Question on WWS

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I have a bit of a dumb question up ahead, please bear with me.</p>

<p>Does the Woodrow Wilson School only give a degree in public policy? The full name of the school is the WW School of Public and International Affairs, but the title seems a bit misleading. As far as I'm aware, WWS only gives degrees in public policy. I'm interested in programs similar to Georgetown's SFS and JHU's SAIS, which deal heavily, if not exclusively, with int'l relations and foreign affairs. Would WWS, then, not be one of those programs?</p>

<p>Thank you very much,
-muffincat</p>

2

<p>I mean, the material you explore in each of those programs is going to be similar (and of course dependent on your own choices within the program). Why does the name of the major on your degree matter at all, if it’s the same material?</p>

3

<p>I was under the impression that public policy dealt more with the affairs of a single nation and its internal systems, whereas international affairs, is… well, on a more global scale. My interests lean toward the latter. I was worrying that there would be a big difference between the two courses of study, in which case I would take Princeton off of my list of colleges to apply to.</p>

<p>I was referring to the name of the degrees because I needed clarification on how different public policy and int’l affairs were. ^^</p>

<p>Thank you!
-muffincat</p>

4

<p>Muffincat, only you can answer the question “does the WWS offer the courses that you are interested in”. Look at the course offering and decide for yourself. [Woodrow</a> Wilson School of Public and International Affairs | Course Offerings](<a href=“http://wws.princeton.edu/ugrad/course_offerings/index.xml]Woodrow”>http://wws.princeton.edu/ugrad/course_offerings/index.xml)</p>

5

<p>Mcat- Admission to Princeton does not guarantee admission to the Woodrow Wilson School. Only 90 students are accepted as sophomores to the program for junior and senior years, so the competition is very stiff.</p>

6

<p>The competition isn’t really very “stiff”. About 50% to 60% of the applicants are admitted and the most important factor is demonstrated interest in public policy issues.</p>

7

<p>Are there really fewer than 180 sophomores applying to WWS these days? </p>

<p>What do the other 90-100 applicants do if they have their hearts set on studying politics, policy, and government, and are rejected?</p>

8

<p>They typically go into the politics department, which (surprise!) lets you study politics, policy and government.</p>

9

<p>According to the department listings, WWS offers the gov and policy classes. It appears that one can earn a “certificate” at WWS if one has a different concentration than WWS.</p>

10

<p>Yes but the WWS certificate is notorious for being roughly identical to majoring in WWS, which for all intents and purposes means double majoring.</p>