I am an international student trying to make a decision between Amherst and the Dual BA Program between Columbia and Sciences Po, and would be super grateful for some advice! I want to major in Poli Sci or History, and would very likely go to grad school (possibly law school). The FA packages are similar.
I really like the international experience Columbia Sciences Po provides, which I assume is also quite beneficial for a poli sci major, and find the urban setting, rich internship and research opportunities ideal at Columbia. Living in France also makes it super convenient to travel in Europe. However, I heard that the quality of some Sciences Po classes are not ideal and the number of available courses are very limited. Besides, the Sciences Po campus I am going to (Le Havre) has a similar size to my current high school of 300 people. After two years in my high school I find this kind of super small and everyone-knows-everyone community very insular and would prefer not to spend the next two years in a similar setting.
For Amherst, I am attracted by the small class size and professors’ dedication to undergrad, and prefer the open curricular over Columbia’s core. Also both History and Poli Sci are super strong. However, I find that it has much less courses related to Asia-Pacific politics and history compared to the Dual BA program (my region of focus at Sciences Po is Asia-Pacific). Also, I understand for Sciences Amherst has very good research programs such as SURF, but is there a big lack of research opportunities for Social Sciences such as History?
Thank you!!! 
I posted in the other thread, the one you put in the Columbia board.
I think that post was somehow deleted 
Would you mind posting it again here? Thanks a lot!!!
When you are an undergrad, you need a good solid foundation in your discipline of choice. You’re going to have to gain some breadth - more breadth than depth, actually.
At Amherst, just quickly perusing the departmental websites, I found 6-7 political science and around 16 history classes that were focused on South, Southeast and East Asia and the Pacific. That number more than doubles if you include Russia and the Middle East. (Even if you didn’t want to include Russia, there are tons of classes on the Middle East.) Amherst also offers a major in Asian languages and civilizations. Those offerings are probably more than you could take while also satisfying other courses that you should take to flesh out your understanding of your disciplines.
The question is, do you just want to study abroad or is it important to you to have the international component be a tightly integrated part of your undergrad experience? It’s very easy for a political science and/or history major to study abroad for a year - there are lots of programs with classes in those fields, and with an interest in Asian-Pacific history and politics you should. The other question is - if you’re interested in Asia-Pacific history/politics, wouldn’t it make sense to pursue an international program in that region? Your interests could change, but Amherst would give you the flexibility to choose where you wanted to study. Sciences Po/Columbia would require you to study in Europe.
That said, I knew a few students who did the Sciences Po/Columbia program and it changed their lives in very significant ways. Again, it’s tightly interwoven with your degree program. There are lots of international organizations that address Asia-Pacific relations that you could potentially access in Europe. And having two years to travel and tour around Europe is an amazing experience. You’ll probably want to ask more questions about the availability of coursework and such - maybe contact Columbia and ask if they could connect you to a Sciences Po student who’s returned to campus and would be willing to chat with you about their experience?
It’s like having to choose between the new Mercedes s550 and BMW 700. So great for you. But it’s really just a personal preference. Both with will get you where you want to go in life and in style!
I’d lean toward Amherst with a junior year abroad in your Asian country of choice, but the sciences Po program sounds really cool
– the main downsides in my opinion is that you study in Europe whereas you have an Asian focus and the relative inflexibility in the program with two years of mandatory courses at science Po then the core and other and other mandatory classes at Columbia, so if you love the mandatory classes all is good but if you don’t too bad. All of that is minimal though.
So it’d really depend on how much you want to study 2 years in France rather than 1 year in Asia.
They will be very different experiences. Amherst is a LAC with smaller classes, a strong undergraduate focus, a great deal of faculty involvement, and a strong campus culture. As part of the 5-college consortium, you will have other opportunities outside Amherst.
Does that experience appeal to you? Sciences Po/Columbia with offer a large research university in a big city following two years at a French grande ecole with a more international focus.
Entering Columbia AFTER Science Po, you will NOT have to do the full undergraduate core curriculum. You will enter as a junior into the school of General Studies. Many of your general ed requirements will already be fulfilled:
The Core
Dual BA Program students will fulfill many of the core requirements through transfer classes from Sciences Po or results from the French Baccalauréat. In most cases, students can expect to have completed at least the following requirements prior to matriculation at Columbia:
Humanities
Foreign Language
Global Core (one course)
Social Sciences (two courses)
Quantitative Reasoning
To fulfill the global core requirements, students need to submit Sciences Po class syllabi to their Columbia advising dean for review and approval.