Middlebury vs. Columbia: Which Is Better for an Undergraduate Political Science Student?

For an undergraduate political science student prioritizing close teaching and sustained faculty relationships, Middlebury is the more compelling choice. Its smaller undergraduate setting makes it easier to have professors who know your work across several courses, advise an independent project, and write detailed recommendations. Columbia offers outstanding political science faculty, but the scale of the university means that introductory courses can be larger and faculty access often requires more deliberate initiative.

Middlebury’s political science experience is built around a liberal-arts model: discussion-centered classes, accessible office hours, and a curriculum that encourages students to connect politics with history, economics, languages, environmental studies, or regional studies.

Columbia’s clearest advantage is location and institutional reach. New York City provides unusual access to policy organizations, media, advocacy groups, the United Nations community, campaigns, and internships during the academic year. Its Core Curriculum also gives political science students a strong shared foundation in major texts and ideas, while the university’s research centers can support specialized interests in areas such as international relations, human rights, and political economy.

The practical distinction is that Middlebury makes the professor-student relationship more central to everyday academic life, whereas Columbia offers a broader external political ecosystem that students must actively navigate.