What about these schools...?

[tsavrey]

Hello,

I understand from this forum and others like it that U of Pitt's GSPIA school and GW's Elliot are not as prestigious as say JHU's SAIS or Columbia's SIPA for masters programs in international affairs and the like but how do they rate anyway? I understand that the more competitive programs claim to give their graduates an advantage in the job market but I couldn't get into those programs at this time so I have to look elsewhere. Is location an issue with Pitt? Does Elliot give a graduate a good chance to land a decent job? What if you are pursuing a dual degree? I myself will be pursuing a dual masters degree with public health at either of these schools. Any opinions?

Thanks!

[polisciphd]

Georgetown and SAIS like to put down ESIA folks, but you will find that their placements for graduate students are pretty much identical to GW. Plus, ESIA's facilities are far superior, newer buildings (Gtown in particular), an actual campus as opposed to a building (SAIS), which means student centers, gymnasiums, etc.

Another big plus in my mind was the ability to work a job while going to the Elliott School, as all classes begin after 5pm, so you can get internships while you are taking classes. (State dept. is right across the street from the Elliott School building)

As far as rankings go, ESIA was ranked #7 by Foreign Policy magazine, so you are not talking a whole lot of difference in ranking.

[tsavrey]

I thought that might be the case. It seems to me that just about any decent IR program located in Washington DC is going to have some advantages. Have you heard anything about Pitt's GSPIA program?

Thanks for the info!

[polisciphd]

Not so much. I can tell you that their Political Science Phd program is very good, especially for Latin American Studies, so by correlation, I would imagine that if you are focusing on L.A. Pitt would be good. However, if you are doing straight IR, then one of the schools in DC would be better.