Syracuse vs UCSD vs Korbel (IR)

[gurf]

hi everyone,

I was recently accepted to Korbel, Syracuse Maxwell, and UCSD IRPS. I'm also waiting on Georgetown and American university, although I'm going to assume that I didn't get in at this point in time.

I'm interested in the thoughts of people who are part of this forum on the options I have. While I haven't visited any of the schools yet, Maxwell's program attracts me more than the others. I like the fact that you can audit classes (from what I've been told), that the program is 16 months long, and it seems to have a decent alumni network. There also seems to be more internship/study abroad opportunities at Syracuse.

The downsides for me is the tuition. I don't expect to get any funding and I'm kind of grappling with the thought of the debt and if it's worth going that deep into the hole, considering what my earning potential will be when I get out.

Im leaning towards economic policy, possibly developmental econ. I'd love to work for an international organization such as the UN, working on economic policy.

UCSD appeals to me mainly because I'm a CA resident and will get the resident rates. I'm estimating that when all is said and done, UCSD will be 30 k cheaper than Syracuse.

Any insight or thoughts on my current options will be appreciated! Thanks in advance.

[flyers29]

If tuition is a concern then I think Korbel should be off your radar as well.

[mmclean0260]

Hey,

So I thought I could offer some insight. I am a current Syracuse undergrad senior in the IR department and have recently been accepted into Maxwell/Newhouse's Public Diplomacy (MA in IR and MS in PR in two years, great deal!). I also work at the abroad office at Syracuse.

I can tell you that Syracuse is expensive, really expensive. But just like any other private expensive university, they offer tons of internal fellowships/grants, all you have to do is search for them. For example I applied for the FLAS fellowship and am hoping to get a GAship of some sort. Funding is a huge question for me, so if I get none I am going to have to rethink somethings. Also, the cost of living in Syracuse is pretty low, I am assuming lower than Denver but I am not positive.

If you want to work in the UN I would say Syracuse is a great place to try and get your foot in the door. Off of the top of my head there are two professors that are closely tied to the UN and still do work for them on a regular basis. One worked for them for like 20 years helping to write resolutions and stuff like that and still knows ALOT of people. During the summers he takes a cohort of about 20 IR grad students to Geneva and sets them up with amazing internships with his contacts at the UN. The other grad prof that has a bunch of UN contacts is a woman who before coming to Syracuse was the Director of the UN's World Food Program in Rome for about 30 years and she also has amazing connections that she shares with students. Syracuse also has a campus in DC (the Greenberg House in Adams Morgen) where you can take classes for a semester and do an internship in the city. The program in DC is run by an amazing guy who worked for State for a number of years and knows just about everyone in DC, his rolodex is huge, trust me I've used it before haha. Fun fact, both Korbel and Pitt use our center for their DC semester program.

I know Syracuse is kind of under the radar for an IR program but it really is an awesome program with tons of support and amazing people. Plus out of all the top IR schools, who has the best basketball team?!? hahah I know you probably don't care, but SU basketball is a lot of fun.

Also, here is a list of some of the study abroad programs (off the top of my head) that a lot of the grad students do;

Geneva internship program (summer)

Cuenca and Santiago (semester, SU campus)

Global Europe (semester)

Frei University in Berlin (semester)

Beijing (semester, SU campus)

Hong Kong (semester, SU campus)

London (semester, SU campus)

Strasbourg (semester, SU campus)

Madrid (semester, SU campus)

Florence(semester, SU campus)

AU in Cairo

AU in Beirut

There are a ton more that I just can't think of.

I hope this helps a little, and please feel free to PM me if you have anymore questions.

-Mike

[gurf]

Thanks for your replies.

flyers: yeah you're absolutely right. even though Syracuse is expensive as well, my preference has always been Maxwell over Korbel.

mmclean: haha you know what's funny, ever since i was accepted to Syracuse, i've been following the team! I PM'ed you with some other questions as well =)