<p>Hi,
I just received the National Presidential Scholarship (aka a full ride) at Auburn University. I just went and visited campus and loved it, but towards the end of my visit I stumbled upon the Big Blue bookshop. I found the textbooks needed for a 3000 level Political Science course, and was a little astonished at the content. It seemed fairly juvenile. I was wondering if anyone could tell me how challenging the courses in the Political Science department truly are. I want to make sure the professors make me think and cry and work my butt off.
Is a full ride at Auburn worth turning down a spot at UVA?
Thanks!</p>
<p>Unless you also received several departmental scholarships in addition to your presidential scholarship, then you don’t technically have a “full ride.” The NMF presidential scholarship doesn’t cover food, even for Alabama residents. If you are out-of-state, the NM presidential doesn’t cover all of your tuition (only about 3/4), nor food. The housing stipend also only covers the cost of living in the Quad or Hill areas – if you choose to live in the Village, you’ll have to make up the difference in the cost increase. “Full ride” means the whole enchilada; food, room, tuition, fees – all of it. It will take a combination of academic awards to get this at AU. </p>
<p>That said, if you are interested in political science, I would attempt to contact directly some current poly sci students at AU if possible, and get their opinion. You may also want to compare the course selection and requirements for the major from both Auburn and UVA. There may also be a distinctly different political “vibe” differentiating the two schools. Philosophically, this may be significant to you, or not. It’s definitely worth investigating. College will be what you make of it (yes, it’s a rather tired line, but it’s true), you can choose to “work your butt off” at both schools. While UVA is ranked higher than AU, and has a very strong graduate program in politics, you can get a great education at AU. Moreover, with your scholarship, you can save a great deal of money going to Auburn for your undergraduate degree, and invest in a graduate program at a school like UVA. Just a little food for thought.</p>
<p>Totally agree with audellmom. One thing to add…(for both schools) Look very closely at the department–how many students are in it? What access do you have to professors and opportunities? A friend of mine’s s is going to a lesser known school majoring in biology because it is smaller and he has access to doing research with the professors. </p>
<p>There was a recent article (think maybe WSJ) and Auburn was rated one of the top 16 schools in the US where it is difficult to get an A and had little grade inflation.</p>
<p>I know enigineering is challenging and you don’t get that grade inflation like in many schools in the nation. You can expect to work hard enough.</p>
<p>I took a political science class as a freshman that was a 3000 level course. One thing to consider is that while nearly every class requires you to have a textbook, what makes a class difficult is what you do with it. Some classes have plenty of required/ supplemental reading, none of which ends up on the tests. Other classes are based straight from the book. Some don’t even use one. In the course i took there was roughly 70 pages of reading a week, but to get and A you needed to know it, show up for clas, discuss it, pass quizzes on it, apply it to essay based tests, and use the concepts you learned to write a 20 page recearch paper. Needless to say, I didn’t make an A. I don’t know about the rest of teh department but I have never experienced grade inflation at AU.</p>