I am a poly-sci major from PA and I was accepted to several good schools, however, many were not affordable for my middle-class family. The two most affordable colleges are Allegheny and West Chester, with Allegheny being a little cheaper because of the financial aid package. I’ve heard that Allegheny’s classes are more rigorous but it’s located in the middle of nowhere and they are less selective with an acceptance rate of 68%. Does anyone know which college would look better for a Poly-Sci major looking to go to law school afterwards?
Allegheny is small and private. It has both higher average GPA and SAT’s than WCU. So, in fact, is more selective, in general. I have a family member who graduated from there many years ago who has been very successful.She loved her time there , but of course, that is anecdotal.
WCU is larger and public. It seems to be pretty popular these days among the PASSHE schools.
Visit both on accepted student days. Meadville is within a couple of hours of both Pittsburgh and Cleveland (Erie is closer than that). West Chester is about an hour from Philadelphia. Find out about programs, clubs, opportunities for travel, career and graduate school placement, etc. Good luck with the decision!
Have you visited either? I’m not familiar with West Chester, but dd visited Allegheny and we were very very impressed. She applied to more selective schools, but it will be a difficult decision to make because Allegheny has so much going for it. Location was the one drawback, but it’s not a deal breaker by any means.
I have visited West Chester first but I haven’t gotten the chance to visit Allegheny yet because it is on the other side of the state (I live near the NJ/PA border). I should be visiting in the upcoming month though. I have to say from what I have heard, West Chester is in the better area but Allegheny has the better program for Political Science. Thank you for the advice!
I considered West Chester, but I decided to apply to Penn State Berks instead. This was in case I did not end up getting an affordable offer from Allegheny College. In the end the scholarship from Allegheny is going to help a lot, so I’ll end up going there. I’m looking for a smaller class size and West Chester is a little bigger. My thinking was if I ended up at Berks, I’d transfer to the main campus for my senior year.
Allegheny has a great reputation. The people I know who have gone there have had good experiences socially and academically. All smart, go-getters. Personally, I would choose this one, but I wouldn’t mind being an hour from Pittsburgh - that would be close enough to go in from time to time for events. If you can visit, it may become clear where you would be happier.
Soybalz thank you for the insight, it’s cool to see how people with similar choices are handling the decision. I thought about PennState briefly but I live relatively close and I wanted to start new (a lot of the kids from my school typically go to ESU, Pennstate, or Kutztown). However, I’ve seen a rise of interest from kids to go to West Chester.
Thanks Gardenstafegal, it’s becoming more clear that I will have to visit soon.
Law school admission is heavily numbers-based, so the name of your undergraduate college, and even your major, don’t matter as much as for some other post-college plans. You need excellent grades, an excellent LSAT score, and of course strong letters of recommendation.
During your visits, think about what options you might have at each place if you should change your major, or decide you aren’t interested in law school. Many students do change their majors and goals, and it is good to be at a place where you have some flexibility.
I would choose Allegheny. I’m sure that the other college is equally good, but I have heard nothing but great things about Allegheny and knew a professor who attended there. It’s one of the “Colleges that Change Lives,” and it, along with Juniata, is a school that will give you as good an education as just about any LAC, yet its location in western PA means that is is overlooked. Honestly, if you were to move Swarthmore to Meadville, it would be Allegheny that would suddenly be in the top 20 (although I should note that rankings are silly) and be part of the quartet of schools that includes Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Penn.
Yes, the academics at Allegheny will be rigorous, as they are at any well-regarded LAC, but you’ll also have support. That is key. Your professors will be available and accessible; most you will know by first name and even be invited into a few of their homes. This combination–challenging but supportive–is what I love most about quality LACs (can you tell that I’m biased in favor of LACs?).
Both the Fiske Guide and the book Colleges that Change Lives feature in-depth profiles of Allegheny. I’m pretty sure that the Princeton Review’s “Best 3xx College” will also feature Allegheny. It’s that sort of school: perhaps a bit overlooked but with a reputation that puts it in the top 10-15% of all colleges in the US.
