<p>Hey guys, is Berkeley strong in the Poli Sci/Gov't arena? I'm really starting to like Claremont Mckenna, but I just want to know more about Berkeley. Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>Go to CMC.</p>
<p>Uh...</p>
<p>hey i was in ur exact situation my senior year and i'm gonna tell you my experience. CMC has a cool gov major, but you also have to look @ the experience there, it's a quiet area, you need a car, and a pretty homogeneous population economically and socially. Cal also has a GREAT poli-sci department, and while @ claremont per capita is an active place politically, the sheer amount of students build up @ cal, which is why i chose it, the culture and vibe that cal just hit me more than CMC.
also, cmc has a bit of a conservative feel too it, which turned me off.</p>
<p>the public policy/politics graduate department @ cal is ranked 2nd to harvard i think, so if ranking mean anything to you that one stat. </p>
<p>so really it comes down to you needing to visit the campuses, and getting a feel for both of them. I dig berkeley cause of the culture, the city, the vibes, and the lack of having to drive (good public trans) and the distance (I'm from LA, so it's close enough to get home quick, but far enough away to not have 2 be tempted home on the weekdns). I think both have an active student body, and a great polisci/govt. department. One thing about cal, and the polisci dep, is that it's one of the biggest, and the whole department @ cal is proably bigger than the entire population than CMC. @ CMC ull have a definately easier time in terms of getting more help and classes, because it's pretty much given to you. At least for me, i don't like that, too much of a feeling of hand holding. @ berkeley, u need to really go after your education and your gonna do a lot of work, and I like that aspect of it, that everything is yours, and you must work for it. </p>
<p>it's all relative, i suggest visiting both and looking up alot of info on both. I was recruited @ CMC for football other D3 small ball schools, so pm me or w/e if you want more advice. I suggest seeing about overnights, (i know one school football program got me an overnight session with their players and it gave me more of an insight into the culture @ that particular school (occidental) and i'm sure they have things like that @ CMC even if its not for sports recruiting.</p>
<p>hope this helps.</p>
<p>plus @ cal you can minor in public policy; and the goldman school of public policy is quite respected</p>
<p>Thanks for all the input you guys! Hmm.. Which of the two schools you say, is more competitive in the poli sci department?</p>
<p>i dunno what you mean by competetive, but i think @ cal we don't have that many bell curves and we don't have "weeder" classes like in the math and sciences.</p>
<p>Do we need to do this again? Cal's graduate schools is why Cal is considered good.</p>