<p>I an above average student, but I'm not great.</p>
<p>2nd in my class, 30 on ACT 32 w/ writing, chocked SAT (640 on math, reading, 690 on writing), accepted to full semester political internship for senior year, plenty of extra-curriculars.</p>
<p>Columbia is the dream, but I've pretty much ruled out all of the ivy league schools.</p>
<p>We have a 527 program (College Illinois) so tuition at the University of Illinois is paid for if I go there. From what I've heard about U of I political science is that it's a lot like me, good but not great.</p>
<p>Other schools on the radar are:
Big Reach: Georgetown (wasn't even on my radar until guidance counselor said i should be looking at it b/c she has a relative that went there).
Reaches: American, Washington & Lee, Middlebury
Match: University of Michigan (sort of)</p>
<p>My question is would it be worth the extra 20-30k a year to go after a possibly better political science program than the U of I, or should I save the money and stick with the U of I?</p>
<p>I would personally save the money and stick with U of I. Its a good school. But im kind of biased because I think Ivies are overrated and people put way to much emphasis on them.</p>
<p>I'm generally a big fan of quality publics like U of I because I think they're a great value, but I have to temper my enthusiasm a little when it comes to extremely popular majors like poli sci. I had a fantastic experience as a philosophy major at Michigan---lots of contact with a truly extraordinary faculty, small classes, etc. But some of my friends who were poli sci majors spent all their time in big classes, even upper-level classes in their major, and they had a harder time getting to know their professors. That said, Michigan has an outstanding poli sci department, so they're well worth considering. But I also think you should look at a couple of LACs. You won't know until you get accepted and get their financial aid offer what the true cost is. Plenty of time then to decide where to go, rather than ruling them out ex ante.</p>
<p>Just so you know your estimates of reaches and matches are a little off. Michigan is a reach because you are out of state while American is certainly a match ( a low one at that).</p>
<p>I'd say apply to up to ten or so schools that you are interested in and wait for the financial aid estimates to come in. If you are pleasantly surprised, or if you get into a place like Georgetown, then it may be worth it to go out east. If not, there's nothing wrong with the U of I.</p>
<p>Personally, I had to think long and hard about choosing Middlebury over Wisconsin. In the end, I realized that because I have no intent of living in the midwest after college, it would be better to get roots out east and be able to make connections for my future. It's an entirely personal decision and one I wouldn't recommend making until next April (assuming you are a junior).</p>
<p>Depends (as always). If internships, political connections, summer work, etc. is really important to you, American (or GW or Georgetown) might be worth the extra bucks. But for educational quality per se, none of those schools (and certainly none of those not in DC) are worth an additional 100k over four years. Consider what else you could do with that $100k to further your poli. sci. education. </p>
<p>I can't make ANY argument for a large OOS public.</p>
<p>bigp9998,
Unlike many publics, Michigan doesn't have a quota for OOS students and according to their admissions office they give in-state applicants no preference in admissions, treating in-state and OOS as a single applicant pool. This is borne out in their student body, 35% OOS, extremely high for a public university. If it's a reach, it's a reach because of your stats, not because you're OOS.</p>