IR from a lower ranked university, how badly would it hurt in the long run?

[AkashC]

Hello!

I have read a lot about the top IR programs and there are a trillion threads on just these top schools with detailed analysis on a variety of parameters to get into the top programs at Harvard, Columbia, Princeton etc but I think we really need to discuss about 2nd and 3rd tier universities offering a masters in IR. There are people I have come across on the forum who would settle for nothing less than the best. Which made me come up with this question: how badly would it hurt if someone got into lets say FSU, GMU etc? (I have an admit from FSU, btw)

[inquisitive87]

From what I've gleaned through my own experience and many conversations with professors, friends in grad school, and those on the outside:

I'd say this one requires a qualified 'depends what you want to do with it' answer. I'd look at it as paving the way for two options (regardless of how realistic they are): the first step toward continuing on toward a PhD or a terminal degree for some kind of job in the policy analysis world. That a master's in IR is usually exclusively an academic degree, however, already creates potential problems for you using it as a terminal degree because you'd probably be applying to policy-relevant positions against a number of other applicants holding professional degrees (business, policy, finance, etc.) that will make them look like they know more than you about how to actually apply what they've learned. Now, if you were to get the IR degree from a top-tier school, then that might overcome the academic nature of the degree and get you a job at a think tank. However, those jobs are limited and you'd be applying to all the same ones against the MPPs, MBAs, and IRs from tier 1s. If you have a wealth of experience behind you then that will always help but the degree is (arguably) not ideal for use as a career-launching platform.

If you want to become an academic, however, then that might be a different story. It might be tough getting into an American PhD (depending on the year and program) but you could more easily get into a decent program overseas provided that you're ok with living and working abroad for the foreseeable future. On the other hand, if you can talk up the hopefully quant-heavy nature of your IR master's then that would help significantly in American PhD applications. As a word of caution though, I was told by several of my poli sci professors (at a top 5 liberal arts school) that the academic job market sucks for everyone to the extent that it's not worth getting a PhD from a non-top twenty school. Going to a lower tier IR program and then applying against all those from WWS, HKS, GSPP, etc. who're shotgunning it for all the same extremely limited top 20 PhD-track programs will be a challenge that will probably require a pretty decent life-story on your SOP in order to overcome.

So, in essence, a tier 2 or 3 IR program might be worthwhile if it was cheap and heavy enough in quant. I'd say it makes a comparatively bad substitute for a terminal professional degree (no one really does IR locally) and, even though it would be better for an academic career trajectory, you're still gonna face a shit storm of competition in getting into a professionally viable American PhD program. I'd either use it to go abroad in an academic context or abandon it altogether before you sink yourself in debt for a degree you won't be able to use. For my own part, if I don't get into a Tier 1 MPP or tier 2 with significant funding, then I'm not going at all until that situation changes.

[washdc]

For job prospects or PhD prospects?