<p>So I've narrowed down my list of acceptances (University of Houston, Texas A&M, University of Texas @ Austin, Rice, Pomona, Amherst, Boston College, Tufts, Georgetown, Dartmouth) to </p>
<p>Georgetown and Dartmouth</p>
<p>Now I've visited Georgetown and I honestly liked it. I like the campus which isbig but still compact, the georgetown neighborhood setting, the incredible location that is washington dc, the jesuit feel of the university, and all the excited and interested kids that legitimately seemed happy being there driven by their passion. My main attraction to Georgetown is the SFS program, among the country's top int'l affairs schools in the country. It's also supposed to be very good at preparing students for policy careers as opposed to academic careers, which is a plus since I am interested in the former. As a minority (hispanic) Georgetown seemed to be pretty diverse (or as much as I can expect from an east coast school - (I'm from Texas))</p>
<p>I will be visiting Dartmouth soon. It is one of the best schools for undergraduate studies in general and also has an excellent government major (their equivalent of poli sci which is subdivided into 4 and one of those is international relations). Dartmouth also has the appealing D-Plan (which will make it easier to get internships). Dartmouth seems to have a very strong alumni base (getting the right connections is important after all) and in general carries slightly more rep and prestige than gtown overall. My point is that if for whatever reason I choose another major I have more options at Dartmouth. And if I stay with int'l relations I can always apply to Georgetown's SFS for grad school. To be honest though the complete isolation (from what I have read) of Dartmouth in blizzard cold winters doesn't sound enticing. </p>
<p>I guess I want to get suggestions, insights, points I may have missed, into what path I should take or what you would do?</p>
<p>Two reasons to go with Georgetown:</p>
<p>1) If you like Georgetown’s campus, you’re probably going to hate Dartmouth’s, which is very, very different.
2) IR is an absolutely useless major unless you’re coming out of one of the big name schools for it (by which I mean Georgetown or Tufts).</p>
<p>I’ll also add that Georgetown is in DC, which makes government internships a lot easier to find. I know the State Department offers some for undergraduates interested in IR. That alone would be a big plus for me.</p>
<p>GEORGETOWN…i got into Gtown SFS (though I’ll be turning it down for either McGill or Oxford) BUT its got the name and some of the best credibility in the IR world. plus internship opportunities are PERFECT and it has an outstanding faculty</p>
<p>I agree with agc’s first point. If you really like the vibe you get from DC then that might be the place for you. I grew up near hanover and its a great town but its small. I know a few people who go there and love it but if you are looking for a big city feel you might hate it! I would say pick the location that will make you the happiest, they are both good schools.</p>
<p>for IR your top two choices would have to be between gtown SFS and tufts
seeing as you’ve already ruled out tufts =(, georgetown is an OBVIOUS choice.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the posts guys. I decided on Dartmouth because of its liberal arts like education and because overall it is slightly stronger than Georgetown. I was too afraid that if I, for some reason decided not to do IR, Dartmouth would have been the better choice. I hope I don’t miss the Jesuit/urban feel of Gtown when I’m freezing in Hanover haha. The main reason I would have to say I chose Dartmouth is because if I do decide to study IR I always have the opportunity to do my masters at Gtown (if I get in eek) while Dmouth really is an undergrad school.</p>
<p>Georgetown is the easy winner here, you can’t beat DC availability.</p>