<p>that’s interesting, mini. What do the percentages stand for?
also, does it mean anything that American has had 6 fulbright scholarship winners last year and I think 6 trumans in the last 8 years? Not that I’m leaning towards American - I know that Colby has had 5 rhodes scholars in the past and American has never had any but I was pretty impressed also by American’s career services and involved they were in helping students find scholarships. What’s your opinion on that?</p>
<p>I don’t have the full article in front of me, but you can probably find it on line.</p>
<p>American’s ascent has been very rapid, almost all in the last 5 or 6 years. In the past two years, they’ve had more Trumans and Udalls than Harvard.</p>
<p>Fulbrights are usually a sign of excellent language preparation, combined with good mentoring in putting together the applications.</p>
<p>My D has a similar dilemma. She is interested in IR also, and was also considering AU and Colby. Frankly, while I agree rankings are not important, the difference between Colby (22 in USNWR) and AU (80) is significant. Perhaps the most important consideration is how you feel when you are on campus. If you saw Colby in the summer (as my D did) you were probably wowed by the beauty of the campus. But try to imagine yourself there during the long winter (the long dark winter!) Please do not worry about the relative rankings of the undergrad major you want - for one thing, you might change your mind - most prospective employers will care more about where you were and how you did at the school. Ultimately, you need to go with your gut. Whatever you choose will be right for you.</p>
<p>I would VERY MUCH worry about your undergrad major if going to American. The IR program is top 10 (and 7 of those schools are Ivies), the business school excellent, and the school of communications well known - but the 80 ranking is real - reflecting on those parts of the school which do not do as well (sciences, arts, strict humanities.)</p>
<p>It sounds like AU would best meet your needs and there isn’t the “quality” difference in education or peers between AU and Colby that some have suggested. A motivated student will do well at either but given your particular interests, I think AU is the place to be.</p>
<p>mini, I just tried to find the FP rankings you cite, but couldn’t. (I looked at the online FP.) Do you have a cite? I am mostly interested because I was an IR major myself, and am surprised that my alma mater (JHU) is not more highly ranked. BTW, bonbear, I am also a lawyer and I work for a multinational. I loved JHU but I believe I could have gone anywhere and ended up with the same opportunities.</p>
<p>March/April 2007 issue of Foreign Policy magazine. (They have rankings for masters and doctoral level programs as well, and, as I remember the rankings were done by active foreign policy professionals). When I search for it on-line now, it says for “subscribers only”. It used to be freely available.</p>
<p>[Inside</a> the Ivory Tower](<a href=“http://www.foreignpolicy.com/users/login.php?story_id=3718&URL=http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3718&page=1]Inside”>http://www.foreignpolicy.com/users/login.php?story_id=3718&URL=http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3718&page=1)</p>
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<p>Me too. I think it is focusing more on dedicated IR research than teaching, which hurts schools with IR programs that are decentralized.</p>
<p>At this point - I feel like Colby would give me better long term preparation but American might give me better short term preparation. Does anyone know what the common practice for graduate/law school is - do admission officers look at the college you came from? Would they look at American (ranked 85 in the nation) and wonder why I went there? Also, if I went to American would it be better to major in communications rather than English?</p>
<p>(3 more days!! ahhh!!) Thanks guys.</p>
<p>Law schools place great emphasis on the LSAT, as well as your grades. Doing well as an undergrad wherever you are is the best way to get in to law school.</p>
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<p>There’s a whole “Ranking International Relations Programs” thread here on CC that rates different schools and that dissects the rankings Mini cited. Look for it.</p>
<p>Short answer, IMO: these rankings are as the British would say Bollocks. A lot of the top schools listed here don’t even have dedicated IR programs. IR is a subfield of political science academically speaking. So the usual suspect top poli sci schools Harvard YP Stanford Chicago Berkeley are naturally ranked high. And then there are schools that do have dedicated IR programs and that are in DC – GTown, GW, American – that are ranked highly because of their special, dedicated infrastructure and opportunities in DC. I am not saying the DC schools don’t offer something special, but these rankings compare apples to oranges and reflect very different elements in their rankings between schools.</p>
