<p>Ive heard of many of the programs but Id like more info concerning where they stand amongst one another. Thanks</p>
<p>John Hopkins is supposed to be the best. </p>
<p>No idea about the rest.</p>
<p>The most popular rankings seem to be:</p>
<p>Top 10 International Relations Schools for Academic Careers:</p>
<ol>
<li>Harvard University</li>
<li>Columbia University</li>
<li>Stanford University</li>
<li>Princeton University</li>
<li>University of Chicago</li>
<li>Yale University</li>
<li>University of Michigan</li>
<li>University of California, Berkeley</li>
<li>University of California, San Diego</li>
<li>Cornell University</li>
</ol>
<p>Top 10 International Relations Schools for Policy Careers:</p>
<ol>
<li>Johns Hopkins University</li>
<li>Georgetown University</li>
<li>Harvard University</li>
<li>Tufts University</li>
<li>Columbia University</li>
<li>Princeton University</li>
<li>George Washington University</li>
<li>American University</li>
<li>Syracuse University</li>
<li>University of California, San Diego</li>
</ol>
<p>Those are quite comprehensive lists, but does anyone know of a few others that aren't quite so competitive? I'm just looking for strong programs, (as opposed to crazy expensive, etc.) Overseas is fine also...</p>
<p>The London School of Economics has a good program. Soas does as well.</p>
<p>2006 USNEWS rankings for various IR fields:</p>
<p>International Econ:
Harvard
Columbia
Princeton
Berkeley
MIT
Michigan
Wisconsin
UCLA
Yale
U Chicago</p>
<p>International Politics:
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia
Princeton
Michigan
UC-SD
Duke
Berkeley
Chicago
NYU</p>
<p>International Business:
Thunderbird (AZ)
U South Carolina
UPENN
Columbia
NYU
Michigan
Harvard
Duke
Berkeley
USC</p>
<p>International Law:
NYU
Columbia
Georgetown
Harvard
American
Yale
Michigan
UVA
George Washington
Berkeley</p>
<p>Does anyone actually know anything of about Thunderbird? I was, in fact, looking over that 2006 USNEWS report with some friends and none of us have ever heard of that place and it is somehow ranked No. 1 for International Business, but that is the only list it is on. </p>
<p>To the main subject:</p>
<p>I'd say SAIS, SIPA, and SFS are the top terminal MA graduate programs in IR. Kennedy is good as well, but I'd rank it fourth and down because of location ebing away from D.C. and New York, which are simply the big power bases for international relations. I'd think Fletcher is better than Kenedy, but this is all a personal interpretation as you know.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'd say SAIS, SIPA, and SFS are the top terminal MA graduate programs in IR.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I agree.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Kennedy is good as well, but I'd rank it fourth and down because of location ebing away from D.C. and New York, which are simply the big power bases for international relations.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes...and no. Kennedy does a good job with grad placement, and is especially good at tapping the Harvard name when need be. A vice-director for Southeast Asian intelligence at the NSA that I spoke with had this to say: "The location is a bit of a pain, but the networking is powerful enough to overcome it." However, if you have the choice between SAIS and Kennedy, and they're both the same price, there's no particularly strong reason to go to Kennedy other than the Harvard name. And if you plan on working in IR, then SAIS will have the better industry rep. anyway. </p>
<p>
[quote]
I'd think Fletcher is better than Kenedy, but this is all a personal interpretation as you know.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Fletcher's an amazing program. Top 5, if you ask me.</p>
<p>Well, you have to take into account that these schools focus on slightly different things, some are schools of government, like Kennedy, which is not the same as something like Georgetown which is a school of foreign service. Which one is best depends quite a bit on exactly what you want to study and why.
As for Thunderbird, it is an international business school. That's all they do, no other areas of IR.</p>
<p>josephine,</p>
<p>Kennedy is commonly considered in the same vein as SAIS, SIPA, and others. Don't just take the "name" of the school at face value, but make sure to consider the curriculum and general career goals of most grads. If you search on a variety of forums, people with an interest in IR are constantly talking about the following programs:</p>
<p>SAIS
SIPA
GTown
Fletcher
American
George Washington
Princeton Wilson
Yale
and a few others.</p>
<p>But if you look at KSG, two of their potential foci of study are:</p>
<h1>International Security and Political Economy</h1>
<h1>International Trade and Finance</h1>
<p>That's pretty IR, if you ask me.</p>
<p>One of the fletcher students I bumped into while waiting for the bus complained that Harvard's school lacked focus in its education (she's allowed to cross register courses). She felt that the Harvard program was more of a brand name - not a comprehensive program that prepared its students well. She said that there wasn't enough money and devotion to its students. Reputation wise she said that the Tufts fletcher school is more highly regarded within the UN from the work she's done in it throughout the world. This is a purely anecdotal story about two months ago on a rainy day.</p>
<p>My assumption is that most people go to Kennedy thinking a Harvard diploma is the same, but Kennedy, in my thoughts, is different from SAIS, SIPA, and SFS in that it isn't entirely IR focused. Also, I really think the Boston location hurts Kennedy and Tufts a bit. The Princeton Woodrow Wilson School has always seen to me to be more of Public Policy oriented. Sure, they have a Master's of Public Affairs, but the whole school seems to be more Public Policy oriented and, along with Kennedy, in it for the Princeton name. I'm saying if you want a good terminal MA in International Relations it is SAIS, SFS, and SIPA. Then come the other schools. I'm not saying Fletcher, Kennedy, and the others are bad, simply that others are better. Then again if you want to go into Public Policy then by all means go to Pton or Kennedy, btu for International Affairs it is best to go to D.C. or NYC. The oppurtunities that come with being in those towns while studying at those schools is also be a major factor in making them great. Sure, Harvard is a great place, but if you want to study International Relations is Boston really the best place to be made. D.C.'s entire industry is based around what you want to study and NYC to a slightly lesser extent.</p>
