<p>Hi Everyone! I'm currently a junior looking for colleges to apply to next year; I plan on majoring in political science and hope to be a politician/work for the government one day (though I realize that most politicians don't necessarily study political science). I have a 3.9 UW GPA, am in the top 10%, and got a 35 on the ACT. While I'm the not the most outgoing personal, I consider myself to be somewhat social. I enjoy sports (basketball and football) and want to go somewhere in the US. What colleges should I consider applying to? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Most of the colleges near Washington DC have excellent political science departments. Aside from GT, they’re also not stupidly selective.</p>
<p>-American University
-George Washington University
-Georgetown University
-George Mason University
-University of Virginia</p>
<p>Interning in DC will probably help your future goals as a politician, since you’ll be able to make connections and the like. Also check out Claremont Mckenna college on the other side of the country, which is famous for producing future politicians and businessmen. </p>
<p>Guest, the DC schools are not strong in Political Science. Their strength lies in International Relations. The top Political Science departments in the US are:</p>
<p>Columbia University
Duke University *
Harvard University
Princeton University
Stanford University *
University of California-Berkeley *
University of Chicago
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor *
Yale University</p>
<p>Other top programs include:</p>
<p>Cornell University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
New York University
The Ohio State University *
University of California-Los Angeles *
University of California-San Diego
University of Maryland-College Park *
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill*
University of Wisconsin-Madison *</p>
<p>Those with asterisks next to them have strong Basketball/Football programs too! ;)</p>
<p>Cost constraints?
Have you talked to your parents about what they are able and willing to pay?
Have you checked out your eligibility for need-based aid by running online Net Price Calculators for colleges that interest you?</p>
<p>
For most CC posters, that goes without saying. Are you an international student? If so, be aware that only 6 US institutions (all super selective) are need-blind in admissions for international students (<a href=“http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-6-need-blind-colleges-in-us-for-international-students”>http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-6-need-blind-colleges-in-us-for-international-students</a>.) Many public schools offer little or no need-based aid to internationals. Even for domestic students, most public universities do not give very generous need-based aid to out of state students. Full cost of attendance for OOS students at some state universities (including Berkeley, Michigan, UCLA) now exceeds $50K. At others (including Wisconsin and Maryland) it is under $40K.</p>
<p>Georgetown, American U, and George Washington (all located in DC) perennially do well in Foreign Policy Magazine’s “Ivory Tower” rankings of International relations programs (<a href=“Inside the Ivory Tower - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_the_Ivory_Tower</a>). They do not do as well in the US News rankings of graduate Political Science programs (<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/political-science-rankings”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/political-science-rankings</a>). This does not necessarily mean their undergraduate PS/Government programs are weak. Basically, it means their research output in this field is not up to the level of the top 30 graduate programs. Some students may find that the DC schools more than compensate with smaller classes and better internships than you’d probably find at a school like Ohio State (USNWR #15 graduate PS program). Not that DC is the only location for good internships and research opportunities related to government and IR. </p>
<p>Many factors would be involved in choosing among schools as different as Ohio State, Georgetown, and Claremont McKenna. Cost is one very important factor for most families. Undergraduate program strength in your intended major(s) is another … but it can be hard to assess, especially for LACs or small universities that emphasize undergraduate instruction more than graduate-level research.</p>
<p>UCLA is a tough one to get into but it should definitely be on your list and you can toss in Berkeley as well since it is the same application. 
</p>
<p>Cal has a strong football team? Well, it has student traditions surrounding football, which are as good from a student enthusiasm perspective, I guess. (Stanford grad school and Stanford family, here.)</p>
<p>Stanford should also be on your list.</p>
<p>I did my undergrad at UCSB/UCLA and interned on Capitol Hill, so you don’t need to be at a University near DC to do that.</p>
<p>I’m going to presume you are an international student.</p>
<p>Do you need financial aid?</p>
<p>You’re going to be looking at liberal arts colleges mostly. While many liberal arts schools offer assistance to international students, from Williams to Denison to Bennington, the level of support varies and so does the competition.</p>
<p>If you do not need financial aid, your chances are really good at many schools because while many schools crave for international diversity, they cannot afford it. </p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice everyone! I’ll make sure to look into the colleges that everyone has suggested! Actually, I was born and raised in America and currently live in the lovely state of Georgia. I’ve checked with some financial aid calculators, and most likely, I will need a lot of aid.</p>
<p>Any other suggestions? Thanks!</p>
<p>As an international student, you should probably look at McGill, in Montreal, as well. Are you more interested in political philosophy and theory, history, international relations, or law and government? All top American universities have excellent departments, but some are not as strong for undergraduates - the “superstar” faculty members primarily teach graduate courses, and are often on leave. I echo a previous post about Claremont-McKenna. </p>
<p>Hi! Just to clarify, I’m not an international student (sorry if I made that unclear before). In all honesty, all those subjects that you mentioned interest me; thanks for the advice! </p>
