<p>My S2 is applying to college this fall. In some universities, he has to decide which college within the university he is applying to. In a couple of places that are high on his list, international relations majors form a separate college while political science is part of the arts & science college.</p>
<p>He is interested in both. He will join ROTC. His goal is to serve for min 10 years and then perhaps pursue a career in a public sector - politics, state department, intelligence community, legal, law enforcement, etc.</p>
<p>He could go either way (poli sci or IR). I would very much appreciate your input on how poli sci and IR compare. Pros and cons. compare and contrast. Any input will be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>This is not an easy question. If you are pretty confident that you’d be accepted to the more selective program from high school, I’d lean toward applying to it first. I think in general it’s easier to start off majoring in IR and switching to political science than vice versa. Just to give one example, at Tufts, the IR major requires 8 semesters of language study. If you decide languages aren’t for you it’s easy to switch, but it would be harder to play catch-up in the other direction.</p>
<p>That said, I really think it depends on the kids interests and strengths and perhaps the way the programs are structured at the particular college as to which major makes the most sense.</p>
<p>IR=much bigger foreign language requirement.</p>
<p>My son chose Political Science (concentrations in Public Policy and World Politics) for his undergraduate degree Major with a Minor in Sociology. He’s now in a Masters program for Political Science (IR Concentration) combined with a certificate program in Security Studies. His focus is in National Security and Counter-terrorism. </p>
<p>Research the requirements for both majors at the specific colleges that interest him. As mathmom mentioned, it really depends on how the programs are structured at the specific colleges he’s interested in attending. Usually, the IR program requires proficiency in a foreign language (both written and verbal).</p>
<p>I’m only aware of a couple of schools where IR is in a separate college. The most notable example is the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. If that’s one of the schools that he has in mind, then, assuming that he has reviewed the curriculum and it is what he wants, then I would say “go for it!” From what I’ve heard, the SFS offers many opportunities that are not available to regular poli sci majors.</p>
<p>I agree with the posters above that it depends upon the particular college and program involved. At my own alma mater, IR majors have to take a fair number of econ courses. Some poli sci majors can’t “hack” econ, which may require (depending on the college) a level of compentence in math than many poli sci majors don’ have.</p>
<p>S2 was also in the polisci vs. IR dilemma. The polisci majors wind up taking more courses directly in the major (and across more branches of it). IR emphasizes the multidisciplinary nature of the field. </p>
<p>At Tufts, you can be an IR major and focus on global health, or one can focus on strategic studies/terrorism. As other posters have mentioned, Tufts’ eight semester language proficiency requirement is nothing to sneeze at, especially if one is starting a new language in college. At Chicago, as you probably know, there is an International Studies major which tends to the social sciences/cultural side. S2 would have gone polisci at Chicago, not IS, because that’s where the courses are that he wants.</p>
<p>LACs will generally not have IR majors, so folks who are interested in IR would major in the primary subject that interests them and then take courses in other areas to support/round that out. For S2, he looked at LACs with strong polisci/gov’t/history departments. Other folks might look at econ/sociology/foreign languages.</p>
<p>Tufts only requires Econ 5 and an international econ course for IR majors, but S2 expects he’ll take some more beyond that. He might consider a second major in Econ – we’ll see how the math goes. He’s good in math, but doesn’t love it.</p>
<p>Georgetown SFS was the only place where S had to apply to a specific school (other than Arts & Science vs. Engineering).</p>
<p>I think you apply to the specific school at American as his accepted student events were geared to that. Another consideration is that at places like Georgetown it’s much easier to transfer out of SFS if it turns out not to be your cup of tea, than into it.</p>