<p>I've been admitted to the honors programs at both schools, have received comparable full scholarships from both schools (UDS at MSU and banneker/key at UMD), and have no idea what to do. I'm interested in Arabic and international relations. .However, I'm more interested in human rights/ humanitarian aid/ stuff like that than government and politics. I also have an interest in archaeology, although I don't think that that's something I'd want to major in, maybe just take a few courses. Opinions?</p>
<p>I really don’t know that much about U Maryland to be honest so I can’t really compare the programs but I can definitely vouch for MSU’s arabic, international relations, and honors programs (as I am an international relations/economics senior in the honors college). At MSU international relations is a very flexible major. If you are interested in human rights/humanitarian aid Professor Zierler teaches a class on “international security” MC 322 - half of the class is on humanitarian aid issues. Those types of issues are also incorporated into the sophomore international relations sequence courses. There are also courses such as global governance, public international law, etc. that have a strong human rights/humanitarian aid curriculum (and you can really center all your paper topics around the issues you are interested in). MSU has a ton of student organizations - chapters of Amnesty International, SCOUT BANANA, and International Justice Mission are probably the best known related to your interests.</p>
<p>The Arabic language program at MSU is solid and there are TONS of study abroad/fellowship opportunities for those taking arabic. One of my friends who is also an arabic/international relations major received a boren fellowship to go to Jordan for a year (and has also spent summers in Yemen and Egypt). Our study abroad programs are awesome and there is a lot of funding for students if you apply for it. See the “arabic Language instruction flagship” for more info. Archaeology isn’t a major at MSU but there are quite a few archaeology courses within the anthropology dept. </p>
<p>The main thing you won’t be getting at MSU compared to U Maryland is the “close to 2 big cities” atmosphere coupled with the greater amounts of internships available in the DC metro area in human rights/humanitarian aid/related fields. In comparison, MSU has a college town feel (way safer than College Park, MD), has a bigger sports atmosphere due to the recent successes of our football/basketball programs, and has midwestern students (more laid-back/friendly than the average East-coaster).</p>
<p>Final note - don’t know anything about U Maryland’s honors program, but with MSU’s honors college you get priority registration for classes, the option to take honors classes (better teachers/more intensive material/smaller class sizes), and way more lenient general ed. requirements among other benefits.</p>