Georgetown SFS vs Princeton

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi! I’m currently deciding between Georgetown (School of Foreign Service) and Princeton (Wilson School hopeful).</p>

<p>I’m going to be studying international affairs, focusing on political economy. I know both schools, especially considering their programs, would be incredible for the field—could any of you give me advice concerning them?</p>

<p>With Georgetown, I’ll be in DC and the School of Foreign Service has such an outstanding curriculum concerning Intl Affairs. Beyond that, Georgetown offers language certificates (right? If so, how exactly do those work?) and I could do the accelerated master’s to graduate with a bachelor’s and master’s in five years (does anyone have more specific information or personal experience with that?). I feel like I know the Georgetown community more right now, mostly because I’ve been able to speak with so many other admitted students through their Facebook group. But at the same time, does the rigidity of the SF—all the requirements, etc—interfere? For example, their website warns against attempting to study multiple languages simultaneously, which kind of worries me.</p>

<p>With Princeton, I’ll have pretty good access to NYC (and decent access to DC) and their academics for the field are outstanding. Most of what I know about Princeton is anecdotal from talking to current students, but I love how flexible their academics are. I feel like I could be much more personal with creating my classes and major at Princeton. But with Princeton, I would lose the opportunity to get the master’s so readily as well as the experience of living in the nation’s capital. Also, through looking up the Wilson School, it seems like it focuses more on domestic politics than international affairs until the graduate level—is that correct or am I wrong?</p>

<p>I know I would get a phenomenal education in the field and have a great experience at both schools, so I’m incredibly thankful to have to make this decision. I’ll hopefully gain a better personal understanding of these schools as I visit more this month and attend their events, but it would be so helpful if y’all could give any insight or opinions you might have. Thank you so much!</p>

2

<p>hopeful? as in on the waiting list? if so - see you at Georgetown.</p>

3

<p>Oh, sorry! I say hopeful because you don’t apply to the Woodrow Wilson School until you’re a sophomore. So if I were at Princeton, I’d hope to eventually get the WWS major. I’m accepted to both universities, though.</p>

4

<p>While SFS is a strong program, Princeton is fundamentally a much stronger University and you will get a better liberal arts education at Princeton. If you were talking about the Master’s program, I’d give SFS a slight edge over Woodrow Wilson but, for undergraduate, I think you’re better off at Princeton.</p>

5

<p>The only reason to choose Georgetown is DC. Princeton undergrad in IR will be academically significantly stronger. Lots of large classes and adjuncts at Georgetown with financial resources significantly weaker. </p>

<p>Opportunities by virtue of being in DC pale in comparison to the network you’d have available to you at Princeton. Connections are insane.</p>

6

<p>Yeah I gotta go Princeton - many students change their majors as well and after SFS - Princeton blows G’Town away.</p>