<p>The title says it all. I am worried about the strengths of Political science departments of each of these schools. Any opinions? Experiences?</p>
<p>Any help? I got into all these schools and think about going to Tufts... Right choice?</p>
<p>i know that the fletcher school is very good, but its IR and Grad</p>
<p>Fletcher is very good. So is JHU's SAIS, but SAIS is actually in DC, not Baltimore. So all those brilliant minds of the SAIS professors and grad students won't really rub off on you.</p>
<p>As for Brown, well they had the Chinese ambassador come recently, that's a good sign I suppose</p>
<p>Do you mean all these schools are equal in terms of political science undergrad?</p>
<p>firstly, you should know that there is a difference between political science/political theory and public policy. SAIS (JHU) and Fletcher (Tufts) are both great graduate schools for studying international public policy (though I am not sure how strong these schools are for undergrads).</p>
<p>brown has strong undergraduate programs in political science, public policy, and international relations. all have very strong faculty, a track record of successful students, the ability to attract big names to campus, wide course offerings, and anything else you might want in a department.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Political_Science/%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Political_Science/</a>
<a href="http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Political_Theory_Project/%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Political_Theory_Project/</a>
<a href="http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman_Center/</a>
<a href="http://www.watsoninstitute.org%5B/url%5D">www.watsoninstitute.org</a>
<a href="http://www.brown.edu/Research/ppw/%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Research/ppw/</a></p>
<p>I'd say Brown is a better school than Tufts, overall, and JHU is simply the devil. </p>
<p>Brown it is!!</p>
<p>Tufts, Gtown, and JHU have the best undergrad IR programs in the country. so I would choose between JHU and Tufts. Tufts personally has a better location and overall campus feel but that's up to you. IN my opinion you're making the right choice, but I'm biased :)</p>
<p>dude i definably would go to tufts its been the best for a while now</p>
<p>I know nothing about Tufts except that a friend of mine who went ED was disappointed because she felt like everyone there was constantly trying to justify their education and their choice. She said she loved teh school, the location, and what it had to offer and it was amazing that so much of the student body just sounded like bitter Ivy rejects who didn't really want otbe there but were doing their best to talk it up at every chance.</p>
<p>I'm sure it's great, but I'd definitely visit places before making a decision-- interacting with the student body and feeling out where you fit in best is the best way to decide for undergraduate schools of this level of quality.</p>
<p>I think that for undergrad all of them is fine. I visited all three.
Didn't like JHU location(BALTIMORE) and that SAIS is in a separate location(DC)
Tufts is fine if you consider The grad school(FLETCHER)
Brown has an excelent IR program (MY DREAM).. so I assume that the Polsci is going to be great also..</p>
<p>Hey Modest: Beg to differ!</p>
<p>Tufts was certainly full of angry Ivy rejects 30 years ago, but now many people who get into some Ivies (myself included; I turned down Cornell and Dartmouth) pick Tufts. Also, consider that about half the class got in ED -- that should say something. I think Tufts can really not be cosnidered a safety school for anyone, the way the college admissions process has been going, especially in the past decade, or even 5 years. The stats of both enrolled AND accepted students at Tufts are on par with Gtown, JHU, Northwestern, Cornell, and NU, etc.</p>
<p>Anyway, you can't go wrong with any of these 3 schools, Mahmudi, but if you already know what you want to study, you might as well look for the best exact program in what you want to major in: IR. Tufts and JHU have great programs, but Baltimore is a turn off for most people, so Tufts could be it :)</p>
<p>I am a senior IR major at Tufts (turned down Tufts btw) so if you have any questions, please feel free to PM me</p>
<p>Tufts undergrad IR is rather better than Brown's programme, to my knowledge. They both benefit from excellent teachers, as one is an Ivy League University and the other is a top "just-under Ivy." The IR programme at Tufts attracts a massive international body, as well as numerous distinguished speakers throughout the year (Brown probably does as well).</p>
<p>at Brown you will have the opportunity to take a seminar with a former U.S. senator, former U.S. ambassador, former Brazilian President, the founder of the Chinese Democratic Party, and/or Nikita Kruschev's son --all are currently faculty members that teach undergrads.</p>
<p>the opportunities at Brown far surpass those at the other schools
<a href="http://www.watsoninstitute.org/contacts_detail.cfm?id=493%5B/url%5D">http://www.watsoninstitute.org/contacts_detail.cfm?id=493</a>
<a href="http://www.watsoninstitute.org/contacts_detail.cfm?id=745%5B/url%5D">http://www.watsoninstitute.org/contacts_detail.cfm?id=745</a>
<a href="http://www.watsoninstitute.org/contacts_detail.cfm?id=452%5B/url%5D">http://www.watsoninstitute.org/contacts_detail.cfm?id=452</a>
<a href="http://www.watsoninstitute.org/contacts_detail.cfm?id=26%5B/url%5D">http://www.watsoninstitute.org/contacts_detail.cfm?id=26</a>
<a href="http://www.watsoninstitute.org/contacts_detail.cfm?id=608%5B/url%5D">http://www.watsoninstitute.org/contacts_detail.cfm?id=608</a></p>
<p>And at Tufts - Fletcher professors (they do teach undergrad as well); the head of Tufts IR is a former officer in the Jordanian army & leading IR theorist, and studied under Keohane @ Harvard; a former Israeli intelligence officer; former President of NBC; a Pulitzer-Prize winner; a leading British documentary specialist who holds dual appointments @ Oxford and Tufts, etc. Let's not make blatant statements that IR opportunities at Brown far surpass JHU and Tufts. Now, I'll go back and talk to my friend about the Columbian Ambassador, who held a luncheon, chat, and lecture here last week :)</p>
<p>Please note that I'm not saying that it's any lesser than the other two.</p>
<p>Also, not to sound late, but is this an IR or poli sci discussion?</p>
<p>Brown IR is an one of the most popular majors at Brown and it is an incredible school. Very few people would choose JHU or Tufts over Brown. If you do, you better have a huge reason to do so. Tufts is not at all as respected as Brown by graduate schools or employers (neither is JHU unless you are pre-med, though it does have a great writing program as well). People absolutely LOVE Brown and many, many people dislike JHU (I am referring to current students). Tufts has a lot of Ivy rejects.</p>
<p>"Tufts has a lot of Ivy rejects."</p>
<p>so does Chicago, NU, G-town, JHU, Emory. </p>
<p>You really don't know much about Tufts, do you. No, it's not in the Ivy League, but it's pretty 'darn close. So is JHU. I do agree that most will choose Brown over JHU/Tufts b/c of its Ivy Status, but not because of its IR programme. Brown's programme is excellent, but so is Tufts. The OP will most likely choose Brown because of its Ivy link and its more selective than Tufts/JHU.</p>
<p>I was simply stating the observations of a close friend. I'm not at Brown becuase it's in the Ivy League. It's the only Ivy I considered and nothing about it's status as such made it more appealing to me. My friend was very disappointed there at the number of people who were not, "just Ivy rejects" so much as people who were cranky about it essentially.</p>
<p>Take it for what it's worth, it's anecdotal, but that's the best help I can give this thread other than that I know that IR is one of hte most popular concentrations here and the Watson Institute is one of our major pulls for students.</p>
<p>The Watson Institute is certainly excellent, no one can deny that. I hope I didn't sound like I was bashing Brown in any way, it certainly deserves its esteemed reputation. My only point was that Tufts/JHU IR are excellent as well.</p>