I recently got accepted into George Washington University Elliot School of International Affairs and Boston University CAS
I’m interested in politics and economics and was wondering which school would have a better program for that.
I’m in love with Boston but I know that D.C. will have way more internship and career opportunities.
In general, which school is better or are they ranked the same?
Elliot, for politics-related for sure.
Would agree being in DC huge advantage plus next to campus world bank, International finance Corp and IMF (well some of their buildings are on GWU campus)…
Not just DC (though that is an amazing location), but the Elliot school itself is highly regarded - it punches well above GW’s general weight, if you see what I mean. (For most majors I’d probably say Boston, but not for this one.)
Which one is more affordable? You don’t want to go too far into debt for undergrad.
Both are basically equal in strength. You need to choose the school that is the best fit. Have you toured both? What size did you like better? Do you like the school spirit of BU more?
If financials are the same and you like the idea of being in DC better, George Washington is the one. If you take advantage of the opportunities at both universities, you’ll be successful. Personally, I think BU gives a better college experience and I like Boston better, but you need to pick the school that is most affordable and feels like a better fit.
If it’s important, it’s worth noting that GWU is usually listed in various rankings the top 10 undergrad programs for politics and/or international relations in the US. I’d agree with the poster above that BU “feels” more like a cohesive university, though neither will give a traditional college campus experience. Overall I’d say BU ranks above GW in many areas, but not the ones OP is looking at. (My daughter looked at both these colleges for politics/IR in this application cycle, so my comments are based on our visits and research.) That said… if OP strongly feels s/he would be happier at BU then that is also a reasonable basis for a choice. My daughter ended up choosing a program that is not ranked as highly as GW for these subjects but that she also felt was a better fit for her. I just think OP needs to be clear that s/he will be giving up a noticeably higher regarded program, not an equally ranked one, if the choice is Boston.