<p>I'm a prospective international relations/affairs major and I would like to get more info about the Elliott School. Also, how supportive is GW financially with sending students abroad? </p>
<p>I was also accepted to the USC and Swarthmore College. I realize that all three schools are very different but if anyone could give me insight as to pros/cons of each, that would be great! I received approximately the same financial aid at all three, although Swarthmore has offered to give the most so far and without loans.</p>
<p>Well, GW is ranked higher than both of those schools in terms of their International Affairs program (gw is 7th). GW is in DC, so that leads good options for internships and other resources (four blocks from the whitehouse). GW is a relatively large private university, and relatively expensive (okay, extremely expensive). For study abroad, you pay the university and they handle the rest (from what i’ve heard).</p>
<p>I don’t know if you mean University of South Carolina or University of South California… so i’ll skip that.</p>
<p>Swarthmore is a terrific liberal arts school in Pennsylvania (10 minute drive from my house :D). Its international relations program is apparently very good too, though it is not ranked as highly as GW. Now with location, its in Delaware County, Pennsylvania… And a resident of this area, i can easily tell you that there is really no political craziness in our area! So the best you’ll get is an internship at the local Wawa (yumm :D)</p>
<p>I stand corrected. Apparently there is some political craziness in our area. Thinking about it, that actually makes sense now. 
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<p>But I think there might be a few more corrupt politicians in Washington DC than Pennsylvania DC :P</p>
<p>Assuming dollars are not an issue, go with Swarthmore, which is by far the most prestigious school on your list. Forget about the rankings of “int’l relations” schools." Most of the graduates of all but the very best of these schools (ie Princeton) do not make it into the State Department or the CIA after undergrad and end up in law school or graduate school in the same field. </p>
<p>Several of my friends went to good, but not great “int’l relatons” schools (like GW and American) and lived and breathed foreign policy before and during their undergrad school years. Not one made it into the State Department or the CIA. The State Department and CIA want super bright students who write well, think critically, and speak several languages fluently. SWAT helps there too. State/CIA do not go around ranking the undergrad int’l relations" school attended or frankly even care if you attended one if you meet their other qualifications and do well on their placement exams (neither is a foreign affairs test and graduates of stong liberal arts programs with good writign and critical thinking skills will typically do better than students from the int’l relations programs.</p>
<p>tough to beat a top 5 LAC…i’d go to swarth. unless for some reason you’d hate the isolated/small college atmosphere and <em>need</em> to be in a city. but if that was the case i doubt you would have applied in the first place.</p>
<p>@muckdogs, it’s generally understood that if you want to pursue a career in anything foreign policy-related, you’ll be getting your master’s first. Most positions at the State Dept are not open to IR grads without advanced degrees, no matter where they went to school. A BA in international relations by itself is a relatively useless degree.</p>
<p>Wow thanks everyone for all of these opinions. I really am conflicted, but I’ll put all these things into consideration as I make my decision.</p>
<p>I do know that all schools are pretty strong in IR. If I choose to go to Swat I would be majoring in Political Science which is the closest major to IR available.</p>
<p>CollegiateBlog, I appreciate the input from a current Swattie. I’ll be visiting for Ride the Tide later this month and I intend to speak with as many professors as I can and perhaps even the department that handles study abroad and summer research grants.</p>
<p>Muckdogs, I really do value your opinion and you seem very knowledgable about IR degrees at other schools. </p>
<p>GWAlum, thanks for your opinion. I did like Swats location being 10 minutes from Philly but I’m not really going choose a school only for the prestige but also for the all-around great college experience. </p>
<p>Seems like the consensus here is Swat (no one really mentioned the University of Southern California) but I’ll still need to do a lot more thinking.</p>