<p>I'm kinda confused about what I should do in this situation. Your help will be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I'm a Japanese major at Michigan State University and recently became very interested in International Relations. It is now my additional major. But I'm not sure what I should do in this situation.</p>
<p>Should I transfer to a school that has a better reputation and is more well known for international relations, or should I stay here and just try to get into a good grad school?</p>
<p>The reason I'm concerned about whether I should transfer is because I'm worried about how good my internship opportunities are here, but not so much my study abroad opportunities as MSU has the largest study abroad program in the U.S.</p>
<p>How much does second language acquisition come into play? While I'm a Japanese Major and they have a VERY good program here for it, I also want to minor in Korean and the program here just started and isn't nearly at the level that the Japanese one is at.</p>
<p>If I did transfer when would be the ideal time to do it? What schools should I look at? What factors should I concentrate on?</p>
<p>if you want an easy school to transfer to with good IR and better reputations than MSU, try for GWU, American, or Johns Hopkins...Georgetown SFS is probably the most prestigious IR program in the country, so it is appropriately the hardest to get into. i can't really evaluate where you would fit in best because you haven't posted any stats, etc., but i'd rank them as follows:</p>
<p>Georgetown SFS
GWU Elliot School of International Affairs
Johns Hopkins IR
American University IR</p>
<p>the time to transfer is either after your freshman or sophomore year. the better your high school record and SATs, etc, the sooner you'll want to transfer. i'm sorry this is all so vague, but if you post your specific info i can be more helpful.</p>
<p>GWU's Elliot and Hopkins and American's are the two schools I'll be applying to. I know I'll get rejected (again) from Hopkins, seeing as how that school is nearly impossible to get into.</p>
<p>i go to GWU and im actually looking to transfer out. if you are into IR, a city school with a very non-traditional campus, no school spirit, and a clubbing student body, this is the place for you.</p>
<p>I can do without the club-heads, but then again, it'll make me more competative since I'm the type that prefers to study in the library all day every day with a the occasional cigarette break. :)</p>
<p>Kenshinsan, I don't get why you keep posting about whether to transfer out of MSU. As Nike says: just do it! You obviously have some friend or relative, probably with a University of Michigan affiliation, that’s planting some ridiculous info about MSU’s alleged “bad reputation” so you want to leave. Not to sound harsh, but just leave. Why keep talking about it? Frankly, I have no idea why you're so hung up on the alleged poor reputation of a high quality school, recognized by many as having a great IR program, esp in James Madison (residential) college. But that's on you, no matter how misguided you may be..</p>
<p>As for Casey; he/she is just flat out wrong. Neither American nor George Washington have better reps than MSU. Hopkins and Georgetown, yes, but not GW or AU. No way. Any objective source would confirm me on this.</p>
<p>American may not have a better rep...its just in DC which would serve the OP well because of his/her interest in interning. </p>
<p>GWU is better. It's not nearly the best, but its a lot better than MSU. And, as you so boldly claimed Quincy, rest assured that "any objective source can confirm me on this."</p>
<p>MSU has a good International Relations program. Most schools also allow you to do an internship, while studying abroad, so if you couldnt get a good internship in or near East Lansing, you can do one studying abroad in Japan</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help. I'm pretty sure I could get into GWU and American, but I doubt I could get into Hopkins or Georgetown. </p>
<p>And how important is location when finding internships? Does being in DC help all that much?</p>
<p>How important is where you got your undergrad degree from in International Relations?</p>
<p>And Quincy while a lot of my friends do go to U of M, they have had no influence on my uncertainty about my school. While this school is great, and has many strong programs its overall reputation isn't appreciated as much as it should be, as you can see from the posters comments above. It nice here but for one reason or another it doesn't have that great of a reputation, maybe because while I know many people here that have passed up ivy league schools to go here there are some that I'm sure couldn't do community college work, and I wonder how they even got in.</p>
<p>The main reason that is keeping me here though, is the great friends I have made. That makes this school worthwhile.</p>
<p>If you're planning on going to grad school regardless, a transfer from MSU isn't really necessary, as you can go to grad school in DC, and do an internship in the summer. If your resume shows a BA from MSU and an MA from American, both look great. If it shows both a BA and MA from American it won't look much different.</p>