<p>I'm currently a junior in Massachusetts. I have a 3.13 and I'm in the top 1/3 of my class. I haven't taken the SAT yet. I'm pretty set on majoring in political science and then going to law school. For my classes next year, I've signed up for Honors English, Honors Human Anatomy, Honors Sociology, Honors Political Science, Business/Finance, and Spanish V.</p>
<p>I have no idea where to begin my college search. I earned a scholarship for getting a certain score on my state standardized test, which gives me free tuition (still have to pay "fees") to state schools. So I started looking at the state schools. I was thinking Umass Amherst, but I'm not sure I'd be able to get it. Umass Dartmouth definitely seems more within my reach. I've also looked at schools in the Orange County, CA/San Diego area. I would love to attend school out there, but the schools I've looked at all seem either way out of my reach or much too safe. Does anyone have any suggestions of schools that would be a match for me? I would like to go to a school known for political science, or one that has a very good program.</p>
<p>American University would be a low-to-mid reach depending on your SAT scores, but if you worked really, really hard on your application, you might be able to swing it. The average high school GPA at American is a 3.45. That means 50% of students scored a 3.44 or lower. If your standardized tests scores are excellent (if you feel as though you can score well, take ALL of them - SAT IIs, ACTs…), as well as your essay, your transcript, and your ECs, it could even be a mid-to-high match. But don’t expect to get any merit money from them.</p>
<p>Someone PMed me and suggested American as well. It seems like a school I would be interested in. I found my PSAT scores. First time-156, Second Time-164. My scores were lower because of math. I scored a 60 on the reading portion (86th percentile)</p>
<p>Cal State Fullerton is one of the better CSU’s. UC Irvine would be a bit of a reach. In fact CSUF would be a close call especially with the enrollment cuts. San Diego State is also a solid CSU, but again a bit of a close call.</p>
<p>Fullerton, San Diego, and Irvine are actually the schools that I was looking at in California. I like San Diego a lot from what I’ve seen. Irvine would definatley be a HUGE reach for me, judging by Collegeboard.com. When looking at colleges, how can I judge the quality of their political science program?</p>
<p>I know you want to go to So. California, but you might want to look at this list and try to match yourself. I think Washington State might be an option. Maybe UC Riverside, Northern Arizona, Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Also there are other great Cal States, San Jose State, Cal State LA, Cal State Northridge, Dominguez Hills, San Marcos, etc.</p>
<p>I’m going to be visiting Umass Amherst over April Vacation. What specifically should I be looking for in regards to the political science department? I have absolutely no idea haha. This will be the first school I’m visiting so I don’t even have any general experience.</p>
<p>Oh, I forgot. I calculated my GPA for this term and I made very conservative estimates for next term. I’m going to be looking at at least a 3.25, even higher if I work hard.</p>
<p>If you can stop by the poli sci department and introduce yourself. If you want, you can even contact a professor via email and ask if you can sit in on a lecture. Some are very friendly and they might be open to it. But honestly, just visit and get the feel of the place see if you like it, talk with some students and ask them about their experiences, I find them to be very friendly on most campuses. Another suggestion would be to check out the other “five” colleges as well because you can take classes at any of them. </p>
<p>Also, work hard for the remainder of the year and get your grades up as high as you can. </p>
<p>Thank you! I like the whole consortium thing. I live far away from Amherst so the trip will be an all day thing, I will definitely look at the other 4 colleges.</p>
<p>I just signed up for the SAT, and the Math I and US History SAT IIs. I’m confused by the score choice thing. I don’t need to sign up to have my scores sent in early right? Can I just send them when I actually apply to that school next fall? Any tips on the SAT IIs? I’m taking an SAT prep class, but I don’t know what I should do for the SAT IIs.</p>
<p>Edit: The main reason why I signed up for Math was because I thought that UC requires math. I just saw that they require Math II or nothing! Ahh. Considering I’ve never taken a pre-calc class, I don’t think I would be able to take the Math II. When I get to the test I can just not take the Math and take something else right (like literature)? The FAQ was a little confusing.</p>
<p>I visited Northeastern today and took a tour. I love it! Its the first college i’ve actually taken a tour of. I love everything about it. Its a great location, co-op is a very interesting factor, and the campus is perfect. But, my only big concern is that Northeastern is more of a business school. The business majors are the ones who seem to benefit most by getting co-ops with major banks, etc. I can’t really verbalize my concern. I’m almost thinking that I might be left with some stupid co-op. How is the political science program? I could minor in business administration too, which i like the idea of.</p>
<p>Hey I am a junior political science major. Some of the co ops people in the department get are the UN, CIA/DIA, US Dept of Education, political PR companies and then major law firms like Skadden or Wilmer Hale. This summer I am doing an undergraduate research project with a grad student (who happens to be the MA Speaker of the House’s kid) and the school is paying for our work to be published. The dept is about 100 kids each year, but you get a concentration in law, public policy, and i think the last one is something more comparative politics based. The most well known professor is Michael Dukakis who was the D candidate for president in 1988, but in general i have found that the professors are very good. If you have any other questions feel free to PM me</p>
<p>I just got my first SAT score back, and I got a 1770. I’m really surprised at how high i scored. I was expecting around a 1500. My final GPA as of right now is a 3.18.</p>