Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

Sadly I'm not a senior choosing between schools- I'm still a junior making my list of where to apply. I've visited both Georgetown and Tufts and adore each of them, and I was wondering which one would be better for Political Science and International Relations. Any thoughts are appreciated!

By Palmbeach12 (Palmbeach12) on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 10:09 pm: Edit

any thoughts?.. I would say G'town. Look into an internship at the World Bank in D.C. while you are at it ;)

By Crnchycereal (Crnchycereal) on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 10:44 pm: Edit

Tough to say; Tufts has a more highly-regarded program in IR, but Georgetown would probably be better for Poli Sci because of its location. Needless to say, however, you can't go wrong with either one.

By Chemy (Chemy) on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 12:46 am: Edit

national research council and national academy of sciences say tufts is #57 in political science, georgetown is ranked #51....

tops are 1. UMich 2. Yale 3. Harvard 4. Berkeley 5. Stanford

MIT is #11 .. cornell is #15 .. columbia is #22 .. hopkins is #24 ysracuse #33

By Cheers (Cheers) on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 01:26 am: Edit

Yes, but Georgetown's School of Foreign Service is rated tops. Beware though, the admit rate is much much lower than regular admit rate for G'town. Check other threads to find out the stats for kids who were admitted. It is highly selective.

By Tufts08 (Tufts08) on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 01:32 am: Edit

Political Science - Georgetown (similar dept. rankings but you're in D.C. so much better internships)

International Relations - Either one. Tufts is ranked higher for undergard IR. In addition, There are TONS of amazing guest speakers at Tufts all the time that relate to International Relations (ambassadors, econimists, etc.). But again, with GU you get D.C.

By Nannerl (Nannerl) on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 10:50 am: Edit

Check out (if you haven't already) the political science department website for Tufts -- truly amazing. Also, this is an instance in which the campus cultures are really quite different, I think. Fraternities are a significantly bigger influence at Georgetown; community service is the largest extracurricular at Tufts. Both are in great locations.
You probably can't go wrong with either choice -- but I'd vote for Tufts. (My son will be attending next year, admitted early -- and is planning to major in English or poli sci, with a minor in drama or communications.

By Ariesathena (Ariesathena) on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 11:53 am: Edit

I honestly think that, first of all, you can't go wrong with either one (assuming you like both campuses, which you do!), and that to make distinctions between the schools based on IR is really just splitting hairs.

Given that, you could try to visit both schools again, do an overnight, and apply early decision to the one that you like better. Either that, or you could apply regular decision to both and get yourself another year to make up your mind.

By Snuffles (Snuffles) on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 02:17 pm: Edit

I know some people at Georgetown that were somewhat dissatisfied with their experiences. One of them plans to transfer I think.

By Chemy (Chemy) on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 03:04 pm: Edit

no cheers, georgetown is rated 51st in the country...

the stuff about special "schools of foreign service" or special "iR schools" is just there to try to market the school to people who dont know which universities have the best polisci departments.

By Umiami (Umiami) on Friday, April 30, 2004 - 12:17 am: Edit

Georgetown is one of the best in the country for IR. It is in a major city which provides internships in your field and DC is a lot of fun.

By Ariesathena (Ariesathena) on Friday, April 30, 2004 - 12:33 pm: Edit

Poli sci and IR are different. IR takes into account economics, poli sci, and foreign language. It is a much more rigorous major than poli sci alone.