Gender: Female
Race: Asian (Bangladeshi)
Intended Major: History/International Relations
UW GPA: 3.97 (one B one semester)
AP: 9: Human Geo; 10: Euro History; 11: APUSH, Bio, APES, Eng Lang, Calc AB (3) [all 5 except calc]
Sr Yr: AP English Lit; AP Stats; AP Comp Gov/US Gov; AP Phys C: Mech; AP Macro/Micro; Digital Art H
[most rigorous courseload]
ACT: 36 (36 E, 35 M, 36 R, 36 S, 33 Writing); SAT II: Literature-800, US History-780, Biology-740; NMSF
ECs:
Mock Trial: President (11-12), Best Attorney (x2)
Academic Games: VP (10), President (11-12), National Champion in the history event, top 3 for the event at nationals for many years, many regional and state level awards (been involved in club since 2nd grade, attended nationals since 5th; it is my life but not very large, so idk how valuable my awards will be)
Key Club: VP (11-12), miscellaneous fundraising activities, raised over $5000 for Syrian refugees relocating to my city
Arts Club: artsy activities to fundraise for causes such as cystic fibrosis research, helped me learn SFX makeup which is one of my big hobbies now
Research Internship in Biochem Lab: 8 weeks, ~30 hrs a week, various research activities that helped me realize that I didn’t want to pursue a career in science. (local and state level science fair awards from before this realization…)
Digital Transcription Volunteer: transcribing historical documents for the Smithsonian/National Archives online for fun, transcribed/reviewed ~1800 pages
What I want in a college?
Major: ideally international relations, but my ECs aren’t related to it which I heard would make good IR programs out of reach. Is that true? I’m also really interested in a history major or minor since that is my first love.
Location: I prefer suburban or urban rather than rural, but I dislike urban colleges that seem to lack a distinct campus
Size: Anything greater than 5000 is fine with me. After that point, I don’t really have a preference.
Area of Country: I live in the Deep South and would like to leave, but I am open to all areas of the country
Financial Aid: This is really important since my family makes about $70,000 for a family of 5, so we obviously can’t afford 65k for college! Either good merit aid opportunities or good financial aid are needed
Initially, I was aiming for top IR colleges (Georgetown, Tufts, and JHU), but I’ve been told my lack of related ECs make those colleges nearly impossible reaches, so I should look elsewhere or at another major. So, are there any colleges that fit my parameters? I’m really open to anything at this point since my college list is currently non-existent. I just need some suggestions, so I can begin researching new options. Thank you so much for any help! Sorry for the insanely long post!
The comments you say someone made about your EC’s strike me as ridiculous, and the advice not to pursue the major you are most passionate about makes no sense whatsoever. Study what you love! You are a strong applicant and do not need to have done something dramatic in the area of international relations as a high schooler. Apply to the colleges you named, but add some ‘safer’ choices too. Maybe Dickinson or Macalester?
I think @TheGreyKing’s suggestions of Dickinson and Macalester are great ones. Macalaster is a nice campus in a nice residential urban neighborhood with plenty you can walk to in terms of restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, etc.
I will add American for its location and strong IR school. Also, William & Mary. George Washington doesn’t fit your preference for a campus.
You should consider applying through questbridge. They offer fee waivers and can help with admission to elite schools for low income , academically gifted students, in which category you definitely fall. Your income is also in range. I would jump on this immediately because you are approaching the deadline (9/27/16). If you qualify, you will receive a full scholarship.
I agree with the suggestions of Macalester and American. Assuming you’re an American citizen, take a look at Boston College - meets full need and has a good IR program. I would also add University of Chicago and Northwestern (both have good programs and meet full need). And I agree with TheGreyKing. With the possible exception of Georgetown SFS, your extracurriculars will be fine for International Relations. At JHU, although you can express an interest in IR, a major in International Studies is available to all applicants and the 5 year program with Krieger and SAIS is applied for as a sophomore, so your application will be evaluated as part of the overall pool (and I think you would be a strong applicant).
Most top schools meet full need. Your family will still owe its share, but cost should not be limiting. You are a great applicant anywhere. You might avoid ED so that you can compare financial aid at the various colleges to which you are accepted.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions! I am a US citizen, so I should qualify for financial aid from colleges. I was looking at American already, and I really like it! Would American and Macalester be match schools for me?
It is good to hear that my ECs aren’t too lacking for IR since it really is something I am passionate about. Any other suggestions? I’m trying to use this long weekend to build my college list.
You are a great applicant everywhere but since your family needs financial aid, you should make sure you have some financial safeties. Check out the list of scholarships for NM: http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/ to try and find a financial safety if you don’t already have one.
