<p>I never banked on getting into my top choice schools and now I have an incredibly difficult decision to make. I'm looking to focus on global affairs and peace/justice studies and all three schools offer incredible opportunities for my intended field. I am also a very, very social person and want to enjoy the next four years to the fullest. Any advice on which schools have the best international relations curriculum and would provide a 'balanced' experience?</p>
<p>Thanks In Advance</p>
<p>p.s. A huge congrats to to everyone on all of their amazing college acceptances.</p>
<p>Congrats. I would say Penn or Yale.</p>
<p>Penn or Yale. Yale has more connections and prestige in government circles (which matters if that’s a consideration for you), while Penn has a broader IR curriculum because it taps into Penn’s other schools beyond the College (think international business/policy classes at Wharton, International law classes at the law school, etc…depending on your interests, even the class on “economics of healthcare in the developing world”–taught at Penn Nursing–would be of value to you)</p>
<p>Princeton can’t compete with Yale’s connections or Penn’s breadth.</p>
<p>^Disregard everything said above as Princeton along with Harvard has the best Political Science department in the country. If you were admitted to Woodrow Wilson at Princeton, I would go there. Otherwise, I think Yale would be hard to pass up.</p>
<p>Georgetown School of Foreign Service? </p>
<p>Honestly I think they’d all be good so you should choose based on fit.</p>
<p>Academically in IR, they’re probably all pretty equal (we do have a fabulous IR program though–if I had realized I wanted to do IR before now I would dual degree with it, but I don’t have time)…socially, though, I can say Penn is really amazing and very likely tops Princeton and Yale (though I’ll admit I haven’t been there). We are known as the “Social Ivy,” after all. If you can, visit all three.</p>
<p>It depends on whether you want IR with a strong polisci focus (say, to go into government or academia), or whether you want IR in a broader sense (to go into, say, international business, education, law, NGO work). I wanted international business, so having access to Wharton courses such as “international comparative management” and “politics & the multinational firm” were more relevant to me than another course on neo-realism vs constructivism in foreign policy…</p>
<p>But to each his/her own!</p>