I’m a student who is waiting on admission decisions from a few schools and where the best place to go would be for a student wanting to become a government member (congress) or a judge.
My schools applied to are
Ut( accepted no info on scholarships)
Utd( 6k a year scholarship)
Uta ( 8k a year scholarship)
Waiting on:
Duke
Dartmouth
My family is high income so I won’t get need aid most likely. If I get into all of these schools (which isn’t likely since my act is only a 31 but I am a urm which helps) what would be the best school. Does where you go for undergrad matter for polisci. It seems like it does since most supreme court judges and high level congress went to top undergrad and law programs
A judge would need to go to law school. Your UG school is irrelevant for that - grades and LSAT.
Undergrad doesn’t particularly matter, but UT poli sci would prob give better connections than utd or uta, I don’t really know about duke or dartmouth someone else would have to weigh in on that. Overall I can’t see you going wrong at any of them.
“Government member” is a broad category. There are state legislatures, too, and representatives and senators in state legislatures are very likely to have gone to public and local colleges/universities. Many Congress members start out in their state legislature and go national later.
Even nationally, though, Senators and U.S. representatives are likely to have gone to local universities. For example, I just looked up the Senators for my state (WA). Patty Murray went to Washington State University (and started out serving on her local school board and then the WA state legislature before going national). Maria Cantwell actually went to Miami University in Ohio before relocating to Seattle to work on a presidential campaign; she, too, started in the WA state legislature. And then I looked up our U.S. representatives:
David Smith: Transferred from Western Washington University to Fordham; JD from UW-Seattle
David Reichart: Concordia Lutheran College
Cathy McMorris Rodgers: Pensacola Christian College, and then UW-Seattle for her MBA
Jim McDermott: Wheaton College (IL), then an MD from University of Illinois
Rick Larsen: Pacific Lutheran University and then the University of Minnesota for an MPA
Derek Kilmer: Princeton, then a PhD at Oxford
Jaime Herrera Beutler: UW-Seattle
Dennis Heck: The Evergreen State College
Dan Newhouse: Washington State University
Suzan DelBene: Reed College, then UW for her MBA
So there’s a mix, and you can get a BA from anywhere and still serve in Congress. Also, you don’t need to major in political science. One thing that most of them shared in common, though, is that they held lower office (including a lot of state legislature seats) before running for national office.
So, for Congress, it largely doesn’t matter. For a judge, it also kind of doesn’t matter, although judges do tend to skew towards more competitive colleges (and especially the higher up in the judgeship you look the more likely you are to find elite schools). Still, your law school matters far more than your undergrad for judge careers.
Thanks for responses. In terms of internships and opertunties to work in federal clerkships or campaigns would going to Duke or Dartmouth if I can get in help me over ut utd or uta. Also it doesn’t seem like people know utd or uta well outside of Texas so would it hurt my opportunities to go there over ut Austin. My parents can definetly afford ut and maybe even Duke or Dartmouth, they just are apprehensive about spending extra money if it isn’t worth it (which understandable) either way I’m glad I’m lucky enough to have parents who can pay college. I just want to know if it’s worth paying more for a better college
Most politicos do not end up in an elective office or judgeship’s. They work for governments, law firms, unions, think tanks, lobbying groups, industry trade groups or special interest groups. The judges I personally know were very active in the one of the two political parties most of their careers, volunteered much of their time to political campaigns, and made a great many political contributions to a wide variety of elected officials in the hope that one of them would be in a position to nominate them to a judgeship one day. Once they became judges, they have to campaign to retain their position.
Some examples:
One judge I know was married to and then divorced when young. Her ex-husband eventually became the County Democratic chief, and got her appointed to the bench.
Another was married to a politics beat reporter of a major newspaper who made a practice of writing very favorable articles of local elected officials. They in turn made her one of the youngest judges in the county.
Another worked for the county in his 20’s, then left for private practice and steadily gave money to the dominant local party for 25 years. When he wanted to retire from private practice, he called in some favors and got appointed a county judge. He worked for two years in that position, and, when combined with his earlier time in the system, he vested his pension and retired for good at 80% of his final salary.
For future politicos, the best bet would be some combination for undergraduate/law school of the state flagship and the highest/most local T-14 school you can get into. You probably want to attend a different law/graduate school in order to maximize your network.
Of the private schools you listed, if you are conservative, I would prefer Dartmouth over Duke primarily because of the Dartmouth Review. It is considered somewhat of a training ground for conservative thinkers, and they have a very good alumni network.
http://www.dartreview.com/
American University, in Washington, D.C.
I’m pretty moderate so I wouldn’t mind a conservative or liberal environment. And isn’t it too late for me to apply to American?
If you’re interested in holding political office in the future, the best way to prepare for that is to get involved in political campaigns. Start working for a candidate and keep volunteering for that candidate or other candidates so that you get to know people. Campaigns at all levels are looking for volunteers; hard-working, smart, young people are especially welcome. Working in campaigns is a very good way to get experience in the political world. Similarly, volunteering for a political party, something like DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) or the RNCC (Republican National Republican Congressional Committee) is another way to make connections and learn about politics. You can do this in the summer while you are in college–in fact, you can even start volunteering in high school. It really doesn’t matter that you major in political science if you want to run for political office.
Judges at the federal level are appointed by the President. At the state and local levels, most judges are elected but some are appointed. In general, having political connections helps you get appointed. That’s usually as important as where you went to law school. Certainly going to a top-ranking law school won’t hurt you. Going to a state flagship law school can also be helpful if you want to run for office in that state.
I’d suggest you pick the college with the strongest academics and get good grades and start volunteering for political candidates/party organizations or get active with political groups on campus. Also, get internships that are relevant to your political interests in college. As for law school, you’ll want to shoot for a high GPA and to score really well on the LSAT.
Assuming UTA means University of Texas at Austin, I’d say pick that one because it’s the capital. You can get internships in the state capital.
Of the ones you’re currently accepted into UT Austin for sure (assuming the money isn’t an issue). If you’re accepted into Dartmouth or Duke visit and see which of the three (including UT Austin) you like most.
Money is definitely not an issue for any of the Texas schools although my parents are pretty old and want to retire soon. My parents make around 200k a year so I’m not sure how much it would hurt them for Duke or Dartmouth if I get in. Would the extra money paid for one of those two be worth it over ut Austin or scholarships at one of the ut satellite schools. And also all that info about connections being important makes me feel even more like Dallas or Arlington are out of the question since they don’t have very strong or well known political science programs. How difficult is it to get involved in any of that political stuff as a high school senior the summer before college?
That would probably make you full pay at Duke and Dmouth.
Yea that’s what I’m thinking. Which is why I’m unsure how much extra money is worth better connections
It is easy to get involved–just call and say you want to volunteer. Or go in person to a campaign office.