<p>Hey, so I've gotten my decisions back and I've narrowed my choices down to these few schools: Stanford, UPenn, Duke, Georgetown, and Brown. I didn't make it into the Huntsman Program at UPenn.</p>
<p>I really want to major in either Political Science or International Relations and minor in Economics. However, I'm VERY divided between those schools (although Brown is probably at the bottom of that list). I really want a nice campus with a great program and somewhere preferably urbanized (the only campus I've visited is Stanford and I stayed there for 3 weeks but I've only explored a certain section extensively) and quite big. Also, it'd be great if there were things around to do, such as museums, theatre, etc. The financial aids for all of these schools is great to the point where I don't have to make any loans, but I'm offered a free ride at Stanford. Which school is the best for the programs I want and for my preferences? Please help!!! I only have a month to decide!!</p>
<p>It depends what you want to do. I do hope you realize that the Huntsman Program is about International Studies (i.e. learning about specific countries) as opposed to International Relations (learning about how countries interact).</p>
<p>Many of my friends are doing a dual degree with Wharton + polisci or IR, which seems to be the path you were learning towards. In fact, going this route isn’t that difficult and matches more with what you perceived the Huntsman Program to be so it may be worth considering.</p>
<p>@ Senator, yes that is correct but for the very popular courses there is a hierarchy. For example, with Finance courses, finance concentrators in their senior year have priority then you move down in class year then other concentrations then it opens up to other schools etc. That said, even if you didn’t have your registration approved, you can drop in etc or wait for someone to drop that course and grab their slot.</p>
<p>I feel qualified to answer about Penn with regard to Political Science. I am currently in the undergraduate polisci program, and I absolutely LOVE it. Penn’s program offers four concentrations, though it is just as well to do a general major. You can study American politics, International politics, Comparative politics or political theory if you do decide to declare a concentration. In my three years so far I have taken at least one course in all of the four subfields, and only Comparative has left me unhappy, but that was only because it was a large intro lecture taught by a professor who didn’t really know how to deal with a large lecture. My other four large political science lectures have been absolutely phenomenal. </p>
<p>I am a political theory concentration, but only because I happened to have the concentration completed the last time I went to my counselor. My biggest interest is in American politics, and I absolutely positively love the courses they offer for this. John Lapinski, also undergraduate chair, teaches upper level seminars which give you a great chance to do original research… for example, I did an analysis of Pennsylvania as a battleground state during the 2008 election season, writing a 25 page paper which detailed who I believed would win and why, backed by statistical analysis. I was dead on. The best part was that it was used by the analysts at NBC to help them make judgments on where to conduct exit polling.</p>
<p>Political Science gives you an array of options… you can take all lecture courses and learn a lot of information. You can also take a lot of seminars and learn a lot of applications and research techniques… I am more a fan of smaller environments so I have taken a x98 seminar each of the last four semesters (any course with a 98 at the end is a seminar).</p>
<p>I can’t say enough about the department… the only thing I regret about this major is that I couldn’t take more courses – I am finished with the major after this semester and don’t have room to take any elective polisci courses.</p>
<p>Also, yes, you can take Wharton classes as a CAS student; only four will count toward your degree. And for what it’s worth, you can probably double count some Wharton courses toward a social sciences major in the College.</p>
<p>First of all - Congratulations!! You have a lot of amazing choices. It sounds to me like Penn is a very good choice for you, although I do not know too much about the other schools on the list aside from Brown. Penn is definitely urbanized and somewhat large (~10,000 undergrads), and the city of Philidelphia can definitely provide the element of city culture that you seek. Also, from what I have heard (and I guess you can look at the above post), Penn’s PoliSci program is phenominal. I am most likely going to attend Penn next year, and the major which I am currently considering is a major specific to Penn which you may find quite interesting (its one of the reasons I will most likely go), called Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. The major is inter-disciplinary and clearly encompasses at least two of your interests. That being said, Georgetown is probably another viable option for you, given your criteria. I am unsure as to the size of the university, but its International Relations program is supposed to be amazing, and being in D.C. will offer both cultural opportunities and possible internships related to IR/polisci. I personally did not apply to Georgetown because I did not like the campus atmosphere and the lack of diversity I found on campus, but that is simply personal preference. Additionally, Penn is known overall as a better school than Georgetown (if you give any credit to rankings, which I am somewhat skeptical of), and you would have the opportunity to take classes at Wharton, the best business school in America, which may work well with your interest in economics. Hope to see you on campus next year!!</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the help! Unfortunately, I may not be able to go to UPenn because it has the lowest financial aid package out of the other schools. Would you guys mind giving advice on a “second choice”?</p>
<p>You will never have a lecture taught by someone other than a professor (I don’t know about hard science lab lectures, but I know actual course lectures are always professors). Writing seminars are often taught by graduate students, and recitations will always be taught by graduate students. Also introductory language courses may be taught be grad students, but no courses which have complex concepts will ever be taught by a TA exclusively. </p>
<p>Penn’s intro classes work on the lecture/recitation system. You have two hours of lecture, usually Monday and Wednesday, taught by a professor in a large lecture hall, and then you have an hour of “recitation,” where a grad student will instruct a small (15-20) section, basically going over what you learned in lecture and clarifying any uncertainties. Your TAs also usually grade papers and examinations, not professors.</p>