<p>Because I have seen a lot of people start in IR and want to change or get disillusioned and go for something else – and because IR is so amorphous in terms of what one does with it – I would strongly suggest going to the place that across the board might give you the strongest education in or out of your currently selected major.</p>
<p>But those long Colby winters are a lot to think about…</p>
<p>It’s as good as any other rating system out there - certainly better than the peer assessment system in USNWR, but as I say, take with two fist*fuls of salt. What you are essentially saying is that, of the schools with dedicated IR programs, the DC schools have the highest ranking. That’s true, but what the article justly points out is that the prep for IR can indeed go beyond where there is a dedicated IR program.</p>
<p>So what you’ve actually pointed to, strangely enough, is the STRENGTH of the Foreign Policy magazine ranking. It took into account prep that can occur at either kind of school.</p>
<p>Having said all of that, Colby is stronger in the liberal arts. Period. American’s strengths are in international relations/service, business, communications, public affairs. It’s USNWR ranking represents a bifurcated program, where sciences, arts, and to some extent the humanities are weaker than its overall ranking, and the above-stated programs substantially stronger.</p>
<p>If you want IR, internships (many beginning the first year, and many paid), resume building, contacts in DC with thinktanks, institutes, multinational corporations, government agencies, lobbying firms, and non-profits, American wins hands down. If you want a fine liberal arts education, go to Colby. And, if you’re waffling, Bedhead’s advice is pretty good.</p>
<p>You want to see your little brother? Visit over the internet via video chat. You can talk to him and see him every day, and while it’s not the same as giving him a hug, you’ll get regular reports directly from him and it will be a special way of communicating for him. Then you can see him in person on breaks.
I recommend doing a score sheet (use a spreadsheet if you can). List every single important thing you want in a school and assign it a point value-- stick to 10 points or less to keep one thing from completely throwing off the total. Do an identical score sheet for each school and compare the totals. That will help you think through all the issues that are important to you and give you an objective, apples to apples, comparison.</p>
<p>to islandgirl -
I think I would find it easier to get a better GPA at American than at Colby. Would that be something to take into account?</p>
<p>fatladysings -
funny about the score sheet - I did do one for both American and Colby and guess what the scores came out to be? 65 and 66 respectively! ahhh! :)</p>
<p>Bonbear, I wouldn’t try to game the system. Pick the school your heart is telling you to go for, then embrace it and give it your all for 4 years. Being happy at school is the best motivation to do well. Good luck!</p>
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<p>Islandgirl1960 nailed it. You should weight most heavily what your heart is telling you – and then embrace the heck out of it and make it work for you.</p>
<p>I have another question - would it be more difficult to get a job in DC after graduation if I went to Colby instead of AU? Also, when I visited, I got the impression that Colby had a lot of money…maybe it has a large endowment? Does that mean that the alumni give a lot of money back to the school - perhaps an indicator of how satisfied they were with the school?</p>
<p>“I have another question - would it be more difficult to get a job in DC after graduation if I went to Colby instead of AU?”</p>
<p>Without question, if only because of the connections and internships you will have already established.</p>
<p>This year, just for example, American ranked third in the country for number of Presidential Management Fellows (with 36) - [American</a> Today](<a href=“http://veracity.univpubs.american.edu/today/vol/11/28/042208_pmf.html]American”>http://veracity.univpubs.american.edu/today/vol/11/28/042208_pmf.html) - Where do you think Colby ranked?</p>
<p>This isn’t to say Colby grads don’t get jobs, and good ones, in DC after graduation. You didn’t ask that, however. You asked about difficulty. That’s an easy one to answer.</p>
<p>Mini,</p>
<p>AU was only third for PMAs? AU was first for the last few years.</p>