STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Mia · Kate Spade

edumacation question...

DC Shopper · Dooney & Bourke

I studied Int'l relations as an undergrad and considered going to grad school for it...in my research it seemed that English majors were welcome to apply...Int'l relations as a rule is pretty interdisciplinary, and I think English is a good background for just about anything, really. But it couldn't hurt to either pick up a language (if you haven't already) or get an internship/job in this area. did you take any poli sci classes as an undergrad? i honestly don't think you would need to go back and take classes at the undergrad level although...many programs I looked into required that you have in your background micro and macro, or at least 2 econ classes...HTH.

-- Edited by DC Shopper at 18:21, 2005-01-03

mckenke · BCBG

My undergrad degree was in Religion and my graduate program was under the school of foreign service and there were tons of people with all different types of majors. I would second DC Shopper's opinion that a secondary or a third language is extremely helpful and more programs require it. I don't think an English major will hurt you in the least.

Mia · Kate Spade

McKenke - you can pm me if you'd rather this wasn't public info, but I am interested in where you went to school and also any info on the different schools/universities and their programs and rankings etc. I really know nothing about this field and am curious.

DC Shopper - yeah, I knew not taking any econ would come back and bite me in the ass! I have a second language but it's French and I don't think that would be too TOO helpful in IR these days. I've heard they're gagging for people with Arabic language skills.

DC Shopper · Dooney & Bourke

mia, don't worry, i think french is a good language to have in your pocket. sure, everyone's looking for arab-speakers these days, but any language will do when applying to grad school. plus french is spoken in a lot of developing countries. are you looking at schools in the US or are you looking to stay in Canada? if you are considering US schools i know of a few really good programs in the US....George Washington's Elliott School, SAIS at Johns Hopkins, and i have a good friend in a program at Syracuse U doing what it sounds like you're interested in...int'l development/conflict studies within the International Studies program there. she really likes it and they gave her a lot of money and everything. if you're interested, i can get more info for ya.

-- Edited by DC Shopper at 11:30, 2005-01-04

Mia · Kate Spade

DC Shopper - yeah, I am interested. Don't go to any trouble, but if you have any websites etc. that I could check out, let me know.

What you describe sounds just like what I am interested in...as I said, though, I really don't know a lot about the field because my undergrad was in something else.

DC Shopper · Dooney & Bourke

Here are some good school websites:

Maxwell School at Syracuse University in NY:

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/ir/academics.asp

The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs in DC:

http://www.gwu.edu/~elliott/

Georgetown School of Foreign Service (pricey and there are better programs out there, but still well respected):

http://www.georgetown.edu/sfs/grad_admissions.html

Thunderbird (this is actually more of an MBA program with an international focus) in Arizona:

http://www.thunderbird.edu/

and a really good program is the Johns Hopkins SAIS program, although this link isn't working for me at the moment-this program requires a strong econ. background, although I believe they allow you to take a summer program before starting the degree program if you need to brush up on it:

www.sais-jhu.edu

of course, there are tons of other good schools, obviously Harvard, Stanford, Columbia and MIT have great programs, but there are lots of non-Ivy schools that have top-notch IR programs. hope this helps.

Mia · Kate Spade

Thank you thank you thank you DCShopper! I am going to copy and paste this list and keep it. Thanks for posting...

asf · Kate Spade

...go to syracuse! then i can take a short trip upstate and visit! and then we can plot the overthrow of gwb....

sorry, i got carried away.

Mia · Kate Spade

Hee, asf!

Our services might not be needed...I have a feeling that guy is going to be his own downfall.

honey · Gucci

i know some people have strong feelings about this, but the kennedy school of government (at harvard) has really excellent programs for ir. also they were ranked number 1 for grad schools in that area by us news & world reports (do what you will with that information) though that area hasn't been evaluated since 2001.

http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/

http://www.iop.harvard.edu/

Mia · Kate Spade

Thanks for posting, honey...

In regards to "strong feelings" - are you aware of what the debates are here, in terms of rankings? In English, I know what programs are considered the top programs, what the arguments are etc., but in IR - no clue. If anyone who actually knows more could post...I'd be grateful.

mizzle · BCBG

OMFGWTFLOL! you should go to georgetown or george washington, obv!!

honey · Gucci

quote:
Originally posted by: Mia
"Thanks for posting, honey... In regards to "strong feelings" - are you aware of what the debates are here, in terms of rankings? In English, I know what programs are considered the top programs, what the arguments are etc., but in IR - no clue. If anyone who actually knows more could post...I'd be grateful. "

i said debates for two reasons:

1. a lot of people have really strong anti-harvard feelings (that's the main reason i said debates)

2. many of the ranking programs don't take into account things that are empirical, and to my knowledge are largely based on reputation as opposed to the overall academic experience, specifically quality of life. though to an extent quality of life is hard to quantify.

DC Shopper · Dooney & Bourke

quote:
Originally posted by: mizzle
"OMFGWTFLOL! you should go to georgetown or george washington, obv!!"

obviously! well, if you can ever dig yourself out of that snow -

in terms of rankings, I think Harvard, Stanford, and Columbia are 1,2 and 3 (not sure of the order, and it prob. doesn't matter too much...) I think this is from US News and World Report. The Kennedy school at Harvard especially is awesome - lots of big names there. My FI eventually wants to apply there for their Eastern European Studies program. BUT - as honey said, do what you will with the rankings. Different schools have different specialties, and while you can't really go wrong with the above schools, there might be programs elsewhere that are well known or have a strong emphasis on the stuff you're interested in - i think you said development? The best resource though, would be to talk to either a poli sci/int'l studies professor or someone else working in the field - they are the ones really in the know about different programs. the hard part, of course, is getting in contact w/someone like this - do you know anyone? I can talk to my friend at Syracuse since she did a lot of research on those kinds of programs. I have a lot of spare time.

-- Edited by DC Shopper at 13:24, 2005-01-10

Mia · Kate Spade

DC Shopper - that's my problem, I don't know anyone in the field. If you have any info, it would help. A lot. I am basically interested in foreign policy, and don't necessarily want to work for an NGO or do aid work - in fact I'd prefer consultancy/advising roles, I think.