<p>hi, i’m a high school junior looking into colleges as a prospective IR major (open to poly sci if the IR major isn’t offered, but they can still give an education with an international feel), and a lot of the “best” programs for IR don’t appeal to me very much. my main example for this is georgetown, which i know is one of the best programs, but when i visited there i kind of hated it. on the other hand, swarthmore is known as a great school but it’s never listed as a top poly sci/IR school, but i absolutely loved it when i visited campus. i think i like LACs and small Us a lot better, and the strongest programs tend to be at larger universities. so i was wondering-if i can’t find both, what’s more important? if i like a certain school a lot, is it worth going there knowing that i could have gone to a school with a stronger IR program?
thanks for your opinions :)</p>
<p>Look at Middlebury, Macalaster and Univ of Richmond - all smaller schools with good IR programs. For poly sci you have even more options.</p>
<p>It’s not all or nothing, but I would err on the side of fit. And most top LACs, like Swarthmore, will have solid IR or Poly Sci depts. Keep in mind that LACs don’t tend to appear at the top of a lot of ‘best’ lists because rankings are often based on the prestige and research of faculty and of the graduate programs, rather than the quality of undergraduate teaching. If you are in a school that plays to your strengths (lectures? seminars? writing intensive? research-oriented?), and makes it easy for you to connect with lots of like-minded people, you are likely to get what you need out of your education. </p>
<p>For any school, check the course listings to see what is offered (remembering that not every class is offered every semester or even every year). Look at the requirements for the major and the number of faculty in the dept. Note how many others major in that area each year and whether there are clubs built around your interests. Visit the career center and alumni offices and check the track record with placing people in the kind of jobs you can see yourself doing upon graduation.</p>
<p>Fit - the typical college student changes majors more than once.</p>
<p>If your choice is between Swarthmore and Georgetown for IR/Poly Sci and you say you like the feel of LACs, then I would go with Swarthmore. You can then go to Georgetown for grad school. Proximity to DC would be a nice advantage for IR.</p>
<p>“Absolutely loved it” trumps “kind of hated it” in my card game.</p>
<p>One option is to major in a related field (such as history, economics, government, or area studies) at the school you love. This will not keep you from pursuing graduate work or a career in IR, any more than majoring in economics would prevent you from pursuing an MBA. </p>
<p>Another option is to keep shopping around for a school that has both the program and the atmosphere you want. What about the Claremont colleges (Pomona or CMK)?
[International</a> Relations - All Courses - Pomona College](<a href=“http://www.pomona.edu/academics/departments/international-relations/courses/all-courses.aspx]International”>http://www.pomona.edu/academics/departments/international-relations/courses/all-courses.aspx)
[Claremont</a> McKenna College](<a href=“http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/international-relations/]Claremont”>http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/international-relations/)</p>
<p>thanks for your feedback everyone! that’s a really good point to focus more on the strength of the program when it comes to grad school. and thanks for the suggestions- i’m already looking into claremont mckenna, pomona, and macalester, but i’ll check out the other ones too.</p>
<p>Look at Williams as well.</p>
<p>^good suggestion, but i’m not looking at schools in massachusetts (sorry to be stubborn but i’ve lived in MA all my life so i want to experience being in a different region)</p>
<p>Go with fit. There are probably 50-75 majors and many schools, meaning odds are good you’ve never taken a class in many of the areas (even tangentially). So don’t be surprised if you find something you like better. That’s an argument for why major isn’t the most critical thing unless you’ve known since you were 12 you were destined to be a Zoologist or something. </p>
<p>And fit matters a lot; if you don’t like the school for whatever reason you’re not going to be happy there, you won’t be reaching out to make friends and join clubs, etc. Remember that college is about more than the diploma; there are a lot of formative experiences that happen in college, and many people would tell you they’re more likely to happen outside the classroom. </p>
<p>Also, unless you’re majoring in something that’s vocationally related like engineering or accounting, your undergrad degree isn’t really what’s going to launch you into a profession based on having that degree; if you want to pursue that field in depth it will take a grad degree in the field.</p>
<p>thanks for your advice! i’m still going to make sure every school i look at has a decent poly sci/ir program since i’ve known this is what i want to do since middle school, but i guess my original instincts were right that for undergrad, fit is more important than any particular department in a school.</p>