Great Political Science Programs?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm interested in majoring in Political Science, minor either Philosophy or International Relations (or possible Psychology). I'm HS class of 2014 so this might be a bit premature, but I am just wondering which schools I should be reaching for. Some people say that for PoliSci you shouldn't go in DC, or how that would somehow hurt a future political career? I want to go to law school but hopefully end up in politics apres that.
I really have no idea how I'll do on SAT/ACT as I'm a rising sophomore, but I have a 3.88 out of 4 GPA unweighted for freshman year (All A's except french... don't want to talk about it). As far as essays go I am an excellent writer, as in multiple english teachers saying I'm the best they've had in many years, my ECs are intensive ballet/modern/jazz dance for many years, NHS, girl scouts w/ multiple service awards, and hopefully the senate page or house page program. I will work very hard for a 4.0 this year to improve on my 3.88.
I know It's hard to tell how everything will look by the time that I apply, but this is ballpark.
I'm on the West Coast but I would like to go to the East Coast, California is also an option though and I'm open to other locations. In PoliSci, "brand name" does matter, correct?</p>

<p>Colleges I was considering, reaches, I know:
Dartmouth
Georgetown
NYU
George Washington
Boston University
Duke
University of Rochester
Northwestern
Cornell
UCLA
UC Berkeley </p>

<p>I would LOVE to go to Columbia but I feel like thats out of my reach even if I bust my ass these next few years. Yale is a complete dream, not going to happen though :(</p>

<p>I guess I'm just looking for college suggestions and any advice on strengthening my application would be appreciated!</p>

2

<p>I would definitely add Michigan to your list. It has a top 5 Political Science Program.</p>

3

<ul>
<li>A note about Georgetown: GTown’s strength is in International Relations, not as much in political science. For example, I would posit that the following schools offer stronger political science departments. </li>
</ul>

<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 California-San Diego
University of Chicago
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
University of Rochester
Washington University-St Louis
Yale University</p>

<p>A few little notes:
NYU has a highly analytical approach to politics. One of the most mathematical in the 'country, since almost all professors (save some political theory) teach analytical methods (“Political Methodology”). It deals with a lot of game theory, graphing, number correlation analyzations, etc. I would presume MIT teaches a similar mathematically-inclined curriculum. George Washington, while it has a good political science program, is not at the same level as the aforementioned schools, it however does have a very good program and may make a good safety/match.</p>

<p>Two programs that are also good at political science but whose real strength is in International Relations are Tufts and Johns Hopkins.</p>