I have a horrible counselor and college board just confuses me so I wanted to ask
which is better for a political science major?
Whichever one is a better fit. Brown and Dartmouth have extremely different atmospheres, so much so that you will likely only be happy at one or the other. Compare the differences in curriculum, location, social scene, etc. and see which you like better, and if you can, visit each school. As they are both top universities, the quality of their academics are both going to be very good and comparable and lead to great jobs/grad schools.
What exactly is the difference between the social scene?
I’m an international student so unfortunately visiting is not an option :l
Dartmouth is mostly dominated by its Greek life and parties, while Brown is much less so. Dartmouth is roughly 60% Greek, and is somewhat infamous for its parties. Dartmouth’s campus is nice, but it’s also in a rural location.
Brown is more relaxed socially with much less Greek life/wild parties, with its students stereotyped as “quirky”. Brown is also in a city, offering more urban amenities.
Of course these are generalizations, and you should be able to find niche in either. Another lager difference between the two schools that you’ll want to research is Brown’s open curriculum vs Dartmouth’s more structured distributive requirements. Their both obviously great schools, so it comes down to personal preference.
They are both nice sized undergraduate focused schools. I don’t know too much about those particular programs, I would expect they would be comparable (what would college board know about it?) I would read the webpages on the universities own site.
It is true that Dartmouth is more isolated and rural, which may make for a closer campus socially. But Brown is pretty campus focused too. Although it is in a small city, it sits on a hill overlooking downtown Providence. I don’t agree that one student might not like both. They have differences but are more alike than not. Although Dartmouth does have much larger fraternity and sorority scene and Brown is more fluid socially. Brown is supposed to be more liberal and Dartmouth a bit more conservative although most US colleges lean liberal and so does Dartmouth. Dartmouth has the D-Plan which allows for school year internships although I think you have to spend a summer on campus.
Brown has several institutes that benefit poly sci students:
the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions
http://www.brown.edu/academics/taubman-center/
the Watson Institute for International Studies
http://watson.brown.edu/
the Program in Urban Studies
the India Initiative
the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
the Political Theory Project
the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America
Middle East Studies
Development Studies
The Population Studies and Training Center
Africana Studies.
You might also check out Brown’s Swearer Center for Public Service
http://www.brown.edu/academics/college/special-programs/public-service/
Do you have a shot at Dartmouth and Brown with 3.9 GPA and 31 ACT