<p>I was wondering how the international studies program at Middlebury compares to those at schools in Washington D.C., such as George Washington and American U. And what is the difference between the international studies and international politics and economics major?</p>
<p>If you are worried about internship opportunities, you would have summer and J-term at Middlebury to do those and the overall quality of the school is probably better than GW and certainly American. The political science, economics and language departments are all wonderful. International studies allows you to combine the focus on a region and specializing in a language with non-political science disciplines such as literature, art history and anthropology. I don’t think it officially includes environmental science as a disciplinary specialization but there is a probably a way to combine those too. I P and E, I think, is the more typical international relations curriculum.</p>
<p>it’s all in here : [International</a> Politics & Economics | Middlebury](<a href=“International Politics and Economics | Middlebury College”>International Politics and Economics | Middlebury College)
It’s definitely among the college’s best programs and one of the best in US, that’s for sure…
I know MiddKids that dropped the Ivies and other elite colleges to be in this particular program… Best of luck</p>
<p>bump…</p>
<p>(almost a week bump, sorry)
This is highly speculative seeing I’m a student only at Middlebury but compared to the two other schools you have mentioned, Middlebury performs and places graduates quite well as evinced by Wall Street top feeder school rankings, etc. </p>
<p>However, in terms of comparing the international studies programs, that may be irrelevant but I think it puts everything into perspective because when you are trying to find an internship or a job at an NGO, your specific transcript and the name of the school you’ve attended will be important. So, (as I’ve mentioned, this is all assumptions) Middlebury will be your best route; besides, Monterey Institute of International Studies is affiliated with Middlebury and sometimes during J-terms, students are allowed to take courses there, space permitting.</p>
<p>As for your second question…if you look at the major requirements for International Studies and IPE, you can easily see International Studies majors choose a specific focus (specialization) that include a region as well, meaning you develop a great depth of knowledge. On the other hand, IPE students combine political science (political science also has different foci and IPE majors will focus on international politics) and economics (macroeconomics, focusing on the workings of the world economy rather than on the individual-focused microeconomics). </p>
<p>There are a lot of International Studies majors at this school–it provides flexibility in terms of the areas of study you are interested in (art history, history, political science, geography, economics, etc) and the region you are interested in (africa, asia, etc). It also offers depth and with its wide array of requirements, it is a big major.</p>
<p>When I first researched Middlebury, I thought the major sounded very interesting. You will see a number of first-years saying “IPE” during orientation but I have yet to meet an upperclassmen who is majoring in IPE. IPE-because it focuses on both politics and economics but only one side of it (the international aspect)-should not be compared to double majoring economics and political science. IPE is, I guess, somewhat of an offspring of the IS major but less depth and less attachment to a specific region.</p>
<p>Of course, your future career goals will be what determines which major to choose. Even if you are set on finding a job on the international “scene,” majoring in either IPE or IS is not a requirement. Plenty of Political Science, Economics, etc majors play an active role in the international world…I highly doubt many of the specialists in the UN or the World Bank majored in International Studies (many of the larger organizations will be using specialized departments with specialists). However, with international studies major programs, you will be able to work at your specific region and it is a career and future worth following. Although I am neither of those majors (I find IPE to shallow and I cannot decide on a region for IS…if only I could choose all of them!), I think you cannot go wrong with either of those two majors. </p>
<p>Oh, also…you said “schools in DC” but didn’t mention Georgetown so I didn’t talk about that school before but if you are also considering between Georgetown and Middlebury, in terms of “name recognition” and internship opportunities (Middlebury is a small school while Georgetown is a largescale university with lots of “connections”), Georgetown will be a better fit. But, I truly believe Middlebury’s emphasis and love for understanding cultures are refreshing.</p>
<p>Good luck in choosing!</p>