Chance me for schools that are strong for international relations

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics

  • US citizen
  • State/Location of residency: Tri-State Area
  • Type of high school: Public Magnet High Schoo
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Black Female (Caribbean-American)
  • Other special factors: URM

Intended Major(s): International Relations

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.81
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.80 (Honors/AP/DE have extra weighting, i forgot the exact value, but it’s around .05-.06)
  • Class Rank: Top 10%
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 31

Coursework

  • Number of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: Uh like 11 APs/DEs and a bunch of honors classes
  • Senior Year Course Load: 4 APs, 1 DE, 1 Honors, 1 Regular
  • For AP Scores, I did not submit, so I don’t plan on listing them

Awards

Extracurriculars
this section will be semi-vague, don’t want to be doxxed

  1. Co-editor-in-chief of school paper (10-12)
  2. International relations Research/Report/Publication (11-12)
  3. International relations Independent Study (11-12)
  4. MUN Founder and President (11-12)
  5. Debate Member (9-12)
  6. Debate Mentor (11-12)
  7. Volunteer Tutor: Tutors children and does ELL Tutoring (11-12)
  8. Book Drive (11)
  9. Summer Programs/Travel (9-11)

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)

  • I like my writing (somewhat and sometimes), I’ve been told by people that I’m a good writer. My parents have read my essays and they enjoyed them, they give me feedback on them. I’ve showed them to my friends and they thought they were strong. But I feel like I can’t truly judge my writing because it’s very subjective. For LORs, my guidance counselor told me that the three teachers who wrote mine didn’t say anything bad, and they highlighted the things I do in school and how I was in their classes.

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • For a budget, I’m very much upper middle class, my parents are semi-open to paying for me to attend a reach school
  • We ran the NPC, which said we wouldn’t get aid (our EFC according to the FAFSA was 120k~)

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)

  • Safety: Seton Hall (Rolling, Already admitted, 100k+ merit scholarship), George Mason (EA)
  • Match: Marist, State School, Howard, Fordham, University of Richmond, Connecticut College (All EA, excluding state school and Connecticut College)
  • Reach: UChicago (EA), Columbia, Johns Hopkins (attended fly-in program), Georgetown, Stanford, Yale, UPenn, Claremont McKenna, USC, Tufts, and Emory (All Regular)
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I realized I left the award section blank: I have basic ones which are all school-related (Honor Roll, etc.). I also have a minor award in debate, a literary magazine publication, and a publication in a local newspaper. I didn’t put these in the award section, but I just explained them under my activities.

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If you may want to further refine your list, this site may be helpful:

If you might be interested in a women’s college, consider adding Mt. Holyoke as a potential match.

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You have a good shot at many of these colleges. Your unweighted GPA is a little lower than some on CC will want to see, but based on your class rank at a public magnet school that makes sense and the colleges will see that you are ready for college level work based on the rigor.

Some colleges are need blind and others are need aware and may weight your higher EFC v. URM in their decision making. You could also see confusing waitlists offered as they protect their yield. They may be testing to see if you really want to go there.

Since it sounds like your parents are going to be interested in having conversations in April (before decision day on May 1) about the realities of how much some of the reaches and matches may cost (if the colleges only meet need and do not offer merit), I suggest looking at a couple more with international relations and the possibility of more merit for you. These are both a little less reachy for you, too.

UMiami has an international studies major and several other departments which may be of interest to you. They offer merit and may come in much lower than some of your other options.

American University is right in the middle of the embassies in DC. They offer merit and unlimited opportunities in international relations.

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Thank you, I’ll look into those programs!

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Hi! I looked at the link and I like the list, I decided to do a virtual tour for Mt. Holyoke to see if I like it, as it’s a women’s college and a bit rural for my liking.

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Time spent researching at this stage will never be wasted. Best of luck as you move forward, @HuskyMouse.

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