<p>Could a current SFS student describe more about the Core Curriculum? </p>
<p>How many students are in classes such as Political, Social Thought or Humn 011, or Gateways to English (Engl 040-043)? It is hard to tell from the website if there is any limit on the number of students in these classes.</p>
<p>Are most of these Core classes lectures or seminars? </p>
<p>Also, after taking the Core, and then classes for an SFS major, is there any room in a student's schedule to take a class unrelated to international relations?</p>
<p>PST can vary, mostly a twice a week lecture with 100 other students, and then a small break down session w/a grad-student TA with 10-15 other students.</p>
<p>HUMW 011 is kept real small, my class only has 6 other students, and I think all are capped at 15.</p>
<p>With a qualifying AP credit or two, and even with intensive language for two years straight, you will still have plenty of room to get a certificate or just dabble in other interests.</p>
<p>I would say the majority of the core classes are lectures (70 or more students)...though language, philosophy, and theology are generally smaller. (I think my Spanish class has about 13 people in it).</p>
<p>2 PHIl
2 THEO
Comp. Poli Sys & IR
PST
Proseminar
3 HIST
2 HUMW
4+ Foreign Language
4 ECON</p>
<p>Assuming you've taken no AP credits, and are starting a new language, you have 21 classes to take to fulfill the core. (Though it is entirely possible I miscounted). So, worst case scenario, your first two years are spent entirely doing that.</p>
<p>Throw in variables like you already passed proficiency, are taking an intensive language, your major (IPEC and IECO require/assume that you've taken Calculus) or have a lot of AP credits, and the actual number of courses you have to take can vary.</p>
<p>If you are clever, you can also work it out so some of your core credits count towards your major.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. My daughter is trying to decide whether to attend SFS or study international affairs at a LAC. Obviously, the course offerings and internship possibilities are greater at Georgetown, but she is unsure about the degree of faculty/ student internactions at Georgetown and also wants to have some opportunity for intellectual exploration. It is a dilemna.</p>
<p>I heard SFS major curriculums are insanely structured. However, my Georgetown interviewer told me that she still had enough freedom to choose around different courses for electives and she ended up getting Int'l Politics major and theology minor.</p>
<p>You can't minor in the SFS, but there are certificates.</p>
<p>As far as faculty/student interactions, zannerina, your daughter might be interested to know that Georgetown has a program called GUROP which allows undergrads to serve as research assistants to faculty members currently working on various projects. I have even known of a few (very smart) undergrads who serve as Teaching Assistants for intro classes.</p>
<p>Beyond the core curriculum, I have seen a great deal of interaction between undergrads and some of the professors. A lot of professors are interested to hear about what students are working on and I feel they are approachable (after you get over how smart they are and accept that they are human like you!) </p>
<p>Also, there are many upper-division seminars that have ~20 or so people.</p>
<p>I see you're from California, would that LAC happen to be Claremont Mckenna?</p>
<p>manderz1: Thanks for the info about faculty/student interactions. My daughter isn't considering CMC now, although did so earlier. She is considering Haverford, Carleton, or Pomona. It is almost impossible to compare Georgetown SFS and those schools. They offer very different experiences, providing more seminars, close relations with faculty, although shallower offerings re: international issues. My daughter visited Georgetown in February and was very impressed, but now is concerned that the curriculum at Georgetown may be too rigid and the environment impersonal. She is struggling with the choice.</p>
<p>Yes, those are different schools! Georgetown has a very ambitious, driven, pre-professional environment, which may be something else she wants to consider. </p>
<p>If your daughter has any questions that might help her make her decision, about classes, DC life, etc. I'd be more than happy to answer them via email....I am from California also, so I can understand some of the different options/barriers as far as that decision goes. I also understand the concern as far as the rigidity of the curriculum goes-- it is definitely not right for everyone.</p>
<p>For the most part, the relationship with professors is as personal as you want to make it. They teach a lot more students at Georgetown, but very few choose to pursue individual attention from them, even in the bigger classes. If you make the effort, they will generally reciprocate. It's not always true, especially with regard to the rock-star or super busy faculty - Madeline Albright has an army of TAs to keep you from interacting with her in any personal way, for example. But it holds most of the time.</p>
<p>As for rigidity of curriculum, that may be true about the core but the major curriculum itself is pretty wide-ranging. As for the core, the point of it is to give people a liberal arts grounding - basically the same sorts of classes that one would except to take at an LAC (the emphasis on economics being the exception).</p>
<p>dzleprechaun - I have to disagree with you on the M. Albright comment. My son is in her class this semester and he has had several interactions with her outside of class. It is not impossible, if you make the effort.</p>
<p>dzleprechaun, is this thread still active? My S is trying to decide between the PPE at CMC or Political Economy at SFS. Any thoughts between the two undergraduate programs? He plans to pursue graduate school and is considering an analyst job at the CIA.</p>
<p>It’s active if you make it active, lfmother! Glad I saw it…</p>
<p>CMC PPE is, as I’m sure you know, a very small program. That can be both a plus and a minus. If you like the people - wonderful. If not… there’s no escaping. Also, you apply after you’ve already been at Claremont McKenna for a year and admission isn’t guaranteed, though I have no idea what their acceptance rate actually is (e.g. if its pretty much proforma). It’s just a very different experience - lots of small seminars/tutorials, a big thesis, very much akin to the British model (iirc the program was consciously copied from something similar at Oxford). Greater emphasis on philosophy and theory, also.</p>
<p>All of these things do make one ideally suited for applying to grad school (well, aside from the whole “having to relearn standardized test-taking strategies for the GRE” part). However, tons of people go on to graduate school from SFS as well, so I don’t think it would be any sort of disadvantage. If one knows ahead of time that one is looking to pursue graduate study soon after completing undergrad, there are lots of measures one can take to prepare (the Honors Thesis option, for instance).</p>
<p>As far as CIA goes, I would say the IPEC major at SFS hands down (note: Political Economy is in the College, SFS’s version is International Political Economy). First of all, having the CIA itself be a bus ride away is invaluable. Pursue one of their student internships, by all means! They hire out of these programs a great deal. Moreover, Georgetown’s campus is chock full of current and former members of the Intelligence Community, and they can be an invaluable resource. Academically speaking, the kinds of writing and research that are often found in SFS accord well with the sort of analysis and research that is undertaken in the government - though this definitely various from professor to professor.</p>
<p>I’m very big on figuring out fit - where do you want to LIVE for four (or 3/3.5, given study abroad) years, not just attend class. CMC and Georgetown are not radically dissimilar, but they do have very different feels. Finding which one appeals more is a very important part of it.</p>