<p>I am a high school junior looking at colleges and I needed some help. I want to major in political science and probably minor in international relations/foreign policy. I need help finding schools with the best program for these interests. I also want the school to be somewhere warm, ex. California, Florida ect. </p>
<p>A little bit about myself:
16 year old white girl from Connecticut
Played junior varsity soccer for all three years at school
Varsity softball for two years
Varsity swimming for one year
guitar lessons
president of a community service club (do tons of community service)
been on high honors since my freshman year (grade point average of 5.1 or above on a 6.0 scale)</p>
<p>I’d look at DC area schools. You say you want some place warm but DC is MUCH warmer than Connecticut (for instance it’s December here as of tomorrow and still in the low 50s), and weather isn’t a reason to rule out all the internship/career possibilities. You also really can’t beat the faculty.</p>
<p>I’d look at George Washington, American, and Georgetown…maybe UVA or William and Mary.</p>
<p>Stanford, UCLA, and UC - Berkeley would be good choices too – though the latter two will be difficult to get into because you’re out of state.</p>
<p>probably more of a big school, and definitely urban…i know dc is warmer then Connecticut but i think i need somewhere a bit warmer and sunny, preferably near the beach…I have not taken the SAT yet and still have not received my scores from this years psats but last year as a sophomore I had around a 650, 620, and 580…but that was as a sophomore…I plan to get higher this year.</p>
<p>@IBClass: Political science is really one of the most basic programs out there. Nearly every good school has a good polisci program, so the things that distinguish individual schools are the opportunities for internships and jobs, for which it is certainly recommended to go to D.C. if you’re serious. Of course, any school can provide political internships to things like city councils (or state governments if you go to school in a capital - try UW Madison), but schools in D.C. obviously have a leg up on the competition.</p>
<p>^
You’re missing my point. The OP doesn’t want to be in DC (that was pretty clearly stated). I was merely mentioning that stronger programs can be found elsewhere, so it’s not settling. </p>
<p>It is, however, naive to think that DC students necessarily have an edge over their counterparts elsewhere, especially those at elite schools. If I recall correctly, ~25% of my own college class ended up in DC after graduation.</p>
Last time I checked, Honolulu, New Orleans, Tallahassee, LA, Columbia, the Research Triangle, Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston, Austin, and Nashville were indeed urban areas. UMD is a mere 20 minutes from DC. </p>
<p>A school needn’t be NYU or BU to be urban. </p>
<p>
Naturally you are completely unbiased. “Top echelon”? Please.</p>
<p>DC schools have excellent resources, and their IR programs are unmatched – but their political science programs are mediocre at best. Not that the OP shouldn’t apply, but you greatly exaggerate their academic strength.</p>
<p>so does anyone else have any suggestions for my situation? i get my sat scores this coming week but for now i am still on high honors at school and really want to go to an urban, warm school with good political science…does anyone else have suggestions?</p>
<p>CMC’s a good suggestion, unless size is really that important to you. I think IB covered most of the better big urban schools in warm states–you could always look into the UCs, but I’m not sure how good any of them are for poli sci, and I’d be reluctant to put myself in the California university system right now anyway, at least until the dust clears.</p>
<p>(UGA isn’t urban at all, by the way–Athens is very much a college town. GT is the city school here.)</p>