A freshman looking into transferring to a better school for International Relations.

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hi guys. </p>

<p>I'm a freshman at the University of Wisconsin - Madison this year. I love the school, I have a ton of friends, but I can't help but think that for my career aspirations, I need to attend a better school. Also, I'm not too big on the party scene, people seem to focus on it too much here. (I don't drink...haha >_>)</p>

<p>I'd like to really help change the world for the better by going into International Relations and Middle East/Islamic Studies. I'm Pakistani-American, and I dunno, I just really want to break into the major league of IR to make sure I'm as effective as I can be.</p>

<p>If I'm correct in my research, the best schools for IR are Georgetown, UPenn, Tufts, Princeton, Harvard, and perhaps some other, smaller colleges. I applied to Georgetown SFS my senior year only to be rejected, but I saw it coming. My fascination with IR came too late (like, january of senior year) for me to focus on it during high school. </p>

<p>I had a good HS GPA of 3.88 or so, and a 29 ACT, although I'm sure I could get higher if I gave it one more shot. I was involved in a fair amount of activities in HS. I can give a detailed resume if it's needed. I had a good amount of APs.</p>

<p>I would like to get into GTown if at all possible. It was my dream school, but a huge reach for me when I was in HS. Tufts and other high ranked Unis that I mentioned are on my list. </p>

<p>In college, I'm doing pretty well in all my classes, I'm taking Arabic 101, Intro to IR, Islam: Religion and Culture, Undergrad Research (I may get a position studying the effect of video games on how children learn history, we work with the game Civilization IV to help kids work out historical scenarios, I get to work with a professor), and Band for Non-Music majors (I play drums!). I can see myself getting a 4.0 this semester, not to be cocky.</p>

<p>I guess what I'm asking here is...what steps do I need to take to have a good chance of transferring to these great schools? Should I attempt a transfer for next year, or should I wait and try to transfer for my junior year? Would trying twice hurt me? Would the fact that I got rejected from GTown once before hurt me? I want to do this right this round.</p>

2

<p>I should also probably mention that I am in the Honors Program, and I'm involved with Amnesty Intnl, Muslim Students Association, and hopefully, the Distinguished Lectures Committee, and I'm looking into other groups.</p>

3

<p>bump? please?</p>

4

<p>I don't think that trying twice could hurt you. </p>

<p>I think that you could probably have a great base for your desired career from right where you are - look at all you are doing! You might even stand out in your field more where you are - that's not for me to say. But, you might want to find the right prof(s) to talk with, and/or someone in the career center, to see just how rosy your future looks in IR if you stay just where you are. It might be quite rosy :).</p>

<p>That said, I think you have built a great case for transfer success as you've presented yourself here. I see no reason for you not to go for it. Your course selection shows your passion, you are doing well, your ECs show your passion.
Great recs and essays would complete the picture, which it seems you can easily do.</p>

<p>Re the test scores... you could try again; and/or add good IR schools to your list that don't require scores. I think JHU is one? </p>

<p>Read the Transfer Admissions 101 thread for more tips.</p>

<p>The only other advice I would give you is to continue to maintain a positive attitude about UW, even as you try for transfer. On the chance that your transfer apps don't work out, I wouldn't want you to have poisoned your mind about your current environment, because it seems that you are really making it work for you.</p>

5

<p>Apply for a sophomore transfer, unless finances are an issue. If you do get in, you'll want the full three years to get the most out of your new college.</p>

6

<p>I know it's not what you asked, but since IR is on one level a subfield of political science and on another level is knowing a broad sweep of what goes into international relations, often having a regional focus, other times having a functional focus like law or strategic studies, and in all cases economics, you might do well just to stay at Wisconsin and focus like a laser beam on your goals, get a Fulbright out of school or go into investment banking or something, and then go to an IR school for grad school.</p>

<p>I hear two things going really right for you at Madison: you have a ton of friends and you love the school. Madison has enough innate quality as a school that if you burn with a focus and stay disciplined, you can get it done as well as if you went to SFS, IMO. </p>

<p>If you didn't like Wisconsin, I'd give you different advice.</p>

<p>Part of having a focus would be to put together a plan of attack for the rest of your time -- classes and internships. And if you started a thread to this effect, I know 5 people I've seen on CC who have great perspective to give you.</p>

<p>Look on the ginormous International Relations thread.</p>

7

<p>you should at least look at the University of Michigan</p>

8

<p>I think I'll attempt a couple transfers, but I won't be as dead-set on them. UW is still a great school no matter what happens. </p>

<p>Where is this big IR thread I hear about? And where can I find more info on Fullbright and other scholarships?</p>

<p>And thanks for all your help so far!</p>

9

<p>I think this is the International Relations thread you are looking for:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=56589%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=56589&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>And here's the data on the Fulbright scholarships:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.fulbright.co.uk/awards/us/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.fulbright.co.uk/awards/us/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

10

<p>Okay, I don't know why you'd look @ the UofM for IR. I'm currently trying to transfer out to a college/university that actually offers an IR concentration.</p>