<p>What about LSE (London School of Economics and Political Science)...how does their IR program rank? </p>
<p>I was accepted there for an MSc in Political Communication - but am not sure if I will go. -- I'd rather defer it and apply to more IR/public policy schools in the US - SAIS, SIPA, GTown, GW, etc.</p>
<p>Especially for people who are interested in US - Europe - China Relations, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is excellent. It has a campus in Bologna and one in Nanjing. Moreover the number of speakers and connections it has is truly amazing especially since it is located in the heart of DC. Also it has for professors some top advisors and thinkers that have shaped and shape US foreign and international policy such as Francis ***uyama, Eliot Cohen, Ruth Wedgewood and Zbigniew Brezinski. I work in DC and some of the speakers such Amartya Sen and other world politicians who pass by DC for a meeting and come to speak there is astonishing. <a href="http://www.sais-jhu.edu/pubaffairs/archives/index9.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.sais-jhu.edu/pubaffairs/archives/index9.html</a> </p>
<p>Also Foreign Policy Magazine just published a survey of the Best MA in International Relations</p>
<p><a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3292%5B/url%5D">http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3292</a> (to sign in is free)</p>
<p>"Wheres the best place to study international relations? The answer depends in part on the career you have in mind. Aspiring academics typically need a Ph.D. from a top-notch political science department. For scholarly pursuits, Harvard easily leads the field; it was the only institution named by a majority of respondents. For those who want to walk the corridors of powernot study themJohns Hopkins and Georgetown University win the most praise. Armed with a masters degree in international relations from a top policy school, students are likely to head off for jobs in government, nongovernmental organizations (ngos), or international business. Proximity to political circles keeps the East Coast dominant for policy schools, but the West Coast and the Midwest do well for those who want to don academic robes."</p>
<p>Especially for people who are interested in US - Europe - China Relations, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is excellent. It has a campus in Bologna and one in Nanjing. Moreover the number of speakers and connections it has is truly amazing especially since it is located in the heart of DC. Also it has for professors some top advisors and thinkers that have shaped and shape US foreign and international policy such as Francis ***uyama, Eliot Cohen, Ruth Wedgewood, Josef Joffe and Zbigniew Brzezinski. I work in DC and have gone to "open to the public" lectures, of speakers such Amartya Sen, Paul Volcker, Senator Sam Brownback and European Commision President Jose Barroso and other world politicians who pass by DC for a meeting or simply live there and come to speak there, is astonishing. <a href="http://www.sais-jhu.edu/pubaffairs/archives/index9.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.sais-jhu.edu/pubaffairs/archives/index9.html</a> </p>
<p>Also Foreign Policy Magazine just published the results of a survey which showed Johns Hopkins SAIS as the Best MA in International Relations / International Studies</p>
<p><a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3292%5B/url%5D">http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3292</a> (to sign in is free)</p>
<p>"Wheres the best place to study international relations? The answer depends in part on the career you have in mind. Aspiring academics typically need a Ph.D. from a top-notch political science department. For scholarly pursuits, Harvard easily leads the field; it was the only institution named by a majority of respondents. For those who want to walk the corridors of powernot study themJohns Hopkins and Georgetown University win the most praise. Armed with a masters degree in international relations from a top policy school, students are likely to head off for jobs in government, nongovernmental organizations (ngos), or international business. Proximity to political circles keeps the East Coast dominant for policy schools, but the West Coast and the Midwest do well for those who want to don academic robes." </p>
<p>I am helping my sister with looking for grad schools and I got so excited about helping her search that I thought i'd share with everyone.</p>
<p>SAIS is clearly the IR leader for professionals, though I would say that for East Asian affairs, including China, IR/PS is a good option.</p>
<p>Yes, I'm shilling. Oh well.</p>
<p>I'd just like to bump this up and ask an additional question:</p>
<p>What kinds of prereqs are needed for IR programs? </p>
<p>I've been on the website for many of the top-ranked programs above and most don't specify what courses are needed (Princeton, Harvard, John Hopkins, and Duke, for example). One or two others (Columbia, Georgetown) just say that you need some economics background and calculus.</p>
<p>Has anyone applied/attended/etc. and has more detailed information?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Returningstudent, you are right about economics often being a prereq or at least highly recommended. However, I have zero econ. and I got into grad school at GW-Eliot School, which very strongly recommends basic econ., and at Uchicago, where I am going and which doesn't seem to care at all whether I have taken econ. I didn't apply to other IR schools, in part because of the econ. requirement (and because many IR programs, like SAIS and SIPA, want more work experience than I have and don't usually take students right from undergrad.) I don't have calculus either, if that matters.</p>
<p>In general, I don't think it matters that much what you studied undergrad. I was a history major and had only a few IR related classes (poli. sci., etc.) I did, however, have an internship in a think tank and I think the rec. my boss wrote me really helped me get in. (I went to GW undergrad so I was well situated to find experience.)</p>
<p>returningstudent,</p>
<p>Due to the fact that the field has very few areas of study that require highly specialized skill sets, requirements tend to be sparse. I'd say that the following courses should be considered however:</p>
<p>microecon
macroecon
stats
calc
game theory
intro to American, comparative, IR (poli sci)</p>
<p>Other than that, just major in what you enjoy.</p>
<p>I am interested specifically in the field of international development, and this is one of the concentrations available within several international relations programs. Any thoughts on which school is the best for ID?</p>