<p>I've been researching colleges all summer and I've found three schools that I think meet my criteria and are fairly realistic admissions-wise: GW, American, and Occidental</p>
<p>An ideal setting would be urban, or at least easy access to a large city. I'm having trouble finding colleges that appeal to me because I want to combine a strong IR program and my desire to be in a big city with an athletic, outdoorsy student body, usually associated with New England liberal arts colleges. I think what I'm basically looking for is a larger, urban version of Middlebury. </p>
<p>Georgetown is my first choice, but is hardly a realistic option considering my grades and test scores. I have a 3.1 UW GPA with 8 APs throughout high school, definitely one of the most demanding course loads in my class. I would characterize my activities as unique and definitely above average, which I won't get into detail here. </p>
<p>Any recommendations of colleges with strong Arabic/Middle Eastern Studies and Spanish/Latin American Studies and study abroad programs in an urban environment with a diverse, driven, and athletic student body would be appreciated. Good financial aid is also necessary. At this point I'm leaning towards applying ED to GWU.</p>
<p>Stats:</p>
<p>First-generation (neither of my parents graduated from college)
Hispanic
3.1 UW GPA, most challenging course load
28 ACT, retaking this fall</p>
<p>If you can get a 30 on the ACT and your family has an annual family income of $60,000 you might qualify for the Questbridge Match program. Not all of the partner college in this program offer international relations though. </p>
<p>I second CUNY hunter. Actually you should look through all of the SUNY / CUNY schools. They’re all somewhere in NYS (CUNY is in NYC) an they have low OOS tuition about 13k with a total of about 30k a year. The only thing is that most CUNY schools don’t have dorm rooms (at least to my knowledge) and the price of living in the city is outrageous! However I’m pretty sure with the exception of like 3 all SUNY schools have on campus housing.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice. I was actually consdering BU but they factor in GPA and test scores when awarding financial aid, and as an applicant with average stats I doubt I would receive enough to attend.</p>
<p>I am already a high school senior, so unfortunately I am not eligible for Questbridge.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that GW has decent financial aid, especially for ED admits, although being admitted to GW even with the ED advantage is unlikely.</p>
<p>CUNY Hunter looks good, but a $30k COA is too expensive. My parents can afford about $10-$15k total.</p>
<p>If you can raise your grades and test scores I would add Dartmouth as a high reach. It seems to offer a good portion of what you want with athletic and outdoorsey. Although it isn’t really urban you can still enjoy a version of middlebury.</p>
<p>Make sure that your list has at least one safety, unless your safety is an open admission community college or something like that.</p>
<p>A safety must be suitable for your educational goals, must be essentially guaranteed admission with your stats, and must be affordable. If you need financial aid, you need to find out how generous each school is with financial aid.</p>
I believe GW is a bit of an odd duck in that it sets a students tuition charge as a freshman and then does not change it … this has a side affect of making the freshman tuition look really high … which it is … however in GW’s case looking at a 4 year cost analysis will make it look more reasonable. Not 100% sure about this but I think it’s right.</p>
<p>Is Macalester a realistic option with a 3.1 GPA? Also, the New School is way too small and I think sports are nonexistent, so it’s not exactly what I’m looking for.</p>
<p>Seton Hall University in NJ. Close proximity to Manhattan, great basketball, international relations program and your grades are in their range.</p>