<p>You can probably see all four schools in 2 days, but 3 would be better. American and Georgtown are only about 15 minutes apart, so you could do one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Depending on tour times, you might be able to do GW the next morning, and then take a train to Baltimore and see JHU in the afternoon. If your son really wants a nice campus, I don’t think he’ll like GW. It is a very urban campus with one small grassy quad on the main campus, although they do have a second Mt. Vernon campus with more open space about 20 minutes away.</p>
<p>If you’re going to look at Pomona and Claremont McKenna, also look at Pitzer. I think it has the strongest international focus of the consortium.</p>
<p>If you haven’t been to the Claremont Colleges, it’s really worth a visit. The colleges occupy a space that isn’t any larger than a big university campus and operate like 5 colleges in one. </p>
<p>What about USC, or is it too big? It’s certainly in the middle of a city, and it gives half-tuition scholarships to NMF’s.</p>
<p>I’m impressed that your soph is interested enough in college to be doing some research. It was like pulling teeth to get mine to think about it. I had to bribe him to go on a campus visit trip by promising that we would spend a day at Magic Mountain.</p>
<p>Claremont-Mckenna is a great school, but it’s not much less selective than Pomona. Last year’s acceptance rate was 17%.</p>
<p>Also, about math - don’t push him into BC Calc unless he really wants to do it. It’s a tough class and moves very fast. I don’t think most colleges will hold it against him. My kids took honors/AP only in the subjects that they were really interested in (science/math) and did just fine. It’s OK to be angular these days, I’m told.</p>
<p>Columbia’s main campus has a wall around it and a fair amount of green space, so while it’s in the city, it has a definite campus feel to it. NYU and GW do not have a campus feel at all. (Though GW bought up a former junior college campus in a residential neighborhood where you can live and take some classes.)</p>
<p>YDS, if S2 wants a “name brand” school, he will probably to decide b/w school w/ large preppy population or large Greek pop. </p>
<p>As for some of the schools suggested, while Columbia has a campus feel compared to NYU, the city is just outside the “wall,” and the school has much less of a campus feel than suburban or small town schools. And if S2 is into name schools and rankings, he Pitzer may not suit him (despite its IR program) - - it is the least prestig of the 5 schools and has a hippie/counter-culture (drug?) reputation. </p>
<p>I’ll second CMC. Maybe Vassar, Wesleyan Davidson? For unis, maybe UPenn, NWestern, Brown, WashU, BC, URochester - - some have large number of frats, but also alternative frats.</p>
<p>Visiting DC schools - Did G’town and GW on one day with D, G’town and American on one day with S, so both those combos are possible. If he wants a real campus, you may not want to bother with GW. I have never visited JHU.</p>
<p>Occurred to me that the program he’s applying for is at G’town, so I guess he won’t really need a tour of that school. :)</p>
<p>Talked to him briefly today, and he really likes the Johns Hopkins suggestion.</p>
<p>MarinMom, his brother is a college freshman, so he is actuely aware of the whole college admissions thing. He’s getting so much e-mail and snail mail that it’s hard to ignore at this point. About math: The BC cal teacher is soooo much better than the AB teacher, and the kids love him. Last year, all but three kids between his two classes got a 5 on the test; the other three got a 4. I know he’d learn so much more in that class than the other. We’ll see.</p>
<p>I would put Brandeis on the list.</p>
<p>S2 considered JHU for IR, but it was a VERY different vibe than what he wanted. He looked at NYU and felt that for what he wants, he’d get a better education at UMD. There were a couple of schools frequently mentioned here that would have been logical matches for him that he felt this way about.</p>
<p>If we didn’t already live in the DC area, GWU and American probably would have been on the list. By the time the last couple of apps went in, S2 was realizing that he wanted something bigger than the LACs. Kind of wish he had looked at WashU and Northwestern – both reaches, but he hit a sweet spot with the midsize schools, so who knows. He is a Penn double legacy (DH) but the Jerome Fisher program (IR and Wharton) didn’t appeal to him enough to consider ED, and at Penn, not using your legacy tip in ED is pretty much the kiss of death. Would have been a big reach in any event.</p>
<p>S2 is not preppy at all (think ponytail and beard). This has not been a problem at Tufts. </p>
<p>CMC has something on the order of a 15% acceptance rate. S found the culture at CMC very disconcerting.</p>
<p>Mathmom-- S2 dropped W&M after Chicago EA, too! (also CMC and Macalester) S2 really liked their IR and Model UN, they like IB students, and the 60/40 F/M ratio would help. His HS generally got good results in admissions there.</p>