<p>Clarify your financials before you start making your list. Does your family qualify for need based aid? If you don’t know, ask your parents to use some of the colleges’ net price calculators to give you an idea of how much aid you might be eligible for. If that works for you, you can build a wide list. If, on the other hand, need based aid isn’t sufficient, then you’ll have to look for colleges that offer merit aid. Quite often these are different from need-only schools.</p>
<p>Finances aside, you have good grades and scores. If your extracurriculars, essays, recommendations are also positive you will be of interest to many colleges. Of course, there are no guarantees, so you should always have a balanced list of reach/match/safety, but you need to narrow in your range somewhat.</p>
<p>Political science – like history, biology and English – is a mainstay of a liberal arts education, and good to very good departments are found at quite a few colleges. You need to think about what type of environment appeals to you – large, medium or small; urban, suburban or rural; sporty, activist, etc. etc. </p>
<p>Once you do some research and hopefully visit a few schools of different types, you’ll have a clearer picture of what you’re looking for and can put together a list of schools with similar environments across varying levels of selectivity.</p>
<p>Along with the list of good large to medium universities, you might look at some small liberal arts colleges, like Claremont McKenna as mentioned and also Pomona, Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Carleton, Grinnell, Davidson to name a few. </p>
<p>But clarify the money first. </p>
<p>Duke has a strong PS department, a lively sports scene, claims to meet 100% of demonstrated need, and isn’t too far from your home. Other possibilities:<br>
Emory, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Washington University, Rice (all reaches that claim to meet 100% of demonstrated need, or close to it);
Boston College (high match; claims to meet full need);
George Washington, American U (match schools that may or may not give adequate aid);<br>
Georgia State, UGeorgia (safeties)</p>
<p>URichmond, Davidson, and Washington & Lee are southern LACs that claim to meet full need.</p>
<p>I hear the name, “Wesleyan” mentioned on radio and television a lot these days and it’s because of its widely quoted media project which surveys content, funding and impact of political advertising. A nice bit of recognition for a tiny university in Connecticut:
<a href=“http://mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/”>http://mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/</a></p>
<p>@momrath I will most likely need to get large amounts of need-based financial aid, as my EFC is considerably low. @tk21769 Thanks for helping me add schools to my list!
@circuitrider I’ll make sure to look into Wesleyan!</p>
<p>actually, only colleges that promise to meet 100% need for 100% admitted students meet a low EFC.
For your stats, I’d look at Macalester, Vassar, Davidson, Carleton, Kenyon, Oxford of Emory, JHU, Brandeis, Tufts UChicago (and all the other obvious suspects 
)
The others don’t care if you can’t pay, but financial aid is not their problem (yours); some others don’t meet need, or meet need only for specific applicants, typically those in the top 25% or even 10% of their applicants. You’d probably get good merit at Goucher, Rhodes, Centre, St Olaf, Fordham, Wooster, Willamette, Muhlenberg, Gettysburg, Clark, Occidental.
Also look at automatic merit scholarships such as UAlabama’s, where you get honors college, honors dorm, free tuition, and if you’re into engineering or CS a $2,500 stipend. (If your EFC is really low, even paying R&B may be too much though). </p>
<p>The financial issue is crucial, ESPECIALY if you have a low EFC.
Most scholarships come from the institutions themselves; next are the federal loans and, if you qualify, Pell; then, state grants if you live in a state that provides those (Georgia, NY, CA, FL…) And only after that come crumbs from private scholarships.
So you need to run the net price calculators on each site. For example, a student EFC 0 was expected to pay $18,000 at NYU… o_O
You can apply to specific scholarships, such as AU’s Frederick Douglas program, or Vanderbilt’s various scholarship programs and those don’t show in the net price calculator, but if you’re applying to these schools and the NPC shows they won’t meet your need, count these schools as reaches.</p>
<p>For political science, you should consider whether you want a right-leaning, left-leaning, or middle of the road community.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 Thanks for the advice concerning financial aid! I guess I never realized the importance of paying for college.
@SurvivorFan At the moment, I’m slightly left-leaning, but I was hoping to fully develop my political views in college. What colleges’ atmospheres would be considered left-leaning or middle of the road?</p>
<p>You should investigate Georgia Tech to find out if the International Affairs department has a good foundation in undergraduate political science offerings.</p>
<p>With finances a concern, your first stop is your state flagship and, with your stats, investigate any automatic scholarships you qualify for at U Ga and Ga Tech, Then, look at the sticky thread on merit money and learn about how to craft a list with schools where you will get merit money.</p>
<p>Have the “talk” with your parents. It was a shock, one that I still haven’t quite recovered from, when I ran the net price calculator and discovered that, for what feels like a solidly middle class family, our EFC was about the same as my salary. So until parents sit down and plug in those numbers, we naively think “well, we sure cannot afford full pay so we must qualify for lots of financial aid.” What we think we can afford and what colleges think we should have been saving all along, can be sobering. Once you have a better handle on those numbers, then you craft a good list which will give you good options next year.</p>
<p>The good news is poli sci is likely to be strong at many larger universities. Some may have core strengths in particular fields, such as theory, or Am Govt or International Relations, but as another poster responded, it is a core department like English and History which will generally be solid. </p>
<p>Good luck as you work on developing your list. </p>
<p>Wash U in St. Louis has a very strong poli sci department, and very good need-based financial aid. However, they are Div III and not very into sports, although I think their basketball teams frequently win the Div III championships. </p>