College Decisions

I have dedicated a lot of time considering universities and careers. Eighth grade until tenth I was positive my dream school was Oxford University and I was just going to figure out my career after I was accepted. My plans and goals have now taken a complete turn around.
The three school that would satisfy my political career dreams are Duke University in North Carolina (http://duke.edu/) , Harvard in Massachusetts (http://www.harvard.edu/), and Georgetown in Washington D.C(http://www.georgetown.edu/). One of the criteria I used was name recognition. I have learned from my Mentorship that popularity and connections are extremely important for politicians. Attending a distinguished school eases the minds of voters and let's them think you are smart, eve if you're a horrible candidate. However, I did actually research and those three schools have the best political science programs in the country.
Another thing I considered was location. My dream has always been to study abroad and travel but if I want to run for office voters would feel more comfortable with a person who studied inside the United States. Therefore, I have decided to attend an American school and satisfy my travelling goals through study abroad opportunities with-in the school. One of the main reasons I am interested in Georgetown is for its location in D.C. As I said earlier connections are a valuable part of a politician's life and living in our nations capital will offer the best internship opportunities and experience. Each school requires previous intro to government classes and clear choice of Political Science major plus specific prerequisite classes, and Harvard requires a bachelor's degree before being accepted into the Kennedy School of Gov't.
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/political-science-rankings
Harvard is ranked number one in the nation for political science, while Duke is nine, and Georgetown is 39. The criteria for ranking in this particular source was based on peer reviews and surveys. Students were given assessments and based off those assessments political science program rankings were issued. Georgetown and Duke offer a rigorous honors program that consists of more work and a student thesis. I wasn't able to find a program for Harvard but I'm assuming that's because the Kennedy School is already rigorous enough.
Politically interested people are able to join the American Political Science Association or Pi Sigma Alpha, benefits expand far after college and is geared to encourage political careers.
 Scholarships:
1.COAG Scholarship:
2. Coca-Cola Scholars Program
3. Gates Millennium Scholarship
4.Hispanic Scholarship Fund