So my top 2 choices are USD and Denison, and I just wanted to hear others’ opinions about which I should choose. I’m planning to major in Political Science, and I live in Las Vegas.
Distance is a pretty big factor, and I think the San Diego atmosphere is a bit more appealing as well as being a <2 hour flight away where I can still hang out with HS friends and go to beach frequently.
Academics-wise I know Denison edges USD out a bit, and is getting harder and harder to get into each year.
Overall I like the student-life aspect of USD a bit better, and I think I’d be more comfortable in SD, but Denison is superior in academic value and prestige (not that it matters that much) so I’m at a bit of a dilemma. Any advice is appreciated.
Go where you’ll be happier. The ‘gut’ feeling is something that is just as important as analyzing it from an unbiased perspective, and if you’ll be happier at one over the other (even if it’s something that some people may see as a secondary thing in terms of importance such as location, social life, weather, etc) then you should choose that school.
For political science, Denison will serve you better - I get that your friends and the beach matter, but if you’re really hesitant, defer, spend time doing city year in SD and seeing your friends.
The academic quality and the connections are very different.
Are both the same net cost?
(To calculate net cost, do:
(Tuition fees room board) - (grants, scholarships)=
My daughter got into both USD and Denison last year, with comparable merit. When she visited USD in April for accepted students’ weekend it was no contest, even though we are from the midwest and she hates flying. The atmosphere at USD was overwhelmingly attractive–I couldn’t blame her. I was very impressed with the president of Denison and the academics available there, but in my heart of hearts I couldn’t blame her for choosing San Diego. She declined Denison’s fly-in offer and committed to USD over 11 other schools.
The academics, access to professors, class size, etc. have been good at USD. I’m sure the same is true at Denison. For my daughter it was a quality of life issue–the sun and ocean were irresistible. And after the Chicago winter we have just about survived, no regrets.
If you want to have really marketable skills coming out of undergrad, and you have any fondness/aptitude for quantitative stuff at all, I would think seriously about the Data Analytics major at Denison. Students in this program must choose an area of focus, poli sci being is one of the options. The combination of a political science knowledge base with the ability to apply “big data” skills would position you well to do very interesting work in today’s data-driven world of poli sci. Perhaps the same thing can be accomplished at USD, but I’d definitely recommend looking at Denison’s program as a model and see whether you can see yourself pursuing such a program, and if so whether a comparable program of study can be assembled at USD. https://denison.edu/academics/data-analytics/degree-requirements