<p>I have spent too much time on this website...I thought I would be a competitive applicant to schools such as georgetown, tufts and willliam and mary but now i'm not so sure.</p>
<p>I'm interested in international relations, with a particular focus on western europe. Based on my stats, does anyone have any ideas on safeties/matches/reaches (i am NOT interested in American U). I would really appreciate any suggestions...</p>
<p>SATs:</p>
<p>CR-740
Math-640
Writing- 770
US History-760
World History-780
Biology-700</p>
<p>My GPA is above a 4.0, the majority of my grades have been A's and A+'s..</p>
<p>I go to a small, all girl independent school and only 5 APs are offered
I took APUSH this year and recieved a 5 and am planning on taking the remaining 4 my senior year</p>
<p>ECs:
Hospital volunteer
Weeklong trip to soup kitchen, really hands on, life changing experience
Jv soccer 3 years, captain one year
President of Free the Children
NHS member
Newspaper editor
Volunteer soccer referee for 2 years
I have a part time job at a restaraunt</p>
<p>Holy Cross Book Award for grades and community service
RPI Award for math and science
many awards for a averaging the highest in various classes</p>
<p>My recs should be really good and i think my essay is pretty good--its the story of how i became interested in IR</p>
<p>Actually no, i really just wanted any ideas of decent schools with good international relations programs. Every time i search all that comes up is harvard, yale etc. I just was looking for suggestions that people thought were in my range or possibly schools i haven’t considered yet.</p>
<p>Too many kids think they have to pick their major before they even get started. Mistake. Most change anyway. You have until Spring Semester of sophomore year to declare. Relax.</p>
<p>Second, International Relations, in particular Western Europe is a crowded and competitive field. It requires a PhD to get anywhere in that field. Sounds like its easy? No. Grueling and at least 10 years of schooling and then an uncertain professional career after that.</p>
<p>So take your time picking a major. </p>
<p>Instead focus on what schools are a better fit for you, your personality. Many schools offer a myriad of international relations majors, including history, political science and economics and sociology etc. Or area studies, including Russian Studies etc. </p>
<p>Get Barrons or Petersens directory. Start geographically. Make a list and apply, and apply to several EA by November 1. Non binding. </p>
<p>You have Boston, New York, Philadelphia, DC, etc as major urban areas. Or Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, Los Angeles etc.</p>
<p>You are plenty smart enough to think of schools in those regions. We arent going to school for you. You are going to school and its you who has to make the choice. </p>
<p>The people here who really need help are the ones with modest scores or grades, or financial constraints. </p>
<p>With a major in International Relations, you should be able to get a job in the intelligence community, the foreign service, or an international bank. Good grades, internships, and other qualifications may be important but I don’t agree that a PhD is essential. So if that major is what really interests you and you think you can do well in the subject, why not? But take his advice and stay open to other possibilities. </p>
<p>I do agree with ghostbuster that a good alternative to Georgetown should not be hard to find for someone with your stats, because you don’t necessarily need to focus only on schools known for their IR programs.</p>
<p>I understand what you mean----your SAT II’s are really high and it would seem like Georgetown would be a possibility but your math score may hold you back and that’s frustrating/surprising. What about George Washington as a match? Hopkins is possible with a 1380 (but still a reach) and they are known for international relations. Middlebury is a great school for international studies/relations and languages and you can submit SAT II scores instead of SAT I. There may be other schools like this and that might help you (you might need 3 in different fields and I don’t know if the 2 histories would work). It’s true that it may be most important to focus on academic quality rather than a particular major at this point. Top quality LACs will have excellent political science----Colby, Trinity, Colgate would be slight reach/matches and places like Gettysburg and maybe Lafayette would be more safety-like.</p>