<p>Fist time poster here. First time with a child heading off to college. Would really appreciate some input regarding the differences between these two schools' History and Poly Sci Programs. </p>
<p>1) My son wants to be an attorney some day. Is UofM or UVA thought of more highly by law school admission advisors? Is one school known to have a stronger LSA program?</p>
<p>2) Michigan is big. Does the Honors Program really make it a smaller learning community? Do students have better access to professors and internships and research opportunities? Are Honors activities optional or required?</p>
<p>3) UVA is southern. My son tends to an independent thinker. Would this be a good fit? </p>
<p>4) Waitlisted at Northwestern, his first choice and the solution to smaller and more midwestern (his roots), however riding the waitlist train does not seem wise given the large app #s this year.... Any thoughts on NW?</p>
<p>All the schools are fantastic. Just trying to find the right fit.</p>
<p>I don’t think UVa will feel smaller. Academically, both are equal, and law schools will view applicants from both schools in an equally positive light. I would go with his gut.</p>
<p>As two of the four or so top publics in the country law schools will certainly know both of their reputations. Your son might find that UVa would be a better fit for someone who is interested in government and history due to the unique history of the school and it’s surrounding culture. </p>
<p>I have to say though, that Michigan feels much bigger than UVa. Michigan is over twice the size of UVa, and it doesn’t really feel as intimate either. </p>
<p>If you are in-state for either school, or if costs for one are far less than the other for some other reason, go with whichever costs less. Academically speaking, they are ranked similarly.</p>
<p>Michigan is a great place to study poli sci and history and is very highly regarded by top law schools. The honors program helps someone to provide a smaller learning community because there is more likely to be an overlap with other students in the program and the honors housing.</p>
<p>soyeah, I was not referring to actual size but to feel. Walking around Michigan, few people truly notice its size because of the way the school is put together. You have 10,000 students studying and living in North Campus and another 6,000 or so studying in the Lorch/Law Quad/Ross part of campus. </p>
<p>Only when crossing the diag or going to a football game does one truly observe the true size of the school. In terms of class size and personal attention, UVa is by no means more intimate than Michigan.</p>
<p>The Honors program definitely makes a smaller learning environment. First of all, you can live in honors housing which gives you a community within the university. Additionally, you get more chances to work closely with professors. For example, I had one intro class freshman year in which I had a 9 person discussion section led by one of the professors for the class. I have also worked with a professor to complete on honors conversion paper for a class. I might end up asking her to be my thesis adviser. All honors activities are optional, so there is no requirement to do anything you don’t want to do or don’t have time for. </p>
<p>Honors does not directly provide any help for internships or research. Most research is either done by personally approaching professors to see if they need assistance or through programs such as UROP. Honors thesis are done through departments, all of which have different requirements. You can write an honors thesis without having been in the honors program for freshman/sophomores.</p>
<p>The history and polisci departments at both universities are excellent. I generally think that UMich’s are slightly better, but they are definitely comparable. Also, I have a bias against UVa since it was the school which I was sometimes pushed towards applying to (in-state for me at the time).</p>
Your son can do research as a first semester freshman through the UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program). He just has to sign up for it.</p>
<p>I’ve gotten some great internship and research opportunities through poli sci. A lot of the classes are fairly small and have discussion sections, so I see a LOT of the same people in my classes and it makes the program feel a lot smaller than it is-- there are plenty of big classes as well, you get a mixture, but the way the program is structured has been very comfortable for me. And it’s super easy to get to know most of the professors, and when you go for office hours there are so many poli sci professors all in the same time at once that you can really get to know quite a few of them.</p>
<p>I like that there is a distribution within poli sci that you have to take (world poltiics, american politics, political methods, and theory) but you also have a lot of freedom to emphasize different areas if you want, and you’re able to skip one altogether if you really don’t like it. You get a breadth of knowledge but you still have a lot of control over what you study.</p>
<p>I’m not in the history program but I’ve taken four or five classes in the department and it seems really great, too. I’ve really enjoyed those classes and they complement my poli sci study very well.</p>