Best schools-international relations/international studies???

<p>No one has yet mentioned Claremont McKenna College in Calif. Really strong IR program, small school yet connected to the Claremont consortium so it feels like a larger school in terms of class choices, excellent alumni connections, top notch academics.</p>

<p>Not looking at the Ivies...
Georgetown University, Claremont McKenna College, The George Washington University, Middlebury College, Tufts University
Madeline Albright recently said that the College of William and Mary had the best undergraduate IR program in the country</p>

<p>yeah, the william and mary thing i heard too</p>

<p>im also kind of curious about mcgill. i went to the website and they didn't have an IR major per se, but that had political science and an IR minor</p>

<p>Arg, it's JohnS Hopkins, with an "s."</p>

<p>All the schools I've applied to (well applying, I still have 2 to go) were chosen with IR in mind.
I'm applying to Claremont McKenna, Georgetown-SFS, Tufts, Brown (good ir there, no one's mentioned it i think), Middlebury, Johns Hopkins and Macalester, in MN, is kinda my safety I guess. Its a pretty international school and it has a strong IR program, it's not the TOP or anything, but I mean Kofi Annan went there! So those 7 are all fairly strong for IR so hope that helps.
I didn't even know William & Mary was strong for IR, oh well too late now I guess. :)</p>

<p>estrella, I'm basically applying to the same schools as you... minus Macalester (which I have heard of) and Johns Hopkins (I live in Baltimore so that's a little too close to home for me). </p>

<p>As for McGill, I went to visit last April... pretty ugly campus (in all fairness though, it was terrible weather). They have what's called an "International Development" major. Strong program... would reccommend if you don't mind going to a Canadian school. I was a little aprehensive about it.</p>

<p>Survey (Formal) based ranking of Best Master Programs for International Relations published by Foreign Policy </p>

<p><a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3292%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3292&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Where's the best place to study international relations? The answer depends in part on the career you have in mind. Aspiring academics typically need a Ph.D. from a top-notch political science department. For scholarly pursuits, Harvard easily leads the field; it was the only institution named by a majority of respondents. For those who want to walk the corridors of power—not study them—Johns Hopkins and Georgetown University win the most praise. Armed with a masters degree in international relations from a top policy school, students are likely to head off for jobs in government, nongovernmental organizations (ngos), or international business. Proximity to political circles keeps the East Coast dominant for policy schools, but the West Coast and the Midwest do well for those who want to don academic robes. </p>

<p>MA:
1) Johns Hopkins
2) Georgetown University
3) Harvard University
4) Tufts
5) Columbia
6) Princeton
7) George Washington
8) American</p>

<p>I'm actually trying to decide between Barnard and Tufts for IR. (Barnard is affiliated with Columbia, btw, so I'd be taking a lot of Columbia IR classes).</p>

<p>any advice?</p>

<p>I'd take Barnard.</p>

<p>But for the rest of you I'd strongly recommend Penn for the Huntsman Program and for the College's International Relations major. Penn's strength in area studies, economics, and international security (soon to be adding a unique military studies program if Waldron gets his way) makes for an IR powerhouse</p>

<p>Some of these schools are better than others in terms of funding and scholarships. The variation is very large.</p>

<p>in terms of liberal arts schools middlebury has phenominal language and IR types of programs.
bowdoin has a strong government department. (IR is a concentration)</p>

<p>but ya....in terms of universities most have been mentioned...although i think princeton has a really strong IR progam...correct me if i am wrong...always thougt that htough</p>

<p>These rankings were published in the March/April 2007 Issue of Foreign Policy Magazine. (percentages represents the percentages of international relations academics and professionals who named the schools).</p>

<p>Top 20 Undergraduate Programs</p>

<ol>
<li>Harvard University 48%</li>
<li>Princeton University 46%</li>
<li>Stanford University 30%</li>
<li>Georgetown University 28%</li>
<li>Columbia University 28%</li>
<li>Yale University 23%</li>
<li>University of Chicago 21%</li>
<li>University of California-Berkeley 12%</li>
<li>Dartmouth College 11%</li>
<li>George Washington University 10%</li>
<li>American University 10%</li>
<li>University of Michigan 9%</li>
<li>Tufts University 8%</li>
<li>Swarthmore College 8%</li>
<li>University of California-San Diego 8%</li>
<li>Cornell University 6%</li>
<li>Brown University 6%</li>
<li>Williams College 5%</li>
<li>Duke University 5%</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins University 5%"</li>
</ol>

<p>im so confused!
i want to apply to Berkeley for IR but everywhere i look it says they dont offer that major...
however a ton of people i have spoken to (including one CURRENT BERKELEY STUDENT WHO SAYS HE IS AN IR MAJOR?!) have told me there is an IR Major....</p>

<p>someone please remedy my confusion!</p>

<p>Subfields</a> - Political Science, UC Berkeley</p>

<p>On the East Coast, there is no doubt about it, these schools are definitely the top full programs...</p>

<ol>
<li>Kennedy School - Harvard</li>
<li>SAIS - Johns Hopkins</li>
<li>SFS - Georgetown</li>
<li>Woodrow Wilson School - Princeton</li>
<li>SIS - American</li>
<li>SIPA - Columbia</li>
<li>Whitehead School - Seton Hall</li>
<li>Elliott School - George Washington</li>
</ol>

<p>These school definitely all have graduate programs, but you will need to check if they have undergrad programs as well. Plus, APSIA is the best source when it comes to international relations/affairs. However, I would be wary of programs not within a separate school (i.e. "Masters in" vs. "School of"). All of the schools listed above are schools with extensive resources and the sufficient professional connections to begin a career in international relations/affairs.</p>

<p>UChicago is an antisocial dump</p>

<p>^ Generalization is often hurtful and wrong.</p>

<p>UVA? They don't even have an IR major.</p>

<p>as a few have mentioned, Claremont McKenna and Pomona (two claremont colleges schools) are strong. CMC has more of an econ focus whereas Pomona has more of an environmental focus.</p>