<p>Some have mentioned Syracuse here. Maxwell School of Public Policy is nationally ranked (not quite IR), and the biggest draw is a top-notch study abroad program that Syracuse offers. If your S is looking at IR, and thinks he wants to study abroad, be sure the schools he applies to have a solid program with many options. Many kids who are in Newhouse (School of Communication), also double major in public policy, and do at least a semester, if not two abroad… sometimes in the same location, sometimes in two different parts of the world.</p>
<p>Syracuse does have a Greek presence, but I don’t know if it’d be too much for your S.</p>
<p>My son was a national hispanic scholar also. It definitely gets the attention of schools if not money. If your son is interested in Latin American studies as a focus of international relations he should look closely at the schools that are designated national resource centers for Latin American studies. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/clas/about/NRC-FLASF%2010-13.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/clas/about/NRC-FLASF%2010-13.pdf</a></p>
<p>The advantage is that these places get big chunks of federal grant money for study abroad, great internal resources (library, faculty, programs), and always always strong language support (spanish, portuguese, quichua, aymara, etc). </p>
<p>note the following in the program link
"Summer Intensive Language Fellowships funded by the U.S. Department of Education provide support for students who wish to take a full academic year’s modern foreign language study in a summer session. The summer fellowships may be used at an accredited institution’s language program in the United. The
fellowships may be used overseas only for advanced language training. Full tuition and fees and a stipend ($2,500 in 2010-11) are provided; a travel allowance may be provided.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s right! a stipend to take intensive language training!..it is a very sweet deal!
I used these fellowships to fund part of my education and became fluent in Portuguese (already in Spanish) and gained basics of Quichua (that is one tough language! but I can ask where the sheep are grazing).</p>
<p>Also, fantastically, some of these resource centers are often located in large, quality state universities…cheaper schools! Sometimes going to the “best” international relations schools (georgetown, JHU, Tufts) doesn’t mean that there are good programs in a students’ geographic area of interest. Also debt + international relations can be a real drag during your twenties and thirties!). At least for safeties your son should look at this long list of programs. My top picks (biased…went to several of these schools at some point)</p>
<ol>
<li>University of Pittsburgh (excellent! also great public policy program…I am in DC now and the place is littered with graduates in foreign service)</li>
<li>Ohio State (don’t laugh, my s with mediocre grades but National Hispanic scholar got a substantial scholarship!..great, great school for so many subjects but art was a bit weak).<br></li>
<li>Univ of Florida–hard to get in, perhaps harder than any other for oos hispanic, but fantastic program. </li>
<li>Duke University – don’t discount this possibility…he has a real chance here if he is interested in LA studies.<br></li>
<li>UW-Wisconsin (Madison/Milwaukee)–consortia</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
</ol>
<p>see the long list of universities and consortia in the link that have the resource center designation. PM if you have further questions because I have attended several of these universities and the latin american studies concentration at these centers helped me find funding for much of my undergrad and graduate studies.</p>
<p>My son was a national hispanic scholar also. It definitely gets the attention of schools if not money. If your son is interested in Latin American studies as a focus of international relations he should look closely at the schools that are designated national resource centers for Latin American studies. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/clas/about/NRC-FLASF%2010-13.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/clas/about/NRC-FLASF%2010-13.pdf</a></p>
<p>The advantage is that these places get big chunks of federal grant money for study abroad, great internal resources (library, faculty, programs), and always always strong language support (spanish, portuguese, quichua, aymara, etc). </p>
<p>note the following in the program link
"Summer Intensive Language Fellowships funded by the U.S. Department of Education provide support for students who wish to take a full academic year’s modern foreign language study in a summer session. The summer fellowships may be used at an accredited institution’s language program in the United. The
fellowships may be used overseas only for advanced language training. Full tuition and fees and a stipend ($2,500 in 2010-11) are provided; a travel allowance may be provided.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s right! a stipend to take intensive language training!..it is a very sweet deal!
