Ranking International Relation Programs

<p>Does anyone by chance know anything about the undergrad IR program at The College of William and Mary?</p>

<p>Guys,dont give your legs its quite painful let me tell you that!My experience when interacting with the UN has been that the value of an American degree is very high;how many grads from india get in?The JNU at Delhi has got an excellent programme but...no recruitment.Moreover with my experience if I apply directly I would have to go for logistics and pehaps HR jobs whereas what i'm really interested in is their political or planning sections, since after being at the sharp end of some of these messes,I feel that there is a lot to do in the planning and policy formulation stage. I feel that with my experience and a good degree I could make a higher level entry.
So back to my query, which program would suit me :1. BAckgroundwise:MALD or SAIS or MIA or SIP. 2. Finance in terms of cost & expected aid 3. Immediate employment.
Thanks for your prompt replies</p>

<p>gurkha,</p>

<p>You're a shoo-in for pretty much any program you apply to. Go to the one that you want to be at, or at least the cheapest one.</p>

<p>Gurkha, int'l students do not receive financial aid from the U.S. gov't, but sometimes schools do grant scholarships--although this is VERY limited aid, and you should really expect to pay full tuition. I would echo UCLA, go for the cheapest program.</p>

<p>As for which program is best for you.. Well, any gig located in Washington, D.C. would be A+. Look at Georgetown. Outside of D.C., look at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson school.</p>

<p>I'm about to graduate in European Studies (Major Pol Sci, Minors Law and Recent History) in Germany and want to do a MA in IR. Now I also think about applying for some programs in the USA. But there are some points that cause doubts, mainly because of the different education systems. </p>

<p>First, I'm not sure if my 3-years-BA will count as much as an American one and will affect my competitiveness adversely.</p>

<p>Second, in Europe we typically do the MA directly after the BA. The chance to get a job with only a BA is very poor. Now I'm wondering how this lack of work experience does effect my chances to be admitted to a US-program.</p>

<p>Third, in Europe generally the GRE isn't needed for an MA and I'm not too keen on taking it. Now I won't have the time for that any more anyway. I found some programs where the GRE is not compulsory: JHU, Pittsburgh, American, Monterey and Columbia. How important is the GRE to boost the chances to be taken? Are my chances evanescently low if I apply without it?</p>

<p>Of course I would wanna try to get into some of the top programs as for a mediocre one I could just as well stay here in Europe. My final GPA will be somewhere between 3.5 and 4.0, whereas the average grade of my exams might be about 3.3..Well it's not that clear how to convert the grade systems.</p>

<p>Considering these facts I'm not quite sure if it's even worth applying and if I got serious chances. This brings us back to the question how important it is to have a prestigious US-school on the resume. There are still quite a few good programs around the world (which are also way cheaper). I also think about going to the UK, the Netherlands or Australia (where the Australian National U, U of Melbourne and U of Sydney have a pretty good reputation).</p>

<p>Ok now sorry for the long post, but I'm absolutely glad to have found this thread and all the helpful discussions. So I would really appreciate some opinions on my considerations.</p>

<p>Cheers to all!</p>

<p>I can't help with any of the other info H4MOR, but I can speak <em>very</em> highly of both the ANU and University of Melbourne Masters programs.</p>

<p>I may be biased since I'm doing mine at Melbourne though ;)</p>

<p>Though ANU typically has the stronger reputation (it is in Australia's capital city), I imagine that this applies more for locals than internationals; I would strongly reccommend Melbourne if you end up in Australia.</p>

<p>Thanks for the quick reply 1234!
Well concerning the place I would go to Sydney right away. I spend some time there during 6 month of work & travel and directly fell in love with that city. Haven't been to Canberra, but they say it's pretty boring. Melbourne didn't attract me so much either, but maybe that was because we had some rainy and very stressful days there.
Unfortunately the place shouldn't be the only decisive factor, but rather the quality of the program. ANU is doing really well in global rankings.
Still, the programs in Oz are quite expensive and I'm not sure if that really pays off when it comes to job chances in an international environment and improvement of my resume. Sadly, Australia is often being a bit neglected by the rest of the world. What do you think about that?</p>

<p>You won't get many kind words from me about Sydney - except that it's a beautiful city. But that's all it is to me: a superficial sheen. There is little to scratch below the surface.</p>

<p>Melbourne has a far more vibrant culture (especially the arts), and a more vibrant and diverse nightlife (this is because an alcoholic licence for a bar costs about ten times as much in Sydney as Melbourne). Canberra is, indeed, a hole.</p>

