<p>Harding, were you in the Huntington Beach High School MUN program? That just <em>might</em> carry some extra weight at the more political science/IR schools. If you are at HBHS and want to study IR, get back into MUN...there aren't many high schools where you'll learn more in the subject.</p>
<p>Your SATs will make it hard to get into the super-premium schools. You'd be a great match for a UC, and there is nothing wrong with that. If I were you I'd still send my application off to Georgetown (I can't believe someone picked JHU over Georgetown for IR) and a couple of other private schools. Your life story is inspirational and certainly helps explain the grades not being perfect (although they are still good -- despite what you hear on CC). Your weakness is going to be your SAT scores. Unfortunately, I agree that it will be tough to get into Yale or Georgetown with those scores.</p>
<p>Good luck, and make sure to let me know if you are at HBHS.</p>