@inthegarden Sorry, I think I misread the name attached to the comment.
Ran the NPC on my top 14. Harvard, Yale, and Princeton came out as the cheapest (not surprising), and Vanderbilt, UChicago, and Rice came next. The worst were Georgetown, Brown, and WashU. NYU was double the median cost and has been ruled out as far as I’m concerned.
One thing I am confused about is that the NPC quoted me as ~15k for UChicago, yet UChicago advertises a tuition guarantee if one’s family income is below $125k (which mine is)? Perhaps I didn’t read the fine print and it only applies to IL or Chicago students?
UVA and UNC Chapel Hill, the only public flagships that meet need for OOS students (UMich does for low-income but that’s moot for you), would be tougher admits for you than in-state at UMich. It appears to me that you’re a strong candidate for UMich and certainly for MSU, which puts you in a great position as far as your in-state options; many non-Michigan residents would be envious.
Does your family have equity in a home, own a business, or have significant retirement savings? Sometimes yearly income doesn’t tell the whole story, and different schools treat these variables differently in their financial aid formulae. Anyhow, the non-tuition costs at UChicago exceed $15K (room & board, books, etc.) so they are satisfying their tuition guarantee; they’re just not covering as many of the other expenses as the ultra-endowed HYP tier.
I agree with the suggestion of top LAC’s as overlapping significantly with the less-preprofessional and more-intellectual elite U’s that you like. Many students who like UChicago also like Swarthmore and Pomona. (Pomona has both straight poli sci, and an excellent PPE program - philosophy, politics, and economics. Claremont McKenna, also in the Claremont Consortium, has top-notch Government and PPE programs also, but trends more conservative than the other 5C’s.)
If you’re mathematically inclined as well as interested in poli sci, you might like Emory’s excellent Public Policy & Analysis program.
Have you considered Tufts?
You do not have to be internationally recognized and it can be an advantage to be at a high school that usually does not send kids to elite schools.
Here is a good source for online high school courses, including Spanish: https://vhslearning.org/ My kids took classes here due to scheduling conflicts at there small high school (also mediocre).
Don’t take the ACT. Your SAT scores are great.
Don’t worry about leadership positions inside your school community. Do things out of genuine desire and interest, not to get in, at this point.
Your involvement with the state rep is a big plus. Especially since it has been over a longer period of time. Perhaps you could get more involved with the coming campaign. Any activity outside of school helps you far more than being president of NHS, in my view.
A letter from the state rep should be fine. Ask admissions though, in terms of how to submit. Sometimes you can do a supplement with details of an EC like that along with the LOR. (I have watched videos and seen art work that some submit in supplements.)
Consider the “little Ivies,” especially Amherst, Williams, Tufts, Wesleyan. The focus on learning versus career would suit you. Look at the “Colleges that Change Lives” website for ideas as well.
Oberlin, Kenyon, Davidson, Barnard if you are female, Vassar…there are so many schools to suggest.
Go ahead and apply to an Ivy of your choice (they are all different). The financial aid at Harvard and a few others is amazing and the absolute best reason to apply. But with your stated interests and your preference for academic learning over career-focus, I think a liberal arts college might be good for you.
As for the LAC’s, I will be applying to Kalamazoo and that will serve as one of my safeties (acceptance rate ~70%). I’m considering a few east coast schools such as Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, and Boston College. They seem to have good political science programs, though their placement out in the country (except Boston) and relatively removed from transportation links (Williams and Amherst) is a bit troubling. As for the NPC, Williams had a very good price estimate, Amherst was good, and the rest were a little high. I’ve also heard good things about Fordham, and everyone seems to like Tufts on these threads as of late—I’ll inspect them further. I have the “Colleges that Change Lives” book but I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.
If I had to pick now, I’d say I’d apply ED to UChicago and then EA to UMich, Columbia, and Georgetown. Should UChicago not accept me ED, I’d then do ED II to WashU and RD to Rice, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Duke, one or two Ivies (Princeton and Brown?), a few LAC’s (Williams, Fordham), and the safeties of Kalamazoo and Wayne State.
That makes 15 applications, which I’m well aware will be hard to juggle. In the end, I’ll probably pick between Vanderbilt and Duke and reach for maybe just one selective LAC.
Columbia only uses ED and you would not be able to apply ED to both Columbia and UChicago.
I’m not sure how deep your preferences are for UChicago but if I were in your shoes, I would apply ED to Columbia. For one, I think it’s an excellent fit based on what your preferences are. Plus, you can simultaneously apply ED to Columbia and Early Action to UChicago, Georgetown*, and UMich—but if you get into Columbia, you’d have to withdraw your other applications/reject other offers of admission.
Ideally, you would trim your list from 15 applications to 10 or less. I don’t want to jinx you but chances are UMich will be the only safety you need (unless you’re interested in Kalamazoo and Wayne State for other reasons).
*UChicago offers EA, ED and ED II. Georgetown only offers EA. But yes, you can apply EA to more than one school as long you only apply to one school ED.
Colleges that Change Lives has a website. The book is kind of old 
Tufts would be a great choice for you but check out the financial aid. I believe they got rid of loans but not sure. Tufts has the advantages of a Williams but is more urban. Amherst has the 5 college consortium so you can take classes at UMass, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, and Hampshire (while it survives).
Sounds like you know what you want and what you are doing. Maybe trim the list a bit, yes. Good luck!
