Ranking International Relation Programs

<p>Middlebury was just listed as the hottest school for International Studies in the Kaplan/Newsweek Guide to the 25 Hottest Colleges.</p>

<p>Often overlooked but still excelent programs in IR are also available in the West, at Stanford, the Claremont Colleges, particularly Claremont Mckenna and Claremont Grad School, UCSD, USC, the University of Washington etc. When US international affairs begin focusing less on Europe and more on China and India in the forseeable future, these schools will become the stars in IR.</p>

<p>This is an interesting article for those of you that are interested in IR:</p>

<p><a href="http://mjtier.people.wm.edu/intlpolitics/teaching/papers.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://mjtier.people.wm.edu/intlpolitics/teaching/papers.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Personally, I think SAIS at Hopkins is the top program but several others come close.</p>

<p>I don't think SAIS is tops--All they have is the Johns Hopkins name attached to their school-- I mean it was independent at one point and a no name school back when it was first established. AU, Georgetown, and a couple other schools were "the schools" to go during that time in the early 1950s-60s. And I don't think their programs have changed dramatically to make them less impressive than SAIS. The problem with this forum is that people fall into the hype of wanting to apply to IR programs attached to schools with good undergrad reps (ie Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Tufts etc). I mean really-- how do you guys know if these IR programs are good besides looking at their general undergrad rep as an indicator? You can't justify it. There is no ranking! And you can't bring ivory tower politics into either-- ie professors who say "oh well go to Columbia b/c it is Columbia etc" because IR schools in my opinion are not really meant to cater to future academics but practicioners. Until we have some method of really ranking these IR programs as what they are intended to be-- schools for creating international relation practicioners-- I say don't go anywhere based on their undergrad rep. The all are going to get you were you need to go. </p>

<p>I really enjoyed the PMF posting on p. 6-- it just shows that schools like AU are as good as SAIS if not producing better results-- ie students who are wanted and capable of producing quality work in the "real world." </p>

<p>PS: I checked out the webpage and depending how you put the numbers together AU could outrank SAIS on PMF finalists. It just goes to show that name is not everything.</p>

<p>There is a ranking for IR:</p>

<p>From the AU website:</p>

<p>AU's School of International Service: among Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA) schools, it has the largest number of minority students and female students and is ranked sixth among APSIA schools in numbers of international students. Because the field of international relations is not evaluated by U.S. News & World Report, The College of William & Mary recently published the results of their survey, which ranked the AU International Relations master's degree in the top ten in the U.S. and the doctoral degree in the top 25.</p>

<p>From SAIS website:</p>

<p>Survey Ranks SAIS as Top MA Program in International Relations
SAIS was ranked in a recent survey as the top master's program in International Relations for students looking to pursue a policy career. The survey also listed Professor Francis ***uyama as one of the most influential scholars in the field. College of William and Mary faculty members conducted the study, which was based on responses from more than 1,000 international relations scholars throughout the United States. </p>

<p>It appears the study ranks SAIS as the top school and AU in the top ten.</p>

<p>Well that paper you posted wasn't the right article. It talked about theory etc. I found the real paper-- however I cannot post b/c the link is messed up. Just google search it and open through html: under "Teaching and Research Practices-- Views on the Discipline and Policy Attitudes of International Relations Faculty at US Colleges and Universities"</p>

<p>1) SAIS
2) Georgetown
3) Harvard
4) Tufts
5) Columbia
6) Princeton
7) George Washington
8) American
9) Syracuse
10) UC San Diego
10) U Denver
12) Yale
13) U Chicago
14) U Pittsburge
15) U Maryland
16) MIT
16) Stanford
18) U Kentucky
19) NYU
19) U Southern California
21) U Michigan
22) Cornell
22) George Mason
22) London School of Economics
23) University of Washington</p>

<p>Well regardless-- it still proves my point-- look at all the top tier undergrad institutions like Stanford, Cornell, MIT, U Chicago etc-- they all aren't ranked that high....goes to show undergrad rep does not mean good IR program.</p>

<p>I guess everyone should keep in the back of their mind as well-- like most top tier schools (ie the top 10)-- expect more variability with subsequent rankings. I wouldn't be surprised to see GW, AU, or Denver eventually replacing Princeton, Tufts, or Georgetown for the top spots in other years....</p>

