Sciences Po vs College of Europe + Fletcher School

Graduate School
1

Hi everyone, I need some help on choosing where to go. I was admitted to Sciences Po Paris for the Master in International Development and the Joint MA in Transatlantic Affairs between the College of Europe and the Fletcher School.

I am having a hard time choosing between both of them, especially when it comes to future career opportunities. I am interested in working for the Foreign Service or an International Organisation such as the UN or WTO.

On paper, Sciences Po’s reputation of being ranked as the 2nd in Politics worlwide seems to outmatch that of College of Eurpoe and the Flechter School.

On the other hand, I would get the network from both schools with the MA in Transatlantic Affairs, and the program seems much more selective than that of Sciences PO (only about 15 students are admitted). Then again it is rather new and might not be very well known.

What do you people think? Thanks in advance for any comments, I appreciate it!

2

Can you afford both?

Hopefully you’ve visited or read about these enough to formulate an opinion. Or you might want to ask to speak to a current student in each program.

Congrats and good luck.

3

You can make a rational argument either way. The names will not be meaningfully different in terms of the State Dept / UN / WTO etc.

The things that will matter are:

  1. curriculum- read them thoroughly! Does one of them inately appeal to you more than the other?

  2. language skills- what is your target language? if it isn’t French, how is your French? Your classes will be in English, but if you do Sciences Po you will be living in French. College of Europe is in Bruge, where Flemish is dominant, English second and French third.

  3. contacts: my hunch is that the contacts at Fletcher are going to give you better advice about applying to the big NGOs than CofE or SP.

ps, don’t overweight the ranking- in the real world SP and Fletcher are seen as peers.

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4

I suspect if you want US employment you will go
to fletcher. If you want employment in Europe, you will go to sciences po.

Your citizenship will determine where you can join the foreign service or something similar.

I am not sure you have that many degrees of freedom.

5

College of Europe is a must-go for anyone who is lucky enough to be admitted and wants to work in the EU, so that +Fletcher would be my pick.

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6

Hi everyone! Thanks for the replies :slight_smile: I appreciate the input!

I speak fluent French, so courses in English or French are fine either way.

Having thought about it a little more, wouldn’t the College of Europe and Fletcher School have the clear advantage of having a brand name from both the US and EU at the same time?

Also I feel like Fletcher School is highly regarded upon in IR circles, on par with the likes of Georgetown and Columbia, therefore being the better choice overall?

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7

Exactly.
Both are elite in their respective environments.

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