Looking to get into Politics- which schools are the best?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Just started junior year and looking at colleges. I go to one of the top private schools in the country in MD and pretty sure I want to do something in politics (I already am) so thinking a poli sci degree. So far the only schools I really like are Georgetown and Claremont McKenna but like I said, I just started looking.</p>

<p>Stats
3.5ish GPA (school does do GPA or class rank) Tough school though. Like a fiftth go to ivies and more than half go to ivies or ivy caliber (Vanderbilt, Wash U Johns Hopkins etc.)</p>

<p>PSAT as of soph in oct - 1730-1180 old scale looking for a 2000-1300 this year.</p>

<p>Ecs
-4 year young democrats of school pres junior and senior year
- 3 year Its Academic (will likely be on tv this and next year)
- 3 year Model UN
- VP this year and pres (likely) next of temple youth group
- internship on gubernatorial campaign. Could be kept on after election.
- Work: camp counselor @ sleep away camp in summer. Also work at temple during sunday school</p>

<p>I have more but those are my major ones.</p>

<p>Recs- Will get great recs because I love learning and particpate in class discussions even if my grades do not show it. Will also get recs from campaign including possibility of future governor but likely it will be one of his aides.</p>

<p>Like I said, I just started looking and any other suggestions would be great. I also have not visited anything,</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>Go to one of the five US Service Academies if you can get in. Learn to lead people. Then serve for your country for a while, then after you have had to deal with all kinds of folks and all kinds of problems first hand. Then start a business, make a payroll, raise a family and then you'll have a pretty good background to go into politics.</p>

3

<p>I'm really against war so thats pretty much out of the question.</p>

4

<p>
[quote]
I'm really against war so thats pretty much out of the question.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>So are the students at the academies. Especially, since they know they are the ones who might actually have to fight in one. </p>

<p>And so are their parents.</p>

<p>But, just being against war doesn't mean there won't be one.</p>

5

<p>But if you are against it why would you put yourself in a position to participate? That makes no sense. I don't ever see myself going to fight in a war (especially one I don't believe in)</p>

<p>Anyway, I'd look at Georgetown, American, GWU, Hopkins, Tufts.</p>

6

<p>It is a pretty selfless thing to do. It doesn't make sense to a lot of people. But, I'm glad there are people around who are willing to sacrafice so we don't have to.</p>

<p>"The state which separates its warriors from its scholars will have its decisions made by cowards, and its fights fought by fools" -thucydides</p>

7

<p>I'm extremely anti-war. I mean, most intelligent people are. There really is no sense to killing each other.</p>

<p>But, I've taken this American National Security course this semester (cause I'm interested in poli sci) and it's very, very military oriented in nature, more so than I expected. Anyway, I figured out that 1). sometimes wars are inevitable and 2). the best way to prevent war is having one dominating, unchallengeable military force (the United States, and its allies). I've read some modern literature on the United States military, and trust me, if you don't know much about the military, the United States is A LOT MORE POWERFUL than you think. It has unfathomable military spending and capabilities, more so than the rest of its closest competitors (it's allies, actually) combined.</p>

<p>Now true, terrorism can do damage because it is not a direct military confrontation.</p>

<p>But if Country X is slaughtering the hell outta Country Y because of religion, greed, power, etc, do you think the United States will sit by idly because it thinks war is bad? No, it'll probably intervene. Now, if world peace could be achieved, that would be nice, but some of the bass-ackwards third world countries are FAR, FAR away from using any remotely rational thoughts.</p>

<p>The United State gigantic, unchallengable military is the best defense ensurer of peace. There would be no point in challenging the U.S., for your country would surely be crippled for it. However, can you imagine what happens when there are two superpowers (cough, Cold war, cough). That is why the U.S. strives to stay on top and constantly develops its military. And what would happen without any dominating military force? A gang of sociopaths will find weapons and slaughter people for no reason. I personally think that world hunger, poverty, and cancer will be cured before world peace is achieved. That is how grand a task that is.</p>

<p>Btw, I'm an heavy liberal who votes Democrat, hates Bush, despises war, feels the War in Iraq is pointless, LOATHES THE PATRIOT ACT, and thinks we should spend less on the military. But I do realize the importance of keeping an unchallengable military and the inevitability of certain wars.</p>

8

<p>^^^^^^</p>

<p>You might be interested to read Tom Barnett's stuff. Fits your model pretty well.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/pnm/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/pnm/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/bfa/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/bfa/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/weblog/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/weblog/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

9

<p>Think about what state you want to settle in. Go to that state's flagship university, which probably would give you the contacts and the prestige that you'd need to do well in politics in that state. This is particularly true if the state's flagship is in a state capital.</p>

10

<p>
[quote]
I'm extremely anti-war.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You'd feel right at home at Cal, although your GPA is much too low for admissions (but not impossible).</p>

11

<p>I'd say apply to all the schools Wilmingtonwave suggested, but I'd categorize them in this way:</p>

<p>REACHES:
Tufts
Georgetown
Johns Hopkins</p>

<p>MATCH/Maybe even safeties:
American
GWU</p>

<p>Get that GPA UP!!</p>

12

<p>According to this year's Gourman Report, the best undergraduate programs in International Relations are, in order:</p>

<p>Tufts
Princeton
Johns Hopkins
Georgetown
U Penn
Harvard
Cornell
U Wisconsin Madison
MIT
Stanford
UVA
Notre Dame
US Air Force Acad
US Military Acad
Claremont McKenna</p>

<hr>

<p>(FYI: The Gourman Report states that its ratings are based on "extensive reseach" into the following criteria:</p>

<ol>
<li>auspices, control, and organization of the institution</li>
<li>numbers of educational programs offered and degrees conferred (with additional attention to "sub-fields" available to students within a particular discipline</li>
<li>age (experience level) of the institution and the individual discipline or program and division</li>
<li>faculty, including qualifications, experience, intellectual interests, attainments, and professional productivity (including research)</li>
<li>students, including quality of scholastic work and records of graduates both in graduate study and in practice</li>
<li>basis of and requirements for admission of students (overall and by individual discipline)</li>
<li>number of students enrolled (overall and for each discipline)</li>
<li>curriculum and curricular content of the program or discipline and division</li>
<li>standards and quality of instruction (including teaching loads)</li>
<li>quality of administration, including attitudes and policy towards teaching, research and scholarly production in each discipline, and administration research</li>
<li>quality and availability of non-departmental areas such as counseling and career placement services</li>
<li>quality of physical plant devoted to undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels</li>
<li>finances, including budgets, investments, expenditures and sources of income for both public and private institutions</li>
<li>library, including number of volumes, appropriateness of materials to individual disciplines and accessibility of materials</li>
<li>computer facility sufficient to support current research activities for both faculty and students</li>
<li>sufficient funding for research equipment and infrastructure</li>
<li>number of teaching and research assistantships</li>
<li>academic-athletic balance</li>
</ol>

<p>The weight given to each criterion above varies by discipline. )
lolabelle is online now</p>