TurnerR, what makes you think DetroitLeper’s comment “is not true at all.” DC is a particularly good place for internships year round and its schools are magnets for students interested in poly sci, international relations, public policy, media mgt, social justice, etc…And the schools mentioned are good ones - but don’t forget UMD and Catholic.
As for using USNWR, that’s dicier. I suggest you try googling ‘top undergraduate programs in x’ and you’ll get all kinds of listings from various sources using a variety of selection criteria. Do some cross-referencing, look for schools that have characteristics that meet your criteria for size, location, price, etc…, and then do the ‘deep dive’ where you check out each school’s course catalog to see what they offer, how many faculty they have, whether faculty research interests align with your interests. Finally, go to the Common Data Set for each school (google it) and scroll down to section C to check how your stats align with those of the admitted students so you can ‘chance’ yourself.
Time-consuming? You bet. That’s why you start this process no later than the summer before your senior year.