Johns Hopkins SAIS vs. UCSD vs. GWU vs. Georgetown

[Alex75008]

Hello everyone!

It is time for me to make very hard choices regarding where I got accepted. I need your opinion on this. The problem is not tuition nor money. Actually, after graduation, my hope is to go back to France and work as a diplomat for the Government or within International Organizations. All programs are very attractive to me, as well as locations. If you have any views / advice / know which one should I consider first / second, please share. 

Here are the universities (I added a few more):

• Master in International Affairs (GWU Elliott School)
• MA in International Relations (Johns Hopkins SAIS)
• Master in International Affairs (UCSD School of GPS)
• Master of Science in Foreign Service (Georgetown)
• MPP (UCLA)
• Master in International Relations (NYU)

 

Thank you very much!

[GradSchoolGrad]

1 hour ago, Alex75008 said:

Hello everyone!

It is time for me to make very hard choices regarding where I got accepted. I need your opinion on this. The problem is not tuition nor money. Actually, after graduation, my hope is to go back to France and work as a diplomat for the Government or within International Organizations. All programs are very attractive to me, as well as locations. If you have any views / advice / know which one should I consider first / second, please share. 

Here are the universities (I added a few more):

• Master in International Affairs (GWU Elliott School)
• MA in International Relations (Johns Hopkins SAIS)
• Master in International Affairs (UCSD School of GPS)
• Master of Science in Foreign Service (Georgetown)
• MPP (UCLA)
• Master in International Relations (NYU)

 

Thank you very much!

So this is how I think about it.

- Unless, you really want to live in NYC - there is no point in NYU - it simply isn't as good as a problem period (can talk about it in detail).

- Unless you really want to love San Diego life or do something China related - I don't understand UCSD

- If you want to be a diplomat and work with IOs, I would not do an MPP, especially when UCLA's is more domestic focused

- I think this is really a race between SAIS, Elliot, and Walsh.

If you really want to get in the data side of things, SAIS wins.

If there is a niche that Elliot has that appeals to you (Space, international health, probably lots more I'm not thinking about), then Eilliot wins

If you really want to focus on government to IO relations from a structural perspective, I think Walsh wins

Hope that helps

[Alex75008]

18 hours ago, GradSchoolGrad said:

So this is how I think about it.

- Unless, you really want to live in NYC - there is no point in NYU - it simply isn't as good as a problem period (can talk about it in detail).

- Unless you really want to love San Diego life or do something China related - I don't understand UCSD

- If you want to be a diplomat and work with IOs, I would not do an MPP, especially when UCLA's is more domestic focused

- I think this is really a race between SAIS, Elliot, and Walsh.

If you really want to get in the data side of things, SAIS wins.

If there is a niche that Elliot has that appeals to you (Space, international health, probably lots more I'm not thinking about), then Eilliot wins

If you really want to focus on government to IO relations from a structural perspective, I think Walsh wins

Hope that helps

Thanks for your answer. So I should focus on D.C. schools. Will think about it, thanks!

[Preston Anderson]

On 4/28/2021 at 9:02 AM, Alex75008 said:

Hello everyone!

It is time for me to make very hard choices regarding where I got accepted. I need your opinion on this. The problem is not tuition nor money. Actually, after graduation, my hope is to go back to France and work as a diplomat for the Government or within International Organizations. All programs are very attractive to me, as well as locations. If you have any views / advice / know which one should I consider first / second, please share. 

Here are the universities (I added a few more):

• Master in International Affairs (GWU Elliott School)
• MA in International Relations (Johns Hopkins SAIS)
• Master in International Affairs (UCSD School of GPS)
• Master of Science in Foreign Service (Georgetown)
• MPP (UCLA)
• Master in International Relations (NYU)

 

Thank you very much!

I would mostly agree with the above with the exception of a few nuances:

- Even if you were to work in NYC, I still wouldn't go to NYU. Doesn't match up to Walsh or SAIS.

- Unless you have a really strong connection to San Diego, I wouldn't even think about going to UCSD. Doesn't have the brand name. You're trying to brand yourself as a professional. UCSD is not it.

- If you want to be a diplomat, I would go to Walsh, maybe SAIS.

- So it comes to down to Elliot, Walsh, and SAIS -- but actually really Walsh vs. SAIS since Elliot is a wanna-be Walsh.

- Although SAIS is more STEM-focused, I don't really see the benefit if you are looking to become a diplomat. You get a good foundation of economics at both Walsh and SAIS, but SAIS is a bit too theoretical with its STEM emphasis. Unless you are looking to do quantitative research, I wouldn't go to SAIS.

Part of the reason is, you have lots of room to customize your own program at Georgetown. I had to choose between Harvard, Princeton, SAIS, and Georgetown and ultimately chose Georgetown for the location, brand, alumni network, and especially the fact that I could basically craft my own international finance degree.

But that's just me. I did an internship at the World Bank before going to an economic consulting firm in D.C. I now work in private equity in London, so, for me, Georgetown helped me get to both economic consulting and private equity in the finance world.

I'll probably go back to the public sector sometime in the future, except this time I have an understanding of the private sector. 

Hope that helps.

Fun fact: Went to Oxford for undergrad. I know a thing or two about branding:)