<p>I had a similar choice as your son – so this is what happened to me. </p>
<p>Got into American and a different, smaller school. Both had astounding political science programs, but I got the sense at my old school that you did at Tulane. The kids were SO excited to be there, the sense of community was something I felt I was lacking at my high school. Furthermore, the school looked like Hogwarts to me and was so beautiful while I visited AU on a cloudy day and insisted it was the ugliest school I’d ever seen. By the time financial aid decisions came out, my old school sold me by giving me more academic scholarships and grants. I shipped off in Fall 2007 for my college, and was relatively happy there.</p>
<p>UNTIL, Junior year rolled around – and I started thinking about post school plans. I started having a panic attack, that the only jobs I had held were academia: TA, Research Assistant, working a desk. I transferred to AU 2 years ago because I have yet to find an institution that prepares you more for finding a job – in DC or otherwise. They have one of the top ranked career centers, an extensive and helpful network of alumni in the city and around the country that the career center will connect you with, an exclusive database of internship and job opportunities, and many employers in the city who will only hire AU students because of the positive relationship they’ve had. As a senior set to graduate in 40-some days, I can’t tell you how invaluable this is – I sit looking at entry-level DC jobs that require 2-3 years of experience to even be considered. Bottom line: students from around the country, even if the interned in DC every single summer of their college career, cannot compete with the 6 internships I’ve had in the past two years alone. </p>
<p>The federal government, NGOs, and private companies all have a major bias of hiring within DC. Furthermore, I would have been stuck doing years of unpaid internship experiences or moving back to Michigan to deal with job hunting in 15% unemployment. Ultimately, AU gives you experiences you just can’t get anywhere else, I already have multiple interviews lined up despite being a Political Science major, I’ve seen Christ Matthews, Dan Rather, Eric Cantor, and numerous legislative staff speak just this year – with Colin Powell coming to visit in two weeks. I talk to my friends from my old school, and schools around the country who are unemployed, or doing internships despite previous work experience and graduating with honors. </p>
<p>It also seems silly – even if he did change his major – to assume that he would be outside of the Kogod, SIS or SPA schools which are all ranked and encompass a wide range of options. Has he looked into the CLEG major?</p>
<p>If you have any questions, quite literally about anything that you want to know, please feel free to message me.</p>
<p>EDIT: My old school offered the Washington Semester Program at American University like Tulane does. I attended it – and it is what caused me to transfer.</p>