<p>i just started looking into columbia. Do they not have majors, only areas of study? how does that work? also, do they not have an area of study for internatinal affaiars? its hard to believe they have a grad school but not an undergrad program for it</p>
<p>No, they do have majors. Sounds like you want to look at the Political Science Department. Most of the School of International Relations courses are open to upperclassmen.</p>
<p>so they dont have a specific internatioal relatiosn major? ...meaning i woul dhave to major in poli sci? hmmm</p>
<p>no, you would major in econ-poli sci which is international relations.</p>
<p>could you explain that a little bit =)</p>
<p>if i want to focus on the international aspect as opposed to government theory would that work? im also not sure if i want economics as much as i want a diplomacy type course. they have a great grad school so im assuming theres good classes, i just dont get how an econ-polisci major would be that useful for what i want</p>
<p>You can just major in polisci and then take whatever electives you want to take. The major requirements are pretty small in CC, so you have lots of leeway for your electives.</p>
<p>hmm sounds ok...do you guys think it would hurt when applying for grad school or a job to have my major as poli sci? just checking >_></p>
<p>no, i dont think that word hurt. Columbia has a great program in IR and a law school known for its international focus. As an undergrad, you can and should take courses at those schools. The requirements for econ-poli sci are limited, and you would therefore choose electives based on your interest. IR incorporates an aspect of "political economy" and economics, and that is why you would be an econ-poli sci major at columbia. There coursebook affirms this.</p>
<p>Undergrads don't take law school classes. They'd get slaughtered.</p>
<p>alright that sounds good. i will be looking at the coursebook, this question just came up. thanks =) now the hard part - getting in. :</p>
<p>If you're interested in International Relations you should major in Political Science. As a Poli Sci major you need to focus on one area: American Politics, Political Theory, Comparative Politics, or International Relations.</p>
<p>oh so you can focus on IR in the polisci major? im just trying to compare this system to georgetown or brown where you would major in IR. guess it comes out mostly the same it sound</p>
<p>Yeah you can focus on IR in the poli sci major and indeed many do. That said, the focus isn't as strong (I don't think) as it would be at other schools. That isn't to say that the IR dept is weak, but you're only required to take 9 points of the "focus" group and 6 points of the others, so really you're talking about a focus of one more class than other fields at minimum.</p>
<p>alright well my cousin is an alum and lives nearby so im gonna be checking campus out over summer. program overall sounds good to me...im planning on going to grad school so i dont need to be 100% IR undergrad, as long as i can learn important things overall</p>
<p>I think that the Economics-Political Science is the best combination for IR-interested people, because economics is so important in diplomacy anyways...it sounds bad, but basically all of international relations do revolve around money. or resource-partitioning at least. and...New York City! United Nations Headquarters! Various international organization headquarters! = internships or at least exposure, especially b/c columbia doesn't schedule classes on friday. I don't think other colleges can beat that.
Also, you can look into regional studies, where you can focus on a certain area of the world if you are interested as your concentration. the School of International and Public Affairs is a great school for those looking to go into diplomacy and they have some classes open to undergraduates.</p>
<p>awesome...sounds like a good deal to me. im gonna be visiting this summer as i said above to see if i like the campus. any of you guys have anytihign to note aobut it? likes/dislikes etc?</p>
<p>The Columbia campus is pretty cool - you are walking through New York City buildings and you go through the Columbia gates and suddenly the whole cityscape opens up and there's a great campus right in front of you. The weather was brutal when I was there, very cold and very wet.</p>
<p>I'm a Poli Sci major and my concentration is IR so I guess this question would be somewhat pertinent to what I'm studying. :) </p>
<p>First, yes, Econ-Poli Sci is great but realistically the major requirements are so tough that you should be definitely sure before pursuing this field.</p>
<p>Second, regarding the 9 point field requirement... this is disregarding the two seminar requirements that delve into the concentration. As a sidenote, you're required to concentrate in either American Pol, Comparative Pol, IR or Pol. Theory... so considering this and the fact that you need a couple electives, you'll definitely take more than 3 courses in International Relations.</p>
<p>In addition, the perks of being at Columbia includes a lot of research institutions that attract an amazing array of guest speakers. The Weatherhead East Asian Institue, the Earth Institute are two of the many research institutes on campus and even though they are geared towards the graduate schools, undergrads can benefit greatly from attending guest speaker lectures and just having access to them.</p>
<p>Any other q's I'd be glad to answer!</p>
<p>"In addition, the perks of being at Columbia"</p>
<p>On another thread, didn't you say you go to Barnard?</p>
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"In addition, the perks of being at Columbia"
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<p>On another thread, didn't you say you go to Barnard?
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<p>Hence why they like to innocently say 'the best of both worlds.'</p>