<p>I am looking to pursue a career in International Relations. I was accepted into all of these schools. Which one would you choose, for quality of education, social life, and connections.</p>
<p>Georgetown SFS
Johns Hopkins
WUSTL</p>
<p>Thoughts? Opinions? Pretend money is not an option. :)</p>
<p>Georgetown.</p>
<p>Georgetown SFS, for all the reasons you stated above.</p>
<p>@ kwu</p>
<p>Everyone at my school says I should go to Johns Hopkins for the same reasons. I haven't visited the campuses but I will go in April.</p>
<p>Georgetown. And how about Tufts? Tufts has pretty good international relations programs.</p>
<p>I was going to apply to Tufts but the deadline had passed. And I had some reservations about going to Boston.</p>
<p>georgetown hands down.
its great for IR</p>
<p>I am no expert in IR but I am curious what makes Georgetown "hands down"?</p>
<p>According to wikipedia, IR "is often considered a branch of political science" and
"draws upon such diverse fields as economics, history, law, philosophy, geography, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and cultural studies."</p>
<p>The interesting thing is that Georgetown has NO top-10 or even top-20 programs in any of those fields (not even political science) except law. On the other hand, you can't beat its location.</p>
<p>I seriously think JHU is superior to Georgetown in all the areas that you stated, though my opinion is entirely based on anecdotal experiences.</p>
<p>If you seriously want to pursue a career in this field, and you want to get a head start on a professional degree, then JHU. They offer joint 3/2</a> BA/MA programs with the JHU School of Advanced International Studies in DC and with Sciences Po in Paris, which are both very highly regarded programs. I don't know of any other IR programs in the US that routinely place students in top professional schools after just three years of undergraduate study.</p>
<p>If you want a regular 4-year undergraduate IR degree, then both JHU and Georgetown have very strong reputations.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The interesting thing is that Georgetown has NO top-10 or even top-20 programs in any of those fields (not even political science) except law.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Georgetown's Walsh School of Foreign Service is one of the top programs of its kind in the US. However, so is the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (which is in DC, unlike most JHU schools, which are in Baltimore).</p>
<p>Edmund</a> A. Walsh School of Foreign Service - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
<p>Hm, perhaps it's lengthily list of distinguished alumni.</p>
<p>I've never heard of Johns Hopkins' IR program, but I've had more than my fill of Georgetown, given my academic and cultural background. Its prestige and my ignorance.</p>
<p>Everyone has different standards, experiences, and prejudices.
My own compel me to recommend SFS without reservation.</p>
<p>I am a current SFS freshman and highly recommend the program. If you know you want IR it is very hard to beat. The GE curriculum is unique and the major options are unparalleled. Most places offer an fairly standard IR degree. At Georgetown you meet a lot of those basic requirements within your first two years as your GE's (4 semesters of Econ, 2 semesters of Political Philosophy, 2 semesters of English, Foreign Language, 2 semesters of Theology, Comparative Political Systems, Intro to IR, your SFS only proseminar, Map of the modern World, One world history class, then two semesters of regional history). Past that there is very wide range areas you can focus on. There are 6 majors in the SFS: International Politics (with a long list of focuses like Security Studies), International History, International Law, International Political Economy, Regional Comparative Studies, Culture and Politics, and Science Technology and International Affairs. Along with each major there are certificates (which are about a step above a minor and step below a major) in regions and issues. For example, I think I'm going to be a Regional/Comparative Study Major in the Islamic World with a certificate in International Development. It would be hard to find this kind of breadth of classes anywhere else. I also have been very impressed by underclassman exposure to simply incredible people. Madeline Albright lectured one my classes, the former President of Spain stopped by to talk about the economy in one of my Spanish classes, my Arab-Israeli conflict class was taught by Dennis Ross (currently part of the Obama Administration as a special advisor on Israel) where we were able to video conference directly with al-Gaddafi, current leader of Libya, "former" terrorist. John Kerry stops by for Mass all the time and Tony Lake teaches freshman. The location is also amazing for internships and the study abroad programs are fantastic. I'm going to Egypt this summer for two months and currently working at International Justice Mission. Johns Hopkins is a fantastic school as well for IR. I don't know as much about it and I'm not sure about WUSTL, but I am very happy with my choice.</p>
<p>Corbett,</p>
<p>What I meant was it's interesting that GT is "hands down" in IR but it has no top-10 or top-20 programs in any of the fields that IR is supposed to draw upon. But as hec2008 described, GT has invested tons of resources to give unparalleled breadth and options.</p>
<p>I agree that JHU is superior academically, but the OP wanted our pick in other areas as well, including social life - and from what I've heard, JHU is quite a joke socially.</p>
<p>Georgetown SFS is number one in the world according to the Carnegie Endowment's Journal "Foreign Policy." That about as hands down as it gets. JHU was in second place for masters prgrams in the field in the survey.</p>
<p>Also, you cannot discount the gravitas that comes from Georgetown SFS having three current Heads of State, the President of the European Commission and a past US President as alumni. These people being impressed with a school are far more important than any survey of academnicians.</p>
<p>Academically, I think Georgetown holds the edge, but SAIS is pretty highly regarded so I think the difference is negligible.</p>
<p>Prestige wise, Georgetown wins. I got accepted, so I'm a little biased, but I will admit that outside of SFS, Johns Hopkins probably has mostly better programs, esp. in Math and Science. Regardless, Georgetown has retained an almost Ivy-like allure.</p>
<p>Socially, I really don't know anything, as I'm not enrolled yet, but I hear Georgetown's social life is fantastic!</p>
<p>Wait a second, how could you have been accepted to all of them already?!?</p>
<p>I know Georgetown has EA, but Johns Hopkins and WUSTL are both ED, how is this possible?</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins. More prestige, better ranked school, quality of education unmatched, and 5 year BA/MS masters program with JHU SAIS in DC... </p>
<p>The former NY Federal reserve President and current US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is a '85 SAIS grad. Former CEO of Goldman Sachs/former treasury secretary Hank Paulson is recently joined as a SAIS faculty member and is working with one of the most well known academic political scientist in the US, Francis F ukuyama of SAIS after Geitner put in a good word about it.</p>
<p>SAIS is a graduate school. Thus, it's irrelevant to this conversation. Go to SFS for undergrad. If you really feel the need for a master's in the field then strongly consider SAIS. </p>
<p>For a truly great undergraduate experience, it's Georgetown all the way. It's got the academics, the social life (parties, clubs, intramurals, no exclusive fraternities), a world-class city, internship opportunities, fewer ritalin popping, hyper-competitive pre-meds, division 1 sports (though Hopkins does have a great Lacrosse team), superior on-campus recruiting for internships and full-time employment (see attached link), dedicated alumni networks....Georgetown SFS for undergrad #1, jHU #2, WUSTL a distant #3.</p>