<p>..a search that is leading me on more paths than I'd like, frankly.</p>
<p>Hi everyone.</p>
<p>I'm pretty lost.</p>
<p>My mind cannot be made up about my major, and while you can't really help with that, I'd like some help in finding colleges with good International Relations/Studies and/or Political Science programs. I would prefer schools that have a double major option (for an Economics + whatever). Somewhere in New England/Mid-Atlantic. Selective.</p>
<p>[So far, the school that I've seen that best matches my search is Penn (and its Huntsman Program).]</p>
<p>I'm a good student - to what extent is unnecessary, as I am not asking you about my chances, but about the school itself. </p>
<p>If you have any other pertinent questions, feel free to ask,
and thank you all for any suggestions you may give.</p>
<p>What is the rush to pick a major now? For some like engineering you often need to know when you enter college, but for the ones you listed it is going to be easy to switch among them (or others you might not have considered) once in college.</p>
<p>Also you are casting an unneccesarily broad net. You’ve named a region, but what about size? Location? Type of students it tends to attract? Type of instruction (lecture, seminar, etc)? I could on, but I think you may be trying to reach a hasty decision.</p>
<p>Have you visited colleges of various types yet to get a first-hand feel for what they are like? A lot of kids do this and find out they change their opinion about various options once they see them first-hand (look at the recent “are college visits important?” thread for examples).</p>
<p>So really, you want to look for schools that have solid offerings in the social sciences, because you’re not 100% sure about what you want to do. Do you want a smaller, more intimate environment or do you want a larger university? Or something in-between?</p>
<p>I also don’t believe that “to what extent” is unnecessary, because that will change the recommendations. It makes no sense to recommend top 15 universities, for example, if you have a 3.2 GPA and an 1800 on the SAT. That’s good, and there are some good solid universities at which you will be competitive, but they aren’t Harvard and Yale.</p>
<p>Here are some suggestions:</p>
<p>Universities
American University
Georgetown University
Boston College
Boston University
Brandeis University
Northeastern University
SUNY Binghamton
Syracuse University
Tufts University
University of Rochester</p>
<p>LACs
Lafayette College
Allegheny College
Colby College
Colgate University
Connecticut College
Dickinson College
Gettysburg College
Hamilton College
Hampshire College
Juniata College
Middlebury College
Muhlenberg College
Skidmore College
Utica College
Vassar College</p>
<p>Middlebury has a particularly good International and Global Studies program, especially because they have a wide range of languages offered and are known for their language teaching and summer programs. Georgetown has the BS in foreign service with seven majors, including international economics and international political economy. Lafayette College has a major in international economics and commerce. If you’re willing to venture a bit down South, Elon in North Carolina has an international economics major as well. Columbia has a dual BA program with Sciences Po in France. American has the School of International Service, which has a strong international studies major and the location in DC is a plus for interning.</p>
<p>My family isn’t looking at financials at this point, just so we can get a clearer look at schools, and then narrow it down from there.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to decide anything as of right now. All I am trying to do here is find something that I may have looked over in my own college search, hence the broad net. I don’t want to leave an option out that could potentially be viable, ignoring it just because I /think/ that’s what I do or do not want in a college. If I wanted to search per my every demand (which, again, may just be what I think I want), I’d just use one of those many college search tools. That is also why I have not visited any colleges yet (also because my parents are putting it off…).</p>
<p>I need your help for the list, and I will do the narrowing myself. You don’t need to name every college - a few with good programs would suffice quite nicely.</p>
<p>edit: Thanks for the list. I didn’t omit my numbers because I’m a 3.2/1800, but because I find that the same schools are mentioned over and over for students that are highly competitive.</p>
<p>Here are my specifics, since you all want them.
~4.7 weighted GPA
2110 PSAT to SAT equiv.
EC: Field hockey (captain, coaches’ award), DECA, MUN (officer), Student Leadership (also community service)
Good to excellent recommendations</p>
<p>Medium school
Urban setting, but flexible
Highly selective
Teaching style doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>Affordability should really be among the first criteria to consider (the other top criterion is academic suitability); there is no point in looking at a school, visiting, or applying if there is no chance of it being affordable. Every April, there are a few sad stories here of students who get into some nice colleges, but none are affordable for them.</p>
<p>Find out from your parents what they are able and willing to contribute, and the basic financial information for the net price calculators.</p>
<p>Run the net price calculators on the colleges’ web sites.</p>
<p>If not affordable on need-based aid, check for large enough merit scholarships.</p>
<p>If the net price has no chance of being affordable with either need-based aid or merit scholarships, you need not consider the school further.</p>
<p>My parents are willing to assume any debts incurred, though I am eligible for need-based aid, and likely a significant amount of merit-based aid from any school that offers such.</p>
<p>Does your family realize how much the cost of attendance of a college can be?</p>
<p>Also, you may not want to put your parents in a high-debt position if you have no-debt options available to you.</p>
<p>There is information out there to help you come up with an application list that includes colleges with reasonable costs; it is better to plan that beforehand instead of applying blindly and hoping.</p>
If would be eligible for need based aid then your family is in no shape to assume “any debts incurred”. At that rate it would be likely you could afford a year or two and then your parents would be denied any further loans. I suggest you look on the financial aid forum here.</p>
<p>I think you are in the weeds on your college search… and maybe you know that from reading your original post, but you sure don’t seem to want to do what is needed to get out of them.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Decide what type of college you want. Big vs. small, liberal arts vs. state-university type, urban vs. rural, and any geographic restrictions you have. If you don’t know, go see a few different types that aren’t far from your house so you can pin this down.</p></li>
<li><p>Cost IS the next big factor. You really need to look at this very hard, and do it at this stage (not next year). Do the following:</p></li>
<li><p>Have your parents run the calculator at the FAFSA website to see what your family’s EFC is.</p></li>
<li><p>Run the net price calculator at each college you are considering.</p></li>
<li><p>You really need to consider whether it makes sense for your parents to go deeply into debt for your education, especially since you are considering a major that is not the highest paid (my D1 was a political science major, so I know about this – she makes a decent wage, but not nearly as much as her BF who was a business major/econ major). Your parents are likely not so far from retirement, and no matter what they say it is NOT right to put them deeply into debt for your education.</p></li>
<li><p>Get a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges. Juillet has given you a pretty good starting list. Read over the description of each college. Run the net price calculator on ones that interest you, and visit those that make sense financially and appeal to you.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>By the way, your unweighted GPA is what is important (not weighted).</p>