<p>My son is interested in Political Science and International Relations. In GWU, these two majors are in different schools, and based on what I am hearing in other threads, it sounds like separate competition for each school. (I heard posters listing different acceptance rates for different schools). Can you help him out here:</p>
<p>(1) Is it indeed separate competition, meaning, you compete with other applicants who are applying to to the college within GWU and it's much harder to get into Elliott vs. arts & science school (forget the name).</p>
<p>(2) is it possible to change majors once you are at school, let's say, from international relations to political science and visa versa.</p>
<p>(3) Is it possible to major in one and minor in another?</p>
<p>My son is interested in international aspects of public policies/political science and political aspects of international relations: so, he could major in either political science or international relations or major/minor in this combo. What are your thoughts and advice?</p>
<p>Interestingly, The GW Hatchet had an article this week about the acceptance rates of the different schools for the current freshman class. They all hovered around 29-32%, with the exception of Public Health (lower, but with small class and small applicant pool, so skewed statistics) and SEAS (much higher). Of course, what they don’t disclose is information about the stats (GPA, SAT) of the various applicant pools, nor will they come right out and say if you are being measured against the entire applicant pool or just those vying for a spot in the college of your choice.
Therefore it would appear that the best strategy for your son would be to look at the distribution requirements and requirements for the major at CCAS (Columbia College of Arts and Sciences) and the Elliott school. There are a lot of requirements, and there are significant differences between CCAS and Elliott. Once he takes a look at what actual courses he would be taking for the Poly Sci major vs. International Affairs he will have a better idea which road interests him more. Note that they recently changed the distribution requirements in CCAS. I believe that the changes will start with next year’s freshman class (Class of 2015).
From what I’ve been told, students in good standing don’t have much difficulty switching schools, but when thinking of changing, students need to be aware of the requirements of the school they are transferring into i.e. if you don’t plan ahead to meet these requirements it may be difficult to graduate on time.
Changing majors within a school (for instance changing from poly sci to econ ) is no big deal, but changing from Poly Sci to IA or vice versa requires a transfer between CCAS and Elliott.
You are definitely permitted to have a major in one school and a minor in another (I know, we asked). It just requires department approval on both sides.</p>
<p>This topic has been dicussed on this forum previously - so make sure you search. That being said - my “S” is in ESIA majoring in IA. He considered PoliSci in the CCAS, but really wanted the international focus - thus the reason he went with ESIA. IA’s in ESIA has a siginficant amount of PoliSci course work and you can actually concentrate on international politics.</p>
<p>PoliSci in CCAS is very good and you can also concentrate on a more international focus.</p>
<p>However, as said - they are in different colleges and at GW you apply directly to the college (e.g -ESIA vs. CCAS). You can minor at either ESIA or CCAS. I think ESIA does not allow minoring in the SMPA or SEAS - otherwise shouldn’t be too much of a problem. The same holds for CCAS to IA Minor in ESIA. I’m sure you can transfer between colleges if necessary, but maybe someone with more experience should comment on this.</p>
<p>Previous discussions on this forum had basically said that “double majoring” in IA (ESIA) and PoliSci (CCAS) was too redundant.</p>
<p>As a parent - try and get a feel what type of “career” he may be interested in. If more "Government/Public Policy - PoliSci prob better. State Dept, CIA, USAID etc -ESIA. Law School - either. Grad School- either.</p>
<p>As you are aware - the class of 2014 acceptance rate was overall 31% (2013 was 37%). The breakdown for each colllege varies - I’m not sue if the breakdown for 2014 is published yet.</p>
<p>I’m sure an admissions advisor could also set you up with a point-of-contact to discuss the options more in-depth.</p>
<p>So much for the ESIA’s Dean Brown telling incoming Elliott students the acceptance rate was lower. This is good news for your son -basically the same for both CCAS and ESIA.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your help and advice. This is greatly appreciated. I am humbled by such goodwill and willingness to help a perfect stranger displayed by you two. I promise I will help others when it’s my turn.</p>