League Tables/John Hopkins University/International Relations

arkbar

Won't that mean taking a gap year? And, out of interest, why didn't you apply to any UCs?

yea what i mean is that im 60% sure im taking a gap year which means that ill 100% apply if i am...sorry for confusion :p:

and i have been looking at UC : Berkley and UCLA for quite some time...and they look like they have amazing campuses...but i just dont feel their reputation will go across the atlantic and it would be more financially sound for me to just pay £3k/yr + living costs in UK for a Uni like Notts (which is in the end 6th for economics according to nearly all tables bar guardian)....also things like they are on earthquake activity (yes i know that youre more likely to die by car crash or something silly but i dont want my mum to worry every day for me...)..also it would be extremly hard to communicate with mum by phone (due to time diffrences)...and the apparently high living costs? otherwise it looks amazing and if i was gonna stay in USA i would probably have applied there.

same reason why i dont think ill be applying to JHU...although its medical rep might carry its name across to UK...

Reply 42

ebonyphoenix

1

abrp

yea what i mean is that im 60% sure im taking a gap year which means that ill 100% apply if i am...sorry for confusion :p:

and i have been looking at UC : Berkley and UCLA for quite some time...and they look like they have amazing campuses...but i just dont feel their reputation will go across the atlantic and it would be more financially sound for me to just pay £3k/yr + living costs in UK for a Uni like Notts (which is in the end 6th for economics according to nearly all tables bar guardian)....also things like they are on earthquake activity (yes i know that youre more likely to die by car crash or something silly but i dont want my mum to worry every day for me...)..also it would be extremly hard to communicate with mum by phone (due to time diffrences)...and the apparently high living costs? otherwise it looks amazing and if i was gonna stay in USA i would probably have applied there.

same reason why i dont think ill be applying to JHU...although its medical rep might carry its name across to UK...

Your list is very good so far. But Berkeley and UCLA (though Berkeley more so) have an AMAZING reputation. You graduate from Berkeley with a decent GPA, employers will be impressed. Yes, even abroad. I get at lot of PMs from people and many of them have their heart set on Berkeley. Berkeley isn't the school for me nor would I ever apply there (the location/atmosphere aren't for me), but if I were you I would definitely consider it. So many of the brilliant people of my high school are currently at Berkeley.

Earthquake activity? Yes it exists. But you could freeze to death in the snow at the other places you are applying to. Earthquake concern is a pretty weak excuse. lol.

The time differences might make it more difficult to communicate, but it's still very possible to talk without anyone waking up at 3 am. As for the living costs, they are high in California, but the cost of living in the UK is compariable if not worse. The exchange rate is $2 to every pound! Not everyone at Berkeley is amazingly rich; there are plenty of starving students. I don't think you should let the money deter you... there are ways to conserve money if you really want to go to Berkeley.

Reply 43

tbh i dont care about the earthquake risks :cool:

i think its a pretty ridiculous thing for my mum to threaten me with lol :smile:

well see...if i get a Warwick offer ( :eek:

) it might make things very difficult.

Reply 44

shady lane

16

If you're gonna go to Cali and pay loads of money for a degree (UC out of state fees ain't cheap) you might as well apply to Stanford. It's not only a better university than Berkeley and UCLA, it's FAR better at undergrad. My friend who went to Berkeley said her smallest seminar had 40 people. My smallest had 4!

The gap between Berkeley and Stanford at postgrad however is negligible.

Reply 45

Though him being Russian will probably get him some brownie points from the People's Republic of Berkeley. :p:

Reply 46

ebonyphoenix

1

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Reply 47

shady lane

If you're gonna go to Cali and pay loads of money for a degree (UC out of state fees ain't cheap) you might as well apply to Stanford. It's not only a better university than Berkeley and UCLA, it's FAR better at undergrad. My friend who went to Berkeley said her smallest seminar had 40 people. My smallest had 4!

The gap between Berkeley and Stanford at postgrad however is negligible.

i know that i most likely not good enough for Berkley (or infact most of unis).

i doubt that even if i get AAAAAa at Alevel this year and like 2100-2200 in SATs i would most likely not get in simply because in UK we dont do all these ECs to such an extent and they look very primitive compared to US applicants :smile:

.

but obviously i would love to go to Stanford. i think out of all the USA unis Yale is my favourite followed by Stanford.

ps thx ebonyphoenix :yy:

also..do eastern europeans count as URM :p:

?

Reply 48

chocol@tte

ew how come WashU was renked 48th? its no 12 this year..

Reply 49

lol_nl

Bismarck

Though him being Russian will probably get him some brownie points from the People's Republic of Berkeley. :p:

I've heard very often about Berkeley being very liberal or whatever, but I don't get the joke you mentioned :confused:

. What's so special about Berkeley's atmosphere and people?
I remember another guy saying that "even the more hard core Marxist won't survive there".

Reply 50

lol_nl

I've heard very often about Berkeley being very liberal or whatever, but I don't get the joke you mentioned :confused:

. What's so special about Berkeley's atmosphere and people?
I remember another guy saying that "even the more hard core Marxist won't survive there".

Berkeley was the most communist university in the US throughout the Cold War. That's why people joked about it being a "People's Republic", which was what socialist/communist countries were called at the time.

Reply 51

sounds amazing.

should i mention on my application that my father used to be a prominent member of the communist party then?

Reply 52

abrp

sounds amazing.

should i mention on my application that my father used to be a prominent member of the communist party then?

Anything that makes you stand out.

Reply 53

Bismarck

Anything that makes you stand out.

Reply 54

Saying Osama is your uncle might be going a bit out of line though.

Reply 55

now you tell me.

:bawling:

Reply 56

morningwood

superbug

There are a number of reasons as to why I'm considering it. I've spent a lot of my life abroad and like seeing new cultures / living in different places. Also, I think it would be a very interesting experience studying IR from an American perspective. It's also something to differentiate me from other students. And money is an issue, but isn't a big obstacle / my parents are prepared to support me to an extent or i can just use my student loans from my UG degree that I'm not going to use.

I'm guessing you have been through the entire SAT's process already? If it helps JHU is ranked highest in the US for their postgrad IR programme with Georgetown @ number2. But from just looking @ the website I'd go for the B.S.F.S programme @ Georgetown...it seems like a wisER choice for undergrad level....& SAIS @ JHU for PG (if ur intersted in obtatinig a postgrad degree that is...) :suitd:

Reply 57

shady lane

16

I wouldn't recommend Georgetown SFS to a foreigner for undergrad, they are very good at placing people in the US government but you wouldn't be eligible for most of those jobs. Also outside of SFS Georgetown students are generally less academic than their peers at Hopkins, if that matters to you. Georgetown is also a Catholic university, which I felt uncomfortable with but some people don't care.

Reply 58