<p>I cannot speak for the California schools but I would think that both Georgetown and Johns Hopkins are major reaches. GW more of possibility but they are not known for being generous with aid, same with Tufts. I would recommend American as a good option, especially if you show interest. I’ve heard that another strong school in his subject area is University of Denver. Cannot speak about the baseball programs at all. Brandeis is another possibility as a high match/low reach, very similar to Tufts and they do offer D3 baseball.</p>
<p>@bookmama22…thanks so much. I agree that both Georgetown and JHU are going to be reaches. We may end up bypassing on Georgetown and looking into maybe Tufts. Although we would definitely have to re-arrange some finances. I will also take a look into Brandeis and see how they look. Thanks again!</p>
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<p>With your location you really should give a close look to the Claremont Consortium. In addition to Claremont McKenna, that has one of the top IR programs in the country, consider Pitzer. Although it has become very selective, the requirements for the SAT are a bit lower. With cross-registration, one can build a very positive curriculum at either school. As a reference, anyone interested in China might be interested in approaching Minxin Pei. See <a href=“Minxin Pei - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minxin_Pei</a>. Financial aid offered in Claremont should be highly competitive, but every situation is different at Profile schools. </p>
<p>As far as the SAT, it seems that retaking it after a proactive preparation might pay huge dividends. I rarely make personal recommendations, but I would highly suggest to check the first books listed here. <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&field-author=Peter+Edwards&search-alias=books&text=Peter+Edwards&sort=relevancerank#/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Maximum+SAT&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3AMaximum+SAT”>http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&field-author=Peter+Edwards&search-alias=books&text=Peter+Edwards&sort=relevancerank#/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Maximum+SAT&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3AMaximum+SAT</a> </p>
<p>And with a SoCal location, you might be interested in talking to him directly at <a href=“http://www.achievetutorials.com/tutorspotlight/pete-edwards/”>http://www.achievetutorials.com/tutorspotlight/pete-edwards/</a> Pete is a real gem in an industry that could use a lot more competent people. Of course, I am a strong believer in the DIY process and, with the summer, there is no better time than to start NOW with an objective in October/November. Armed with a battery of tests and a couple of books, one could and should get those scores up. And getting a higher score WILL make a world of difference! </p>
<p>PS On a last note, when evaluating IR programs, make sure to dig deep in the CURRENT faculty pages and check for recent classes and recent papers. Depth and breadth are not necessarily present everywhere. Do not let old reputations, often based on geography, fool you!</p>
<p>“only English and 3 years of Spanish” - He should really focus on improving this situation. Many kids (who do not even consider anything that he does) have several languages. I would focus on this aspect.
In regard to Privates that offer great Merits, I am aware of one which is very well known for Merit Awards to top kids. It is Case Western. On the other hand, I have no idea if it will fit your kid. It is very well know to be exceptionally good for engineering and pre-med (Case also has a very good Medical school), but this is about it. My own D. got Merit award of $27k/year there, but choose to attend a public state UG that matched her perfectly and gave her full tuition Merit. I bet there are other privates that offer good Merit packages, but we researched only our state, since D. wanted to be close to home.<br>
I am not sure if focus on privates is such a good idea overall. The focus should be on overall personal match between student and his wide range of interests both current and potential and the UG. Kid has to be happy for 4 years to be able to produce happy results. And my own D. looked at it just like that and she was absolutely correct.</p>
<p>Mother of a Tufts IR major here. He may also want to check out Peace and Justice Studies at Tufts. Also an EC program called Allies which encourages interactions between IR/poly sci majors and students at the military academies. The idea is to bring together the political and military strategists of the future in their formative years. I think Georgetown may also have a chapter. </p>
<p>Tufts IR program is enriched by the Fletcher School of Diplomacy which is the renowned grad school located on the undergraduate campus. There are some courses undergraduates can take with permission and Fletcher brings amazing speakers and programs to campus. Middle East studies are very strong and popular, the IR curriculum is very flexible, but it does require the equivalent of 8 semesters of language (non-IR majors take 6). Global citizenry is a big part of the Tufts zeitgeist.</p>
<p>Tufts does not give merit aid but does provide decent need based aid. It is a Div 3 NESCAC school. I don’t know much about the baseball team. Girls softball and boys lacrosse have both won national titles recently.</p>
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<p>Three years of Spanish for a rising senior is in the ballpark, and should NOT be a deterrent in college applications as the admissions might not be major specific. Foreign languages are a bonus, but they do not make great differences. On the other hand, the verbal scores in English carry a huge weight at the most selective schools as IR majors are reading and writing intensive in English!</p>
