If you would like to refine your list based on your intended major, this site may be of interest:
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You will need to check the affordability yourself. These sites donât bother even listing costs.
I debated where to put UVA and Michigan. As OP is not going for one of the most competitive majors (CS, engineering, business) and I have heard that those two are sometimes more accepting of OOS students due to their higher tuition fees, Iâd guess maybe about a 25% likelihood. Not great odds, and not much higher than 20%, but with a 1390 on the PSAT without studying, I think that OP will probably break 1500 on the SAT. Donât forgetâŠmy lower probability category still means that odds are that OP wonât get in. The odds are just not as bad as in the low probability category.
OP: What is your budget? Is it $60k? $20k? What does your family say?
Family says they are willing to pay around 20k for Ivies, which is about what most would cost once I get aid
Is their budget about $20k for any school? Or are they only willing to go up to $20k for the Ivies or similar?
honestly ivies or similar (georgtown included due to prestige in my specific major)
OOS acceptance rate at UVA is going to be less than 15 percent, likely even lower next year unless they return to requiring tests.
Thanks for the additional information. Itâs a good thing I always mention theyâre my guesses!
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Michigan OOS acceptance rate was also in the mid-teens last year.
You canât really parse out CS or even Ross as you are suggesting because Ross students are accepted through another college first, and one CS major also resides in LSA. In the past those students were accepted to the college (not the major).
Yes, but now those students have to apply to the CS major. Only very limited students will be able to explore/discover and get into CS from LSA now. I imagine that will decrease the admissions pressure on LSA since the super high-demand major will be done separately. Weâll have to wait and see what happens, but I think we can all agree that Michigan (and UVA) will be tough admits for out-of-state students, even if they are top students.
How do you know thatâs what the cost would be ? And most would be different than one another.
Do you own a home for example ? Family own a business ? Different schools calculate need differently.
Itâs a moot point for UMi, as the OPâs has indicated that the parents will only pay $20K/pa.
Are they saying that they can & will pay $20K for an Ivy or Georgetown, but otherwise you are on your own? IU would be free tuition- would they pay for living expenses or is the plan for you to live at home?
OP, be really careful about NPCs: your parents feel that they can afford $20k but many many people are shocked by how much colleges think that they can pay. You need to run the NPC for Georgetown and every school that you are seriously interested in- they wonât all come out the same. And if you have any of the known risk factors that @tsbna44 noted (owning real estate / self-employed or family business), donât count on the NPC too much. It would be pretty crushing to get into (say) Georgetown (which meets âfullâ need) and find out that they think your family can afford (say) $40K.
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With a budget of $20k, the NPCs should be your best friend. If your family is not willing and able to pay the estimated price, eliminate it, unless the school offers merit aid. If it does offer merit aid, then check to see if it offers sufficiently large enough awards. Because essentially youâll be looking for a place where you can go to school tuition-free, as room & board plus books at a lot of schools will bring you up to $20k. And donât just look for schools that âmeet need.â Some schools are for more generous than others in determining need. There are many examples of a school that only meets 80% of need that give a better net price than a school that meets 100% of need (Iâm not talking Harvard, but others that are not in the USNWR top 10 or so).
One school Iâd take a look at is Dickinson, in Pennsylvania. It has a very strong academic reputation, is known for international relations and languages, and it has some of the lowest net prices that Iâve seen, indicating that itâs probably giving a pretty generous definition of need.
Thinking outside the box a bit, Iâd look a good look at schools in Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, and Washington. Why? They all have Senate Foreign Relations Committee members who were (re)elected in 2022, which means theyâre likely to keep that committee assignment through your time in college. You could also look at the membership of the Intelligence, Commerce, Science & Transportation, or Armed Services committees as other examples. So, you could be battling it out with all the other D.C. students for internships. Or you can get cozy with the Senatorsâ offices in their home states and get summer positions in D.C. (and many colleges offer a semester in D.C. as well).
