Tulane vs American for political science: which is better for pre-law and political internships?

The biggest practical tradeoff is location: American gives you day-to-day access to Washington, DC internships during the school year, while Tulane gives you a strong university experience in New Orleans but with fewer immediate federal politics and policy placements nearby. For political science tied to pre-law and internships, that location difference matters a lot because American students can more easily build semester-long experience with think tanks, advocacy groups, agencies, and Capitol Hill offices. Tulane can still lead to law school and political work, but the pipeline is less built around constant in-semester access to national political institutions.

For your specific goals, American has the clearer edge. Its School of Public Affairs is a major strength, and the culture around internships is especially developed because so many students are combining coursework with work in DC. That matters not only for resumes, but also for networking, recommendation letters, and figuring out what kind of law or policy work you actually want.

For pre-law, neither school gives you a magic advantage just from the major title, since law school admissions care much more about GPA, LSAT, writing ability, and substantive experiences. Still, American is better positioned if you want your college years to include regular exposure to government, nonprofits, public interest law, campaigns, or policy research. Those opportunities are simply more embedded into campus life there.

Tulane has real positives. It has a respected academic environment, strong student life, and meaningful opportunities connected to New Orleans politics, public service, and legal issues, especially around urban policy, equity, and regional government. It may be more appealing if you want a broader campus atmosphere and are less focused on being plugged into national politics every semester.

Between the two, American is the stronger pick for political science with a pre-law and internship focus. Tulane is absolutely viable, but American is the place where your academic interests and the surrounding city line up more directly and more consistently from the start.