SOAS vs. SAIS

Hi!
I’d really need some help to choose what MA to do next year. I’ve been offered a place both at SOAS (one-year MSc in Violence, Conflict and Development) and at SAIS at Johns Hopkins in Bologna (MA in International Studies) with a second year in Washington D.C.
What might be best for any future career?? And which has the best tuition and takes best care of their students? How are the students/teachers at both places? Does anybody know?
I’m Swedish-Norwegian-Estonian girl with a BA in Pol Sci from the University of Padua, Italy. My ideas for the future pretty general: I’d like to work with international politics and development within an IGO such as the EU, UN, OSCE etc. All this just to give you an idea of what I intend to do with my degree…
I appreciate all comments and thoughts!!
Tokio :confused:

Reply 1

Bismarck

13

I think there are three main issues to consider:

1. Money. If you live in Europe, you should be able to get a generous scholarship to go to SOAS, and will probably pay under $35k (including living expenses) for the degree. If you go to SAIS, you will pay closer to $100k (including living expenses).

2. Time. You can complete the degree in SOAS in 1 year, while it will take you 2 years to get the degree from SAIS.

3. Employability. If you want to work in Europe, it would make much more sense to go to a European university. I think SAIS is more prestigous, but that won't matter much if you're looking for employment in Europe. If you want to work in the US, however, I would recommend going to SAIS.

Reply 2

Tokio

OP

Bismarck

I think there are three main issues to consider:

1. Money. If you live in Europe, you should be able to get a generous scholarship to go to SOAS, and will probably pay under $35k (including living expenses) for the degree. If you go to SAIS, you will pay closer to $100k (including living expenses).

2. Time. You can complete the degree in SOAS in 1 year, while it will take you 2 years to get the degree from SAIS.

3. Employability. If you want to work in Europe, it would make much more sense to go to a European university. I think SAIS is more prestigous, but that won't matter much if you're looking for employment in Europe. If you want to work in the US, however, I would recommend going to SAIS.

Thanks Otto!
In fact, the SOAS choice suddenly seemed obvious when I started to consider the long, gloomy years of burden of depts that would follow after my glorious, but short moment at SAIS...

SOAS vs. SAIS

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