Chances for an IR major?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Johns Hopkins University
1

<p>Hey, I'm a junior at a competitive Jesuit high school in Philadephia and I want to major in International Relations and probably minor in a foreign language. Eventually, I'd like to work for the US govt in some area relating to foreign policy (ie. State Dept, CIA, etc). I know that my test scores are low for JHU but I've been told that these are biased bc of the large numbers of engineering/pre-med majors with great test scores. Can anyone comment on this also? Also, what can i improve even though this is my reach school. Thanks.</p>

<p>-3.64 GPA (My school does not weight or rank students)
- 26 ACT (35/24/23/21) Will take again
- Courses: By graduation will have- 4 yrs German, Religion, Eng, Math, 2yrs Latin, 3 yrs Science, and 5 yrs History - Will have taken AP US (5), Eng Lang, Psyc, US Govt, Euro Hist
-ECs: Memeber and Pres of school Model UN (4yrs), School Drama Society (3yrs), History Club (2yrs), 80 hrs community service
-Awards: NHS, Silver medal and honorable mention on Nat'l Latin Exams, Gold metal and honorable mention on Nat'l German Exam
-Other: Will participate in a 3 wk. study abroad program in Germany this summer, have extreme interest in US govt particularly foreign policy
-Essays will be solid and recs. will be excellent</p>

2

<p>Well considering JHU has the "best" IR program in the country, according to a recent falible ranking (at the grad. level), and that many applicants are aware of the fact you can imagine that getting into JHU as an IR major is actaully very competitive. I applied as an IR major last year with a 29 ACT 3.7UW/4.3W and with EC's geared towards the study of IR (Model UN, G-town summer program, etc.). I also took the SAT II's in World and US History and got a 790/720 on those. I was waitlisted. My advice: apply ED- I wish I would have.</p>

3

<p>Your UG major @ JHU except for BME has no effect on your application, unless this has changed from when I was applying. (2 yrs ago, so it might've changed) Simply don't put IR as your major, but some low impact major and switch once you get in.</p>

4

<p>armcp: how was that G-town summer program? I was looking at it last year but it seemed like an insane amout of work</p>

5

<p>it wasn't rigorous at all........the stuff was pretty much optional.....didn't really help with g-town admissions at all....just a way for g-town to make some extra summer cash i guess.....however it seems the program was respected outside of the g-town community....it was a good choice not to attend IMHO</p>