I would think it depends on your offer from Allegheny. I would consider that the offer may be stagnant for 4 years, while the top-line tuition may go up over that time. If cost is a major consideration, there are some other threads (search PASSHE) that discuss the options at West Chester including dorm type, etc. It is certainly one of the better PASSHE schools and has become more popular in recent years in the greater Philadelphia area.
Allegheny has actually given me a pretty generous scholarship. Due to the financial package they have given me, it will only cost my parents 100 more dollars to go Allegheny over West Chester University.
SAT Reading + Math, Fall 2016 entering students:
1070 - 1290 Allegheny
970 - 1150 West Chester
Student:Faculty Ratios:
10.5:1 Allegheny
19:1 West Chester
Out-of-State Students:
56% Allegheny
15% West Chester
Average Net Price, 2015-16:
$26,517 Allegheny
$18,651 West Chester
Four-year graduation rates, full-time students who started in Fall 2010:
70% Allegheny
46% West Chester
Tenure-Track Professors in Political Science:
8 for 1,920 undergrads, Allegheny
8 for 14,397 undergrads, West Chester
The main advantage of West Chester is the low in-state tuition rate. If you take this away, then West Chester is much less attractive (which is why few out-of-staters, who do have to pay higher tuition, enroll there).
The main drawback of Allegheny is the higher private school tuition. If you can get Allegheny for the same price as West Chester, then you won.
Data from College Navigator or Common Data Sets, PoliSci Dept. web pages
There are different ways to define selectivity. It’s true that West Chester has a slightly lower acceptance rate. On the other hand, this may not be an apples to apples comparison, because Allegheny probably has a more talented applicant pool to pick from. This interpretation is based on the fact that Allegheny ends up enrolling students with significantly higher stats. Many people would consider Allegheny to be the more selective school on that basis.
SAT Reading + Math, Fall 2016 entering students, 25-75% range:
1070 - 1290 Allegheny
970 - 1150 West Chester
ACT Composite, Fall 2016 entering students, 25-75% range:
24 - 29 Allegheny
21 - 25 West Chester
Average High School GPA, Fall 2016 entering students:
3.71 Allegheny
3.44 West Chester
High School Rank, Fall 2016 entering students:
Top 10%: 37% Allegheny, 9.7% West Chester
Top 25%: 66% Allegheny, 33.6% West Chester
The one where you will perform best academically, get the highest GPA and LSAT scores, and where the profs will write the most compelling letters of recommendation.
The top-ranked law school in Pennsylvania (and probably one of the top ten nationwide) is Penn. Their enrollment currently includes students from both Allegheny and West Chester. Law schools won’t care about your undergraduate school’s reputation in general – what they will care about is your performance there as an individual. https://www.law.upenn.edu/admissions/list-of-schools.php
Thank you for the stats. I know law schools don’t look at the undergrad school so much as they care about the grades and LSAT but I guess I’m worried that one school may present more opportunities for internships than the other and one school may be academically superior. Ultimately, with everything I have researched and everything I have seen here, it seems as if Allegheny might be the better choice.
Although law schools in western PA and OH apparently think that Allegheny is a good place to find well-qualified individuals, since they send their recruiters to the campus. https://sites.allegheny.edu/my?s=%22law+school%22+visit
Info re: law school and contact info for both schools. Of course, once you get to college, there is a chance you will change your mind about law school.
Does the scholarship remain the same for 4 Years? Will that $100 difference be the same when you are a senior after top line tuition has risen 5% per year? Just some things to consider.
Yes the scholarship and grant they awarded me is for the full four years. My parents do expect for the price to go up for both schools, however, West Chester has not given us the updated 2018 tuition and fees price yet whereas Allegheny has. (In regards to West Chester we only know what the 2017 year price was). As it was explained to my family though, the grant awarded to us will expand for each year that I am there. So, my parents have said that the price isn’t a concern for them.