Hi guys!
I just found out that I’ve been accepted into Yale, Johns Hopkins, and Georgetown! I’m planning on majoring in Political Science but I’m also very interested in International Relations. The financial aid for all three schools is roughly the same but Georgetown is higher than the other two. Could you all give some pros and cons about these 3?? Thanks!!
I would say Georgetown all the way!! Their Political Science program is very good since its in the heart of DC. Lots of politicians and diplomats (Much more than Yale or JHU) give talks there. Seeing that you’re very interest in politics/Intl Relations, it perfect! It’s just an added bonus that you get more FA!
Rather than telling you what school is best for you without actually knowing you, I’d suggest you think about what is really important to you and which school would best further your ambitions. All three schools are incredible and you really can’t go wrong, so congrats!
Yale: a top 5 ivy league school will obviously get you to where you want to be, which is it’s major plus. It’s cons are that it’s not really well known for IR (I’m not sure about political science). For example, it’s IR school, Jackson Institute, isn’t even in the top 15 for IR schools. If I’m not mistaken, the Jackson School was funded by a $50 million dollar donation to the school, which is less than at JHU (can’t speak for Georgetown). For example, jhu’s IR school, SAIS, created the Kissinger Institute last year that alone was $50 million and that is just one of the research centers at the school. While Yale has immense resources, see it’s endowment, I’m not entirely convinced that it focuses on IR. Nonetheless, it’s Yale!
Georgetown: it’s known to be one of the great IR schools. I was between JHU and Georgetown and had a really hard to deciding. Ultimately, I wanted IR but with a stronger focus on quant skills, so I went with Hopkins. However, if you want to pursue careers in foreign policy, gtown is amazing and has so many impressive alums.
Jhu: I’m biased towards Hopkins as a current student, so I’ll try to be objective. Jhu is essentially known to have a quantitative IR program. If you want a IR career but also want to consider fields in finance, central banks, etc… then jhu would be a great choice. It is also strong in security studies and foreign policy too.
I’m writing from the perspective of a BA/MA, so I to both the undergrad and grad school, SAIS, for IR. I hope this helps, and feel free to ask any specific questions!
Good luck