Choosing IR Programs

[pmcweeny]

I am choosing between a few schools and was curious on the viewpoints and opinions of others on the schools. My eventual goal is to pursue a PhD, publish, and become a professor, so the prestige and reputation of the school plays a somewhat substantial role in my choice. My future research areas are in policy and development and while the programs are a little bit different in their focus, each seems to meet my needs somewhat equally. None of the schools is in the Georgetown category and are likely pretty similar, but are all well-thought-of programs. The options are:

 

Pittsburgh GSPIA's MPIA majoring in International Political Economy

University of Denver's MID program

University of San Diego's MA IR program (I have not heard back yet possibly due to some paperwork delays but I will include it here anyway)

 

These are obviously slightly different degrees, but it seemed that each one could very easily focus on development policy and would open up plenty of publication opportunities. I saw an earlier post on Pitt vs Denver but figured I would post my own topic. Any impressions of each of the schools or information concerning them would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance