<p>So, I want to attend college full-time starting Fall 2014 as an Arabic major/Poli Sci or Int'l Relations minor, or perhaps a dual major. I plan to work in the Foreign Relations field with an emphasis on the Middle East. The State Dept. is my first choice but I'm also open to CIA, military, NGOs, etc.</p>
<p>It would be great to go to a place like Georgetown; my SATs and class standing are very strong, so I have a decent chance of getting accepted (weaker on extra-curricular activities and leadership, though). Money is an issue, however. All the U.S. colleges that offer a degree in Arabic would cost me around $200,000 over four years, except for Binghamton University (SUNY), which would be much less since I am an in-state resident. However, Binghamton University is low on the totem pole, and is in an economically depressed area of the state. I get the impression that prestige and connections matter in the Foreign Relations field, so would it be smart to take out the massive loans and try to attend a top-tier school for undergrad?</p>
<p>So I am in grad school for Middle East Studies right now at an Ivy. My suggestion is there are plenty of schools with robust Middle/Near East Studies programs that do not offer it as a stand alone major. On the top of my head Middlebury, Johns Hopkins, Northeastern, GW, Michigan, Tufts. The CIA and State Dept will hire and recruit from those schools. I went to Northeastern for undergrad and in addition to recruiting the CIA, State Dept, and the UN all hire co-ops.</p>
<p>If you won’t qualify for need-based aid at an expensive private school like Georgetown, check out the Language Flagship program ([The</a> Language Flagship - Arabic](<a href=“http://www.thelanguageflagship.org/arabic]The”>http://www.thelanguageflagship.org/arabic)). An OOS public school like UMCP would be less expensive than Georgetown at full price (but still not exactly cheap at over $38K/year.)</p>
<p>Another option would be to try for merit aid at a less selective private school than Georgetown. Check out American U., George Washington, and Brandeis. If you want a small college (a LAC), maybe Grinnell or Macalester would work.</p>
<p>They have excellent study-abroad options, and it’s only 3 hours on the bus to Manhattan. I wouldn’t be too concerned about the fact that Binghamton’s fiscal situation is not good–the campus is in the burbs.</p>
<p>If you’ll be full-pay, there is a huge difference between paying $20k/year for Binghamton and paying $50-60k/year elsewhere.</p>
<p>Huh, I was told differently during a Brandeis admissions presentation. Regardless, it appears that most of those scholarships are for people within a very specific region, none of which the OP lives in. </p>
<p>Also, and I say this as a Jew who seriously considered Brandeis and whose mom graduated from there, it may not be the best place to study Arabic. The course offerings seem limited and the average Brandeis student might question why someone wants to study Arabic, and may criticize that decision. That’s the nature of a school where almost 50% of the population is Jewish and a huge number chose it because it’s one of two Jewish universities (AJU not included), and the only one that isn’t hyper extreme as far as religious practices are concerned.</p>