Double Major Applying to PhD Programs

[brska]

Hello everyone,

I am new and to tell you a little about myself I'm currently a Junior in my undergrad program at BU. I am a double major between Computer Science (my primary major) and Political Science. I'd like to apply to political science PhD programs, and I'm trying to narrow down on the programs I want to focus on. I am planning on taking my GRE very soon, and I'm currently applying for a research grant with a professor. My overall GPA is a 3.6, though I hope to make that a little higher after this semester. However, my CS GPA (3.4ish) is much lower than my Poli Sci GPA (it's a 4.0). I am primarily interested in Comparative Politics, with a focus on political economy, and tech policy. 

My primary question is should I expect PhD programs to focus on my overall GPA or will they only really care about my Poli Sci GPA. Based on this which programs do you think I should look at? Also how will grad schools look at my double major in general? Also I expect to have good recommendations from my professors, I keep up with almost all my Poli Sci profs. Should I reach out to them about Grad school and possibly setting me up with professors at other schools, a few of them went to pretty prestigious programs like MIT, and UCB. In other words should I reach out to professors at other schools about applying - i've heard mixed answers so far? Finally, I've spent my last two summers doing a CS internship (before this I did research assistantship at my school), this summer I'm looking for something more policy/research related. I've applied to public policy positions, think tanks, and such. Is there anything else I should look at? What advice would you have for someone in this stage of the process, what should I be focused on now, and what can I do to stand out at this point?

 

Thanks for all your help! Any advice is much appreciated!