<p>Which would you choose? Any current students interested in commenting on either PoliSci program? Competitiveness, Quality of Professors, etc...</p>
<p>Here’s a copy of a post from samantha444:</p>
<p>tough one…
I can only speak for UCLA poli sci (since i’m a student here), but I would recommend reposting this in the Berkeley forum. from what I hear, UCB has an amazing political science program, but I would ask students to get their input.</p>
<p>PROS
UCLA Poli sci and Public Affairs professors are excellent: they are leaders in their fields, and many of them have had major leadership roles in governmental agencies (Mike Dukakis teaches some undergraduate courses, Al Gore has taught here, Warren Christopher teaches an Honors Collegium each winter, etc.). There is a wide variety of courses, and you have to choose to specialize in one of five tracks (check the UCLA poli sci website for specifics). Usually, the professors are very highly ranked and people do not complain about them. There are a lot of opportunities to study abroad in the major, during the summer or the school year, and there are a lot of internship opportunities in the LA area and Washington DC through the CAPP program or the UCLA Career Center. A lot of governmental agencies, including the FBI and the CIA, recruit at UCLA. I know people who have interned for Senators Boxer and Feinstein, as well as for the city officials.</p>
<p>CONS
Political Science is a very competitive and impacted major at UCLA (probably because of the quality of the classes and professors). Classes are often difficult to get and fill up quickly. If you have priority, this is often less of a problem, but you’ll see that it doesn’t always work out perfectly once you actually register yourself here (priority caps on sections). Don’t expect to get many PS classes your freshman year…use the year to get your GEs done.</p>
<p>are you kidding? UCB’s political science is one of the top in the country!</p>
<p>Think about it this way, which university sent more people to be on Obama’s cabinet? :P. Steven Chu!</p>
<p>I’m a PS major at UCLA. Courses are impacted, if you have priority enrollment through honors/scholarships, it’s really not an issue. I know the PS department is really working on coming up with a solution to the issue, and one of the propositions is that they only open lower div Poli Sci classes to pre-poli sci majors (as opposed to opening them as GEs). I actually got an email from the Chancellor about it, because I’d met one of his aides and expressed my concern about the issue (even though I have priority…it was more for the benefit of the whole). So I’m guessing they really are working on it, otherwise he wouldn’t have emailed me directly…I’m just a regular student lol.</p>
<p>The professors in the political science department tend to have excellent reputations, and most are really passionate about helping students. At UCLA, you pick a concentration under political science (eg International Relations, Political Theory, American Politics, or Comparative Politics), which is a little different than Cal, where you can pick an emphasis but don’t have to (or you can pick a region of interest, such as Southeast Asia, for example). But even if you are only concentrating in one field at UCLA, you can still of course take courses in other areas.</p>
<p>So I highly recommend it; it also has several cross-requirements with other majors such as Global Studies and Public Affairs, so it’s easy to double-major or minor with those (or at least “easy” in regards to scheduling).</p>
<p>I know the department at Cal is great too; I really don’t think you can go wrong with either. Both have excellent reputations for getting students into great grad schools. I would focus on where you want to go in general university/atmosphere aspects, and go where you feel the best “fit.”</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.polisci.ucla.edu/undergraduate-program[/url]”>http://www.polisci.ucla.edu/undergraduate-program</a> UCLA Poli Sci Undergrad program</p>