I feel bad writing this but I think you need people to be honest. Getting into an elite university is incredibly difficult for students with perfect scores and a “story.” Hard working, focused and caring students like you are just lost in the pack at most of these schools. Honestly, I would focus on your flagship state school and work on getting scholarships. Do really well in undergrad and then focus on graduate/law school with scholarships. Please don’t add yourself to the list of students coming out with student debt. Remember when you graduate from undergrad you will probably have just enough salary to pay taxes, food, cable and phone bill. There will be no room for student debt in most people’s paycheck. State schools are incredible for students like you. Focus on getting into the honors program and taking DE/AP classes in high school. Go in with lots of credits and save a lot of money by doing it and at the same time raise your GPA and advance on the “class rigor” scale that each school says is the number one thing they look at for admissions. Good luck and don’t get caught up in the BIG NAME schools.
I’ve definitely considered Truman for two reasons: 1) 2 of my favorite and most inspiring teachers studied there 2) My ACT score and gpa meets their TruMerit auto-admit requirements.
Not to mention their high-ranking programs within Missouri.
NPC RESULTS: (the number=the amount it says it would be for me per year)
Vandy: 30k
UNC:17k
UVA: 30k
Emory: 9,750 (this one shocked me)
I didn’t have the motivation to do all of these, but here are a few to give you guys some ideas.
I have plenty saved for application fees. However, if you look at my NPC results, this isn’t looking great for me, which is incredibly discouraging. I have a list of some cheaper, more local options that I didn’t include; a lot of the school listed above are reaches or target/reach IMO.
@goodjob Don’t feel bad, I have had a teacher say similar things to me regarding undergrad schools/how to avoid drowning in student debt. I appreciate any and all of your guys’ opinions on this. My biggest worry with my state schools comes from a significant amount of every graduating class from my school going to Mizzou, MO State, or Truman State. I want to be healthily uncomfortable (in a completely different environment) in college, and I think personally, being surrounded by so many people I know would discourage that. But what do I know? We are all truly young and naive.
Now you go looking for merit aid opportunities. And costs in-state.
Any recommendations for in-state? I’m only asking because you seem extremely knowledgeable about all of this, and thanks for all of your input so far!!!
Get the Fiske Guide or ask your GC. Or google, for a start. Then you dig deeper.
Look into study abroad and study away programs also. I know a student who managed to get 3 semesters away (one each in Spain and Argentina, and one in DC), for no additional cost (except airfare) to her undergraduate fees. She radically expanded her undergrad experience, became truly bilingual, and made great connections in DC that led to a job there after graduation.
Question for you ( sorry if it was answered): What is the amount that you can pay for school? You have to base your choices on that number. Truman looks like a good one. I would apply to your state schools.
When you did the NPCs, did you do it based on 2 in college? If yes, will you always have 2 in college?
I haven’t had a super in depth talk about finances with my parents/siblings, I actually planned on doing that tomorrow or maybe tonight.
And yes, all NPCs I have run have been based off of having 2 in college. My sister is currently a sophomore in college, so my family will have 2 for the next two years.
Do you have younger siblings who will be in college once your older sibling graduates? In other words, will there always be 2 in school while you are a college student? What will happen with your younger siblings? As a parent, I would want them to have options that are good for them as well.
Once you have the money talk with your parents, it will be easier to come up with a final list of schools. Until then, I would make sure to also include instate options and schools that will give you considerable merit.
There will always be 2 in college for me, as my younger sister is two years behind me. For the most part, my siblings financed their college through loan institutions with co-signs from my parents, which they are okay with doing, but I’d still like to avoid that as much as possible. This results in them still paying their debt to this day, even 8 years after college. I would say my absolute maximum is around 20k a year. However, I know that contradicts a lot of the colleges I listed above. A lot of those were dream schools anyways, so this doesn’t come as a shock to me.
I know one poster mentioned it, but does anyone think I should take the ACT more to raise my score a few points? or will a 33 set me on the right path? I know it’s in the average, right above average of the schools I listed, but I don’t want to waste money on the test if it won’t make a huge difference.
@polisci2024 Something else you may want to consider is the level of financial support that some students get from their parents regarding thing like rent and living expenses for unpaid/ low pay internships , which are very common in poli sci , and necessary to make connections and get the foot in the door. Deep pocketed parents in our area are continually supporting their college kids’ expenses for these sorts of things and their support continues even after graduation. I know this is not the norm in your area, but plenty of poli sci kids at Wash U, W&M etc. do have this financial umbilical cord with the parental units.
If you need to borrow a lot (with - gasp - co-signed loans) just to attend these universities, where are you going to get additional funds to do the things like the unpaid internship etc.? I don’t think you are low income or URM to qualify for grants for such things.
@momprof9904 is dead-on: poli sci is so oversubscribed that no/low paid internships are the entry point for the vast majority of polisci students. And interest accumulates fast!
Luckily threads like my own and others similar to it have made me realize some of my best options lately.
I have been doing tons of research into less prestigious/less expensive schools to avoid having to rely on a financial umbilical cord (as mine would be little or none). Additionally, I think if I attend Truman State or a MO school in particular, I can graduate in 3 years, as all my dual enrollment credits would transfer over + AP Credits (for this year and next). Lots of more research to be done for sure.
Good for you, for doing this legwork. Best to you.
https://www.truman.edu/majors-programs/majors-minors/political-science-major/political-science-internships/
http://twp.truman.edu/ (Truman in Washington program)
Covered by your Truman tuition (+ local room & board fees):
Good either if your second language is Japanese, French, German, Italian, Spanish or Chinese (you would come away with serious fluency with these programs), or you could just broaden your horizons by going to Scotland (I’d skip the English one): . http://studyabroad.truman.edu/programs/exchange/