I’m interested in majoring in IR in college, but I’ve seen some schools with “Government” as majors while some schools specifically have IR. I wonder if there’s a disadvantage with one or the other? I want to focus on East Asia.
I’m also wondering if LACs are good for IR? I’ve been looking at CMC (they’re very strong in IR) and Williams but compared to research universities (e.g. Ivies, Georgetown), they seem to have less faculty members? Are their career services good for getting competitive internships? I know CMC’s is.
Additionally, what should I be looking for when researching IR schools? Their faculty and experiences? The amount of papers they publish?
Research Us have more students than LACs, generally speaking. So 30 at a school with 10k undergrads is different from 15 at a school with 2k undergrads. Look at student/teacher ratios, size of classes for first and second year, size of grad schools (where profs also direct energy - maybe most of their energy).
IMO a career in IR can be launched from several majors, including Poli Sci and the relevant language(s).
If you consider the sites with discrection, you might find helpful information by searching “Best Small Colleges for a Political Science and International Relations Degree” and “20 Best Value Small Colleges for an Asian Studies Degree.”
Definitely look at Tufts (especially for East Asian studies concentration.) Dickinson and Connecticut College might interest you as well.
It sounds tedious, but for each school that interests you, look at the requirements for a degree in IR, government, political science, etc. You’ll see as tremendous range of structure from school to school, from ones that require an area concentration to ones that have a “core” to ones that are more buffet style. Pay careful attention to language departments and foreign study options.
There isn’t really a best format but what you may find is that you can accomplish what you’d like just as easily with a major in x, possibly a minor, and a wide range of electives.
IR tends to be interdisciplinary, so if you want to emphasize one thing over another, you may be better off majoring in that area and supplementing according to your interests.
Ultimately, if you want to do something with your degree, strong language proficiency will be extremely helpful, so I would research that.
“Government” (as a college department or major) generally is synonymous with “Political Science”; the two terms are more-or-less interchangeable. IR is a sub-field of Government/PS. Some colleges have a separate IR major, track, or even a entire “school” for something related to IR (e.g. Georgetown’s SFS or Tuft’s Fletcher School).
Others have no such separate major/school, yet may employ distinguished scholars of IR/diplomacy in their Government/PS departments).
There really isn’t one “right” way to approach it (through a generic Government/PS program or a specialized IR major/school). It really depends on what you want. Georgetown has a great location for internships and often hires distinguished former diplomats and such. However, it doesn’t (IMO) necessarily cover the same breadth/depth in Government/PS scholarship as Columbia or UChicago does. Maybe Princeton or Harvard would give you the best of both (cutting-edge scholarship and leading practitioners too), but you may not have a final choice of schools that selective.
LACs, in general, will have fewer professors, more limited course offerings, and also may be located in rural areas that don’t have many internship opportunities nearby. On the other hand, in some cases (for some students) their advantages might more than compensate for those limitations. Many of them have very good government/PS departments and also offer more personal attention (with, perhaps, better mentoring and even research opportunities) than you’d get at some universities.
If you want to focus on East Asia, you’d do well to develop proficiency in Chinese/Japanese/Korean. All those languages are hard. IMO it usually is not practical for an undergrad to become proficient in more than one (unless you’re already a heritage speaker). Look for colleges that offer a full 4 years of elementary-advanced courses in the one that interests you. Some LACs will; many won’t. But the ones that do (e.g. Middlebury) may be at least as good in that area as a leading research uni.
My D21 is also interested in IR— schools we have been pointed to include: Tufts, Macalester, Bryn Mawr, Georgetown, University of Washington. A huge range with different pros/cons. UW almost certainly has good East Asian languages and culture courses (but no first hand knowledge here.)
^in general, universities with graduate programs in languages will offer more languages and at a higher level than LACs. This often doesn’t matter but for someone who has proficiency already, it can be frustrating to find that there are no courses available after a year or so. This is more common with the less common languages than French or Spanish. Some schools will bring in someone for 1 or 2 students (Stanford) but many cannot be so accommodating.
Thanks for all the help! I’ll definitely consider all of this That being said, is PoliSci a better major or IR? I want to concentrate on East Asia. I’ve noticed that LACs are usually in the rural areas, especially for Williams and CMC (two schools I really like). Is the mentorship and attention provided by professors worth it or do the internship opportunities matter more? Do year-round internships matter more, I think that would make going to school in the east coast/DC a very attractive option.
The curriculum of a basic government major will – depending on course choice – often provide a grounding in international relations. You may not need to make a definitive distinction along these lines, particularly at this stage.
@wordgenius , take a look at the International Relations program page on the Tufts website to get an idea of the various directions your study can take and the courses involved in each. An IR major with a concentration in East Asia is one possibility.
For IR with an emphasis on East Asia, I suspect that National Universities offer better opportunities than LACs.
If truly interested in IR, then Georgetown, JHU, UW-Seattle & Tufts should be considered. CMC has a stellar reputation in this field, but be sure to examine course offerings at all schools under consideration as some may lean toward government service while others prepare one well for work in multi-national corporations. Economics or policy focus ? Are adequate language courses available and offered on a regular basis ? Internship placements should be examined as well.
I would avoid schools which do not offer an IR major as your career goals / area of study appear to be quite specific. You might be disappointed with a typical poly science or government major.
P.S. Consider the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
For a school that would be good for the general area of international studies (they call their program Global Studies), but somewhat easier to get into than some of the colleges mentioned so far, look into the University of Richmond.
I’m wondering why Tufts is recommended to me–from what I understand, they have a strong graduate school for IR/Polisci (I’m still in high school, not an undergraduate student).
Additionally, how important is location? I know summer internships are important but for IR, are year-round internships or jobs even better? (That would make Georgetown and JHU very good choices).
That being said, is PoliSci a better major or IR? I want to concentrate on East Asia. I’ve noticed that LACs are usually in the rural areas, especially for Williams and CMC (two schools I really like). Is the mentorship and attention provided by professors worth it or do the internship opportunities matter more? Do year-round internships matter more, I think that would make going to school in the east coast/DC a very attractive option.