<p>How is the program here? I’m a little put off that they don’t have many courses in these areas (especially compared to say Middlebury)</p>
<p>I’m seconding this question.</p>
<p>I’m currently a political science major at Amherst, and so far, I’m very impressed with it. The professors are great lecturers/discussion facillitators, and they show genuine interest in your academic success. Plus, some of the professors are really high-up in their field of study (ie: Austin Sarat: Capital Punishment; Kristin Bumiller: Prison Reform, etc).</p>
<p>It’s a fairly popular major for Amherst students, though, so class sizes will vary. I’ve had courses with as few as 15 students, up to 30, 40, and now upwards of 80 students. Upper-level seminars are capped at 15 students, generally, though, so you’ll still definitely have the opportunity to have the smaller class size experience. </p>
<p>International Studies is a bit more complicated. Amherst doesn’t specifically offer a degree in International Relations, which leaves you with a few options:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You may obtain a Five-College Certificate. I am not exactly sure of the logistics of this, but I know it isn’t a completely uncommon thing for students to do. There are a few extra steps required, though, that would be necessary for a standard Amherst major. </p></li>
<li><p>Major in Political Science with an emphasis in International Relations. IR is one of the Poly sci subdivisions offered, so if you take a large number of your poly sci courses with IR qualifications, then this shouldn’t be a problem. </p></li>
<li><p>Create your own major somehow related to International Studies. This gets a little more complicated, but it is one of the fairly novel things Amherst has to offer. In order to do this, you have to have a very specific idea of what you want your major to be called and be about. You have to have professors from a few different disciplines who would be interested in advising you on this, and along the way, you will be expected to prepare a proposal for your major idea. You will also have to do a thesis if you opt to create your own major. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I hope this helps!</p>
<p>thanks a lot. helped a lot</p>