Why do you trust one man, a retired college professor, Jack Gourman, more than anyone else? </p>
<p>Foreign Policy ranks the SFS masters program second after Hopkins. Georgetown itself acknowledges its undergrad program in the SFS is somewhat better than the graduate program. You do the math.</p>
<p>I've said it before and I'll say it again. At the undergrad level it would take the next several schools to match Georgetown's number of faculty and courses offered in the realm of IR. Period. </p>
<p>The rigor and caliber of the curriculum in the SFS is unrivaled; the "IR major" at pretty much everywhere else is roughly equivalent to the SFS core curriculum. </p>
<p>Show me another school where EVERY SINGLE graduate on commencement day is proficient enough in a foreign language to live and work in that country the next day, is knowledgeable enough to be an analyst in fields ranging from international economics to international politics the next day, knows basic information about ALL the world's 190+ countries, and has as an area of specialty in IR in which he/she possesses knowledge on par with what someone with a master's degree in that area would be expected to know, and maybe I'll believe there is a better undergrad school than the SFS. </p>
<p>You can slice it and dice it all you want. But the SFS at the undergrad level still wins the day. No one places more graduates into the Foreign Service, CIA, World Bank, IMF, and several other NGO's and government agencies. Not even close.</p>
<p>Copley,</p>
<p>I don't know how awful the list is in this case. The only programs I might say deserve more attention are American and Columbia for undergrad.</p>
<p>Isn't George Washington better than American for IR?</p>
<p>Hmm...good question. I don't know, to be honest. I think after Georgetown, SAIS, SIPA, and KSG, you get kind of a hazy top ten, where the differences become somewhat minimal, IR/PS excepted.</p>
<p>Not that I'm saying IR/PS is exceptionally better, but it's the only one that's focused solely on the Pacific Rim, making it different.</p>
<p>ok then... i'm not really trying to mess things up, but out of curiousity...</p>
<p>so say you don't have... idk... 200 grand in the bank for georgetown. and you plan on going to graduate school. isn't it a wiser investment to go to a decent undergrad school that's not too expensive, and then go to an expensive, prestigious, top-notch school for your graduate degree? (i.e. georgetown)</p>
<p>should i really put that much strain on my parents for my undergraduate education?</p>
<p>i'm not saying that sarcastically though. i really mean that question. what do i do?</p>
<p>I think that it's better to have both, because not only will it help with getting into a top grad program, it may help you down the line at job time. </p>
<p>What are you thinking for ugrad?</p>
<p>i'm applying/applied to UCLA, san francisco state university, Boston University, Yale, Georgetown, Brown, and USC</p>
<p>my parents could probably afford... UCLA. maybe BU/USC if i got merit scholarships.</p>
<p>but i want to go to georgetown so much it's not funny. like, if i could work my way through and somehow pay the 50k a year, i would. idk if that's possible though...</p>
<p>I don't think that the difference between UCLA and GTown for ugrad is huge if you can't afford it. But if you absolutely must go to GTown, see what kind of aid they offer.</p>
<p>any one have the US news ranking of IR? where is NYU btw. it's an honors major (min GPA of 3.65) so it's really prestigious</p>
<p>NYU's IR is pretty good. Top 20 or so.</p>
<p>So...does anyone have any PoliSci rankings (undergrad)?</p>