<p>So i'm a junior in highschool, and i take my sat in march, but i'm having a hard time deciding where exactly i should apply. I know for sure i want to major in political science, and possibly in economics. (thinking of double majoring) My dream school is NYU, but i know that there are schools with better poli sci programs out there. I'm looking into Berkeley and UCLA, but i do live in Virginia and i know UVA is an okay one. I already saw the William and Mary campus, and i don't really like it. I'm also looking into Georgetown, since it's in DC. Any recommendations would be amazing, or any information on the schools i mentioned. i don't really care where in the country it is, but i really like new york and california. btw my gpa is at 4.36 weighted.</p>
<p>Political science and economics are very solid at almost any of the top 100 schools. These are majors for which you don’t have to worry about specific schools, and can therefore focus on better overall fit.</p>
<p>If you live in Virginia, then you should of course apply to UVA. It is much, much better than merely “okay,” and in-state tuition makes this a must-apply. </p>
<p>Berkeley and UCLA are obviously great, but if you are coming from out of state, they are very stingy with financial aid. The California public schools have had their funding slashed, and so they expect out-of-state students to pay full freight.</p>
<p>You haven’t mentioned your financial need situation. You are very fortunate to live in a state with a very highly regarded flagship university. I wouldn’t pay significantly more for a private school.</p>
<p>From the schools you listed so far, it sounds like you want to go to a LARGE UNIVERSITY in a city/major metropolitan area, so consider:</p>
<p>Boston area: Harvard, Tufts (great for poly sci & international relations), Boston U.
NYC area: Columbia, NYU (Princeton & Yale are within 2 hours of NYC, but if you want to be IN the city, Columbia and NYU are better options)
SF/Silicon Valley area: Stanford, Berkeley
LA area: UCLA, USC
Chicago area: Northwestern, UChicago
DC area: UVA, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins
Philadelphia area: UPenn</p>
<p>Check out websites… apply… and compare costs after financial aid. I would NOT pay much more than UVA however.</p>
<p>This, of course, is assuming you do very well on SATs… if not, you are going to need more safeties. e.g. James Madison University, Northeastern University (in Boston), George Washington U., American U., UMDCP)</p>
<p>OP, it’s a good time to have THE TALK with mom and dad about what they’re willing to contribute to your education. This means something other than, “we’ll talk about that later, dear.” It is the most important criterion for choosing a college because college costs a whole lot more than most parents or students expect.</p>
<p>Pick a few colleges you might want to attend. Get one of your parents to help you fill out the “net price calculator” for the schools you name above. Mom or Dad will need the 2012 tax return to do this. If your parents are separated or divorced, you’ll also need the tax return info of the biological parent with whom you are not living. Fill this out and the NPC will provide your family with a figure called the Expected Family Contribution or EFC. The EFC is what the colleges expect your family and you to pay. It is on average more than most families will want to or be able to pay.</p>
<p>So how are you going to afford college, then? Your parents perhaps could borrow the EFC. You could go to community college to save on costs. Lots of students do this. You could win a scholarship or merit award.</p>
<p>If you win a merit award, it probably won’t be mentioned by the NPC but you have to be careful about this. Northwestern for one called its grant aid a scholarship but it is not a merit award. Most schools offer some kind of scholarships, but you’re only interested in the scholarships that can reduce the EFC. In order to have a scholarship of that size, you’ll have to pick your schools carefully–more carefully the more money you need. This is because almost all merit awards will go to eliminating student loans and/or work and then any grant aid provided by the college in the NPC before they begin to reduce the EFC. So you could win a $20K scholarship and still not reduce the EFC if your parents make a big salary or the school costs what most private schools cost.</p>
<p>This is why running the NPC can determine which schools you might apply to because it pretty accurately predicts whether or not your parents will be able to afford schools x, y, or z. I hope this has been clear.</p>