<p>I'm a 1st year at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh...</p>

<p>Just wanted to correct the spelling...it's PITTSBURGH, not pittsburge...</p>

<p>how are LACs for IRs? say middlebury, williams etc. would love if a current student or someone who with much expertise replies (:</p>

<p>i'm amazed how people are already planning grad schools and have yet to begin their undergrad studies.</p>

<p>i've just completed my studies at lse. good school. i was happy. listen, all good schools have good connections. the rest is up to u. u must be the one to utilize their resources, tap their alumni community, start societies, etc.</p>

<p>a bunch of my friends at harvard recently started a website, <a href="http://www.nattybumba.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.nattybumba.com&lt;/a>, and all of their friends all over the academic world is starting to use their site as a homepage. simple site w/links to highly frequented sites. they're trying to make the site a homepage (non-customizable b/c the site managers will customize it to cater to ivy-league students). however, they're a minority at harvard. sure they might do well and make a small sum for themselves but they take initiatives. most students there, from what i'm told and what i learnt during my semester abroad there (from lse) was that lots workhorses dominate the scene. sure they'll do well etc. but initiative is the key ingredient... </p>

<p>ceo of easy jet...lse grad. </p>

<p>good luck guys and don't be disappointed. life will surprise u.</p>

<p>Though I'm not sure if this has been discussed in the thread yet, the ILR (Industrial and Labor Relations) school at Cornell is a great choice, especially as a more focused alternative to an International Relations major at a university.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.sais-jhu.edu/pubaffairs/publications/misc/TRIPsummary20Aug2017.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.sais-jhu.edu/pubaffairs/publications/misc/TRIPsummary20Aug2017.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Hi
I am planning to apply to IR/Policy programs for next fall. Apart from what most programs list in their 'Most Frequently Asked Questions' I was wondering if anyone who has gone through the process of applying, gotten in to where he or she wanted to go, and after getting in, realized what factor really helped (besides perfect GRE scores, etc). I have a year and a half of work experience at the DOJ, plan to be a TA for a study abroad program in India next spring, and graduated with Honors in Asian Studies (focus on Tibetan Refugees and South Asia).</p>

<p>Ideally, it would be great to go to SAIS. I have been checking in to the program out since 2002 and found that it is one of the few programs with a significant political/economics interest in South Asia (which is my main area of interest). One of my friends recently graduated from there and I think she absolutely loved it (she got a great job offer too). Are there other programs worth considering?</p>

<p>Appreciate any tips or helpful respons,</p>

<p>thanks
shahs</p>

<p>In general, I feel that the rankings put forth by the recent survey by Tierney and Peterson cited previously on this board are mostly accurate. However, there is a problem with their survey that even the authors admit:</p>

<p>They failed to survey policy practitioners in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. (p. 4) This limitation, I believe, makes their survey suspect. Many who study international relations would agree that scholars from think tanks and government agencies are equally as influential in the field as those tied exclusively to academic institutions.</p>

<p>On this same point, it seems somewhat ridiculous to ask academics what programs are superior in preparing students for policy careers. (p. 26) Shouldn't we be asking the policymakers, who actually work with and hire graduates from these institutions, this question rather than the professors?</p>

<p>That being said, the survey is extremely helpful in identifing the topics and schools of thought prominent today in international relations research. I would recommend to those students looking to apply to the institutions we have been discussing read it.</p>

<p>Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum and my head is just swimming from 7 pages of debate about the best IR grad schools/programs. After skimming most if it, I feel both more informed and confused at the same time, haha. </p>

<p>I'm an undergrad (3rd year) at Boston University majoring in IR.
Right now I'm at home in San Diego for a semester, taking classes at UCSD (via something called concurrent enrollment). So i've gotten a taste of the programs at these two schools that might be helpful for anyone interested. (This forum seems to have a wide range of students ranging from HS to graduate). I'd be pretty useless trying to take a stab at of ranking undergrad programs since I am only familiar with those of BU and UCSD, so here's my two cents on them:</p>

