Battle of the Georges: Gtown vs GWU for Intl Dev Stds?

[Citizen.T]

I was recently accepted into Georgetown's MS in Foreign Service (concentration in International Development) program with no funding and the Elliott School's MA in International Development Studies with $24K over 2 years. Each degree program offers fantastic opportunities for academic and professional development, and now I'm struggling with a cost vs. prestige issue. I would love some input from the IR/ID folks on this board.

I know that the Foreign Policy rankings list Gtown as the #1 IR program in 2007 (take that SAIS!) for professional Masters programs. I think GWU is ranked #7. But, these are IR rankings, not ID rankings. Has anyone seen a list of rankings specifically for ID programs and, if so, how the programs at each school compare?

On a related note, I've wondered how the ID job opportunities for students from specifically ID programs (like GWU's MAIDS, AU's MAID, and Brandeis' MASID) compare to students who concentrate in ID but earn degrees in IR at schools like SAIS, Fletcher, and Gtown. While I haven

[jaw17]

I would say that it partly depends on your area of interest within development - for example, if you're interested in health than GW is by far the better fit since you could take advantage of their public health school. But my own observations of the development field is that while the MA is a necessary hurdle to jump, the degree itself matters far less than the connections you get out of the program. And given that they're both located in DC, you'll have plenty of opportunities to network at either - in fact, arguably GW has the advantage there if they offer more evening classes (leaving time for internships and public events).

As for continuing on to a PhD: Since their aren't really any PhD programs in either international development or international relations, I personally can't imagine that the disciplinary departments you'd be applying to would prefer candidates with an MA in one over the other. On the other hand, they'll care more about rankings than your average employer.

Tradeoffs, tradeoffs. But frankly, that's a lot of debt to carry in this field...