<p>Have great stat's. What would your top 5 schools be to study domestic political science?</p>
<p>not in order (top 6): yale, harvard, chicago, princeton, columbia, georgetown</p>
<p>Number of PhDs per 1000 graduates<br>
Academic field:Political Science and Government<br>
PhDs and Doctoral Degrees:
ten years (1994 to 2003) from NSF database<br>
Number of Undergraduates:
ten years (1989 to 1998) from IPEDS database<br>
1 Swarthmore College 10
2 Haverford College 8
3 Princeton University 8
4 Pomona College 7
5 Harvard University 7
6 University of Chicago 7
7 Oberlin College 7
8 Williams College 7
9 Reed College 7
10 Wesleyan University 6
11 Bryn Mawr College 6
12 University of the South 5
13 Whitman College 5
14 Amherst College 5
15 Yale University 5
16 College of Wooster 5
17 Stanford University 5
18 Georgetown University 5
19 Claremont McKenna College 5
20 Carleton College 5
21 Smith College 4
22 Middlebury College 4
23 Franklin and Marshall College 4
24 Tougaloo College 4
25 Wellesley College 4
26 Occidental College 4
27 Brown University 4
28 Lawrence University 4
29 Harvey Mudd College 4
30 United States Coast Guard Academy 4
31 Earlham College 4
32 Kenyon College 4
33 Knox College 4
34 Brandeis University 4
</p>
<p>^ interesting stats on number and percentages of Ph.D.s but I don't think that's quite what OP was asking. Most poli sci students don't go to grad school. Many go to law school, many do other things like moving into political or policy work. The number going on to get Ph.D.s represents the academic inclinations of the students, not necessarily the quality of the program given the diversity of career objectives among the students.</p>
<p>Top poli sci faculties would have to include Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Michigan, Berkeley, Chicago and Columbia, though many top LACs also have outstanding faculty in this area. Swat, Haverford, Williams, Reed, Wesleyan, Bryn Mawr, Amherst would make that cut, and perhaps others.</p>
<p>People on CC often mention Georgetown for poli sci because of its location but I haven't seen evidence their poli sci faculty is as distinguished as those of many other top research universities.</p>
<p>Very interesting replies. I am curious about bclintonk's response in particular about Gtwon. I've often heard about how great it is, but am wondering what back's this claim up. The faculty is OK, but where are the stars? My fear is that all the juice there is in the SFS. Thoughts?</p>
<p>For undergrad schools to be able to get the highest relative percentages of their alums admitted to (and complete) PhD programs indicates (i.e., no mathematical proof) that their level of teaching is excellent, also benefiting those who do not later earn a PhD. This is not to say that undergrad schools without these high future-PhD levels cannot have excellent teaching; it's just that having such levels is an indication of it. There are indeed other indicators of excellent teaching.</p>
<p>I agree with bclintonk. Georgetown's Walsh School of Foreign Service is very strong for international studies--but the political science department in the school of Arts and Sciences is only ok--certainly not distinguished despite the DC location. In fact, it is not even the best in DC--GWU's political science department is generally considered stronger by academics.</p>
<p>Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, Michigan, Chicago, Columbia, Duke and Georgetown have strong Political Science departments.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Top poli sci faculties would have to include Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Michigan, Berkeley, Chicago and Columbia, though many top LACs also have outstanding faculty in this area. Swat, Haverford, Williams, Reed, Wesleyan, Bryn Mawr, Amherst would make that cut, and perhaps others.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes, of course many top LAC have good political science departments. I majored in one at Williams. To your list, I would also add Claremont McKenna which is a specialty school in this and related fields. </p>
<p>Swarthmore, however, has been the powerhouse LAC in social sciences for fifty years or more. It's the signature strength of one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. It produces the most PhD per capita in Poli Sci, Economics, Sociology, and Social Sciences overall. Three of the four most popular majors at Swarthmore in this year's graduating class were Economics, Poli Sci, and Sociology/Anthropology. The fifth was History, which also focuses on public policy and international issues at Swarthmore. International and global topics are incorporated into the curriculum in virtually every social science and humanities department at Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Swarthmore has produced a recent Presidential nominee (Dukakis), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (Levin), and the Congressman in charge of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (Van Hollen). The current head of the World Bank (Zoeller) and the Navy General Counsel who blew the whistle on Gitmo torture (Mora). </p>
<p>In their most recent survey of international relations programs, Foreign Policy Magazine's survey included two liberal arts colleges. Swarthmore was the highest rated LAC and Williams was the only other among foreign policy experts ranking programs. </p>
