aaronayoung

seems its just us talking so sent you a personal message, not sure how easy it is tell if you get one or not.

can-bra: i am a bit concerned that the curriculum doesn't leave much flexibility. choosing 4 classes from 2 of the 3 concentrations seems somewhat limiting, especially when there isn't much variety within those areas. add in the required classes (4 + 2) and there i'snt much room left to explore the rest of the schools offerings - two electives. i chose the IA track somewhat reluctantly bc one of those 3 concentrations - global and regional integration - happens to be more or less what i think i intend to study. in a sense i regret having chosen this route over one of the more established MA IS programs - its just a hunch (i really dont know the history) but the IA track seems to be a bit less mature, cobbled together to fill a need. though more narrow in scope, the offerings in the MA IS programs seem greater. that said, i do really like the IA courses, however inflexible, but not sure i want be that constrained. you would get econ in the integration concentration. sadly i think geneva has a ton of great econ classes in the international economics MA program - just not much flexibility to go take them. sais obviously provides some greater choice (more courses) in coursework, but not necessarily a ton of flexibility (a fair amount of required courses). and yeah, from an econ stand point sais makes it easy to cover those bases. i applied to european studies which in truth is now scaring me off as well. the regional route seems narrow/potentially less job friendly as an american. i'd be in bologna first year which sounds great but in the end its just another cool european city, far from geneva's relevance. anyway, i wish i could rationalize geneva but i think i will end up stateside. i'm leaning toward fletcher and a mountain of debt.

I am curious what people think about the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. From the very little I have heard/investigated it seems like the school and its programs are pretty legit - pretty much the equal of most of its peers stateside but a little less known, a little less traveled by Americans. There has been very little feedback/talk of the school on this and other forums, making it a little more difficult to assess the relative merits compared to some of my other options stateside - SAIS with a little money, Fletcher, and SIPA. Frankly the idea of being in Geneva is pretty attractive, and the price point has become a pretty strong selling point. That said, there are obvious concerns about developing a network abroad that is a little more difficult to tap into post graduation as an American and the transferability of the degree back to the states. It is obvious there are disadvantages - just hard to gauge how handicapped I would to not have gone to a school like SAIS or Fletcher with a great reputation and connections not only in the states but also abroad. They do have exchanges with both Fletcher and GW that would let me return to the states for a semester or two, a nice consolation of sorts if I am concerned about developing allies back home. Anyway, I imagine I am not the only one considering jumping across the pond to Geneva so if anyone has thoughts on the school, and maybe more specifically the international affairs track, I and perhaps others would love to hear them. What are the strengths/weaknesses? And maybe a bit more selfishly, if anyone feels like responding the following question, I would be curious to hear your take: am I crazy for considering it over some of the options I have back home in the states? Thanks in advance.