Yes. But do bear in mind that the same rankings will affect you to some degree. I mean, higher ranked departments pull in better grad students, and better grad students tend to lead better discussions (this was my experience.) Plus, if you're going to a research university, it never hurts to have better professors, especially if you do original research.
How strong is the poli sci department at UCLA? Is it comparable to Berkeley's?
berkeley's poli sci dept is usually regarded as better, but i highly doubt you can experience a difference at the undergrad level. the UCLA poli sci dept is one of the best in the nation already anyway.
same goes for history.
(i'm a poli sci major. i've also taken some history courses).
I've heard arguments for both departments (from professors at both departments).
What most undergrads never realize is that at the graduate level it's not departmental strength that usually matters, but concentration strength that matters. Plenty of people will choose Michigan over Harvard for their methodology, whereas people will choose Harvard over UCLA because of their comparativists.
OH well, not like it matters to undergrads anyway.
UCLAri, i have a very important question that's been troubling me. I put down the wrong major in the College of Letters and Sciences, and i want to switch it to Polisci. I called admissions office today and she said she wasn't sure if polisci was 'impacted' or not.
she also said that I'd have to first enroll and then see if i could switch during orientation.
is it going to be hard to switch to political science from my BS major? what are the chances that i won't be able to switch??
it wont be hard to switch. when you get to ucla during your first quarter, go to the poli sci dept in bunche hall and tell them you want to switch into "pre-political science"
er if you don't change before the first quarter, what courses/classes would you take considering you want to change majors but you still have the original major down. would you sign up for courses of the original major or courses of the new major you want? what if you don't get into that major and you end up taking the wrong courseS??
UCLAri, but is it possible for me to change my major before school starts at like orientation so i can pick the right classes for my new major. i want to switch from bio to business economics or economics. is that possible and easy for me to switch?
I highly recommend that you consider doing one of the two programs in DC. For example, if you do CAPPP, you not only get the experience of an internship in DC (one roommate worked for Rep. Sherman, another for Sen. Kerry), but you also get a significant research paper under your belt. Win-win.
