I am completely and utterly lost, help please.

College Search & Selection
1

I’m really looking for some help with searching for a college. I just feel so overwhelmed, there are thousands of options and I have no idea where I want to apply.

There aren’t any great Political Science schools in Texas (my home state).
I really do not like any of the A&M or UT Schools except for UT Austin.
That leaves me with the option to apply out-of-state.

Stats:
—GPA: 97/100 = 4.0
—ACT: Went from a 25 to a 29 aiming for a 30-33 next test.
—No SAT.
—AP SPAN: 4
—RANK: 40% in a school with less than 50 students.
—Currently hold 50 College Credit Hours
—Male

EC’S:
—Participated in three UIL subjects. (UIL is like an academic competition that can go all the way to state)
— Went to Region in one of them but thats about it.
— Had a job for one year. I was frequently left in charge of the store, opening and closing the store.
—Two other jobs my freshman year as a lead web developer.
—Layout & Design Editor for my yearbook
—Part of a Committee in StuCo to monitor student campaigns
—Science NHS/NHS

Family:
—130k in 2014 but usually around 70k
—URM
—First Gen HS Grad and First Gen College Student

Now that we’ve covered the statistics, lets get down to talking about a college.

Applied:
—University of Texas, Austin
—University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
—Likely to apply to Macalester College (free waiver)

Interested:
—Duke
—UNC Chapel Hill
—University of Chicago
—University of Michigan Ann Arbor

—Cornell

I know my list is small. These are the schools that have piqued my interest.

Perhaps you all could help me narrow this list down and find other schools which might be a good match.

I primarily would like to go to UT Austin. I’m looking for schools to apply in case I do not get accepted into UT.

2

And what do you want to do after you get your political science degree?

3

@International95 I would like to go to Law School.

4

It doesn’t matter so much where you go as an undergrad. Get the ACT up to 32 and with your GPA you should have plenty of options. Does the prospect of being on a largely conservative campus make you not want to apply to southern schools? I can understand that, having been one of the few liberal students at a small conservative liberal arts school. Chances are you could find plenty of like-minded people at any large state university. My liberal, DC area raised son is actually applying to University of Mississippi.

5

@mstopmer Thanks for the advice :slight_smile: I’ll look into some southern schools as well.

6

Get your ACT up. Also take the SAT.

How much will your parents pay each year? You need to find out.

Virtually any school with a law school will have a good poly sci program.

With your ranking, getting into UT is doubtful.

Too many of your schools are reaches. UNC, Cornell, Duke, UChi, and UMich won’t likely accept you.

You need a better strategy. And you need affordable schools.

7

If you can get the ACT up to at least 32, you begin to look competitive to a slew of elite schools.

Everyone here is aware of the Ivy League schools, MIT, Stanford… and you already have expressed interest in Chicago and Duke. So I’ll list some other schools who come into range if you can get that ACT up to 32. You have also expressed interest in several state schools, and you are nearly certain to be accepted by at least one of them. So I’ll highlight some other strong private schools that would provide excellent preparation for law school:

Midwest:
Northwestern
Notre Dame
Washington U
Carleton
Grinnell
Oberlin
Kenyon
Denison

South:
Rice
Vanderbilt
Washington & Lee
Davidson
Richmond
Sewanee
Tulane
Wake Forest

West:
Pomona
Claremont McKenna
Reed
USC
Whitman
Colorado College
Scripps (women)
Occidental
Pitzer

New England:
Williams
Amherst
Wellesley (women)
Middlebury
Bowdoin
Colby
Bates
Tufts
Boston College
Brandeis

Mid-Atlantic:
Swarthmore
Haverford
Vassar
Georgetown
Hamilton
Carnegie Mellon
Bryn Mawr (women)
Barnard (women)
NYU
U of Rochester

8

It really depends on what you are looking for. A few examples of possible good choices:

– George Washington for its D.C. location
– Villanova for its attention to the political structures of other nations
– Hobart & William Smith for its strength across the political science subfields
– Hamilton for its D.C. semester and general pre-lawyerly aspect.

Your options on the one hand are very broad, but as you refine what you want they will suitably narrow. Your next ACT result will itself be a guide, as will affordability.

9

Depends on what parents are able/willing to help you with UG college costs. Can they help with room and board and misc costs where you need to have merit $$? Student is only able to take out very measured UG loans fr, so, jr, sr level amounts.

Jumping ACT score to 29 was very good. Raising it up much from there may be tricky - many students do get stuck on 29. Agree about taking SAT - your score may be better there. Prep before taking and use your time wisely.

I cannot believe you made the statement about no great poli sci schools in TX. My reaction was originally thinking you said “no good poli sci”.

Well do you want to stay in TX? Do you want to practice law in TX? What are your goals - to be in a ‘great’ poli sci UG and rack up a lot of debt, or do you ultimately want to go to law school and be a lawyer?

Many law schools want diversity. I don’t know about law schools in TX outside of UT-Austin. If you get in TAMU and not UT…maybe another of the TX state schools are in your area where you could commute if under tight finances?

Also important once in law school to have strong law school standing (top 10% is desired). Law Schools are ranked - some state programs are higher ranked than others.

My nephew who is in 2nd year of law school (on scholarship) actually studied HS, Poli Sci, and Political Philosophy (or philosophy, not 100% sure on which, but he was a triple major) as UG. He went to a small private on scholarship because parents helped (paying about half). He also did things in-between (PhD - on scholarship and extra stipends, published book, tenure track history professor for 4 years). He did a summer two week law class at Bejing Univ, and out of the 26 students in the group, only he and another student were not racking up student loans (he saved up money). When these students got their loan $$, they acted like it was allowance money and were free-spending.

90% of law students are not in top 10% of course. Many are ‘smartest’ by completing UG with no debt or not much debt and do stellar work. Then strong academic standing and strong LSAT can help with law school application process.

By the way, nephew was informed in a letter by the law dean that out of the 5 classes, he was the ‘top’ student in 3 of them. Interesting talking to him about how they handle grades and class bell curve at his university.

Also please be aware that if you navigate everything and have a law degree, there is supply and demand going on with lawyers finding jobs and finding decent paying jobs (so many have student loans to pay back so they can’t be choosy on work because they have to dig themselves out of a financial hole). Student loans are not bankrupt-able; some defer payments but the interest (and loan pay back amount) keeps escalating.