<p>The requirements for foreign languages in college are pretty basic, and nothing one needs to worry about! </p>
<p>@xiggi @1012mom @Miamidap…Thank you so much for all the great advice. It opens my eyes to things that I overlooked and to schools and requirements I wasn’t sure about. :)</p>
<p>Definitely check out the University of Denver-- very respected program, but because it is in flyover country it is often invisible
It also gives a good amount of merit money on a fairly straightforward basis</p>
<p>My son had Latin as his high school language which was not much help for IR. He ended up doing Arabic at Tufts - having to do 8 semesters did eat into his schedule and he was jealous of people who came in knowing more (many already fluent in a second language) or taking easier languages (almost anything else!) The Arabic teachers are notoriously demanding at Tufts. He ended up spending his entire junior year in Jordan to get the Arabic piece down. Senior year was the first year he got an A in Arabic. Tufts IR department has some idiosyncracies including being pretty reluctant to give any kind of credit in the major for courses taken abroad that aren’t in Tufts sponsored programs. </p>
<p>Brandeis is worth a look if you are in Boston. I liked it a lot, but my son didn’t.</p>
<p>For his goals, Foreign Service or the FBI, another option might be to talk to a recruiter about the Defense Language Institute. He’d get college credit through the Community College of the Air Force (or whatever branch) and fluency in whatever language he studies. Plus after he’s done his six, he’d have the GI bill-- and a lot of schools are actively recruiting veterans, as is the Foreign Service.
That’s not the same route as going directly through a four year program, of course, so it may not be a useful suggestion if that’s the route he wants to take. But it might be worth looking at as a contingency. </p>
<p>Tufts is pretty selective.</p>
<p>There are many top schools that are test-optional, meaning no SAT or ACT scores need to be submitted (caution: often they are needed for merit aid- though not for financial aid). <a href=“http://fairtest.org/university/optional”>http://fairtest.org/university/optional</a></p>
<p>It is certainly worth it to retake but I don’t personally favor too much stressing over scores, or even too much prep unless the kid is really into it.</p>
<p>I would be more concerned about all the 4’s on AP’s honestly, if he is thinking of these top echelon colleges. The AP scores would seem to put the GPA in a context of a less rigorous school or grade inflation or something like that.</p>
<p>Have you checked into Colleges that Change Lives? It’s a book by Loren Pope, a website, and they have fairs across the country. I also like his book “Looking Beyond the Ivies.” Goucher is big on international experiences and is a great school, just as an example. Not too far from DC either.</p>
<p>Don’t worry, he will end up at a school that is a great fit.</p>
<p>My D was denied at Georgetown and Tufts but attended GWU with a presidential scholarship. As with a lot of IR majors with foreign service aims, she discovered another love in college and double majored in IR and economics and is happily working as a consultant in DC now. She considered American with higher scholarship $ but loved the location of GW in the heart of the city.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone…a lot of things to look into. If he can increase his SAT scores in October, it may open the door to a few different schools, although we ran the a Cost Calculator for one of the privates and it showed we would only get $5k in need based help at a $60k school, so that doesn’t bode well for us. </p>
<p>Looking at our finances and without eating away all our retirement money, we will have to find some way to get the cost of a private down to around $30k, either that or attend a UC school. </p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>The Net Cost calculators give a good idea of what ONE school might charge. Most expensive schools use different calculations and interpret the data from the Profile differently. The EFC and FAFSA are more precise and one can build a spreadsheet based on the exact formulas to come within a few dollars of the bottom line. Unfortunately, many families have finances that are a bit more complicated when plugged in the Profile form. </p>
<p>You might want to run the calculators for a wider number of schools, including some that present no interest. In the end, the financial aid package might be a pleasant surprise. </p>
<p>This said, if finances are a great concern --and they are for most people-- you might start eliminating schools that have never been known for generous help. I would suggest to dig deeper into the individual school sites in this forum and read the posts that include financial packages. </p>
<p>Lastly, please remember that merit scholarships are rarely guaranteed for the full four years. </p>
<p>Not sure how well respected/known it is, but Seton Hall’s IR school seems to have UN internship opportunities.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.shu.edu/academics/diplomacy/un-community.cfm”>Error 404 Not Found - Seton Hall University;
<p>Eckerd College has an International Relations and Global Affairs major. Look at the scholarship info and it will tell you what your son would receive based upon his stats. They also are known for generous financial aid. Also look at the international education section to see the study abroad options. They require students to complete internships and a senior project. They are Division III baseball.</p>