Hi there!
I am a high school senior looking to major in international relations with a focus in intelligence. I am trying to decide between these two schools. Both have offered me the same amount of money, and I have also been accepted into Boston Universitys honors program.
These are my main questions…
Is it necessary that I been in DC for this major?
Recently I spoke to some in the intelligence field and he told me that GW is very liberal which may hurt my chances in intelligence due to networking, would you agree?
Which school would offer me better study abroad opportunities?
Thanks for all your help!
I don’t think you have to be in D.C. as an IR major. International relations is relevant in pretty much any major, metropolitan city in the United States & you’ll find options there in terms of internships & networking. To give you a Boston specific example, my first job out of college was working for an international travel company, finding homes for exchange students. That’s just one IR related company that is based in Boston. There are a TON of opportunities in New York that are arguable better than the options in D.C. (and Boston is very close to NYC!).
Not sure about the liberal campus angle, nor am I am expert on GWU (other than being from D.C. and knowing it’s an awesome school!), but I went to BU so I can provide some information there 
BU study abroad is robust & awesome. BU has 20+ unique study abroad destinations they offer and most have a heavy emphasis on internships & building international work experience. I did the London Programme (worked for them after graduation, too!) and it’s a unique study abroad program: BU has it’s own building/school where you attend classes designed for your major, and then you do a two month internship. Most schools their programs are exchanges with local universities, which is cool, too, but it’s a different experience. As far as I know, this is the model at most of BU’s study abroad locations. In addition to international study abroad, BU has two domestic programs–Washington D.C. and Los Angeles–which are designed to offer BU students unique work experience opportunities, ie: the D.C. one is for poly-sci/IR, etc. students.
Happy to answer any questions you have about BU! Personally, I would go with BU just b/c of the Honors program distinction. Will look nice on your resume.
how about ir in UCSD or political science in UCSD? Will they have much difference between internships and networking? THX
You definitely could go to Boston or San Diego for IR, but DC can’t be beat, unless you despise the city. Those internships in NYC are about 4 hours away from Boston and will likely go to Columbia/NYU/Fordham/etc kids before kids from Boston. GWU is literally smack dab in the middle of DC, and they have TONS of opportunities for specific field, one being IR. that being said, if you hate DC/GWU, you’ll be fine at BU/UCSD- it just might take a bit more effort to get involved!