Help finding a Poli Sci School

College Search & Selection
1

Hey guys I have been super stressed lately about college and would love to hear your opinions on where I schools I should apply to, and what what my chances are forgetting into them. I know my GPA was really abysmal freshman and sophomore year, but I transferred to a news school this year and my grades have been much better.

Old School GPA:

Freshman: 2.56 UW/W

Sophomore: 2.62 UW / 2.78 W

New School GPA:

Junior S1: 3.43 UW/ 3.69 W

So far my overall GPA is a 2.76 UW and a 2.854 W.

My projected GPA for this semester is 3.68 UW / 3.82W which will hopefully leave me with a 2.9 UW / 3.02 W

SAT: 1490

I did’t study for it and I have considered taking it again. I have been told that it is not worth my time, but I really want to give myself any help I can to improve my chances of admission.

AP’s: 4 on AP Euro without much studying. I am hoping to get a 5 this year on APUSH because I have taken the class much more seriously. Next year I plan to take AP Gov/Eco, AP Stats, and possible AP Mechanics.

Subject Tests: I decided not to take the Math 2 because I did not do the best last year in Pre Calc, and I don’ think I would do that well now. I am probably going to take the American and World History tests because I am pretty strong in history.

Extra Curriculars:

I was a coxswain on a highly competitive crew team up until the end of last semester and I have competed and placed at some of the biggest races in the USA and have raced internationally. It probably took up 20 hours of week and I dedicated a ton of time to it.

Treasurer of DECA club at my old school sophomore year.

I have participated in my new school’s film club and plan on starting a political discussion club in the next few weeks.

This summer I am taking Poly Sci classes at the local Community College and have applied for internships with my state assembly person and other advocacy groups in the area. If I do not receive any internships I will find a job instead.

I know that I have under-preformed heavily in the past few years and want to salvage any chance I have at getting into the best school possible. I live in California but I do not think that the UCs or CSUs would be a good fit for me. I really work well in small class environments and I have enjoyed going to a slightly smaller school.

The schools I am looking at are:

GWU: Legacy and probably top choice

American University

Occidental

Reed

Brandeis

University of Denver

Pitzer: my admission counselor said to look at it but I have no clue how I will get in.

Lewis and Clark

Reed

Sarah Lawrence

The New School

University of Richmond

I am open to any suggestions, and I would prefer to be near a big city on one of the coasts. That doesn’t mean I won’t consider other schools, I want to go to the best fit possible, but that is my preference. I really want to work in public policy and go to law school, so it is important to me that the school I go to be at least moderately well respected. I know that sounds super pretentious, but my mom is really pushing for a more “name brand” school. Also, cost is definitely a consideration, but I am fortunate that my parents will be able to cover my tuition without me having to take out loans or worry much.

2

Clark University in Worcester, Ma. It started out as a small, pure research institution (no undergrad) and over the decades morphed into a LAC with research. Still classified as a research university, but doesn’t fit, so it does not do as well in the rankings. It has a very good reputation within academia, not as well known outside of academia. Location is in a small city about 50 miles/1hr west of Boston. Known for its Model UN program and it has a crew team.

https://www2.clarku.edu/departments/politicalscience/research/modelun.cfm

Mt Holyoke (all women and a member of the five college consortium.) might be another option. It has a crew team that rows in Worcester. About 90 miles/1.5 hrs west of Boston.

Wheaton (was all women until the 80’s) could be another option. Cross enrollment with Brown for classes they do not offer. 20mi/30min from Providence/Brown. 40mi/1hr from Boston. No crew team.

3

Thanks for the suggestions. I actually stopped doing crew and I don’t really care if the schools I go to have a team, but it is definitely a plus.

4

With your GPA, you really don’t have the luxury of being picky, especially in CA. I would suggest a community college and get those grades up. Once you do that, you’ll have a lot more options to choose from.

5

Congratulations on getting things turned around in school! That is the most important thing!

I love the Clark suggestion. I’ll just add that Worcester is actually the second largest city in New England with almost 200,000 residents. It’s also home to Holy Cross, WPI, and several other colleges, making it a pretty large “college town.” Clark does have rowing and Lake Quinsigamond is a great place to do it (though it’s very cold). Boston is about an hour or so away by commuter train.

http://www.clarkathletics.com/sports/rowing/index

Temple University in Philly is also a possibility.

Your freshman and sophomore years will, unfortunately, be an issue in admissions. If you can visit and interview, that would be great. It would give you a relaxed opportunity to discuss your improvement. When you do address your freshman and sophomore year grades, whether in person or in your application, it will be very important to be honest, positive, and forward-looking. Don’t be defensive or blaming. Take responsibility and explain why your academic performance did not match your demonstrated ability. Address how you were able to improve your performance. Your explanations need to be about you and not about your old school. If it was just a matter of changing schools, then admissions wonder if coming to that school would not work? It has to be about you.

You’ll want to be able to answer these questions positively: How have you grown and developed from freshman to junior years? What did you learn (about yourself) from this process?

Strong, positive answers to all of these questions could make some of the schools on your list into better possibilities.

Good luck!

6

Mastadon and TTG are onto something here.

Clark was founded as a school only for graduate studies. Today its primary strengths are the Psychology and Geography departments. It is ranked as a top 100 university (81 US News). Take a shot because:

  1. Marked improvement in JR and SR GPA is a positive sign for continued academic success.
  2. Your test scores put you in the top 25% of class.
  3. Before you get too excited, 86% of the class has a GPA > 3.25.
  4. Clark probably does not receive too many CA applicants.
  5. It does have an academic reputation relative to most colleges and universities.
  6. Student/faculty ratio is 10/1.
  7. Quisigamond Lake was made for rowing! However, you are going to have a tough time against WPI and Holy Cross!

Take TTG’s advice on the application approach. Take responsibility and work like the dickens!

Check out "basic facts @ http://www.clarku.edu/fast-facts

7

I was thinking that being an experienced and successful coxswain could help you with admission - I have seen that happen at some schools.

8

You would need to contact the coach through the “recruit me” section of the team’s web page.

http://www.clarkathletics.com/sports/rowing/index

WPI is a little faster than Clark, but you should be able to fix that!

Varsity Eight Heat 2:
PLU 6:58.5
WPI 7:04.55
Simmons 7:18.76
Clark 7:37.29

Mount Holyoke (MHC) is faster in the petites

Varsity Eight Petite Final:
MHC 7:19.87
Simmons 7:22.97
Clark 7:46.39

All your regattas would be at “home” since Quinsigamond is the site for the New England Championships and the National Qualifiers
http://www.clarkathletics.com/sports/rowing/2017-18/Spring_Rowing_2018

9

Clark is ranked in the top 10 in the US and the top 50-100 in the world in Geography and Area Studies which is a big component of the International Relations field (which includes poly sci) and is good prep for law school - because it provides a global perspective for policy decisions.

https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2016/geography

10

You are applying to some of the coolest schools in America, so high-five for that. L&C did inhumane experiments on a dog recently though.
Other schools to consider:
-Dickinson
-Rhodes
-GWU