<p>As the title says, I was accepted by Dartmouth and Rice (Rice offered me 17k merit aid) and waitlisted at Duke. I'm interested in poli-sci (maybe IR), but might go into the sciences. Thoughts on what would be the right choice?</p>
<p>also, would UVA be worth checking out?</p>
<p>Dartmouth is much stronger in political science and IR than Rice is. (In fact, the government department is the largest undergraduate department at Dartmouth.) The sciences are more of a wash, as both schools are strong. As for UVA, both Rice and Dartmouth are much stronger academically.</p>
<p>Though it’s important to consider academics when making your college choice, I’d encourage you to make this important decision based on where you think you will fit in – that is, where you can see yourself happy for the next four years of your life. That’s far more important than splitting hairs over which academic departments are stronger.</p>
<p>that statement was blatantly not true about UVA. UVA is as strong as any college in the nation. Will the classes be bigger? yes definitely. will the students be slightly less “academic”…probably. Will the average SAT score be less at UVA? Yes.</p>
<p>But who cares…the programs/professors will be very strong and the opportunities will be as good at Rice, Dartmouth, Duke and UVA.</p>
<p>NOW how do you fit in at each school and how do you like the social life or specific opportunities…</p>
<p>UVA polysci is extremely well known</p>
<p>I would agree, on a general level, Dartmouth is probably more academically rigorous than UVA.</p>
<p>That said, to claim Rice is on either on par with D and is ahead of UVA, particularly when talking about the government or history programs is a pretty gross overstatement. UVA has phenomenal departments in both areas, whether you’re a regular major, a gov honors major, or an interdisciplinary major in say PST or PPL - it’s just true. For one, you can’t really compare a place like UVA to Dartmouth - they are worlds apart in terms of their mission and what they tend to be good at - you either fit in at a place like D or a place like UVA - it’s hard to be truly torn between the two.</p>
<p>I would agree you can be a politics major at UVA and not be academically challenged if you so choose, but if you shoot for honors or interdisciplinary work you won’t find a more rigorous curric or develop as substantive relationship with faculty as you can with the great folks in the humanities at UVA - they are hands down the leading minds in the field and they’ll not only work with you, they’ll tear you down and build you back up.</p>
<p>Just my professional experience in politics and education talking.</p>
<p>I think Dartmouth is the choice here. Personally I wouldn’t stay on the Duke WL.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the comments. Honestly, I’m still completely undecided (in a good way). I’m hoping I’ll have a better sense of “fit” after the admit days, but that seems unlikely.</p>
<p>Do any of you know about the Women in Science program at Dartmouth (or the Women in Leadership one…I think that’s what it’s called). Are they only open to students with specific majors? What percent of people (women, I guess) participate in those? How are they viewed by the students?</p>