I think that you should decide on a strategy as well as a list. There are two ways to go about this: you could apply ED to a “reach” school that is your top choice and where you believe you will receive sufficient aid. You should run the Net Price Calculators at all possible schools to see how they define the cost your family would have to contribute. While these tools are only as good as the figures you put in, they can be extremely accurate. At the same time, you could send in applications to as many EA or rolling options as seem feasible. You could also choose to not apply ED if you don’t have a first choice school that requires it and just apply to as many EA and rolling options as seems feasible. Thus, for example, one option, if you had the stamina and ability to write the supplemental essays, would be to apply to Georgetown SFS EA, Boston College EA, U of Chicago EA, U of Virginia EA, Fordham EA, possibly UNC-CH EA and Dickinson EA and apply to your own state school or a financial safety as early as possible. You could also apply to a SCEA school, i.e., Princeton, and then, once again, send in applications to public universities that offer EA, including Virginia, UNC-CH and your state school. The only thing you have to be careful about is not to run afoul of the rules - for example, if you apply to Georgetown EA, you can’t apply to a school ED. If you apply to Penn ED, it has new rules about only applying to public universities on an EA or rolling basis unless you have to apply early to qualify for a scholarship.
And you might try and take advantage of one or two of the fly-in programs offered by schools. While many of them are for minority students, some offer trips to students who are low-income. For example, Tufts has a program called VOICES on Oct. 27-28 - the application is up http://admissions.tufts.edu/voices/voices-home/ and you can apply for travel assistance. Penn offers a program called PEEP - once again, while it targets minorities, it is not limited to those communities and if accepted, the trips are fully paid for http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/images/uploads/docs/Recommendation.pdf (deadline is Sept. 10th though, so soon)
It’s a little smaller than your target size, but you might want to look at Wellesley. They meet full financial need. They have the Albright Institute, which would tie in with your interests.
Northwestern U…excellent financial aid for people in your income range. Their International Studies major can only be taken as a second major, but they are on the quarter system & typically students there take 4 courses per term (at some other top schools schools with the quarter system they usually take 3 per term), so it’s easy to double major.
Macalester is a bit smaller than your preferred size but absolutely keep it on your list. With a 36 ACT and NMSF I would call it a solid match for you…IF you demonstrate interest. Contact the school asap and ask if they will be interviewing in your area. You would likely get merit as well as need based aid from Mac. Also, I don’t think your original list of Tufts et al is impossible at all. They are reach school for almost everyone but your ECs are fine and your stats are great. Finish it off with good essays and recommendations and you’ll have a solid shot at any of them.
@midatlmom Thank you for that detailed response! I’m not interested in applying ED anywhere since I don’t have a clear first choice and don’t want to be locked into one school so early, but I will definitely try to apply to as many schools EA as I can while maintaining high application standards. I’m glad that so many good schools in IR have unrestricted EA programs!
@college_query Thank you for that suggestion! I actually really like the idea of attending a women’s college, so I will definitely look into Wellesley!
@Otterma Thank you for that information about Macalester! One question, how do I know if it is important for me to demonstrate interest for a school? Do all schools want demonstrated interest in that way?
Re: Demonstrated interest - Look at each school’s Common Data Set, which you can find by googling the school’s name and “Common Data Set”. Not all schools make them publicly available but most do. It contains a wealth of info. In section C7 you can find admissions criteria listed and how it is weighted.
It’s interesting that it says they don’t weight “demonstrated interest”. Most small colleges do give it some weight. I’d always err on the side of assuming they do.
Wellesley is a great suggestion. Regarding interest, as doschicos suggested, erring on the side of showing interest is a good idea for Liberal Arts schools.
Besides the Common Data Set, you can look on school websites to see if they offer local interviews. Other ways to show interest: sign up for mailing lists, go to any local college fairs the school participates in, etc. Macalester participates in the “Eight of the Best Colleges” group so you should look that up, 8ofthebestcolleges.org, to see if they will be in your area.
When you do these things, make sure you are consistent with the email address you give AND give that email address on your application.
Otterma has some excellent suggestions about showing interest, including registering on a school’s website and attending a college fair. If your school has a college information center, see if any college reps are coming to visit and sign up (unless you would miss an important class). Also, some schools offer “virtual” visits. For example, this summer, Wellesley offered live online info sessions. You could email the Wellesley admissions rep for your area and see if it plans to offer any such sessions in the fall (and even if not, the the email would show interest and would get you on their radar). http://www.wellesley.edu/admission/visitus/virtual
And in terms of colleges, check out whether the ones you’re interested in are coming to your area - you mentioned that you live in the deep South. I don’t know where exactly, but Georgetown University is visiting New Orleans on Sept. 29th https://uadmissions.georgetown.edu/visiting/your-area/us-cities Macon GA on Sept. 13th, Greenville, SC on Sept. 11th and is coming to many other locations in the South. If any of these areas are near you, see if you can sign up for a program and possibly talk to the admissions counselor afterwards. The University of Chicago also is coming to many southern cities including Birmingham, Memphis, Athens, Greenville, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, among others. https://prospects.uchicago.edu/register/
@doschicos Thank you for that link! Wow, I had no idea something like that exists. It seems really useful!
@midatlmom Thank you so much for that information! I just registered for a few info sessions for colleges I am interested in.
Another question, is there a general amount of colleges which I should apply to? Students at my school apply to anywhere from 1 college to over 20, so I’m not really sure what a good number is.
You’ll get as many opinions as people who’ll answer but I think 10-12 is a good number. That way you can have a range and selection of reaches, matches, and safeties/likelies.
but I think 10-12 is a good number. That way you can have a range and selection of reaches, matches, and safeties/likelies.