Colgate vs. University of Rochester

If possible, arrange overnight visits to both of these schools.

In terms of Colgate, their town received recognition as one of America’s friendliest by Fobes:

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=http://www.forbes.com/sites/morganbrennan/2012/12/19/americas-friendliest-towns/&refURL=http://www.google.com/&referrer=http://www.google.com/

And . . . their economics faculty (related to political science) appears notable for their research and scholarship:

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html

The above said, either of these colleges could be excellent for you.