I used these fellowships to fund part of my education and became fluent in Portuguese (already in Spanish) and gained basics of Quichua (that is one tough language! but I can ask where the sheep are grazing).</p>
<p>Also, fantastically, some of these resource centers are often located in large, quality state universities…cheaper schools! Sometimes going to the “best” international relations schools (georgetown, JHU, Tufts) doesn’t mean that there are good programs in a students’ geographic area of interest. Also debt + international relations can be a real drag during your twenties and thirties!). At least for safeties your son should look at this long list of programs. My top picks (biased…went to several of these schools at some point)</p>
<ol>
<li>University of Pittsburgh (excellent! also great public policy program…I am in DC now and the place is littered with graduates in foreign service)</li>
<li>Ohio State (don’t laugh, my s with mediocre grades but National Hispanic scholar got a substantial scholarship!..great, great school for so many subjects but art was a bit weak).<br></li>
<li>Univ of Florida–hard to get in, perhaps harder than any other for oos hispanic, but fantastic program. </li>
<li>Duke University – don’t discount this possibility…he has a real chance here if he is interested in LA studies.<br></li>
<li>UW-Wisconsin (Madison/Milwaukee)–consortia</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
</ol>
<p>see the long list of universities and consortia in the link that have the resource center designation. PM if you have further questions because I have attended several of these universities and the latin american studies concentration at these centers helped me find funding for much of my undergrad and graduate studies.</p>
<p>Another Southern California option is Occidental.</p>
<p>[Diplomacy</a> and World Affairs :: Occidental College](<a href=“http://www.departments.oxy.edu/dwa/]Diplomacy”>http://www.departments.oxy.edu/dwa/)</p>
<p>I had mentioned Occidental to him early because of the Obama connection, but he didn’t bite. But I’ll keep it filed away. ;)</p>
<p>famm, I don’t think that LA studies specifically is on his radar, but he’s got time to really figure it all out, so it might be a possibiliity. I wish he’d taken Spanish as his language.</p>
<p>Just assumed from the NHS designation that he was spanish or portuguese speaker. sorry…I know it doesn’t work that way.</p>
<p>What language or area is he interested in? There are other resource centers for other areas of the world…Africa, Asia, etc. What language did he do for HS? Is he interested in pursuing/improving on that language or moving into something else? My D is only a HS sophomore and has just started to get interested in foreign affairs, etc. I hope she tries another language (already fluent in Spanish) because even if she doesn’t do international relations I have found that my language skills opened all sorts of doors in my career. My nephew just discovered that there is a huge, huge demand for vets with large animal experience but the most important feature was being bilingual in Spanish. He is being courted by the best vet schools in the country notoriously the hardest graduate program to get into! Our S is studying art but our only requirement is that he keep taking Spanish and maybe try portuguese and do study abroad to improve his language skills. Even internships at large museums ask about language skills. Computer programming and foreign languages are perhaps the most transferable skills from college to workplace. I see all the hype about math and science, but language skills are also very valued in the workplace and academia. Intensive programs during the undergraduate years are ideal because the brain is still elastic enough to pick up the language relatively quickly. Once you turn 25 it is much harder for most people to acquire a new language.</p>
<p>FYI, George Washington Univ has a reputation for giving good money that proved correct, at least for my 2010 son. It ended up being affordable after grants and scholarships were figured in. And they lock in your financial aid package - you will never get less aid no matter what your finances do, while they may adjust for more aid if circumstances change for your family finances. </p>
<p>your son has great stats and resume - he’ll do great in teh admission process I’m sure! Good luck -</p>
<p>famm, his language is Latin. 
Loves it but not practical like Spanish would have been. He has a wonderful ear for language so I know he’d pick it up quickly. </p>
<p>Spanish was my parents’ first language, but they went the assimilation route (got hit with rulers in schools for speaking Spanish, that kind of thing) and so never taught myself or my siblings. I can order a drink and find the bathroom (helpful if you’ve had a lot to drink!) and ask for help (“Ayudame!”), but I’m not fluent either.</p>
<p>Has anyone mentioned Lewis & Clark in Portland? I think that would be a good match.</p>
<p>YDS</p>
<p>American is obvious. But someone mentioned Dickinson - I’d like to 2nd it. Even if he doesn’t visit, he should look at it. From my limited research, they seem hit or miss on FA, but because of location and size, URM status will probably hold a lot of weight.</p>
<p>I know you said mid-sized, but I’d throw some small schools into the mix at this early stage. I’ve heard some really good things about Ohio Wesleyan in the last few months. They also have nice merit. I believe it is a CTCL school too. Further down the prestige list, but respectable.</p>
<p>I LOVE the Claremont consort! Pitzer’s FA is not as friendly as CM or Pomona.</p>
<p>I personally would not limit any schools based upon his percentile rank. His grades are strong.</p>