Penn International Relations

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
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Does anyone have information on Penn’s IR program? I’m a junior looking to major in international relations deciding between Georgetown EA and Penn ED (possibly Yale SCEA, but it’s a stretch), and I’ve looked through some threads on CC about Penn IR that I’ve found to be inconclusive. I want this degree to move toward a career in foreign policy and government, and while SFS is incredible policy-wise, I’m curious about Penn’s program as well. If any current students could comment back, it would be much appreciated :slight_smile:

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bump

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buuuump

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Go on their website lol and look up the courses, professors, etc. and get a feel for the program

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I’m a sophomore majoring in IR and History at Penn, so let me give you some of my deciding ideas and experiences. I was also accepted to Georgetown SFS, and while I really wanted to go into foreign service after college, and Georgetown SFS is a fantastic way to get there, I ultimately decided on Penn for a few reasons:

  1. academic exploration. At Penn I decided to do a double major in history, which has really become what I'm passionate about. I also got to explore a variety of other fields and decide what I liked and what I didn't like (Econ, Math, PPE, PoliSci, Anthropology, and so on)
    1. location and campus environment, Penn is much more integrated with Philly than Georgetown is with D.C. It's so easy to get off campus for a little bit and go explore something else
    2. Languages. I knew a bit about Penn's various language departments before coming here, and it was definitely a deciding factor. Penn offers so many different language options, and from my experiences, all the departments have been amazing. And after all, if you want to do something internationally related, languages are pretty important!

Overall I’m very happy with my decision, and I’ve had tons of great opportunities with Penn. The classes I’ve taken have been insightful, and the professors are (from my experience) extremely helpful and want to get to know and help students. I’ve gotten to expand my horizons so much. There are lots of great activities and clubs here, the library is absolutely amazing, I’ve had opportunities to conduct research, and I studied and interned abroad last summer and am studying abroad again in the Fall. I’m sure I would have also had great experiences at Georgetown too, but here are just my experiences so far :slight_smile:

Also if you want to learn more about Penn’s International Relations Department, explore the website and reach out to someone if you want more information!