Cannot Choose Between 2 Schools

[dxjaguar]

Hey everyone,

Like another person on this forum, I am torn between choosing which program to attend for graduate school. I just got accepted to several graduate schools and have narrowed it down to two: NYU (M.S. Global Affairs) and American University (M.A. Int'l Peace/Conflict Resolution). The problem is both are great schools, but offer different opportunities. My two areas of concentration are Int'l Security and Human Rights. Unfortunately, opportunities in both of those areas are mostly found in different cities (Int'l Security: DC, Human Rights: NY). Also, it does not look like I will be getting any financial aid from both except for loans. I loved NY when I was there for a summer program at the UN and been wanting to go back. However, DC will be in a state of change in the next couple years which means a lot of opportunities.

AU's SIS Program is top-ten in the nation, while NYU's Global Affairs Program is fairly new (4-5 years). My concern is that I will choose one or the other, and later discover that I had made the wrong choice. I want to go to NY because the UN and the main human rights organizations are there. I want to go to DC because it's the nation's capital and provides many opportunities in int'l security like NSA, CIA, State Dept, DoD. I also hear AU has a traditional way of thinking and does not allow students to become free-thinkers unlike a place like NYU.

Housing is another issue. NYU is offering limited on-campus housing to grad students while AU does not offer any at all.

And finally, I only have a couple days to make a decision. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[Antigone]

Go where you're going to get the very best education and will have access to the most resources, material and human, that will enable you to do something remarkable with yourself. You'll get a chance to meet amazing people and use immense libraries and be able to benefit from the intensive research others have already started at places where your area of study is established and well-defined.

The cost of DC is exorbitant and I personally couldn't go because for me it would be too distracting, but sometimes it's worth the extra money and extra headache to get the most out of your time there. I say go to AU.

[Sejla]

I found myself comparing these two cities as well - and one of the same schools (though neither program is the same)! I am definitely not in a position to give anyone academic advising, although I do like what the above post has to say.

Here is one very superficial thing I noticed: while New York is expensive, housing in DC is not actually that much cheaper BUT it is much more likely you will share a house in DC and have more space. How relevant is this to academic concerns? Not so much, but it's what I can offer

Although as I mentioned my program/field is not the same, I had some similar concerns about organizations I would find in DC - specifically that there would not be as many as in New York. Obviously you've done your research, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a number of organizations relevant to my field (not anything to do with government) in DC. Human Rights Watch does have an office there, if not frequently listed internships for DC. (Then again, New York has pretty much everything).

I remember finding some links to organizations where students had interned in DC from the SIS graduate admissions page (bottom right corner - graduate student blog?).

Good luck!

[ladyseacow]

tough call, but is funding an issue at all? What is your dream job? I say AU as I think you will have more work opps related to what you want to do. Banking on just theUN may be tricky....