I got into all 3 as a transfer student and I’m having a very tough time deciding. Cost is pretty much the same after financial aid. I know Georgetown has a great government program, but I’ve heard a lot about their aging campus and poor infrastructure. In addition, I’m not sure I’d fit in as an atheist at a Jesuit university. Vanderbilt is ranked below GTown in PoliSci but has been rising up lately and invests a lot in student activities. I’m mostly choosing between those two, but if anyone wants to try to convince me why UVA would be the best choice, let me know.
Georgetown might be Jesuit, but it welcomes people of all religious persuasions (or none).
I think Georgetown and Vandy are direct peers overall. Since Georgetown has the edge in your chosen major, I would put that consideration above all others, especially since cost is not a deciding factor. So my vote would be for Georgetown.
If you want more of a Greek presence, campus party lifestyle and big-time football, you could choose Vandy or UVA. But if those things aren’t too important to you, Georgetown is a fine choice. At Georgetown you have DC at your disposal, so they’ll offer their own brand of fun.
Do you want a career related to having majored in PoliSci, or do you just want to major in PoliSci? Academically overall the three are peers—in theory, Vandy is higher ranked, UVA least, but effectively based on quality of professors, etc., they are equals and the differences would only matter to a pedantic sort.
If you want to work in DC, federal government, etc., Georgetown is your best bet, UVA second, Vandy third—not that Vandy’s PoliSci department is not as good as the others, but Georgetown gets you easy access to everything in DC and an unparalleled alumni network, etc., UVA likewise has great relationships in DC, and Vandy is a great school but 1,000 miles away. Do you want to live in DC, in Nashville, or in one of the great college towns in America? Environmental fit is as valid a distinction as any among these three schools.
Tough choice. All so excellent in their own ways. UVA will have a more diverse,academically speaking, student body. Vandy has sports in all seasons. Georgetown is the powerhouse dc political connnections. Gtown also has a reputation in recent years of the student body being a bit competitive internally from grades to clubs.
The overall choice would be vandy. Disclaimer is my d was wl there and really liked it. But it’s the same advice and info I gave to her.
Hi @TerrierNation, I followed you here from the Georgetown transfer thread! Anyways, take my advice with a grain of salt as I intend to enroll at Georgetown, but I would try to look at what school is going to be strongest for you intended program of study. Last year as a senior in HS, I chose my current school (the one I will be transferring from) because of its high US News ranking as well as its state of the art facilities, dorms, and overall quality of life. What I didn’t realize, however, was that it’s location was not ideal for wanting a career in my intended field. Furthermore, I realized that shiny facilities only exist to woo people into attending their schools. After all, if dorms aren’t the best, you can move off campus or if the library is crowded, you can study elsewhere (at Georgetown, you can study at the Library of Congress…as a polisci student wouldn’t that actually be the coolest thing). Additionally, I would not worry about not fitting in as an atheist at Georgetown. I myself am an agnostic Jew and if anything, I’m looking forward to attending school at a place that cherishes diversity and differences in opinions. Furthermore, hearing from others, Georgetown is the “least Catholic Catholic school” and a majority of the student body is not Catholic.
All three are great schools. Like some of the other people have been saying, it really depends on what type of environment you are looking for. Vandy/UVA are both pretty preppy/greek, while Georgetown isn’t as much. Georgetown is the best school you are looking at in terms of its political science program, but I have some friends who go there and the thing you said about its aging campus isn’t wrong.
My son just chose UVA over Georgetown for his freshman year next year. It was mostly an economic decision because of a full tuition scholarship to UVA. I wouldn’t worry about the religion at Georgetown. We were impressed with how accepting the campus was for all religious faiths,including those who aren’t religious at all. The buildings are aging, but nowhere near as much as some other campuses we toured. It is perhaps more annoying in that the cost of room and board is really high, and living on campus is a pretty strict requirement for three years. The one thing I noted about Georgetown was its size…it is really small. That has positives, and negatives. My son loves libraries and was disappointed in the lack of library space Georgetown had to offer. And while the Library of Congress sounds like a cool place to study, in reality, getting there is a bit of a hassle with metro or Uber. Both UVA and Georgetown have incredible access to summer internships in DC. Georgetown students obviously can do that during the semester too because of proximity, but you won’t have “lesser opportunities” being from UVA. Georgetown was way more “formal” than UVA on both visits. Kids wandering around in suits, not just hanging out casually which is what we saw at UVA. Living in NVA, we know a lot of kids at UVA and none of them are Greek. Approx. 30% of UVA is associated with a Greek organization, which means 70% are not. Good luck. All are good choices.
