Best International Relations Schools?

<p>Am a junior right now, and this whole college admissions madness is just beginning. I am interested in majoring on International Relations and I really don't know which schools offer good programs of this type, except for the G-Town and Tufts ones, which I believe are the most popular and renowned. Could you guys give some other schools which are strong in this area? I would really appreciate it; thanks in advance.</p>

<p>Any international relations program in Washington D.C. is apt to be good (American U, George Washington U). Some other schools known for good intl. relations programs: Johns Hopkins, Middlebury College, Swarthmore. Any ivy league program also is good, if you're into that. You might want to refer to the 43 page discussion on "ranking international relations programs" for further ideas (link)</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/other-college-majors/56589-ranking-international-relation-programs.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/other-college-majors/56589-ranking-international-relation-programs.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I'm sure most ivy leagues as well...........</p>

<p>Georgetown laps the field, to my knowledge.</p>

<p>There is not a single college that comes to mind that owns a major like Georgetown. It seems like International Relations is all about Georgetown, and Georgetown is all about International Relations.</p>

<p>Edit: Maybe Georgetown isn't alone. MIT kinda owns Computer Engineering, at least on the East Coast.</p>

<p>This is an easy question to field:</p>

<p>Georgetown Walsh School for Foreign Service officers. Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Tufts undergraduate IR program followed by Tufts School of Law and Diplomacy. Princeton Woodrow Wilson School. Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth all have highly respected IR programs.</p>

<p>Those are the most well known and respected and MOST selective. Competition is very, very, very rigorous.....tens of thousands of kids dream of a degree and career in diplomacy or IR/Intel work. Very few make it. </p>

<p>Another option is to shoot for a second tier program. And double major in a language that is needed. IR/Russian, IR/Middle East studies, IR/Arabic, IR/Chinese Studies/Mandarin etc. </p>

<p>LOTS of schools have highly respected programs. But some schools have amazing internships and contacts. </p>

<p>Let me toss one up to you: Fordham. Fordham is in New York. It has two campuses. Lincoln Center and main campus in Bronx. It has a very respected IR department offering International Political Economy degree, or area studies: Russian, Middle East, Chinese area studies. Its language department is awesome. Its faculty is 70% Ivy League Credentials. They have superb opportunities for internships at the UN and other ngo's in New York. Avery Cardinal Dulles is still on faculty there. Cardinal Dulles is 91 and a highly respected ethicist and a RARE Jesuit Cardinal. He is the only surviving brother of former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and former Director of CIA Allen Dulles. Fordham also has a superb Medieval Studies program.....and from the point of view of being creative and understanding culture and language etc, that is also an excellent degree to use as a preliminary entree into IR at the graduate degree level. I am not kidding. Many Fordham grads go to Ivy League (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia) or Georgetown for graduate level work. In the IR business, your graduate degree is MORE important than your undergraduate degree. Advancing in IR work, whether working for a think tank in DC, a politician's staff, at the Pentagon or State Department you simply MUST have graduate credentials to advance. Ditto for teaching at a college. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>I'm gonna toss in USC, as it has one if the oldest international studies/relations program in the country and is constantly ranked in the top 10 programs generally.</p>