My son is a junior and we are starting to visit schools to get an idea of where he might like to go. He is interested in possibly majoring in political science/ international relations but also has an interest in conservation. Unweighted GPA 3.8 weighted 4.2 so far 7 AP, 3 duel entry, other classes honors. First ACT 28 (no studying- hoping to improve) Not a lot of typical extra curriculars. Wants to be near nature (loves mountains and fly fishing) Enjoys music. Not interested in Greek life, partying, or sports. Looking for good intellectual conversations and a love of learning environment not stressful and competitive. Seems to prefer small to mid size schools. Preference of east coast but open to other suggestions
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I think you may get more help posting on the chance me / match me forum and filling out the template there (state of residency, budget, etc)
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Here’s the link for the instructions for a match/chance me: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/t/how-to-post-a-chance-me-or-match-me-reverse-chance-me-thread-start-here
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Not East Coast but you should definitely check out the University of Denver. The Korbel School of International Studies has a very good global reputation, and then the University of Denver generally is a mid-size university which would obviously be good for people into mountains, and they offer merit. Not a big sports school and Greek Life is present but pretty minimal (18% participation apparently).
A little farther from mountains (but very much East Coast) and significantly harder for admissions, but William & Mary also seems like your son’s sort of vibe and they are also very well-regarded for IR. If he was interested, they also have a really cool combined degree program with St Andrews in Scotland, where you spend 2 years at each university. There are only a few majors offered, but IR is one of them, and St Andrews itself is very well-known for IR. Plus you would be meeting people from all over the world, so that really seems like an ideal IR experience.
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And cost constraints?
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The first school that popped to mind for me is Dickinson (PA ). It has about 2100 undergrads and is known for its international relations/political science departments, but also has good environmental science/studies offerings, too.
Roanoke (VA) with about 1800 undergrads might also be worth a look. It has a great location for outdoor pursuits and would have opportunities to pursue any of his interests.
Once we know more (including your state and budget), we can provide more assistance.
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Currently living in NC. Have GI Bill so public schools will be in state. private would like option to use Yellow Ribbon
Look at Tufts University (outside of Boston)–it has a strong internationl relations program as well as the Fletcher School (graduate global affairs program). Tufts undergraduates in IR (at least when my son-in-law was there) can take courses at Fletcher. Johns Hopkins has a strong IR program too and I believe undergraduates can take courses at the Hopkins School of International Affairs (SAIS), which is located in DC. No fishing or mountains–both Tufts and Hopkins are in urban environments.
Tons of great schools in NC. His grades and rank are good but the ACT is not on par. (And I’m not saying that to be mean or anything, my D22 also had a 28 ACT and we are also in NC.)
He might like App State. It’s beautiful and he should get in.
UNC-Asheville is another to look at. Also gorgeous area. He should get in there too.
If he can bring up that ACT he could look at UNC Chapel Hill, but it is too low right now unless he has some other hook. The 25th percentile ACT score at UNC Chapel Hill is 29 and the 75th is 33. He needs to try to get his score up around 31 or better. UNC-CH Common Data Set. UNC might be too big for him anyway.
You think he could get in there with a 28 ACT?!
Maybe not–doesn’t hurt to try.
Costa time and money. If he can get his ACT up it might be worth a shot but UNC would be a better bet being in state.
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It’s not the type of school you are looking for but the Univeristy of Minnesota has a major that would combine his interests. Biology, Society and the Environment. They have some great videos about the major on YouTube. It really opened my son’s eyes to the possibility of a “broad” major that combined his interests rather than doing the typical conservation biology major/ policy minor route. It wasn’t easy to find comparable programs doing a simple search because the names are all slightly different so he had to do a bit more research.
For a nature-loving kid, you can’t get any better than Colorado State. S23 is either hiking or camping every weekend and there is a huge community of fly fishers (or whatever they call themselves). His dorm has an RLC for kids in Natural Resources majors and, although they are very social, there is no partying because they want to be up and out early on the weekends to explore the great outdoors. (Although I’m sure this is pretty specific to his dorm).
If your son wants to lean more toward the conservation side of things, have him check out the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources major. My son just picked it up as a second major. and it combines all of your son’s interests but in the School of Natural Resources which is a great school at CSU. S23 describes the kids in his major as work hard/play hard. It’s definitely not competitive or stressful. My son is in the Honors program and he absolutely loves his small, discussion-based seminar classes. He just picks the one that works with his schedule and doesn’t even care what it is because they are all so interesting and beat having to take the boring gen ed. lecture classes. With a 3.8/4.2 your son would be invited to apply.
Greek life is present, but I think the only people that even acknowledge it are those that are in it (about 15%). The only sport with lots of excitement around it is football, but you can take it or leave it. Although it’s a bigger school, the College of Natural Resources RLC/ Honors combo makes it feel much smaller. It’s also pretty “user friendly” and S23 has never had a problem connecting with teachers or resources. Warner College of Natural Resources has done a great job from Day 1 of exposing kids to different opportunities for continuing education, field work and research.
Juniata College is one of the Colleges That Change Lives. Their “programs of emphasis” rather than majors allow you to create your own program of study where you could combine both IR and conservation. There is no Greek system. About 1,200 students. Not known for sports.
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If he did apply to Tufts, he would apply TO. 45% of Class of 2027 applied without scores. https://now.tufts.edu/2023/08/30/welcoming-undergraduate-class-2027
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Good call. Test optional is the way to go if he can’t bring that ACT score up. The NC publics are still test optional through Fall 2024. No idea after that. The board is full of political appointees so I imagine they will do whatever they think will make the powers that be in their party happy. I actually have no idea what the political stance is on test scores.
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