<p>I really hate these versus threads but I'm stuck in a rut</p>
<p>Anyways, my interest is in international relations and my ultimate career interest is a foreign service officer. I look through all similar post, looked through the rankings, the websites and I cannot come to a conclusion. </p>
<p>Obviously, Georgetown provides certain opportunities because it's in DC but I feel that Stanford, because of it's big name, can do the same. </p>
<p>I heard Stanford has a semester in Washington program (is that undergrad?) and a quarter abroad, which is very intriguing, for IR majors.</p>
<p>Also, college is college. I want to be able to have a great undergrad experience while I'm there</p>
<p>Any advice/criticism/hate/love/gossip would be appreciated!</p>
<p>The State Department, Capitol Hill, the CIA, the Department of Homeland Security, The Brookings Institution, The Kennan Institute, the foreign embassies etc. are not located in Silicon Valley. If you want to be an FSO, Georgetown is the hands down choice where you wil meet the key players and be taught by the best policy practicioners in the field.</p>
<p>If you wanted to be an actor or musician, would you turn down Julliard and access to Broadway, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall for Stanford or Georgetown? Conversly, if you wanted to start and run a high tech startup would you turn down Stanford and proximity to Sand Hill drive, the tech behemoths and the leading venture capital practicioners for Julliard or Georgetown?</p>
<p>If IR is your known career interest, Georgetown is the choice above and apart from all others.</p>