<p>Certainly Sydney's weather is far better than Melbourne's, so if that's a factor for you, don't underestimate it. We get a lot of dreary, grey, rainy days in Melbourne. I wouldn't turn down warmer winters, but we adapt: cafe culture is huge here, there are a lot of galleries, sport is massive, etc etc.</p>

<p>In terms of international recognition, that's tough to say. The ANU and Melbourne are both ranked relatively highly by THES Shanghai Jiao Tong University I believe, but whether that translates to <em>actual</em> recognition in jobseeking or not, I am not sure.</p>

<p>Gurkha,</p>

<p>I recommend the Fletcher school. The GMAP II would probably suit you well. My roomate at Fletcher was in his 60s and he was not even the second oldest in our small class. I'm a military officer myself with similar time in service. I trained under Dr. Gyi. So I have an affinity for Gurkhas. Hope this helps. Please excuse me, I also just got an account on this board just to reply to your e-mail which I saw after doing a completely unrelated search. I will not be posting here again so please do not post to me or expect a response. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.fletcher.gmap.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.fletcher.gmap.edu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>All the best.</p>

<p>Talk to Nicki at the GMAP. She can talk smart to you about fellowships / financial aid. They are used to dealing with international students and yes they give aid where it is needed.</p>

<p>IR is sometimes grouped with political Science majors and not a major on its own.</p>

<p>Would Lawrence U. in Appleton, WI be a good school for IR? I'm thinking that it's location might be an issue since it's not somewhere like NY or DC and there wouldn't be as many connections and whatnot...what do you guys think?</p>

<p>I have a question about Stanford, as I was just accepted there. Would it be more beneficial to major in International Relations or major in Political Science? </p>

<p>Also, I will probably want to focus on East Asia, meaning I should study an East Asian language. I'm a Korean-American but I'm not fluent in Korean (yet); however, I think that in the 8 months leading up to enrollment, I could become quite fluent in it. I am currently taking French in high school but this doesn't seem to be a useful language for a focus on East Asia, which leads me to my question:</p>

<p>Should I take a language such as Mandarin, stick with French, or try my hand at both (since I am already in AP French)?</p>

<p>If you have no interest in France, or the French language as a whole, then there really is no point of continuing. Just take whatever East Asian Languages you want to.</p>

<p>This is a thread about International Relations, isn't it? So why mentions schools that don't have IR programs just because they are ranking in the top otherwise. I mean everyone knows Columbia is an Ivy, but they DO NOT have an IR major and neither does Yale! Right now, I am looking for a university where they do have this speciality. I have it narrowed down to a few in the Northeast US area. I am using the Associate of Professional Schools and International Affairs (APSIA) as my primary source. It is perhaps the best indicator out there:
1. Kennedy School - Harvard
2. SAIS - Johns Hopkins
3. SFS - Georgetown
4. Woodrow Wilson School - Princeton
5. SIS - America
6. Whitehead School - Seton Hall
7. Elliott School - George Washington</p>

<p>I'd absolutely love to hear more about any one of these schools' undergrad programs (i.e. personal experiences)!</p>

<p>Some of the conversation in this thread was about grad programs in IR. Columbia has SIPA, one of the top Masters programs, hence the discussion. </p>

<p>Kennedy and SAIS do not have undergrad programs. If you forget about schools' overall prestige, the best undergrad IR program is at Georgetown.</p>

<p>MitchR,</p>

<p>For an undergrad, any political science department will do. Columbia's political science department has EXCELLENT IR faculty.</p>

<p>Also, Kennedy, SAIS, and Woodrow Wilson are GRADUATE programs, not undergrad.</p>

<p>was out for a few weeks on recce, but I did manage to do some trawling and what I came up with was :
1. Woodrow has a very generous aid package.
2. JHU does not seem to require GRE for its 1 yr programme.
3. All of them boast of excellent placements.
4. Sci Po seems to require a high proficiency in french.
5. The distinct speciality of each did not emerge very clearly.
6. KSG seemed to require proficiency in economics.</p>

<p>My queries are :</p>

<ol>
<li><p>What are the advantages if any in placement terms between the 1 yr and two yr programmes? Specifically unlike othre students who are undergoing the iyr mid career courses and then intend to return to their original/realted occupations, I dont intend to footslog anymore! So which degree is better for placements the one yera mid career or two year Masters?</p></li>
<li><p>Among the one year mid career programs which is the best, and most suited to my background and future interests?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>thanks in anticipation</p>

<p>Since UCLA doesn't have IR listed as a major, is International Development Studies similar enough? Or is Political Science the better route?</p>

<p>jfk,</p>

<p>Poli sci has the IR concentration, which is pretty much functionally the same.</p>