<p>I’m a junior with pretty good grades and high test scores, and I come from a family not poor enough for financial aid but not wealthy enough to spend $50,000 a year on my college, especially with two younger sisters. In addition, the type of career I’d want in IR would require grad school, so I’d rather spend the money on a higher prestige school then. Most rankings of the best IR schools include Ivies and other schools of that caliber, schools that are probably out of my price range. I’ve looked into George Washington and American and like them, but are there any other like state schools that have reputable IR programs that would get me into grad school at one of the more prestigious? I live in Indiana, if that helps. </p>
<p>Look at the program that your home state’s flagship offers. More likely than not it’ll have the coursework that you’ll need. In practice I expect that you will need or want to take courses that aren’t explicitly “international relations” to develop the necessary background and marketability for a future job. The courses would depend on what aspect of international relations interests you. And if you’re not yet sure than you’ll be wise to take courses in a range of disciplines – including business, quantitative economics, regional country specific culture and business, social studies, language etc. Most any competent large university would offer such courses. My sense is that IR rankings are more focused on graduate programs than on undergraduate ones so I wouldn’t put too much importance on them for your undergraduate college plans.</p>
<p>The thing about international relations is that it’s an interdisciplinary graduate degree; you don’t need to major in international relations for undergrad in order to be competitive for a top graduate IR program. Many IR grad students majored in a variety of social sciences and sometimes humanities before going to IR programs.</p>
<p>Indiana University (both at Bloomington and IUPUI) has an international relations major; IU is a well-respected public institution. Purdue doesn’t have a major, but they do have a global studies minor and you could major in pretty much anything else. Ball State has international business; they also have a geography major.</p>
<p>As a note - the Ivies and similar top schools give the best financial aid - if you are admitted, they meet 100% of your financial need. If you can’t afford schools like them, then a school like GWU or American might be even more unaffordable. GWU is notorious for low financial aid offers; the sticker price is almost as much (or more) as an Ivy League institution. American U is similar; they don’t promise to meet 100% of financial need, although you might be competitive for a scholarship there if you are the type of student who can get into the Ivies.</p>
<p>Three other places where the master’s programs in IR were rated as very good are Tufts, Boston U, and Syracuse. While grad program rankings are not necessarily a good proxy for undergrad program reputation/quality, I’d say they’re probably strongly correlated.</p>
<p>Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service; while affordability would obviously depend on financial aid, it is a HIGHLY respected institution. </p>
<p>Seton Hall’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations is well thought of and growing. Their proximity to NYC and exclusive internships with the UN are also a draw. While a private school, they can be very generous with merit scholarships, especially out of state.</p>
<p>Check out Foreign Policy magazine’s “Ivory Tower” rankings of IR programs.
<a href=“Inside the Ivory Tower - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_the_Ivory_Tower</a>
Most of the ranked programs are either very expensive private schools, or else state universities that are high-priced for out-of-state students (> $50K).</p>
<p>Four exceptions (relatively speaking):
Ohio State
University of MD at College Park
University of Pittsburgh
University of Minnesota</p>
<p>Of these 4, Minnesota has the lowest sticker price for OOS students.</p>
<p>Here’s another list, top diplomacy programs:</p>
<p><a href=“Guide to top diplomacy programs - CSMonitor.com”>http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2012/0926/Guide-to-top-diplomacy-programs</a></p>
<p>to add to post #5, OSU, UMDCP, and Pitt will each give aid to the top students even if they’re OOS.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great reply! I’ve really been looking into IU because it would be a cheap in-state option that could leave me with money for grad school! Especially if it’s still reputable enough to get into a good grad school with an IU degree, I do know that they are currently constructing a new international affairs and global studies school on campus. Thanks so much for your help! </p>
<p>and languages! Indiana has some language action going on there. A good choice and like most schools good enough to get you into grad school. Getting into grad school will be about what you do rather than where you go, OP.</p>
<p>@gigglebot3, I live overseas and interact quite a bit with the US Embassy and various NGOs. I can tell you that where you do your undergraduate degree is not a significant factor for success in diplomacy or international organizations. Over the past 20 years, the ambassadors and their deputies in my host country have all career diplomats and their undergraduate experience ranges from HYP to Big State U to small academically rigorous LACs. For graduate school, however, the range narrows considerably to the usual suspects.</p>
