UCSD v/s GWU ELLIOT v/s NYU-SCPS

[AkashC]

I am an International student admitted to UCSD/IRPS: Master of pacific in international affairs, NYU-SCPS: MS in Global Affairs, GWU-ELLIOTT: MIA

I am an international student.

Which of these three should I be going into? Please help..

Edited March 10, 2012 by AkashC

[erry3779]

Just a personal opinion , i would go for GWU! Its included in the top 10 IR schools.

[understatement700]

What do you want to study?

[JayLovesAfrica]

I am an International student admitted to UCSD/IRPS: Master of pacific in international affairs, NYU-SCPS: MS in Global Affairs, GWU-ELLIOTT: MIA

I am an international student.

Which of these three should I be going into? Please help..

I know this is tough, but because this is your future, you need to be the one who decides where to go. Which school offers courses that interest you the most? Which geographical area of the US do you prefer? Those are good questions to start asking yourself.

By the way, NYU's SCPS is more for older people who are looking for a career change, as far as I know.

I'm also an international student who got into GWU and that is where I will be going this fall.

[AkashC]

I know, but NYU is tempting coz of the brand name it has. Also the location is perfect for an international student. The course is not bad though.

What do you want to study?

Did you mean what exactly in IA? I had chosen the private sector concentration in my NYU application. Also considering the fact that I have a back ground in Accountancy, Economics for the last 7 years or so would help if I concentrate in that specific area, this would be an ideal choice taking into account my academic experience. Besides this I am also interested in a wide array of fields from Environment, Conflict resolution to even Economic and humanitarian development and even International Politics.

I have seen people discussing about the importance of quantitative courses and I have no issues with that. As long as it has no trigonometry.

[washdc]

It seems like you are set on going to NYU, so are you trying to get people to reinforce your decision? Because GWU is the better program, so I think you'll find everyone saying you should go to GWU not NYU.

[understatement700]

I guess it depends what you want. Where do you want to work afterwards? GW has the advantage of being in an excellent location in DC and would allow you to intern while studying. I do believe most classes are at night though, so keep that in mind. I don't know anything about he NYU program but know a bit about UCSD-IRPS since I am considering going there. Do you have a regional concentration you're interested in too?

For my academic and personal interests I would prefer IRPS over those other schools but I wouldn't recommend that everyone do that if it doesn't match what you're looking for.

[AkashC]

No not at all! Infact I am clearly more inclined towards either GWU or UCSD! I only stated that NYU was tempting because of the location factor alone and was replying to one of the poster about my field of interest in IA. NYU has already been striked out. GWU v/s UCSD it is now

[monad0211]

AkashC,

I am completely in the same boat as you. I would love to be in NY, but SIPA just rejected me. I'm accepted into UCSD and GWU and both are not my top choices , Still got to make the decision though! UCSD has been my last choice or "safe school" from the beginning because of the location, studying IR in DC is definitely better than SD, with tons of opportunities to find internships and get involved. If you are academically focused on East Asian Politics or Pacific Affairs, then maybe UCSD might be the best choice because they have good language programs, specially Mandarin. So, GWU is the one for me. I am also an international student by the way

[AkashC]

@ Monad0211

I am sorry to hear that you couldnt get into your top choice program and the fact that you had GWU UCSD as your safeties tells me that you had an extremely strong application

I am strongly considering GWU aswell! But UCSD has a better ranking lol maybe rankings dont matter much for applicants from the US itself but for an international student 'bigger the brand, better it is' and that is definetly one of the parameters I am looking at as of now. Content of both these programs is extremely interesting and different from one another and since I am switching over from commerce to IA I am a little confused as to which would suit me better. Admit from BU has complicated things even further! Regional focus would augur well for people who know exactly what they want of the program as against for someone(me) who is fairly new to this, but then again I wouldnt choose UCSD just because some areas of the program are stronger as compared to GWU while lacking in strength overall.

Best of luck to you, hope we both make a wise decision

Edited March 20, 2012 by AkashC