Columbia vs. DC school for politics/economics

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>I am interested in economics and political science about equally - will eventually become a double major or a major-minor, I imagine. I live in the D.C. suburbs (MD) and Columbia is my first choice. I'm still weirded out by the idea that I would move AWAY from DC to pursue an interest in politics, even if it was to go to a better school.</p>

<p>So basically...
Georgetown, GWU, or UMCP because of the physical closeness to D.C. and political opportunities and connections there, or Columbia because of its better academics overall and the (possible) Wall Street connections? What do polisci/econ people have to say about this? </p>

<p>(Feel free to argue with me me about Columbia being ahead of the D.C. schools academically. :P)</p>

2

<p>The United Nations is based in New York, and Columbia is famous for its graduate school of international relations, SIPA. Of course, GWU is devoted to getting students internships in D.C. and Georgetown students are probably more likely than Columbia students to work on the Hill (or in State if you’re in SFS), but Columbia is absolutely a great school for politics, international relations, and of course econ.</p>

<p>What’s UMCP?</p>

3

<p>Sorry, running wild with the acronyms there. UMCP = University of Maryland College Park. It’s my state school.</p>

<p>Thanks for your opinion. As far as international relations are concerned, I’m pretty sure Columbia at least matches Georgetown, what with the UN and all. But as far as domestic politics (the area that I’m most interested in)? I’m sure both have fabulous political science schools, I’m just not sure if having that distance from where it’s all happening is something that people end up regretting or being disappointed by - whether in terms of internships or jobs, or for other reasons related to the major.</p>

<p>Any current Columbia polisci majors care to mention if they looked at D.C. schools as well, and what helped them make their decision?</p>

4

<p>I’ve worked in campaigns some (see the name? ;)), and know people in politics. From a prestigious school like Columbia you’ll definitely have opportunities. It may require a little bit more work on your part, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Especially being from the DC area will make it easier to get internships, since you’ll have housing and a base in the area. </p>

<p>If you make a conscious effort you’ll be able to perform well at a top DC school or at Columbia. If you’re hoping everything will magically materialize, DC will probably work better for that. </p>

<p>Which suburb do you live in?</p>

5

<p>Thanks! That’s basically what I’d assumed, but due to a lot of people telling me otherwise (in retrospect, none of whom had actually pursued political science in the least -.-) I thought I’d get a second opinion.</p>

<p>I live in eastern Montgomery County.</p>

6

<p>Georgetown is <em>NOT</em> strong in political science! This is a common misconception. Georgetown’s strength is in International Relations. Columbia is definitely the superior school when it comes to politics. </p>

<p>For reference, the following schools are typically regarded as being the best in Political Science in the U.S.:</p>

<p>Columbia University
Cornell University
Duke University
Emory University
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
New York University
Northwestern University
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of California-Los Angeles
University of Chicago
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
University of Rochester
Washington University-St Louis
Yale University</p>

7

<p>@NYU2013: But Georgetown polisci isn’t <em>bad</em> by any stretch of the imagination, is it? Columbia is the better school overall in terms of academics, but I was mostly asking about internship and job opportunities, and how the department is influenced by being close/far from D.C. </p>

<p>As a politics major, did you consider a D.C. school?
… and where’s that list from, anyhow?</p>

8

<p>Georgetown is not bad, no. But you might be hard pressed to find someone on CC that would advise going to GTown over say, Columbia. </p>

<p>Georgetown obviously gains the advantage of being in D.C. for internships. Obviously this provides for internships with all of the federal government entities. However, as far as Columbia goes (and NYU for that matter), it is in New York City. You have the opportunity to work for the U.N. and a plethora of city government entities - for example, I know quite a few people who are interning in the Office of the Mayor and I intern with the DA. NYC even has a resource for those internships posted by the NYC government - [Internships</a> with the City of New York](<a href=“http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/employment/intern.shtml]Internships”>http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/employment/intern.shtml) </p>

<p>Also, you can apply to internships in D.C. from a New York school. I know many students who live in other states and find summer internships in their respective states even though they go to NYU. </p>

<p>I considered Columbia, Georgetown, Emory, Cornell, George Washington, Duke and NYU.</p>

