Hello! My name is Izzy and I am a rising senior. I am looking for a few more schools to put on my college list.
I am very interested in political science and journalism. A big issue that I have is that when you research “best colleges for political science” you either get top schools such as Harvard and Princeton (which are too much of a reach for me) or schools that I have never heard of.
I am looking for a college that has a great political science program. I would love a school with under 5000 students overall and not West of the Rocky Mountains. I would not like extremely urban and would prefer a college town attached.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated no matter how hard the school is to get into.
Ps: I have already toured W&L, Georgetown, GW, AU, Brown, UVA, UT Austin, Richmond, and Macalester.
If you share some more info you can get better advice.
What did you like or not like based on the tours you’ve done?
Do you have price constraints on what your family can pay? Do you know if you’ll qualify for need-based aid at private schools? What are your test scores and GPA? What kind of vibe or culture are you looking for?
Hi Izzy, it looks like you have a really great start of a list for schools with a good political science and journalism program. However, I think I would need more information about your stats (GPA, ACT/SAT) as well as hearing a bit about your activities and experiences-- that’s really what’s important! And even subject tests would be helpful as for example Georgetown strongly recommends 3 Subject Tests.
That being said, here are a couple great schools (that most people know of) known for journalism/political science/communications:
-Emerson
-George Washington University
-Villanova
-American
-Hamilton
-Butler University
-Lehigh University
-Ithica College
If you include more about yourself perhaps I could find schools that are a better fit!
Thanks for the quick reply! Some more info about me is:
I am white but also a latina. I will likely apply for financial aid but I do not necessarily need it to pay for college. My GPA is a 95( A few Bs mostly As)
My Sat1 scores are March 1400(700 on both) and June with the bad curve (670M 720EWR).I’m planning to take the SAT one more time to try to raise my score to 1450+ My SAT2 scores are US History (770) World(750) and Lit (680 which I will likely retake). I have 5 on all my APs
My real standout stuff is the fact that I have a ton of really great political science extracurriculars including US Senate Page Program+ big role in local government.
As far as school culture goes I am a bit quiet and do not really like sports. I would love a place where kids would also be very political and I could have those types of discussions.
I have liked some of the places that I have toured but mostly I have felt a bit ambivalent about them- they are all so similar and none of the tours really excited me! That’s why I’m looking here for more options. Thanks Again!
Most smaller colleges will not have journalism per se – but certainly can be great routes to that career through working on their paper and becoming a great writer through myriad courses, including poli sci.
UNC is bigger, 16k, but has very strong journalism and poli sci – but reach for all OOS. Still, you have some hooks and great ECs so certainly worth an app if you’re interested.
I’m not so familiar with other poli sci programs so I’ll let others chime in. Generally, I think many colleges are strong in that area and it’s one of the more popular majors so you should have a lot to choose from!
If you want to actually work on a campaign in college, consider Grinnell in Iowa or Dartmouth (reach!) in NH, because 2020 is around the corner!
Putting aside selectivity for the moment, you’d find schools such as Amherst, Bowdoin, Hamilton and Dickinson to be very strong for the study of political science. Hamilton offers a Public Policy major, a regular D.C. term, and an on-campus public affairs center; Amherst offers an uncommon Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought major; Dickinson tends to particularly support international studies; Bowdoin offers strong government programs generally.
Kenyon is notable for its Center for the Study of American Democracy, which serves as a source for political discourse on campus. The school’s associated village, Gambier, can be viewed either as a tiny college town or fantastic student center.
Davidson fits your bit-of-a Southern theme, and would seem to be worth a look.
You are getting great recommendations. I’d second Dickinson for sure and add William and Mary. Both are terrific for political science/government and writing. Jon Stewart, James Comey, Jen Psaki, Robert Gates (Secretary of Defense), and Serge Kovaleski (NYT reporter) are all William and Mary alums. William and Mary has just over 6000 undergrads, so a little over your upper boundary, but it doesn’t really feel that big. Williamsburg is a great college town, even if it shares space with Colonial Williamsburg tourists to some extent. Good luck!
Reading your second post again, it seems like perhaps you’re looking for more academic intensity on a campus? Is that what you felt was missing from the colleges you visited so far? Just trying to get a line on your comment about feeling ambivalent so far. Was the party culture or Greek scene? Was it physical environment/weather you didn’t like? Not enough student diversity? You have some pretty different colleges you’ve toured – UVA vs. Macalester, for example – but you didn’t really like either?
I’m wondering about Barnard for you. It’s got a reputation for very motivated, focused students who are ready to make an an impact. Kinda edgy. I don’t know about its poli sci department. Barnard students have full access to Columbia courses so you can check both out.
Anyway – any more insights on what you didn’t like about the colleges you’ve visited would be good.
Thank you so much for your reply! To be honest there is not one reason why I felt ambivalent. I think the biggest issue that I have had is that many of the tours are very similar and that I feel that most schools seem to be very similar.
I definitely liked Macalester more than say UVA. I really just want to find a place where I can meet a lot of kids who are very involved in politics.
We live in such a ahem politically charged time that honestly I think pretty much any college will have lots of engaged students you can join forces with.
You’re doing the right thing by gathering lots of info. You might want to join the virtual “Ask a Student” events that some colleges do in the Fall and try to get some sense of the political scene by asking questions then.