<p>Hi!</p>
<p>Please help me decide which is the best school for to attend. I'm looking at a degree in (potentially) Political Science, Economics, or International Relations.</p>
<p>I've been accepted at the following schools:</p>
<p>University of Virginia
Amherst College
Emory University
Pomona College
Tufts University
University of Florida</p>
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<p>At first, I was sure about Pomona--but it's far away from Miami, where I live, and my dad isn't supportive of the distance. Then I got into Tufts and Amherst: two phenomenal schools. I see the pros of attending Tufts, a school practically next to Boston, in terms of it being a large research university with lots of potential. Amherst is just as great as Pomona, but just on the east coast. (Or is it?) Virginia is a great school overall, and it might be the balance I need. Emory is simply a great school. UF was my safety, but it's a great school as well.</p>
<p>Please help! Pros/Cons would help a ton. If you could include your opinion on which I should attend, please do! And if you think that there are schools that I shouldn't consider, then please say so!</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Congratulations on all of the good news!</p>
<p>Any money issues (meaning loans)? Weather or location (city versus suburban) preferences? Have you visited?</p>
<p>For IR, Tufts is the standout–it’s one of the things the school is best known for. Even the students who aren’t IR majors have IR interests. Undergrads can take courses at Fletcher (the graduate IR school at Tufts) even as freshmen. There’s also the unique undergrad EPIIC seminar <a href=“http://www.tuftsgloballeadership.org/program/epiic-0”>http://www.tuftsgloballeadership.org/program/epiic-0</a> which studies one issue of global interest in depth over the course of the year, ending with a weekend-long symposium planned and hosted by the course students and open to the entire campus community.</p>
<p>Agree that Amherst and Pomona are of equal outstanding caliber. For Pomona, consider that there’s a consortium of schools including Claremont-McKenna and Pitzer which will also have Econ/PoliSci/IR type offerings though coming from very different political POVs. But if your dad really isn’t happy about the distance then you have many other great options to choose from. </p>
<p>@SlitheyTove Thank you!!!</p>
<p>I really liked Pomona when I visited, and am willing to fight my dad for it. </p>
<p>Can you please compare student culture at Pomona, Tufts, and Amherst? More and more it’s looking like those are my top three.</p>
<p>Also, no money issues. I’m getting very good aid from all of my schools.</p>
<p>I’ve never been to Amherst so I can’t help you there. One of my kids is at Tufts (and had toured and loved Pomona but didn’t apply in the end), the other will be at Pitzer next year. The Claremont colleges feel more relaxed to me (as a parent), but both schools seem to have generally happy students. Claremont (as you probably know from visiting) is more isolated; the town is adorable and walkable yes but getting into Los Angeles takes some time and/or a train ride unless you have a friend with a car. For Tufts, you hop on a T to get into Cambridge or Boston. Tufts students have a camping lodge in the nearby mountains. Claremont students have a day where they go to the beach in the morning and then go skiing in the afternoon. </p>
<p>The communities at Amherst and Pomona are of course going to be smaller–some folks prefer that, some like having something larger. That’s just personal preference. There will be more choices for majors and courses at Tufts, but if you like the offerings at Amherst and Pomona then that’s not necessarily an issue. If you’re at Tufts, you also have the resources of the city–you can go to lectures or whatever at other schools in the area. </p>
<p>You should also price airfares to and from home, and the logistics of getting from the school to and from the airport. If Pomona means you can’t afford to come home for Thanksgiving etc etc is that something that would be an issue for you? </p>
<p>No bad choices, just different choices. Congrats!</p>
<p>My friend’s D is a freshman at Claremont. The school does not allow to use any AP credits or place out courses. She is not happy about this. Saying cost a lot for AP tests, now it is useless. I don’t know if it is the same for Ponoma. At Tufts, you can have 5 AP credits and place out as many courses you can. It gives you more rooms to pursue minor or 2nd major.</p>
<p>It’s true of Pomona too, to some extent. Only 2 APs allowed as credits, and very limited opportunities to use them to place out. However, Pomona has one of the most flexible course curriculums, and why would you want to use AP exams to bypass quality classes in college? I got a 5 in AP Chem and wasn’t allowed to bypass intro chem here, but the lab experience was a crucial feature of it that I didn’t get in high school.</p>
<p>Some classes you do not want to use AP since you want to re-learn or have a good foundation. But some you might want to. My son used AP Spanish to bypass 5 semester Spanish courses. Now with one semester Spanish, he full filed Tufts 2nd Language graduation requirement. Used AP Lang to get into upper level English 5 class which he loves the most, otherwise you have to start with first year English. Used AP Calc to get into the next level math. Will use AP Bio to bypass one intro bio which is a headache for everyone. Adviser said he can use AP Physics to go to Physics 2. </p>
<p>It is good that you have an opportunity to choose if you want to use APs or not than you cannot choose at all, isn’t it! Tufts gives you the opportunity. It is up to you if you want to use it or not, your judgement, not school’s judgement. That’s the beauty of it. </p>
<p>On the other hand, you go to college to learn new things. If you think you already master those materials, why you want to repeat them? So far, my son did not feel he missed anything or is behind the class by using APs. He actually is very happy to get to learn so many new things in such a short period of time. </p>