<p>-filipina from ca
-junior at a catholic all girls school
-4.2 gpa
-6/140 rank
-1830 sat (CW: 620, M: 650, W: 650..i know i know, i'll retake it)
-will have awesome recs
-awesome ECs (class president, fall congressional page <-good recs will come from that!, club president, lots of community service hours..)</p>
<p>i'm looking for something thats under 15,000 that has Political Science/Gov and hopefully Public Policy. something pref not on this coast but where i could fit in on the other side of the country that isnt full of snobby people or super driven by greek life. (hopefully little greek life if any)</p>
<p>Definitely go for some of the UC schools- a match might be..... Davis? Irvine? if only because of your scores. A good reach might be LA or Berkeley. (Yeah, I kind of ignored the "different coast" thing, but if you want to go to a pretty good school for under 15k, you're best off in Cal.</p>
<p>GWU costs like 6546546 gajillion dollars but it sounds like a good school to explore. For such an urban school, it has a surpringly prevalent Greek scene. It's far from dominating, though, and I think the college board says that only about 1/5 students go Greek. </p>
<p>As I've learned in my college search, the only way to avoid a school with a lot of snobby people is to go public. And a large contingency of snobs exist at many public schools, too. It's a reach for you, as it is for just about any out of state applicant, but UNC is definitely worth checking out. I visited and loved it..don't know why I didn't apply. It's got great polisci programs from what I can tell, too.</p>
<p>jpaps, There are many excellent colleges that would be very interested in a high achieving Filipina/American, especially those that are located in the mid-west or non-urban environments.</p>
<p>Georgetown, American, GWU, Tufts and JHU are the usual suspects for International Relations. But for a career in government or public policy where you get your undergraduate degree is not as important as the opportunities that you take advantage for internships and networking. If you pursue this field seriously you would most likely get an advanced degree so don't worry too much about the reputation of your undergraduate school in these specific areas. Instead, choose your undergraduate school by the environment and personality that best suits you.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry too much about your scores. Yes, you should study and retake, but this will not be the factor that determines your acceptance. Your grades, rank, ECs and potential URM status will compensate.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you look at some of the small liberal arts colleges. There are dozens so it's difficult to choose but for good matches I would recommend Smith, Colby, Macalester. All have excellent track records for graduate schools in international relations and all would consider you a person of interest. For reaches I would look at Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan, Swarthmore and Wellesley.</p>
<p>If you require financial aid, especially merit aid, this list may change, so please make sure you're clear on that aspect before you go much further.</p>
<p>Chicagoboy, only 15% of Michigan students are part of the Greek community. The remaining 85% are 'independents". The frat scene at Michigan plays a very small part in the overall social environment.</p>