My son wants to go into international relations. He’s very active in Model UN and has been on a Congressional Youth Committee with our local representative as well as active on local committees (particularly for climate action). We’re visiting Seton Hall this weekend but won’t have time to see AU. He’s convinced being in D.C. would be better, but the cost would be ~$25k more per year. Anyone familiar with these schools/disciplines?
Perhaps @rochachaa or @RiaMcQ might be able to speak to Seton Hall?
I disagree with your son - I think both will be fine. But he should see both.
AU is in DC and there are nearby government buildings - but it’s a 10-15 min walk to the train and action.
You can do IR anywhere.
I’ll tell you this - we went to the AU admitted student day and my daughter loved it.
But after hearing the presentation, I saw nothing job forming - and I asked the prof - or sort of pressed her on a double major to get a job. She was a bit taken back but acknowledged these kids go to grad school or have difficulty with an SIS alone major. But that presentation cemented my daughter into International Studies.
So no matter what you do - you want a double or minor of interest.
My student ultimately chose a different school (not in DC) and party due to budget (they didn’t offer enough merit but she wouldn’t have chosen it anyway) and she’s already interned for our state and in DC at a think thank during a semester in DC. She has a 2nd major but unfortunately it’s equally as - squishy career wise (Poli sci)
btw - Seton Hall has a DC semester. But it’s also a Catholic school and may have requirements there - does it matter?
So I don’t think the where matters - but he needs to have comfort. The schools are 4 hours apart and different environments. I would hope you have time to get to both - it’d behoove you to find a way. You are making a four year investment.
But personally I don’t see AU as $25K a year better (just opinion) and I don’t see it as a major I’d spend a ton on at either school. At the same time, your student has to be happy where they are - or any amount of money spent isn’t good - and that’s why you need to find a way to get there!!
Good luck
Semester in Washington, D.C. - Seton Hall University (shu.edu)
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Congratulations to your son on his acceptance into 2 very good programs and in particular admission to SIS (it’s much more difficult to get into than aU as a whole).
However, there’s a very big difference between these schools for this specific field, even if both are good - SIS is top 10 in the country and AU students have an entire day starting sophomore year when they work as part of their externship/internship program in DC.
Now, where would the 25k difference come from? If from parental loans, then don’t- Seton Hall will be fine and they have good connections, especially in NYC and at the UN. You especially don’t want anything restricting opportunities, even if they’re low paid or unpaid.
But if you can afford SIS at AU the program is one level above Seton Hall’s academically and in professional recognition.
In short, Seton Hall is good but is not the same as SIS.
And yes, in such a complex and ever changing field, your son has to plan on grad school down the line and if you can help it’s nice but typically 24 year olds aren’t as much your responsibility as 18 year olds.
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My student didn’t end up applying to American. He did an informal tour by himself last year when I was at a conference in DC and he just didn’t like the “vibe.” Same thing with George Mason. He would have loved to have been in DC, and did get accepted into George Washington, but he didn’t get the financial aid he was hoping for. In the end financials played a big part in his decision. He didn’t want to take out loans and neither did we. He got a fantastic offer from SH that made it hard to pass up.
As for the academics, he went to a presentation by the School of Diplomacy, and he really liked what he heard - UN connection, semester in DC, study abroad. Plus the dedicated career advisor to the school was a plus. He said he could really see himself at SH.
There is no right or wrong answer. You need to do what makes sense for your family.
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But this is why - before attending any school - you need to visit.
If you can get to SH, you should be able to get to AU.
A four year investment makes it critical - for the reason OP’s son didn’t choose American. They have to be there day after day after day.
Many of us have kids who initially loved a college, on paper, til we visited and they came right off!!
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Absolutely- if your son has not visited both, he absolutely should.
The 2 big questions are
- are both affordable without parental loans?
- which does he prefer/see himself at?
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I’m in the same boat with mine. We just visited AU this week. My son really liked the campus and the vibe. He’s a hockey player and even had a chance to meet with some members of the hockey team at their club recruiting table in the quad. They fawned over him because he’s a goalie and they’ll need one next year. LOL. Anyway, he’s also been to SH many times for tours, Day visits, interviews and open houses and he really like their campus as well. The preso by the dean of the SDIR was really good where he talked about the opportunities students have. My son plans to get his masters or maybe even JD so it won’t just be a BA in this particular field.
One thing I’ll add is that he’d like to major in IR but possibly double major (or at least minor) with the other major being Comp Sci. Seton Hall has both. He believes this would give him a distinct advantage in the job market, and I agree.
As far as cost goes, we live about 20 minutes from SH, so he wouldn’t even have to dorm. If he didn’t dorm, that cost would be significantly less than AU (assuming a decent Merit award, which we hope he gets). Assuming the merit is 20K at SH and not much at AU, is AU worth 35K more than SH (140K + over 4 years)? He’d have to work in the White House as a special assistant to Kamala for that to be worth that much, and even then, I’m not convinced.
Not sure what he’ll decide, but I think in the end, I think he’ll decide to not mortgage his future just to be in DC. At SH, he’d graduate debt free with a great education. He’d get a great education at AU, but not even close to debt free.
As an aside, I would strongly recommend he dorm. Not only to develop independent living skills but also because students bond when living together, study sessions are in the evening, as are special speakers,etc, all things that help with connections (crucial in IR), activities (also important) and grades.
Have you run the NPC on both? Are they both affordable (with room&board) without parental loans?
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All great points. We want him to dorm for those same reasons. And I’m sure he’ll do that.
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