<p>Columbia, Emory, Cornell, Duke and NYU were the best of the list for politics, which removed Georgetown and George Washington from my list. </p>

<p>And NYU was the best for philosophy (which was my main area of study), so it was an easy decision for me. Choosing solely off of a politics major may be more difficult, as your list is more expansive. Personally, I would say that Columbia provides equal, if not better internships than would, say, Georgetown. Simply because Columbia is (1) a more recognized name and (2) it’s location in New York City provides access to all of the New York internships and (3) there are many people in D.C. with Columbia degrees, (as well as Georgetown), so don’t think that Columbia loses any advantages in the D.C. area</p>

<p>Finally, that list is widely agreed upon list of the most recognized political science schools here on CC.</p>

9

<p>I also missed the fact that you were interested in economics. </p>

<p>I would recommend trying to find schools that are both accepted to be top in politics and top in economics and seeing if you like any of those (as having a school where your respective majors are considered to be some of the best departments will be advantageous to gaining internships and later employment).</p>

<p>To my knowledge, the top economics programs are, in no particular order:
University of Chicago
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Princeton University
Standford University
University of California - Berkeley
Yale University
University of Pennsylvania
Columbia University
Northwestern University
New York University
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Cornell University
Duke University
California Institute of Technology
University of California - Los Angeles
University of Rochester</p>

10

<p>Thanks for the second list. My top schools, amusingly/thankfully/predictably, seem to be on both of them. :)</p>

11

<p>Good point, NYU2013. Academically, Columbia is much better for poli/sci and especially(!) econ-poli/sci. Georgetown and GW are better than Columbia for scoring internships in D.C. (obviously during the school year, but also during the summer), but only because of location. Unless you’re set on working and networking in D.C., I’d choose Columbia.</p>

12

<p>From a previous post but topical now:</p>

<p>How about Columbia?
Columbia should be in the mix as a ‘best school’ for future politicians, politicos and the like.</p>

<p>Consider the alum base, which includes folks like Barack Obama, President of the U.S. CC’83, Eric Holder, Attorney General, CC’73, Judd Gregg, New Hampshire Senator, CC’69, conservative pundit Ben Stein, CC’66, Ben Jealous, CC’95, President of NAACP, George Stephanopoulos, CC’82, now Anchor of Good Morning America, David Paterson, CC’77, Governor of NY State, Mike Mukasey, CC’63, the previous Attorney General, several US reps, major city mayors, and even Meagan McCain, CC’07, just to name a few.</p>

<p>There’s a long history of Supreme Court Justices like John Jay, founding fathers like Alexander Hamilton and major world leaders who have graduated (founder of the African National Congress, writer of the Indian Constitution, major ambassadors to nations during challenging periods in modern history).</p>

<p>Columbia is arguably the most politically active campus in the country where undergraduates are not afraid to protest, counter-protest and take on some tough conversations. Surprisingly, the campus is more diverse politically than you might think.</p>

<p>Columbia brings major national and world leaders to campus through The World Leaders Forum, The Earth Institute and ServiceNation.</p>

<p>One of the world’s best Political Science departments with exclusive internships at the United Nations among other opportunities.</p>

<p>Just adding CU to the mix.</p>

13

<p>Alexander Hamilton is actually why I became interested in Columbia in the first place. (Nerdy, but true!) Thanks for that info!</p>

14

<p>columbia has an amazing center for career education (CCE) where you can get internships – and they aren’t all in new york city! we have alumni across the country and connections pretty much everywhere. when i got my internship freshman year, i looked at our database for jobs and internships and there were 6500 listed! (there are only 5700 undergrads at columbia…haha). so there’d be plenty of opportunity to do a dc internship over the summer and live at home. during the year you could easily commute to wall street or a consulting/marketing firm; columbians dont have class on friday so you could work a full day once a week.</p>

<p>basically, columbia will hook you up with some DC internships, but i dont think DC schools will get you quite as far on wall street</p>

15

<p>I’m not particularly interested in Wall Street at the moment; I mostly mentioned that cause I figured someone would bring it up. Thanks for the info on the career center.</p>