My son has narrowed his choices to Duke and Georgetown (he’s visited both schools). He’s interested in Econ/Political Science. Duke positives: a tad more prestigious, beautiful campus, arguably more school spirit. Georgetown School of Foreign Service positives: a more unique program, DC location/opportunities, arguably more interesting student body. If he attends Duke, he’ll likely end up majoring in Political Science, given that its Econ program is soooo quant driven. If he ends up at Georgetown, he’ll likely major in International Political Economy. Financial aid is not an issue; no hard-set post-grad plans; Greek presence/non-presence is not an important factor. We all recognize that we’re extremely fortunate to be in this win-win situation, but I also believe there’s probably a slighly better choice and would love to hear thoughts and insure that we’re not overlooking anything important. Thanks.
For me, if the student is interested in IR, GTown SFS is an easy choice between the two of the price is the same. My DS will likely pick UChicago over SFS. However, that is because UChicago is $30k/year cheaper. If they were the same price, GTown SFS would win.
@Eeyore123, thanks for your perspective. I would say that “International” is a nice overlay, but not a key motivator.
For the fields he is interested in, SFS and Duke are about the same in prestige. If anything, SFS is more prestigious.
The DC location would offer a lot more internship opportunities.
Thanks, @PurpleTitan. Interesting that you consider SFS more prestigious than Duke.
My perception agrees with @PurpleTitan 's: SFS has an edge in prestige. If it were Georgetown Arts and Sciences, than no. But SFS is a unique and special program.
For IR, the top group is Princeton, Stanford, Georgetown and Columbia. The next grouping would be Yale, UChicago, George Washington and American. Duke would be part of the next group that would contain most of the remaining top tier schools.
Duke and Georgetown overall are peers when it comes to alumni accomplishments. In those fields he is interested in, SFS would offer more opportunities and I daresay you’ll find a higher per capita representation of SFS grads at the top of the fields he’s interested in than Duke grads.
Both great schools. As others have mentioned, Georgetown is better for IR type studies, but if that’s not necessarily a key motivator, then it may be a wash. I will say that the area of DC Georgetown is in is very expensive. It’s more elegant than the areas of Durham around Duke, but WAY more expensive. Internship opportunities in DC are the best, but many Duke students end up in DC for internships as well.
While Duke is probably more prestigious in the South, Georgetown carries a lot of prestige throughout the Northeast US.
For IR, Georgetown SFS is the better choice.
Thanks, all. Frankly, I’m a bit surprised about the unanimous Georgetown sentiment, since Duke is a “hotter” school, but I greatly appreciate the rationale behind the opinions.
@SFLDad: The settings are quite different. What type of college experience does your son want ?
Both schools are very prestigious.
In my view, Duke offers a more traditional college experience, while Georgetown is urban & more pre-professional.
Two great options, but, also, two different experiences.
Another aspect to consider:
Internships during the school year.
If important, then Wash DC may be the better location.
@Publisher, excellent point about the in-year internship opportunities at Georgetown.
I am going to go against the grain here and say, Duke. Georgetown is a school that is very saturated with people interested in government and/or international relations. It also has a very competitive club culture and you probably could guess what a lot of those clubs are geared towards. Your son might be able to shine and distinguish himself more at Duke. Overall, it is the more prestigious school and I highly doubt there will be any difficulty for him to land internships or whatever else he may want to pursue.
At the end of the day, I would make the choice based on what is the better fit. They are both very comparable schools and your son will no doubt be successful at both. Best of luck!
“Duke. Overall, it is the more prestigious school”
In the eyes of high schoolers, it seems.
If he was really interested in IR, I would say GT (despite the rats) (it is the “school of foreign service”). But, it’s not clear that’s his interest. It sounds like he might be more interested in political science and econ. Both are excellent at Duke. A friend of ours had this choice for his daughter, but she wants to be a foreign service officer, so she picked GT. Your son should look at the offerings at both schools, the faculty, and what he wants overall in an undergrad education. As a poster noted, the 2 schools have very different cultures. Also, when you’re in school in DC, you are really expected to have school year internships. If he’s at Duke, he could do them in the summer. It really boils down to what he’s really looking for in undergrad.
More specifically, both the econ department and especially the political science department at Duke are significantly stronger than those at Georgetown. Public policy is stronger at Duke as well.
Georgetown’s chief strength in the social sciences is IR, as you noted.
@warblersrule not at the undergraduate level.
@warblersrule, in research, sure. Which should be a consideration if the OP is looking to get a PhD or go the academia/research route.
Otherwise, I don’t see how it makes a big difference for an undergraduate seeking to enter the wo king world.