<p>I am an international student who is currently attending a community college in Michigan. My parents are not very wealthy, so tuition (as well as scholarships) are a big factor for me.</p>
<p>I have a 4.0 GPA, tons of extracurriculars and I've won a lot of academic, leadership and service awards. I am not much of a party person. I get along really well with "weird" kids (ie nerds).</p>
<p>I would prefer to go to a university with small class sizes located in a safe area with a good public transportation system. I want to go to a university that has a good reputation because I am thinking of attending a good law school so I can become an international lawyer.</p>
<p>Which universities specialize in poli sci/IR? Which one would be the best for me in terms of internship and networking opportunities?</p>
<p>I don't just want to go to a "top" school. I want to go to one that would be good for my specific major.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, most top schools (the Ivies, Georgetown, even Tufts - all of which have good poli sci/IR) take very, very few transfer students and/or there is very little financial aid for transfers. Your best bet would be to transfer to University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. It’s one of the top universities in the country, would look good on your applications to law/grad schools, and, as a Michigan cc transfer, you could perhaps get some aid there.</p>
<p>How do you define “some bang for the buck”? </p>
<p>For domestic students, public universities offer the most bang for their buck (unless they get considerable financial aid/scholarships at private institutions.) For international students, privates, which can be more generous with FA, may offer greater value. Look through the international students threads… there are lists posted with schools known to give FA to internationals, though do remember, that usually there is very little aid for transfer students. </p>
<p>Email and ask if they 1° admit international transfers and if 2° among those they admit, one receives financial aid (and whether they meet close to full need for that one).</p>
<p>What’s your budget? Because if you can pay $7,000, your situation will be very different from one who can pay $30,000…</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Attend a really cheap university. The “best” of the cheap universities might be Brigham Young in Utah with annual tuition fees of $10,000, but the university is very religious and non-LSD students may struggle with the rules and social norms.</p></li>
<li><p>Apply to the top national universities with need-based financial aid for international students. They’ll give you the academic resources and internship opportunities you are looking for, but their transfer admission rates are really low.</p></li>
<li><p>Apply to the better liberal arts colleges with need-based financial aid for international students. They are selective but less-competitive-to-get-into than Ivies and the like. You’ll have fewer academic resources because liberal arts colleges are so small, but you might get a better education in some sense because your professors will take a personal interest in seeing you succeed. </p></li>
<li><p>Go for less selective universities with merit scholarships for transfer students. These may be less selective and less ‘prestigious’ than you’d like. </p></li>
<li><p>Some universities in Michigan may have scholarships specifically for community college transfer students. The transfer adviser at your community college might have more information on this.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>You can find universities and liberal arts colleges with need-based aid simply by going down the US News Rankings lists. The financial aid opportunities will be concentrated at the top-ranked colleges and universities. (e.g. the top 20 universities and top 60 liberal arts colleges)</p>
<p>Universities with merit scholarships are much harder to locate. You can try reading transfer scholarship threads in the financial aid forum. Two universities off the top of my head with scholarship opportunities for international transfer students:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The University of New Orleans will consider out-of-state transfer students (including international students) for an out-of-state tuition waiver. In-state COA is currently $17,000.</p></li>
<li><p>North Dakota State University. International students may qualify for a 50% tuition waiver, reducing the COA to $20,000.</p></li>
</ul>