<p>So, for graduate school, yes, choosing the right program is critical, but for undergraduate, choose the academically best school you can afford and concentrate on securing meaningful internships and summer jobs in your field of interest. Along the way, do some traveling and pick up a language or two. </p>
<p>I think Indiana is a great choice. If you have any doubt about the kinds of graduate programs their students get into and the kind of internships they are connected to ask the IR department for specifics.</p>
<p>I’d run some net price calculators for places like Princeton, Tufts, JHU, Georgetown and see how you do. If the estimated family contribution comes out beyond the range of your family, you might look at some schools that offer good merit aid. Some that come to mind are Grinnell, Emory. Smith and Mt. Holyoke if you are female.</p>
<p>Tufts is well respected as is W&M. The main thing as others have emphasized is that you don’t need to go to a name school or an expensive one to get into the IR field. (Indeed, people who enter IR from our school are also other things like bio, econ, and gov majors) Doing well, expanding your horizons (making sure IR is something you really want to pursue), and getting relevant experience exposure is important especially if you are interested in pursuing a master – which in all honestly will be more useful than the undergrad school to break into IR. This is due to the fact that IR varies greatly across colleges. For instance, at many schools it is theory based, while at W&M it is econ and language intensive as well (which imo is a good thing, as it gives you quantitative skills that other students may not have coming from other schools). But there is no set major or school you need to come from to enter the IR field.</p>
<p>I second Seton Hall</p>
<p>I also live overseas & have a number of friends at the US Embassy, other countries’ embassies, the UN, and other NGOs. What I’ve learned from discussions from them on career paths for my own kids, is that u definitely don’t need a degree in international relations. In fact, what these organizations really need are doctors, engineers, technical specialists, investment bankers, other professionals-- people w specialized professional skills who can actually do something. These people catapult to the head of the list for foreign postings, ahead of the generic int’l relations grads. </p>
<p>@GMTplus7 , would it be helpful to double major then with econ? I know I will probably double major or minor with Spanish, but would that help much at all, since a lot of people have a fluent second language in that field? (Or at least I think, I don’t have as many connections as you do 
) </p>
<p>@momrath , Indiana does currently look like my best option for undergrad, since grad school is really the one that would count in matters of prestige. I have not looked into Emory, but I will now!</p>
<p>@shawnspencer , I have looked into W&M extensively, particularly because they have a program with the University of St. Andrews in Scotland where you essentially spend half of the time at W&M and half at St. Andrews. I’m applying and hoping for the best in terms of financing and whether or not I get into that program.</p>
<p>Thank you for all of the replies! Do you guys have an opinion on what majors or skills would go alongside the IR degree, in terms of getting into the field? </p>
<p>^^^Language fluency. </p>
<p>
No, u don’t even need foreign language fluency, but it certainly is a nice-to-have. Interpreters are a dime a dozen; doctors & engineers are not. My professional colleagues who are fluent actually PREFER to use an interpreter in oral exchanges. It gives them the opportunity of extra time to carefully formulate a response. </p>
<p>Hey we’re basically exactly the same, even down to the state part! So what I’ve looked at is definitely IU, as others have mentioned. School of Global and International Studies and the foreign languages portion is a huge plus. This isn’t international relations much, but my aunt’s friend works for the CIA and he says he knows a lot of people who graduated from IU. Um, so if you’re not against women’s colleges (I used to be, but now half the schools I’m applying to are women’s schools) Mount Holyoke has a stellar international relations program. It’s really well regarded. I really really really recommend it. Same goes for Wellesley, though I personally liked MHC better (but that’s just a personal thing). Wellesley’s IR program is stellar, and they also have a large endowment, so they’ll offer more in merit aid. I’m also applying to Tufts. Georgetown and GWU wouldn’t give us much aid, so you may be in the same boat with those. They’re still great schools though.</p>
<p>Wellesley offers no merit aid; its FA is all need-based but generous. Size of endowment is not an indication of good merit aid.</p>
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<p>IR is itself a collaborative and interdisciplinary field which draws several different disciplines – history, political science, economics, geography, sociology etc. What would be most helpful for your career advancement really depends on what channel of IR you choose to follow. Foreign service jobs can be general diplomatic positions or more specialized in areas like economics, health, urban planning, education, arts, environment. NGOs cover a wide spectrum of specialties from economic development to arts preservation to women’s health issues and on and on.</p>
<p>This is not a decision that you have to make right now. Major in whatever interests you the most. Spend your summers productively. Network in your area of interest. Study abroad. Learn a language that is widely spoken in the geographic area that attracts you.</p>