<p>Where I should look if I want to work for an NGO/UN in International Relations? Are Tufts, Georgetown etc. just for future State Dept. employees?</p>
<p>Look at Tufts, Georgetown, GWU, American, John Hopkins, Emory, NYU, Columbia, &
Middlebury</p>
<p>Definitely check out Occidental and Macalester.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions. Just curious, whrere are these recs coming from and why these places? Do you go there? Also, couldn't a good liberal LAC get me connections at NGOs?</p>
<p>Tufts has the #1 IR program in the nation. Check the Tufts website for more information about it. The Tufts IR degree is very versatile. You can pretty much do anything you want with it, law, etc.</p>
<p>A good liberal LAC can get you some connections at NGOs. That is why I suggested Macalester. More information here:
<a href="http://www.macalester.edu/internationalstudies/ISmajor.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.macalester.edu/internationalstudies/ISmajor.html</a></p>
<p>Occidental has a unique program here:
<a href="http://departments.oxy.edu/dwa/%5B/url%5D">http://departments.oxy.edu/dwa/</a></p>
<p>Here is the link to a thread on the old board about this:</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help!</p>
<p>Also check out Claremont McKenna.</p>
<p>What about overseas, is there anything there? The recent election has me wondering if some moving and skaing can be done out of the country.</p>
<p>Also, Dickinson has a strong IR program. Its study abroad programs are good too.</p>
<p>Claremont McKenna College (<a href="http://www.mckenna.edu%5B/url%5D">www.mckenna.edu</a>) has a decent IR program, but it's not truly independent. Most IR classes come from the gov and econ departments. I've had good experiences as an IR major at CMC, but I'll probably change to a gov major for the connections and flexibility. Whether or not you'll be hired by the State Dept (as I was planning until recently) depends much more on your grades and personality than your major, so if that's your goal I'd suggest going to a school with very easy classes and majoring in the humanities. Your interests are likely to change, however, so attending a school with strong programs in your general area of interest, such as CMC, which has excellent gov and econ programs, would make much more sense.</p>
<p>What about any Canadian schools? Would it be much harder to get jobs in this field coming from a Canadian school, assuming I plan to work in the US after graduation?</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm thinking about Canadian schools now too. That way I can postpone becoming a completely broke college student with a load of debt for another four years. I'm trying to get my parents to take me to McGill thanksgiving weekend so I can form an opinion on it, since I've been hearing both good and bad things about it. I think that since every field is becoming more competitive, you probably should get a graduate degree anyway, so the undergraduate school doesn't matter as long as it helps you get into a top grad school.</p>
<p>generally Georgetown caters more towards government sector jobs and American U towards NGOs/non profits.. though in reality, students from both schools work in a very wide range of jobs after graduation and both have many opportunities for internships with all sorts of organizations</p>
<p>Any other thoughts on whether canadian schools, such as mcgill, would be good for this, and if being in canada would be a major disadvantage when getting recruited for jobs?</p>
<p>I am an IR major at Lehigh. The program is so awesome. I've never had a boring class, and the professors are awesome and very well-connected. For example, one of my profs used to be an ambassador and worked for the Dept of Defense while Clinton was in office. Now he's dept chair and is always on the radio and TV. In fact, my dad knew who he was before I did b/c he was him on CSPAN and it said he was from Lehigh. Lehigh also has NGO status to boot and does lots of programs with the UN. In addition we boast a summer program called Global Village. It's on diplomacy and attracts people from all over the world. My friend Lindsay did it last summer and thought it was incredible. Overall, I've been very pleased with my department! I'm a Public Relations minor as I really want to pursue a career in PR. The two programs really compliment each other. </p>
<p>'Hope this helps!
--Sarai--</p>
<p>Someone really likes Lehigh... I have never seen anyone plugging their school so much... :)</p>
<p>Someone mentioned Macalester College earlier as a good school for International Relations...I'd second that suggestion. I'm currently an International Studies/Political Science double major and really love it. Macalester is sort of a hidden gem as far as IR programs go...we actually have a department of International Studies as opposed to relations, so the program is more versatile in its focus, and borrows from various fields of study(Political Science, Economics, History, and the Sciences are just a few). Students in International Studies go on to do various things after graduation...many go on to some of the top graduate schools for International Studies in the nation. Others go on to do internships for NGOs or other International organizations. From a personal perspective, I feel like Macalester is preparing me to enter the world after graduation with a seriousness of purpose about the global community and a commitment to excellence...not to mention a passion for the world and scholarly endeavors. Feel free to ask me more specific questions about the International Studies program or the school if you have them...I'm just finishing up my first semester, but I can certainly try and help! Best of luck with your college search!
~Jessica</p>