<p>I got accepted to UVA and Georgetown, and I am not sure what to do. Can you help me? </p>
<p>Although I've already read so many discussions and engaged in numerous conversations about UVA and Georgetown, I am yet unable to decide on anything. I am planning to pursue international studies/relations, and I know that Georgetown has one of the best and the most famous programs for that (Walsh-SFS). In addition, Georgetown has - what everyone calls - a "better name" than UVA and is more widely known. I know I shouldn't be counting on this "better name" business, but nevertheless, some say that having a better name on resume would look more attractive when I look for jobs in the future. What adds more to this argument is that I am planning to move back to my country some time or other, where Georgetown is very well known and respected (whereas UVA is never heard of). Georgetown's location also seems to be advantageous over UVA in providing internship opportunities and a much closer connection to Washington, DC. </p>
<p>However, even with all this, I still can't decide where I should go. I live in Virginia (in fact, thirty minutes away from Georgetown) and the cost is going to be much cheaper if I go to UVA. People tell me that it would be financially sensible to go to UVA, since I can save money during undergraduate years for graduate schools. Indeed, I have to pay about $10,000-20,000 more for Georgetown, and I am beginning to wonder if going to Georgetown would be in the end worth all that money. I know that UVA also has a good/popular foreign affairs program, and a lot of my friends are going to go there. Its campus also looks better to me, although I tend to be more of a city person. Besides, UVA is after all one of top public schools in the country. </p>
<p>There are only few days before I have to make my final decision. My dad wants me to go to UVA, while my mom wants me to go to Georgetown. I feel so desperate. What should I do? Any advice?</p>
<p>if you put it down to reputation alone, the sfs is unparalleled. however, this should not be the main consideration. if you truly believe you'll have a better more fulfilling experience at georgetown and your parents can afford it then absolutely go there. virginia, while exceptionally well renowned, does not have the reputation of the sfs, particularly internationally which seems important to you. if you think you'll have a better time at virginia then you should go for it, for there is more to college than just name recognition for the future. if you think about future job applications, you will have grown more as a person and will be thus more attractive to employers if you've gone to a place you like more, aside from prestige.</p>
<p>It sounds like your decision is made up all ready...you're just holding on to UVA because of its overall convenience. We all have to grow up sometime. Sometimes just because something is convenient doesn't mean it's really what's best for you.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your replies!!!! I had nightmares about not receiving any response. </p>
<p>Now, this is getting messier than I wanted it to be, especially with deadline coming up....but my dad is starting to think that University of Chicago may be better. He thinks that Georgetown Grad School will provide greater opportunity than Georgetown Undergrad does and I shouldn't be concerning myself with undergraduate studies so much. Meanwhile, an overwhelming people tell me to go to Georgetown, while teachers tell me to go where I am most comfortable with. With influences coming from everywhere, I feel like I am going to collapse at any moment. </p>
<p>The question I am trying to answer is: if money is not an issue, why would I choose Georgetown over UVA? or UVA over Georgetown for that matter? (the question itself might change since University of Chicago is now put into the spotlight also)</p>
<p>Hopefully I can answer it easily by the end of this week!</p>
<p>Well, my final choice came down to Georgetown, UChicago, and UVa in-state. I opted to go to Georgetown because of location and because SFS is awesome. Chicago doesn't have IR per se undergrad, but has an excellent IR grad program-plus I didn't want to deal with Chicago's weighty core requirements when the SFS core was actually classes that I wanted to take. As for Virginia, I'm from there and wanted college to be a totally different experience than my previous 18 years and I wasn't into the Greet scene or the size of the school.</p>
<p>University of Chicago is very cut throat. Just walking around there you can feel the tension. If the only reason you're considering UoC is because your dad is suddenly bringing it up then...well...really...
As for grad school, I'd say that Gtown BSFS is better than MSFS. You get about the same opportunities but I feel like the BSFS students have a greater sense of community and involvement with the campus than the MSFS students do. I feel like MSFS students just come here to go to school...it's a very weird and distant feeling.
Like I said before, sounds like you're just holding on to UVa for the convenience. You've got to take risks sometime...better now than never.</p>
<p>All I have to say is that the current US ambassadors to Great Britain, Austria, Romania, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Djibouti, and Sri Lanka are all UVa grads. Pretty good for a "lesser name" school.</p>
<p>President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo - SFS Undergrad, 1968
President Bill Clinton - SFS Undergrad, 1968
Frank Lavin, SFS Undergrad - Ambassador to Singapore
George Tenet, Former Director of the CIA - SFS Undergrad
Ambassador to the Ukraine - SFS Undergrad
Richard Durbin - US Senate - IL - SFS Undergrad
Luis Fortuno - Rep to Puerto Rico - SFS Undergrad
James Farley, V-Chair to Citigroup - SFS Undergrad
Linda Gradstein, NPR Correspondent - SFS Undergrad</p>
<p>Crown Prince of Asturias, Felipe de Bourbon - SFS Grad</p>
<p>And as for your UVa comparison, not so good.</p>
<p>Ambassador to Djibouti - AU Undergrad, UVa Grad</p>
<p>Ambassador to the UK - NO CURRENT AMBASSADOR
Charges d'affaires graduated from Emory</p>
<p>No current ambassador from the US to Romania
Charges d'affaires graduated from Carnegie Mellon/University of Chicago</p>
<p>Ambassador to Turkey - Edelman
Graduated undergrad from Cornell, Ph.D. from Yale</p>
<p>Ambassador to Kazakhstan - Ordway
Stanford Undergrad, Hastings Law School</p>
<p>Ambassador to Sri Lanka - Lunstead
BA - Notre Dame, Ph.D - UPENN</p>
<p>Okay, I apologize for my lapse in ambassadorial positions since the election, but the current/recent ambassadors to the above named countries are UVa grads. Here is some info. on those you questioned:</p>
<p>William Farrish III
Ambassador to Great Britain</p>
<p>Also, here are some others who attended UVa:</p>
<p>Woodrow Wilson
Robert F. Kennedy
Ted Kennedy (senator, Massachusetts)
Robert Mueller (director, FBI)
John Snow (U.S. Treasury Secretary)
Javier Solanas (former secretary-general, NATO)
Evan Bayh (U.S. senator & former governor, Indiana)
John Warner & George Allen (U.S. senators, Virginia)
Christopher Bond (U.S. senator, Missouri)
Sheila Jackson Lee (U.S. congresswoman, Texas)
Janet Napolitano (governor, Arizona)
Marshall Sanford (governor & former senator, South Carolina)</p>
<p>My point in bringing this up is that in the government/international relations world, UVa is not as "unknown" as one thinks. Yes, Georgetown is more well-known by the very fact that it has an entire school dedicated to those disciplines.</p>