All right, I can give you some background on UVa. I see that you’ll be transferring in. What year will you be next year? A 2nd Year or 3rd Year? Also, how many credits are coming with into UVa? I ask these questions because some of the info below will be more pertinent than others.
First of all, there are a lot of amazing opportunities at UVa if you’re interested in studying politics. One of the foremost leaders in political science is Larry Sabato. (You will often see Professor Sabato on Fox, MSNBC, and CNN.) He founded UVa’s Center for Politics, which is well-respected throughout the country. (http://www.centerforpolitics.org/about.html). The Center for Politics has won 3 Emmys in the last 6 years for producing 3 documentaries on Politics:
“Feeling Good About America” - https://news.virginia.edu/content/center-politics-wins-emmy-award-feeling-good-about-america-documentary
“The Kennedy Half-Century” - https://news.virginia.edu/content/center-politics-wins-emmy-award-kennedy-half-century
“Out of Order” - https://news.virginia.edu/content/center-politics-wins-emmy-award-out-order
If you’re interested in getting into the politics honors programs at UVa, there are 3 of them: The Honors Program, the Distinguished Majors Program, and the Political & Social Thought Program. This is how I would sum up their differences.
The Honors Program is really small (6-7 students every year) where most of the classes are seminars. According to this link, the Honors Program studies how “politics affects our world, and how economics, culture, and other factors affect politics.” The most interesting aspect about this program is when you enter it, your GPA is frozen. So, if your GPA is a 3.9 when you enter the program as a 3rd Year, you will leave UVa with a 3.9 GPA. Plus, when you graduate, you will have a “with Honors, with High Honors, or with Highest Honors” on your diploma depending on your GPA.
http://politics.virginia.edu/honors-program/
The Distinguished Majors Program “provides qualified majors with the opportunity to pursue in-depth research on issues related to [politics]. Students in the DMP take one more upper-level course in the Department than other majors and write a thesis under close faculty supervision during the year in which they are graduating (typically their fourth year).” Unfortunately, your GPA is not frozen, but you get to graduate “with Distinction, with High Distinction, or with Highest Distinction.”
http://politics.virginia.edu/distinguishedmajors/
The Political & Social Thought Major is “interdisciplinary. It offers diverse and qualified students the opportunity to study social topics in the context of politics — conceived both in its narrow and its broad senses — without being limited by the boundaries or the methodological preoccupations of one discipline.” With this program, you can also graduate “with Distinction,” etc.
https://pages.shanti.virginia.edu/pst/
Interestingly, many of UVa’s Rhodes & Marshall Scholars graduated from one of these programs. Two of this year’s 3 Marshall Scholars are in the PST program: https://news.virginia.edu/content/three-current-former-uva-students-earn-marshall-scholarships.
Last year, one of UVa’s 2 Rhodes Scholars, and one of UVa’s 3 Marshall Scholars were in the Honors Program:
https://news.virginia.edu/content/two-uva-fourth-years-net-rhodes-scholarships
https://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-trio-earn-marshall-scholarships
If you’re interested in public policy, UVa has the Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy (http://batten.virginia.edu). If you want to graduate with both a bachelors in politics and a masters in public policy, you can: http://batten.virginia.edu/admissions/academics/accelerated-mpp-curriculum
If you have a lot of credits and could graduate as a Junior (3rd Year), you can do the 3+1 Program, which would allow you to graduate as a Senior with both a bachelors and masters: https://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-expands-accelerated-bachelors-masters-programs
Lastly, UVa has one of the premier political centers in the country in the study of the U.S. Presidency - The Miller Center (https://millercenter.org/about/who-we-are). It has a 30 minute public policy TV program called “American Forum” which has interviewed the likes of Bernie Sanders, Sally Yates, and MSNBC’s Joy-Ann Reid among others. (https://millercenter.org/american-forum). It’s world-renowned for its Presidential Oral History Program where many former White House staff members have been interviewed about former presidents ranging from Kennedy to Obama. (https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-oral-histories). The Miller Center also houses White House’s (secret) Recordings (https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/secret-white-house-tapes/about).
I’ll sign off with this. Many UVa graduates have ended up in the world of politics and diplomacy as senators, ambassadors and other government officials, so you can’t go wrong with studying politics at the University of Virginia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_University_of_Virginia_people#Politics_and_diplomacy
Correction: all 3 of UVa’s Marshall Scholars this year are in the Political & Social Thought Program. (I mistakenly said 2.) https://news.virginia.edu/content/three-current-former-uva-students-earn-marshall-scholarships