These are schools in those states that have good numbers of majors in international relations-type fields, which I used as a proxy for the strength of the department. These are also schools where you may get sufficient need-based aid (at Johns Hopkins) or where I think youâd be competitive for big merit aid, possibly full tuition or even a full ride. Also, if youâre getting to know your professors well, a lot of times they have connections that can put you in desirable places. At a larger school there will be more competition for those networking opportunities, but you definitely seem like a go-getter. But, those opportunities might be even easier to get at a smaller school, or one where you are a big fish in a smaller pond (i.e. one of the most impressive students on the campus rather than just another fish in the sea/pond).
Florida: Marco Rubio
- Flagler
- Florida State â I think youâd be competitive for an out-of-state waiver here, which would bring your costs down to about $17k/year
- Rollins
- U. of Central Florida
- U. of Miami â this is one of the âhigherâ ranking schools that is more generous with full tuition scholarships
Indiana: Todd Young
IU is such an awesome school and it probably is the best in Indiana for international relations that I didnât look at any others since youâd already get free tuition here.
Kentucky: Rand Paul
- Centre
- U. of Kentucky
Maryland: Chris Van Hollen
- Goucher
- Johns Hopkins
- Salisbury
- Towson
- Washington
Note that students at Baltimore-area universities can cross-register for classes at the other schools. Participating schools include Goucher, Johns Hopkins, and Towson.
Wisconsin: Ron Johnson
- Beloit
- Marquette
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Weâve ran NPCâs for practically every school Iâm interested in, and most come in around $20k or less, with some (Princeton/Harvard) being significantly less, so not too worried about that
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youâve outdone yourself !!!
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You are very likely to get into IU which is a great safety to have, assuming you are happy to go there. If you wonât go there or donât want to go there, itâs not a safety. You are unlikely to get in any of the other schools on your list despite your excellent credentials. Iâm not saying it wonât happen, but the odds are against you. As crazy as it sounds, there are thousands of other kids with the same or similar stats and activities and many of them will be applying to the very same schools.
Are you OK with that result? Receiving a series of rejections can be very demoralizing. I would consider adding several more likely schools that meet your financial constraints so you have a choice, even if your choice will ultimately be IU.
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As others said, your Target Schools are probably âReachâ just because the admission rate is so low. You definitely have an impressive background but so will the others applying to those schools. Take a look at the USC Forums, for example and see what kind of students got deferred from there - they were no slouches.
Not too discourage you but just to show you how there are aspects of âholisticâ admission process that you canât control and sometimes itâs just a matter of luck (whether there are students with similar profiles, how the AO likes your essays, etc).
You might get higher chances at UCs since IIRC, couple of CA members here mentioned that you donât get financial aid if you are OOS, so they love OOS as they will pay OOS, subsidizing ISS. Same with other other public universities.
there is nothing wrong targeting those schools, you might get in or not and I would encourage you to apply, but IU should be the target because it makes sense financially. But you also have to love IU so if you end up going there, you will still feel happy and motivated.
The California UCâs are around $67K+/year so how would OP pay if their budget is around $20K/year? Sure the UCâs love to have full pay OOS/International applicants attend but the reality is that they have also capped the OOS/International enrollment and the top UCâs have low admit rates along with low yield due to the high costs. If OOS students are going to pay $270K for 4 years of Undergrad, they want the UCB and UCLA which are Reach schools for all.
2022 OOS admit rates:
UCB: 8.6%
UCLA: 8.8%
UCSB: 28.8%
UCSD: 31.5%
UCI: 36.6%
UCD: 59.8%
UCSC: 70.7%
UCM: 78.6
UCR: 88.1%
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Youâre right - I totally forgot about the OP budget of $20k/year and just approached it from the âchanceâ of getting admitted standpoint
If you are interested in another academic and financial safety, take a look at the University of Mississippiâs Croft Institute for International Studies. Itâs a cohort program with a separate application and additional scholarships. It should definitely come in under $20K all in.
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