<p>haroldx920: </p>

<p>You mentioned BU was on your list of schools to apply to for your IR major; well here's my experience there so far. Although it is probably one of your safeties since you are considering the ivy leagues and such, I am in love with the IR department at BU and think that anybody interested in IR could be perfectly happy there. The director of the undergrad program meets with you individually to map out your track, and she also has an email listserv that is an IR major's dream.. sending out available internships in the area, opportunities for study abroad, trips to NYC to visit the UN headquarters - anything and everything related to IR. She will also assign you to a faculty advisor.. mine happens to be Ambassador Haqqani, who is just one of the world-class professors that BU has in the IR dept. He is a busy man, being a former ambassador and teaching IR classes on Diplomacy, the Middle East and Islam. However, students adore and worship this man because he LOVES his students. He told me he strives to give his students the same care and devotion that he would want his own daughters to have at university. He is a loving, caring person as well as a world-class intellectual, and I can't express how much he's inspired me to love IR. Anyways, the point is, you would think that at a college with 20,000 undergrads, it's easy to get lost in a crowd. However, the IR department is a community within itself. I've found there are too many courses and too many brilliant professors (not only in their intellectual abilities but also ability to teach and convey their passion) that I want to take at BU. They also have an excellent study abroad program with many geared towards IR majors -- I'm trying to get into a Geneva Internship Program in Switzerland, "a hub international diplomacy and business" <-- from the study abroad catalogue :P If I wasn't doing that, I'd probably try to do the International Honors Program, a comparative study abroad program where one of the programs involves moving from DC, Rio De Janeiro, Cape Town and Paris in one semester. I've always felt like there are limitless opportunities for IR while at BU.</p>

<p>Okay well wow, that sounded like an admissions essay on why I want to get into there. But the truth is, I didn't even want to go to BU because it wasn't as prestigious or high-ranked as the schools I aimed for. It turned out to be the perfect school for me because I found something that I really love, and coincidentally BU had an amazing IR program. That's why I was googling whether or not BU was ranked nationally and that's how I found this post. Turns out it's really not, and it's not even too well-known even amongst those interested in majoring in IR. It just goes to show that sometimes your education is what you make of it. So harold, I'd suggest asking people at your choice schools how their experience has been as an IR major, and also looking up professors on ratemyprof.com to see what kind of people will be teaching you. It's kind of useless if your professor is a leader in the field but gets disgruntled by students and hates teaching. </p>

<p>That being said, I have a question for IR grad students:</p>

<p>How important is it to go to a prestigious undergrad school when applying to grad school? It's kind of too late for me on that one, but since I went to a less prestigious university, I'm now setting my sights on the best IR grad programs and am wondering how difficult it will be for me to compete with students coming from places like GT, Columbia, Yale, Princeton, etc.</p>

<p>UCLAri: Do you go to UCSD IRPS? You seem to be fond of that school ;]</p>

<p>last thing on this beastly post!
People have asked what you do with an IR major.. read this book:
International Jobs: Where they are, how to get them by Nina Segal
because I'm starting to realize "something international" is not a valid career goal. </p>

<p>Thanks for reading, all</p>

<p><3 insatiabl3</p>

<p>insatiabl3,</p>

<p>I'm not a UCSD IR/PS grad or student, but I am a guy who keeps up with East Asian academic trends, so that means that IR/PS gets major props from me. It is a great program for those seeking work in a field related to Northeast Asia or Asia as a whole. </p>

<p>I qualified that at least a few times, I think. But those posts were so long ago, I didn't think anyone would read them this late in the thread...</p>

<p>you definitely qualified it, iw as just curious where you went to school..my bad</p>

<p>No worries. I'm actually not sure of my next institution of education. Probably one of the bigger poli sci names (top 15), so UCSD is definitely amongst that list.</p>

<p>Its nice to hear stories about students who find the 'fit' school. Rankings are too hyped. BU is a great school with great professors and resources and if you can tap it, you will be just as competitive as the next guy from a big name school in terms of grad school admissions. The top programs dont just accept grad students from HYPS. Do well in undergrad, you'll have a great shot.</p>

<p>Thanks for any help on this topic...I'm applying to PhD programs in political economy and have heard that Harvard's program isn't that great. This is the PhD in Political Economy offered at the Kennedy School. I'm curious to know if any of you have heard the same, and if so, why that is.</p>

<p>Thanks for your postings.</p>