<p>My daughter is think about foreign affairs or international relations. What is your opinion of these schools and there programs. These are in state, she is looking at the other out of state schools also. Trying to get a feel if it would be good to stay in state for undergraduate then go somewhere else for graduate school.Trying to keep the money thing down.</p>
<p>What is your daughter's intent? What does she want to accomplish with her degree? Work in DC for a governmental agency or go to Law school?</p>
<p>Work in DC for a government agency</p>
<p>Either way I recommend Michigan, but at Michigan, she would have to study Poli-Sci. Many Michigan professors have servied as advisors to presidents past and present and they have connections in DC. But I really think that for those who want to work in the Federal Government, Georgetown has no equal.</p>
<p>Georgetown offers no merit aid and the acceptance rate is about 21%. If money is an issue, look at George Washington and American. Both offer merit scholarships. If your D has excellent stats, she could get almost a full ride.</p>
<p>Kinshasa, GW and American would be great safeties...but I would recommend Michigan over both of them...especially if her goal is Law school.</p>
<p>I disagree with Alexandre's comment. I definetely don't recommend Michigan for International Affairs. Why? Because University of Michigan doesn't even offer IA as a major. Political Science is somewhat similar to International Affairs, but if offers much less opportunities career-wise. PS is basically a pre-law degree, and doesn't require as many foreign language courses.
Virtually every university offers Political Science as a major, while a much smaller amount offers International Affairs, making the field much more "on-demand" than Political Science. With a PS degree, there's few career options, while International Affairs can open so many doors in journalism, the business world, non-profit organizations, and the government. </p>
<p>I will be attending GW this fall, and I highly recommend it. With high stats, your D might stand a good chance at merit/need aid. It's one of the top IA programs in the nation, and offers an incredible courseload covering so many areas of the world. Here's a link to the web-site to browse: <a href="http://www.gwu.edu/%7Eelliott/%5B/url%5D">http://www.gwu.edu/~elliott/</a> Pay special attention to the many concentrations and courses that The Elliot School offers.</p>
<p>Also, if she wants to be in DC, then GW's location is the best in the nation. It's literally blocks from the White House, and gives its students countless internship opportunities. And if Colin Powell is an alumnus, it can't be too bad! If she's a city girl, there's no place like DC!</p>
<p>The question was - Michigan vs MSU. Between these two, Michigan has a more far-reaching reputation which will help when it's time to get a job or get into grad school. Your student can probably put together courses that will be more or less equivalent to an IA major at another school. Through the International Institute, they have area studies majors, and a minor in Global Change. If your student is interested in a very exotic language -- MSU does tend to have a few that Michigan doesn't offer. Particularly African languages, if this matters. I think it makes sense to apply to both - in addition to some of the schools mentioned above that are in the DC area and have deep ties in government.</p>
<p>First thanks everybody.
MSU has a honors program that i think she could get into. Do you think she could take classes in there that would be comparable to going to say George Washington, American, Georgetown. She has 4 years of french and study abroad is a must.</p>
<p>Are you talking about James Madison College at MSU? If your daughter is intersted in international relations and thinking about Michigan State, she should look into James Madison -- not the Honors College. It's an excellent program. Can classes in James Madison at MSU compare to GW and American? Probably. Can the experience compare to Georgetown? No. But you need to weigh the cost at these schools (in the $40K/year range) against MSU ($14,000).</p>
<p>Hippodrome, I never said George Washington was not a great choice, but I believe Michigan would be a better choice overall. I said from the start that Michigan does not have an IR/FS program. But its Political Science program is ranked #2 in the country...#1 in American politics. A large portion of Michigan's faculty travels back and forth to DC for consulting purposes. So Michigan can usually arrange excellent internship opportunities for its students. Most Poli-Sci majors at Michigan have no desire to work in for Government. In fact, I would say that roughly 70% of Poli-Sci majors end up in Law school, and the remaining 30% mostly join the work force or go on to other forms of graduate studies. So the few who are interested in working in Government usually get good opportunities.</p>
<p>Now obviously, Michigan will offer a very different experience to GW, but I recommend Michigan because I think it will open more doors in the long run.</p>
<p>I agree with Alexandre, Honors or not UMichigan clearly has an advantage in overall reputation, which will carry much further in DC.</p>