<p>Hi everyone, I'm an international prospective student from Paris, France. I'm currently working on my college applications and I have to choose 2 universities among these 3 :</p>
<p>Brown
UPenn
Duke</p>
<p>Which of these are the best for studying International Relations ?</p>
<p>Duke has the highest ranking graduate-level program in International Politics out of the 3 schools you’ve mentioned. It also has the most highly regarded school of public policy.</p>
<p>Having said that, it is important that you consider the quality of ‘fit’ while making your decision. Penn and Duke are quite similar culturally. Brown seems to be the ‘outlier’ in that regard. You are the only person who is in a position to determine which school appeals to your sensibilities. </p>
<p>I’m providing some useful links:</p>
<p><a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/international-politics-rankings”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/international-politics-rankings</a></p>
<p>Sanford School (Duke) - <a href=“http://sanford.duke.edu/”>http://sanford.duke.edu/</a>
Watson Institute (Brown) - <a href=“http://watson.brown.edu/”>http://watson.brown.edu/</a>
IR website (Penn) - <a href=“About | International Relations”>About | International Relations;
<p>Thanks for your helpful answer. I definitely understand how important it is to consider the quality of “fit” while applying somewhere. And among different factors, the quality of the education provided by the university matters a lot to me.
That said, you evocated a ranking for graduate-level, isn’t different from the undergraduate level or is it the same thing ?</p>
<p>Thanks for your links btw !
Could you please introduce quickly the culture of these universities and the differences between them ? It is really hard for me to find out about that only by reading the universities websites…</p>
<p>You asked for a quick answer so here’s a gross over-simplification: Penn is pre-pofessional, Brown is the quirky Ivy. As the previous poster suggested, Duke is more like Penn.</p>
<p>@gabefnt Undergraduate IR programs are not ranked by US News (to the best of my knowledge). However, the same faculty will usually teach both sets of students so there will be a certain amount of overlap between the quality of both sets of programs.
What are your goals post-college? That might give us some insight into which university may be best suited to helping you fulfill your aspirations.</p>
<p>I’d like to be able to work for a couple of years after I graduate, in an NGO, and International Organization or for a Government. Then, I will probably try to apply to a graduate school.</p>
<p>I’m looking for a university with a strong reputation all around the world in International Relations, with a lot of students organizations and traditions. Studying abroad during my undergraduate programe is also one of my main goals. I also intend to work during my time over there and therefore, living in an urban area would provide me more job offers than in a rural area.</p>
<p>CHD2013, what makes brown the quirky Ivy ?</p>
<p>Well you were looking for a short answer and that’s a really long one. Can I suggest you check out Brown’s forum on CC? There’s a lot of interesting opinions there.</p>
<p>Yeah sure ! I’m not particularly looking for a short answer though, but I’ll check out the forums !</p>
<p>“Inside the Ivory Tower” is ranking of the top international relations programs. Foreign Policy Magazine publishes their list of the top IR graduate programs, and you can find the undergrad rankings online. </p>
<p>The actual place number of the rankings tends to vary slightly year-to-year but consistently these are the universities with the 10 ten undergrad (and IR grad) programs: Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia, Georgetown, Yale, University of Chicago, Dartmouth, George Washington, and American University. I know the London School of Economics and Political Science has a top-ranked graduate IR program, but I don’t know if they offer it at the undergrad level, and if so, if it’s as lauded. </p>
<p>Duke’s program was ranked #19 in 2012 and Brown’s was 20. Penn’s program didn’t make the list. </p>
<p>If you’re really passionate about IR I would strongly consider either going to school in London, which would be closer to home, or at one of the DC schools. It’s not a coincidence that three of the top 10 IR programs are located in DC. That location enables top political figures to guest lecture, and helps with scoring valuable internships that can lead to jobs. </p>