<p>Basically, I'm looking for suggestions for good LAC colleges in the NE area for economics/international relations.
I'm hoping grades aren't an issue with a weighted GPA of 4+
(I have no idea how the scale my school uses translates to)
but more importantly a rank in top ten out of a class of ~800.
SAT is 2120 M:740 CR:710 W:670 (12 essay)
and SATIIs:
USH: 800
Math2: 750
Bio: 710</p>
<p>any suggestions?</p>
<p>Middlebury. Great Interdisciplenary program for both called International Politics and Economics.</p>
<p>Slightly out of the NE, but in Indiana just over the border from Ohio, is Earlham College. Also interdisciplinary, with a strong International Studies program (some Fulbright scholarships), and they have a much larger percentage of international faculty and students than most schools. They also have what looks like a good econ program, though I know nothing about it personally. I think your stats would make you attractive.</p>
<p>Bowdoin College was ranked by the London School of Economics as having the best undergraduate political science department in the world. As part of the political science department you can specialize in international relations. Quite a good program.</p>
<p>Bowdoin also has a highly regarded economics department.</p>
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<p>I’d love to know more about the criteria and data used to support that finding. I don’t doubt that Bowdoin is good, but I’m very skeptical that a small college in Maine could be said, flat out, to have the best undergraduate political science department in the entire world. There are simply too many questions about the choice of criteria, data and methods to come up with a single number 1 that includes schools of many types and from many countries.</p>
<p>O.K., here’s a link to more information:
[Bowdoin’s</a> Government and Legal Studies Named Top College Politica, Campus News (Bowdoin)](<a href=“News | Bowdoin College”>News | Bowdoin College)</p>
<p>So it was not ranked #1, it was ranked #123 (out of 200), which happened to be the highest ranking for a small LAC. And the ranking, it appears, is based entirely on journal publication output. So Bowdoin political science professors apparently publish more than political science professors at other LACs (judging solely from a certain basket of journal publications). Which may or may not be a leading indicator for small college department quality.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions. Bowdoin is a little outside my scope geographically though. I probably should have been more specific then NE, i meant north east, not just New England.</p>
<p>Uh, Maine is still in the Northeast… What do you mean by north east in this case?</p>
<p>just wanted to make sure NY, PA, NJ weren’t discounted. But correct, Maine is still in the north east last time I checked.</p>
<p>Bowdoin, Swarthmore, Tufts (LAC-like, though not technically LAC)</p>
<p>Holy Cross, Tufts.</p>
<p>Do Lafayette or Dickinson ¶ have decent programs?</p>
<p>Clark U as a safety.</p>
<p>@12</p>
<p>Eh. </p>
<p>10char</p>
<p>Wesleyan University</p>
<p>How stingy is Tufts with their money? I know they unfortunately don’t give any merit money (the trend most small LACs seem to follow…ugh).</p>
<p>There are many LACs that give out merit aid, but if you really want to stay in the Northeast and really want merit aid you have to look at less selective schools.</p>
<p>fair enough @ 17
How do the programs at Vassar, Boston College, and Wheaton stack up?</p>
<p>Amherst, Haverford, and Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Some of the midwestern LACs are excellent, are a little less selective than the top New England schools, and do give merit aid. Example: Macalester College, which is known for its international orientation (and is in an interesting city, not out in the boondocks like most of the northeastern LACs). Grinnell gives merit aid, too.</p>
<p>Vassar is not a good example of a “less selective school”. The difference in selectivity (and quality) between a Bowdoin at 6 and a Vassar at 11 on the USNWR scale is minor. About 10 points on each section of the SAT (if that means anything.) Go down to Macalester at #25, and you’re still only talking about a 15 point drop per section of the tests. But the admit rate is about doubled compared to Bowdoin (Middlebury etc), and they do offer the merit aid.</p>