Everyone has an opinion on ways to get into an ivy league school. It’s all just fluff. The only fact you can rely on is this…your chances are slim to none. That goes for everyone, except recruited athletes. If you managed to get in, there’s still a good possibility you won’t be able to afford it anyway. It’s nothing to stress over. If the stars align, then GREAT! If not, you haven’t lost anything except the application fees.
Sorry, it was my impression that Columbia had EA. I must have been mistaken. Currently, this is what I’ve picked up from skimming through admissions websites and deadline pages:
HAS NON-BINDING EA (11/1 Deadline):
U of M Ann Arbor
Georgetown
UChicago
DOES NOT HAVE EA:
Columbia
Rice
Duke
Brown
Penn
Vanderbilt
Northwestern
WashU
HAS RESTRICTED/SINGLE-CHOICE EARLY ACTION:
Yale
Harvard
Princeton
Am I correct?
(And yes, admission to U of M seems more likely than not at this point, but I still think I should apply to at least one school with a 70%+ acceptance rate to be certain. There was an “Ask the Dean” column about this on the front page where a student with a perfect 1600 got rejected from all reaches and a number of schools he thought were “safeties,” such as Michigan, Wisconsin, etc.)
First off, great effort and success in high school! Keep it up and you will find a great home for 4 years. Your list is fantastic. The in-state public university choices in Michigan are amongst the best in the nation too. I like your approach.
If there is a Safety, you really like that has rolling admissions, send it in early, obtain the acceptance within a couple of weeks and then only apply to colleges you like even more.
If I was a political science major, I would definitely consider narrowing my choices with political diversity or lack thereof as one criteria.
The faculty are almost certainly to be left-leaning at the elite universities and LACs. No choice there. If you like it, great. If you don’t, tough.
However, from a classmate perspective you do have some choices. Do I want a college where 75%+ of the students are liberal? That could be nice to develop my liberal views with like-minded people or really battle harden me daily if I am a conservative.
or
Do I prefer a balanced political spectrum within the student body where diversity of thought is as much of an administration’s priority as gender diversity, ethnic diversity, geographic diversity, etc…? e.g. where 30%+ self-identify as conservative, 30%+ are liberal, and 30%+ are moderate to couldn’t care less about politics. In that case, I may find I get tested on both sides of arguments rather than risk too much group-think, I can cross the aisle on some ideas without any repercussions, and perhaps even learn to debate and influence others better.
I think this is an inescapable fact of life when it comes to colleges. I’m a left-leaning person, so this doesn’t bother me as much. The colleges that immediately come to mind that aren’t particularly liberal are religiously affiliated colleges or conservative ones like Hillsdale. Do you have any suggestions for schools that have the sort of mix of opinions you mentioned?
To get you started, here are two that are similar in many respects - top tier academics, the only private university in their Power 5 athletic conference, fringe of the city, mid-sized, similar happy, upbeat campus vibe, have a different administrative philosophy. On one hand, you have Northwestern, (I am an alum of Northwestern), where the administration is committed to diversity, but not on diversity of thought. They actively shift the campus and course/department offerings more and more to the left. On the other, Vanderbilt faculty is definitely liberal, however the administration is very keen on diversity including diversity of thought, rather than excluding it. Vanderbilt (I have two daughters with very different political views attending) recently published a student survey and it came across almost 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 in the three areas, with a left-leaning student body, but close to balanced.
@clipper1301 I would guess that a public school in a “purple” state would have these characteristics-- as a reflection of the state. UNC-Chapel Hill, UVA, William and Mary, maybe Penn State for example. I went to W&M and the 1/3-1/3-1/3 split seemed to be the situation when I attended.
https://financialaid.uchicago.edu/undergraduate/costs indicates that Chicago tuition is about $58k of the $80k (on-campus) list price. So if your net price is about $15k, that means that the FA grants of $65k exceed the tuition of $58k.
However, note that Georgetown does not want EA applicants to apply ED anywhere else.
https://uadmissions.georgetown.edu/applying/early-action/#
So Georgetown essentially has RSEA similar to Princeton and Yale?
A little confused by this. Could you explain further?
Hmm, I am not sure that Duke fits the criteria you laid out in post 18. The campus isn’t that walkable as a freshman…all freshman live on a separate campus and take a bus over to the main campus for classes. And Durham isn’t really as urban as some of the other schools you’ve listed. You might be disappointed with that “city”. Have you visited?
If you’re planning on majoring in Political science, don’t expect employers to be beating down your door with job offers. You’re in college to gain marketable job skills, so you may want to consider a minor or double major in something marketable. Most people with political science degrees go to law school. It’s just something to keep in mind.
I did hear about all freshmen living on a separate campus from a video I watched after I put post #18 up. Not a huge fan of that. I haven’t visited any of these places yet. I will be visiting NW and UChicago in February and possibly an east coast tour in April. Not sure when I’ll get around to visiting Duke, if at all. It’s also my understanding that greek life is pretty big at Duke?
I’m well aware that Political Science majors who don’t go to grad school often find themselves in a tough position after graduation. Right out of the gate I’d hope to land a job as a legislative aide/staffer in Lansing. Through my State Rep. internship, I’ve made some meaningful connections in Lansing, though it’s unclear how valuable these will be in five years. MI State Reps have three-term limits, and as such there is usually a turnover of legislative staff every two years.
I’d probably be interested in going to grad school, but not sure about Law. How valuable is a Masters in Public Policy?