<p>Kind-of odd choice, I know. They are very different schools, but I love them both. To sum it up; I love sports/school spirit of MSU. I visited there already, and loved the campus/people. Plus its relatively near chicago where my relatives are. But is the big city and D.C. internship possibilities too tempting to pass up? I'm majoring in international affairs so no doubt GW would be great for that. Plus, all the stuff to do in D.C....and its fairly warm there. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>gw would be a lot better for International affairs. It is a top ten IR school.</p>
<p>the opportunity you will be getting at GW. is the best there is
and for the IR program GW will kill michigan.</p>
<p>That is true, as far as acclaim goes for international relations programs. But then I visited Michigan state and they have the james madison residential college, a college specifically dedicated to public policy/international relations. It's definitely an underrated program that few people know about outside of michigan, and from what I've seen has terrific placement in grad. schools/government jobs/etc. See, it seems I know where my heart lies...Msu. But I can be easily swayed with enough fin. aid, and I love gw for many other different reasons (and of course the internships can't be beat at GW)</p>
<p>Actually, fa-la-la-lena, James Madison has been cited for excellence in the current USN&WR "Best Colleges" issue, and has been for the past 5-6 years. It was also singled out, among about 9-10 programs nationally in the Time Mag-Princeton issue a number of years ago. It's pretty well known, at least by academic people and grad schools, outside of Michigan for its unique LAC-type academic quality. Lyman Briggs has a similar reputation, but JMC is better known for some reason, perhaps because it's been a "college" since the beginning and Briggs only reverted to college status after being a "program" with the College of Natural Science for a number of years.</p>
<p>On balance, I'd choose MSU/JMC over GW, a good but very expensive school. Obviously simply being in Washington, D.C. greatly enhances any IR program, but MSU has super quality resources and a surprisingly diverse, international experience, despite being a state school. And the campus life is much better than GW's which really doesn't have a true campus in the traditional sense, just a lot of urban buildings on street corners.</p>
<p>I guess my perceptions of the two campuses are different from Quincy's. I live about 1/2 hour from MSU, attended there as a freshman, and D's BF is a student there now. I've visited GW 3 times. IMO, GW's campus IS a "true" campus, albeit a very urban one. MSU's campus is gorgeous, bucolic, and incredibly spread out. It's one type of campus (midwestern, Big Ten) and GW is another, but I think each offers a true campus experience in its own way. I remember having 20 minutes to hike from Case Hall (where James Madison is) to my next class at the opposite end of campus, and I can tell you I wouldn't have minded the more compact campus one bit! ;-)</p>
<p>Knitmom, it's a matter of perception and, certainly, I respect your opinion as one who actually attended MSU... But really, I can't think of anywhere I've ever seen GW as one of the most beautiful campuses in the country while many, many people feel that way about MSU... If you want convenience, that's one thing, but even that's kind of irrelevant here since, James Madison College, the program we're talking about, his housed (classrooms, offices, dorm rooms, library and cafeteria) in one building ... Case Hall, where one takes 1/2 or more of his/her classes. So the long trek you talk about isn't really so much an issue.</p>
<p>I clearly acknowledged the obvious advantages of GW's IR program being in the political/international capital of this country. But other than the smaller size of GW's campus and the fact it's in exciting Washington, D.C. (both major advantages), I'd find it very hard to believe anyone would consider GW more "traditional" than MSU. There's one small green spot on GW, otherwise it's a lot of faceless buildings, many dorms being apartment houses bought and converted by GW... as opposed to the natural beauty and dominant Ivy-covered, Collegiate Gothic, lawn/garden North Campus of MSU -- GW has nothing that even comes light years close to that.</p>
<p>My god. I can't believe I got absolutely no need-based financial aid. My parents make 75K a year, and after a 15K scholarship I am still expected to pay over half of their salary, 40K for tuition each year? nm, this makes Michigan State the clear, best choice for me. I was really looking forward to possibly coming to GW, but I'll just find an internship or visit in D.C. sometime instead!</p>