<p>18% of Swarthmore grads begin their careers in Washington, D.C. 14% begin their careers overseas. Large numbers of graduates going into public policy related careers -- government, NGO, and academic think-tank -- is one of the defining characteristics of Swarthmore College. </p>
<p>Swarthmore even has the distinction of earning a derogatory nickname from none other than Spiro Agnew -- "the Kremlin on the Crum" for high-profile initiatives such as withdrawing from the federal student aid program and replacing federal grants dollar for dollar with college funds rather than force Swarthmore students to sign McCarthy's loyalty oaths.</p>
<p>There are a ton of threads just like this one hidden in CC's archives.</p>
<p>For people questioning Georgetown, this is why I said it:
The OP did not ask for department strength, but asked what the top 5 schools would be to study domestic poli sci. Maybe the professors at georgetown are not as good as those at, say, Cornell. but, georgetown would be a great place to study domestic poli sci because of the availability to learn outside of the classroom.</p>
<p>I think EAD pretty much summed it up, but I'd toss in GWU, partially because their polisci department is HUGE and has some great specialized programs, and also because it's right in the heart of DC.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Maybe the professors at georgetown are not as good as those at, say, Cornell. but, georgetown would be a great place to study domestic poli sci because of the availability to learn outside of the classroom.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Any school located in DC would be good for externship/internship opportunities, though many of these are also available to students at other schools. Cornell, for example, has a Cornell in Washington program that allows Cornell students to spend a semester or a year in DC, continuing their Cornell studies while also doing a DC internship. Apart from externships and internships, I think there's much less locational advantage to being in DC in the age of the internet than there was in the past. Anyone can read the Washington Post online and have electronic access to virtually unlimited information on any branch and any department of government; you don't need to be there physically anymore. Also, DC politics is DC politics; it's only a fraction of American politics. You may arguably learn more about the workings of the federal government, but you'll probably learn less about electoral politics, and you'll almost certainly learn less about state and local politics and government because everyone in DC thinks what goes on there is the beginning and the end of American politics, and it just ain't so. Nor is it a better place to learn political theory, or comparative politics; nor, necessarily, international relations, just because life in DC is so Washington-centric that it's sometimes harder to get a clear and balanced view of the international scene. So bottom line, being in DC probably has as many negatives as positives for studying political science.</p>
<p>I've got nothing against Georgetown. It's a fine school in general, and no doubt OK for political science. I just think it's badly overrated in that field by many posters on CC.</p>
<p>If admission to those top schools is to competitive for the resume of anyone reading this thread, Ohio State has a good Poli Sci department, is located in a state capital, and is fairly easy to get in admissions wise. Plus, most CC'ers would have the advantage of being at the top of their class, giving them more personal access to some great professors.</p>
<p>I would not say GW has a great poli sci program, I would say its ok. Georgetown college has a fine program and its school of foreign service is excellent. Yet, EAD really summed it up for the most part, for poli sci I would really say HYPS are the best of the best though.</p>
<p>I agree with DC, Ohio State has some amazing professors</p>
<p>I would never have thought of Duke... is it considered good?</p>
<p>It's normally top 10 in Poli Sci, though that could change at any time due to bureaucratic shuffle.</p>
<p>Duke's Political Science department is one of the best (as good as Chicago's and Columbia's). At the undergraduate level, I would rate Political Science departments as follows:</p>
<p>GROUP I
Harvard University
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Yale University</p>
<p>GROUP II
Columbia University
Duke University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of California-Los Angeles
University of Chicago</p>
<p>GROUP III
Cornell University
New York University
Northwestern University
University of California-San Diego (would belong in Group II at the graduate level)
University of Rochester
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Washington University-St louis</p>
<p>Other good departments include:
Emory University
Georgetown University
Indiana University-Bloomington
Michigan State University
Rice University
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
University of Iowa
University of Maryland-College Park
University of Pennsylvania
University of Texas-Austin
University of Virginia
University of Washington</p>
<p>And yes, Ohio State is 4th. That's not a typo.</p>