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By ying gao on Wednesday, January 01, 2003 - 12:03 am: Edit

Hello! I NEED HELP!
I'm an international student (currently studying in U.S. high school), who is applying to Princeton, Georgetown, and Yale, and finding it very hard to pick a first choice. My mind is very much set for majoring international relations -- either politics or development -- and hopefully after that, working in international organization or NGO. Georgetown's SoFS seems to be excellent in that field. Also, the location of Washington D.C. provides incomparable opportunities for internships, which suites me, because I want to learn things from real work as well as from classes. But then Yale and Princeton are such great universities (and so committed to undergraduate education!) that they are hard to resist. Princeton has a school for foreign affairs too, and one of their professors was recently awarded a Nobel Prize. In Yale, I will only be able to pursue international study major if I double major, but I've looked at their curriculums and they seemed very interesting, and also, their political science program offers a concentration in international relationsEThey all seem like great schools, and I need advise!
A week ago, I was accepted by Georgetown for early action. If a get rejected by the other two, the decision would become easy, but I hope I don't... I'm really attracted by Washington D.C., but also by, I guess, the prestige of Princeton & Yale. I've visited Princeton, and plan to do the same with the other two soon. What I want to know is a comparison between the i.r. programs of these three universities..

By Iggy boy on Wednesday, January 01, 2003 - 06:16 pm: Edit

Georgetown has the oldest and most respected international affairs program in the US. I would say G-town all the way (BTW, My mom is an alum)

By ying gao on Wednesday, January 01, 2003 - 08:16 pm: Edit

Thanks. I'm visiting Georgetown tomorrow.

By Iggy boy on Friday, January 03, 2003 - 03:40 pm: Edit

cool

By yoyoMa on Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 01:58 am: Edit

georgetown is such an overrated school. take princeton or yale instead.

By Jacob on Saturday, January 11, 2003 - 03:34 pm: Edit

My final college choice was between these exact three schools, and I was also EA at Georgetown. My field of interest was poli sci--related to intl relations, but not quite the same. I chose Yale because of its excellent poli sci program, resources offered by the law and grad schools, and attention to undergrads despite the presence of grad schools. To tell the truth, prestige weighed in a bit too...honestly, the Ivy League part really shouldn't be that important, but in the end, more or less, it has to count for something.

In your case though, Georgetown's DC location might be better for intl relations? The schools' intl relations depts might also be of different quality than their poli sci ones, so your situation might be different. I strongly urge you to consider Yale.offer For me, Princeton was too isolated and offered fewer grad/prof-school resources. Student life at Yale is also great.

By ying gao on Monday, January 20, 2003 - 07:16 pm: Edit

Jacob,
It's pretty cool that you had exact same choices.. Yes, Princeton was too isolated for me too. I might visit Yale in a few weeks; my friend is also applying there for poli sci and she loved the campus. But can't you go to Ivy grad schools even if you don't go there for undergraduate? And what's neat about Georgetown is that if you do really well you can get Bachelor's and Master's degree in five years.. Anyhow, I guess it's down to either Yale or Georgetown for me now.

By Jacob on Thursday, January 23, 2003 - 10:04 pm: Edit

Just to answer your question, YES, you can go to Ivy grad schools without going to Ivy undergrad schools. I know a bunch of Yale Law students that went to state schools, in fact--the grad schools seek a diverse bunch of students as much as the undergrad schools do. What I figure though, is while you get definitely get into Ivy grad schools from just about any undergrad school, if you have the option of going to an Ivy undergrad too, why not do it? Just my thought.

By Teich (Teich) on Monday, March 10, 2003 - 03:56 pm: Edit

dc is the best place for internships in foreign affairs, and georgetown is an absolutely beautiful campus. yes, prestige is somewhat important, but your individual interests should supersede that. have you visited all three campuses?