Hey ya’ll. I’m a rising senior that is interested in majoring in international relations or political science. I wanted some insight on what schools I should be seriously considering in order to get my foot in the door in terms of internships. What schools offer the greatest amount of internships in the national government?
These are my stats if this would help you in recommending colleges:
GPA: U/W: 3.909/ 4.283
I’ve taken 4 AP’S so far (Human Geo, World History, US History & English Language).
ACT: 29. I have retaken it, but scores have yet to come out. Am predicting at least a 30-31. I also took the SAT but do not have the scores.
Anything close to the Capitol! Georgetown (a bit of a reach), George Washington University and American University (matches), and Howard University. Those are just a few- Forgive me for being too lazy to list all of them!
I was looking at a couple of schools near the DC areas, but don’t know how strong their political science programs are/ my chances at them. How likely do you think I am to get into schools like U. of Richmond, College of William & Mary, John Hopkins, & UVA? & Do you know if they offer opportunities for government internships?
Look into Dickinson . . .
https://www2.dickinson.edu/departments/twc/
Mt. Holyoke . . .
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/cdc/mhc-dc
Smith . . .
https://www.smith.edu/gov/picker.php
and Hamilton . . .
https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/offcampusstudy/washington-program
D.C. schools, GW and American, mentioned by @newkidnewtrix, could also be excellent.
For schools like Hopkins, Georgetown, William & Mary, etc., you will need to raise your ACT scores into at least the ~33 region. I understand this will take more work and practice, but I assure you it will be worth it in order to increase your chances. Even with a 33+ ACT or 1450+ SAT, your extracurricular activities must also be impressive, and it would be highly favorable if you have participated in activities related to politics. You haven’t provided us with a description of your activities in high school, and that will be necessary for gauging your chances.
University of Maryland is pretty close to the capital too. There’s a lot of stuff in NYC too, so I’d be applying to colleges there as well. For example, United Nations is in NYC.
Model UN club in HS, among other things, helped him get a scholarship to George Washington.
IMO any top school will help with internship opportunities. But being near the jobs means easier access to
in-person interviews when an opportunity arises. State capitols are possibly good locals. That said a top school in the middle of nowhere can help you get a gov job.
I don’t have many extracurricular activities at all, mainly due to the fact that I have the responsibility of taking care of my nephew. If I do manage to raise my ACT score to fit the criteria of these top colleges, do you think you’ll take that reason into consideration as to why I could participate in many EC’s? The only things I can think of that are related to politics is that I will be published in two online political journals by the end of the summer.
My son has similar interests as you indicated in your original post. He is still working on his list, but American, Catholic, George Washington, Johns Hopkins, Villanova and Richmond are some of the schools on his list. For those interests, we figured D.C. Or within a couple of hours of it would be ideal. Although we’d like to look at Georgetown too, we have left it off his list because we are full pay and they don’t appear to give much merit based aid.
GW and American are your best bets if you want to work at Capitol Hill. But going to a school in DC is by no means necessary. You can get a government internship from literally any school.
American and Mount Holyoke are likely, Dickinson, GW and Smith are realistic matches, but a 30 is in the bottom 25# Virginia and William and Mary, and below it at Hamilton and Hopkins, so are unlikely unless you have a hook or are in state in the case of Virginia and William and Mary.
claremont mckenna has a really good program where students can spend a semester in DC and take their classes there while doing a full-time internship. I knew a girl from my school who was a math major and did it, so you don’t exactly have to be a government/business major to do it.
Taking care of your nephew counts as an EC.
My Dickinson kid spent a semester in DC with the Dept of State, a summer interning for our home state Senator in DC, and had a part time internship one semester with the Army War College in the town Dickinson is located in. One of her HS friends at Smith had an internship at the White House.
Dickinson has a particularly strong semester in DC program, a little different than what other schools offer. My kid who did that program had a great experience; she now lives & works in DC, and so do a lot of her college friends.
@msherondale, Smith, Mount Holyoke and Dickinson have outstanding DC programs. My daughter attended Smith, so I have first hand knowledge of the college and its programs. Due to Smith’s extensive DC connections, my D, as well as a number of her fellow students, were able to obtain prestigious and high paying summer internships. She had two friends who did the Picker Program. One worked in the White House. The other worked for Condi Rice. Both are now working full-time in DC.
My D’s internships help facilitate her acceptance to Yale’s Summer Institute in Bioethics.
You may be interested in the program in the future.
http://bioethics.yale.edu/sherwin-b-nuland-summer-institute-bioethics
Smith also has excellent career services. However, so do Dickinson and MHC
https://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/colleges-with-great-career-services
If you’re interested in Hamilton, you can submit AP scores in lieu of the ACT/SAT
@CrewDad, yes Hamilton has a Test Flexible policy, but AP exam choices are limited as outlined. So in OP’s case, only AP English would meet the criteria, but would still need two other qualified test results for the non-traditional route which has a much lower acceptance rate.
Hamilton’s applicants are best served by being provided with a variety of ways to meet our standardized test requirement. They include:
The SAT (Essay optional for redesigned SAT); OR
The ACT (Writing Section optional); OR
Three individual exams of your choice, selected from SAT sections (including Essay test from redesigned SAT), SAT subject tests, ACT writing, AP scores or IB final exams*. One must be a verbal or writing/essay test, one must be a quantitative test, and the third is your choice.
The following tests satisfy Hamilton’s quantitative and verbal/writing requirements:
Acceptable Quantitative Tests: SAT Math; SAT Subject Tests in Math, Chemistry, or Physics; AP Computer Science A, Chemistry, Economics, Math, Physics, or Statistics; IB final exam results for Chemistry, Computing Studies, Economics, Math, Physics, or Physical and Chemical Systems*
Acceptable Verbal/Writing Tests: Old SAT Critical Reading; Old SAT Writing; SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing; ACT Writing; SAT Subject Test in Literature; AP English Language and Composition or English Literature and Composition; official IB final exam results for Language (A1, A2, or B English); TOEFL or IELTS (for International students ONLY)
Thank you everyone! I am planning on retaking the ACT in September so hopefully I will be able to reach at least a 33. I also want to take 3 SAT subject tests in order to be a more competitive applicant. Ill definitely start researching schools that arent close to DC, since you guys have mentioned great colleges out of that area.