UCLA vs UMich vs UVA (Poli Sci/Policy)

[lulu61]

Hi all!
I’ve narrowed down my options to UCLA, UMich, and UVA for Poli Sci and am looking for some advice on which to choose. I’m out of state for all 3 (I am a Mass resident) so tuition is about the same.

UCLA:
Pros: #1 Public Uni in the country, warm weather, incredible breadth of majors and minors, in a major city, & cluster program + Fiat Lux seminars

Cons: Really far from home, has a school of public affairs not policy, might be hard trying to come back East Coast from West Coast, and the quarter system seems a bit funky?

UMich:
Pros: PPE Major, School of Public Policy, closer to home, great school spirit, strong east coast alumni network, Ann Arbor’s a great college town, also if I wanted to explore business Ross is a possibility for undergraduates

Cons: Cold winters and not as close to a major metropolitan city

UVA:
Pros: Closest to DC (and to home), separate School of Policy, smaller undergraduate population (and average class sizes), milder weather, really incredible Poli Sci majors like PPL, also opportunities at Darden, and strong east coast alumni network.

Cons: Farthest from major city and more isolated

I feel like I could not be seeing some cons to all 3 of them and definitely would love some love advice. Thanks so much!!

[tsbna44]

So first off, being the #1 public university in the country - what does that mean? So a magazine says so? And there are several universities - of which you’re deciding between - that are generally considered tops.

Yes, UCLA - it’s far from home - but all three likely require a flight - so at that point - what’s the difference. UCLA has highly rated food - which is important. Have you looked at the UCLA requirements? While it’s called Public Affairs, it’s likely similar to a Policy major and even an Urban Studies major. In this day and age, you won’t have issue going anywhere - East, West or anywhere in between.

Michigan - yes, there’s Ross but I wouldn’t count on getting in as a UM student - they’re upfront about that. As for the not by a city, Ann Arbor has everything - and it’s not far from the airport and if you really need a city, it’s not far either. LA, for example, is really sprawling - and UCLA is amongst the sprawl - not in downtown, etc.

UVA - yes, it’s closest to DC but it’s not like it’s within a daily commute. Darden, btw, is a grad school but you mean McIntire.

It sounds like you might want business - so I would recommend:

1. Is there a business school you were admitted to? If so, that might be a better option.

2. UVA, to me, would be your best odds for business - you start your Junior year.

There’s not a bad school in the mix. At UCLA, they don’t have business - so based on what you have written, that seems the least optimal choice (to me) although you can do Econ - which isn’t the same but is often a substitute. And UCLA has minors in accounting and entrepreneurship.

Three great choices - all will get you where you want to go - but which is the best feel for you.

[collegemom3717]

You have listed a bunch of facts, but not what those facts mean to you, nor am I convinced that you really know what those ‘facts’ mean in terms of your lived experience.

It doesn’t matter what the ‘breadth’ of majors and minors is- you are only going to be in one, maybe 2, departments. The names of different majors are often pretty unhelpful - public policy? political science? they are catch-all names. Look at the actual core required courses, and then the range of courses offered, in the context of what you are thinking to do with this major. B/c it really doesn’t matter to the outside world which label your major is: not a single employer or grad school is going to pay the slightest attention to the exact label you have for your major- they will note the category.

IRL, as @tsbna44 pointed out none of these three are objectively “better” than the others: all will have more opportunities than you will be able to pursue, and all will give you all need to get pretty much anywhere. The biggest differentiator will be the lived experience, and which one is “best” is the one that you like the best.

tl;dr: the best way to figure this out is to go for the accepted student days. There is no substitute, especially with campus cultures that are so strikingly different. If your parents can afford these 3 they can afford to send you out there to see what they are like.

[CCName1]

At Michigan, both the PPE major and the Ford School of Public Policy undergrad programs are selective majors, meaning that you need to go through an application process in sophomore year. I can’t find published stats, but my understanding is that about 40% of applicants are accepted. There is also a public policy minor that requires an application.

This isn’t to scare you off. My daughter was accepted to both selective majors to which she applied at Michigan, and most of her friends were, too, including those who applied for Ross transfers, minors, and specialized tracks. But she also has a friend in the honors program who was shut out. It is necessary to have a backup plan.

Michigan gets my vote for non-academic reasons since I don’t know as much about the other two programs.

(I do know many kids who have gone to UVA hoping for McIntire and not getting accepted. The overall acceptance rate is 60%. )

B.S. in Commerce Admissions Statistics

As far as the theory that it is a plane flight to any of them, that may be true but there can be big differences in the ease of the flights and drive to/from an airport.

Logan to DTW offers direct flights that are just over 2 hours, and DTW is only about a half hour from AA.

A direct flight from Logan to LAX is over 6 hours, so about 3 times as long as getting to Michigan. I think LAX is pretty close to UCLA, but I am not sure of that commute time.

Although UVA is the closest, there may not be direct flights into Charlottesville, so that ends up being 4 or 5 hours with a connection. Or you could fly to Richmond and the drive an hour. Driving from Boston to Charlottesville is about 9 hours. While UVA is the closest on the map, it may end up being in the middle in terms of how long it really takes.

All three are among the best public schools in the country and will offer a great breadth of resources and opportunities. All three, though, will have rather different student bodies and campus cultures. Have you dug into those to figure out which might be the best fit?

[lulu61]

Hi all!
Thanks for responding. While I know all 3 are flights the flights to and from LA will be longer and also a bit more expensive. (Also great point abt the UVA travel time)

I’ve visited both UVA and UMich already and will visit UCLA later this month. I really liked both campuses although they did have different feels. I think part of my issue is that I didn’t really have a gut feeling at either. If it helps my #1 was Gtown and I unfortunately did not get in and I didn’t have a solid #2 in my mind. The selection seems a bit daunting because I can see myself at all 3 schools.

Also, I think I’m not completely sure what I want to do in college so the option of some business opportunities (even if I might not end up in them) seems appealing to me. Also thanks for catching my mistake abt Darden!

As for opportunities at each school. I’ve dug through each of their catalogs and they each have incredibly unique courses and major and minor opportunities, so its been hard for me to establish a #1 based on that.

Anyways, thanks for all your help!

[tsbna44]

Well none are similar to Gtown. There are some but not these.

I’ll tell you this.

Everyone is focused on finding ‘the one’. There are kids who go to the dream and hate it and leave.

And there are countless that go to choice #2 or #10 (many choose based on $$ and end up at a pure safety) who say - wow, I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. And that might end up being all three of these. So, what I’m saying is there may not be a wrong choice.

So choose one after heading to UCLA and don’t look back !!