<p>so heres the deal, i just got my offers for IR from :</p>
<p>George Washington elliot school
Syracuse- Maxwell School
NYU- Graduate school of arts and sciences</p>
<p>I know their all respectable unis and elliot and maxwell have a very good program and Elliots location helps, but there is no ranking system i could find to let me know which ones considered the most reputable program overall. Can anyone please help? Which would you rate your top option and why?</p>
<p>Im still waiting for georgetown/johns hopkins and American!</p>
<p>i’d follow the money…however, in my head this is how i’d rank the IR programs you listed in regards to prestige:
-SAIS
-Georgetown
-GWU
-American
-Syracuse</p>
<p>Not sure where NYU fits in for masters programs…but probably somewhere right above or below GWU. </p>
<p>regardless, it is in my opinion that someone shouldn’t go to a university just because other people “oooo” at it…it’s more important that YOU fit the environment, research interests of faculty, type of uni (private vs public…big classes vs smaller classes, etc). </p>
<p>A friend of mine decided to join me at UCLA exclusively because of the prestige, and now is kicking herself because she hates large classes, she doesn’t like impersonal faculty, and prefers to be in a more nurturing environment…she didn’t do her research, and it’s too late now for her to transfer…</p>
<p>me, however, in my undergrad i was accepted to berkeley, GWU, UPenn, and various CS’s and i chose UCLA in the end BECAUSE it fit ME better and it was easier to fund since i’m a california resident. Anyway…just a few words of wisdom that you can take or leave :PPP</p>
<p>Seriously, go where you’re most comfortable with. You want to be happy in grad school and in order to be a happy student, you’ve got to be happy with the way the program works and with the place you’ll be living in. If you don’t like NYC’s craziness, you may be happier at Syracuse. But if you’re a political junkie, you might just want go to GW.</p>
<p>I’d say it depends on your academic interests. Look for the academic program that is best suited for what you want to study. Then look at the financial aid package.</p>