MA in International Relations/Affairs

[HerrDBoo]

I noticed that there is a separate "professional" group for some IR/Int'l Affairs posts. 

 

I wanted to know is there a difference between the professional MA and the MA that are discussed in this section? Does that question make sense?

 

 

[TheGnome]

This section is predominantly for political science PhD applicants - although there are occasionally people who talk about MAs here too. When people do talk about MAs here, they typically refer to either terminal master's programs in political science departments, or MA programs that are more or less designed to feed students into political science PhD programs like Chicago MAPSS or Columbia QMSS. I guess QMSS grads can vary more in terms of their substantive areas of interest, but anyway. Oh and needless to say, academic study of IR is done under political science departments in the US.

 

The kind of master's programs that come to mind when you invoke the keywords"professional / international affairs" are found in places like Gtown SFS, SAIS-JHU, Tufts-Fletcher etc. These are very different from the first group of programs in their focus and training. The expectations for admission can also differ widely between the first and second types. Therefore, if you are interested in Int'l Affairs master's programs you will find a more helpful crowd in the other forum.

 

Best of luck in your apps!

[HerrDBoo]

That was great! Thanks a lot for that post.