<p>Hi guys, I'm an Asian female born and bred in Hong Kong and I'm interested in studying Government, politics, international studies, something along those lines. Georgetown is of course famous for these kind of subjects. However I can't really decide between studying Government in Georgetown College OR International Politics in SFS...I heard many people say that people who graduate from SFS either work at Washington or some other US political body (which I don't think I'm eligible to considering I'm not even American)...furthermore, I don't really see the big difference in doing politics in the College and in SFS except for this potential job benefit. Would anyone be kind enough to illustrate the key differences? Also, is SFS harder to get into than the College? Just wondering. Thanks.</p>
<p>SFS is basically as competitive as the COL. Also there aren't really "career benefits." All the SFS does is
A) mandate you know a foreign language
B) mandate you take 2 semesters of econ
C) mandate you take a 1 credit hour class on the map of the world
D) give you a couple potential seminars unique to SFS</p>
<p>And basically that's all it does that is different. (I mean, you can learn a foreign language and take econ in the COL, it's just not mandated) If you know you want to do international politics then go for SFS since there's a couple unique seminars you get to take. If you want flexibility go COL. You can take virtually all SFS classes in COL.</p>
<p>Actually the SFS mandates 4 semesters of econ: Micro, Macro, Int'l. Trade, Int'l. Finance.</p>
<p>I can't really give a recommendation because I don't know much about you, but the SFS gives you many job opportunities, and not just in US government. You choose a major such as International Politics, International Economics, Culture and Politics, etc. that are very specific. You could get a job in economics if you wanted to from the SFS, and many people do consulting.</p>
<p>I don't necessarily know if the SFS will give you better job prospects, though. Those are just some examples of what you can do.</p>
<p>you're absolutely right. I probably should have said '2 years in econ' but that's not entirely true since I know some people who manage to get it done in 1 and a half or just one.</p>
<p>Georgetown's School of Foreign Service is more prestigious. Many, if not most SFS graduates, obtain a higher level degree--master's, PhD., J.D.=law degree or MBA, before heading out to full time employment. I have been told that writing is emphasized in the SFS.</p>
<p>Most grads in general do that, though. Something like 40% go to grad school in the COL as well. SFS is a good option for learning more in depth about politics but I'm not sure it has been shown to be better demonstrably than COL for career prospects. Maybe I'm wrong but I think that's the way it is last I looked at employment stats</p>
<p>Thanks you guys. So basically what you're all saying is that there's no big difference, except the SFS is for some reason more prestigious and you have some mandated courses. Sweet. :)</p>
<p>Well let me put it this way: If a student in the COL wants to be taking courses an SFS guy is taking, he can do it, with only a handful of exceptions (such as prosem, and map of the modern world -- but that's only a one credit hour, mini course, etc).</p>
<p>COL is basically about more flexibility. It's ideal if you want to be able to suddenly do a totally different major from anything politics related. I'm not sure about 'prestige' -- I mean, on campus SFS kids are sometimes called 'the smart ones' and business kids get made fun of...but it usually takes about a week for people to realize those classifications are kind of silly. Like when a business kid smokes you on a macroeconomics exam, like happened to me =)</p>
<p>"Many, if not most SFS graduates, obtain a higher level degree--master's, PhD., J.D.=law degree or MBA, before heading out to full time employment."</p>
<p>actually, according to the 2007 senior survey, that's not true. According to the survey, 65% of respondents have already been hired for a full time or part time job (only 2 responded as being employed part time), while about 14.5% responded that they were enrolled in graduate school.</p>
<p>Senior</a> Survey Results</p>
<p>Mario-Vaz: So if it's easy for a COL student to take SFS courses, is it the same the other way around? All I know this SFS kids can't minor in music (my passion) which is kind of dumb and I don't understand the reasoning behind that...but course-wise, can SFS kids take COL courses?</p>
<p>yes, students in any school can take courses in any other school, provided you meet pre-reqs of course. some courses might be limited to majors only, but generally you can take any course in any school.</p>
<p>A lot of times a class isn't specific to one school, but rather to a department. A department might not even be in one school: for example, the economics department oversees econ majors in the College, as well as Int'l. econ and int'l. political economy majors in the SFS. The History department as well, language depts, etc. serve students from all of the schools. Your major and requirements are basically the only things determined by your school, not which classes you're allowed to take.</p>