Junior research for college with 30 ACT 3.5 GPA

Hi guys! I’m currently a junior and I’m researching at colleges, but I’m kind of lost in finding where I’m able to get in with my scores.
I’m an international student so my GPA was lower because of coming into school and learn second language.
But I took advanced and AP classes and participate in lots of activities as I can.
So I have a 30 on the ACT and a 3.5 UW GPA
Here are some classes I took that were either advanced or AP:
Freshman: adv. Physics, adv. Algebra II
Sophomore: adv. chemistry, adv. Spanish I, AP world history
Junior: AP macroeconomic, AP Calculus AB, AP U.S. History, adv. Spanish II
And my plan for senior course are: AP gov, AP stats, AP English, AP psychology and adv. Spanish III

I’m looking at more selective colleges but I’m not sure if I can get in at all.
I’m planning to major in International relations. My top choice right now is NYU.
It would be helpful if you guys can give me some advice in college choice or my chances of getting into some selective college.
Thanks!!! :))

There would be a lot of cool IR internships within NY/DC areas I imagine. Soooo Georgetown, NYU, Fordham, CUNY schools, George Washington U, UMD, American University, Hofstra, Rutgers.

George Washington University and American University are both known for their IR programs, and would both be realistic with your stats.

One rather important bit of info you left out: will you need financial aid? And if so, are you a US citizen?

Your UW gpa is a tad low for NYU, but it’s not an unrealistic goal. However, the IR major at NYU is an “honors major” meaning you can’t apply directly to the major; you have to get accepted to NYU as some other major and during your sophomore year of college, you have to do a separate application to be an IR major. It’s pretty competitive from what I’ve heard, so you run the risk of having to graduate with a non-IR major if you don’t get accepted into the honors major. I’d do some research and see if you’re ok with this risk.

+) I also suggest George Washington University. It’s in DC, and it’s famous for its IR major, so lots of internship opportunities there! It’s also a match for your stats, so it’s a good school to add to the list.

OP, if you get your stats up, consider Georgetown SFS. Georgetown is a top 20/elite school on its own, but the SFS is THE school for IR. There is no other.

American and GW are great but often thought of as Georgetown’s waitlist (which is wholly untrue, but perception is reality sometimes). Georgetown is definitely the big dog both in Washington and the in the IR world.

I’m looking at George Washington, and just got my eyes on American. I didn’t really heard of American before so I don’t know much about it. I don’t need any finical aid, and I’m not a citizen :slight_smile:

That’s what I thought about too, it would be great if I can find a school in NY/DC area. But school like Georgetown seem too unrealistic for me

Thanks so much!!! This info is so helpful because I didn’t know any of this before! Would you suggest GW to be the op on the list??

Georgetown is a bit of a reach for everyone, but since you’re still a junior, if you manage to get your test scores and GPA up even a little bit, it never hurts to just throw in an application! You never know. :slight_smile:

I think GWU would be a good academic fit for you, and I would suggest it be somewhere around the top of your list, but you might want to do a little bit of research to see if it would also be a good fit for you socially and atmosphere-wise, etc. I have many friends who are international students that go to GWU (most of them are IR majors) and they enjoy it very much.

Best of luck!

Thx! What else would you recommend? Some school like are like GWU?

I just heard from my friend, there is one international student that graduate from my school got into Georgetown with a 29 ACT. Even though I crossed Georgetown off already because I’m pretty sure that I won’t get in. But now it makes me think more. Should I still throw in an application for them? Or not at all?

Does anyone know more about American? I tried to research more but since I don’t know anyone who goes there so I still don’t get the experience at American

You should pick a mix of schools so you have a few that are difficult “dream/reach” schools, schools your stats shoud be a match for, and schools where you’re almost guaranteed to get in.

what kind of school would be a guaranteed school for me?