<p>Hey all, I'm a sophomore who is just starting to look at colleges. So, naturally, I need my friends on the forums to help me out. I'm extremeley intrested in International Relations/Affairs, and Political Science. Does anyone know of schools that are good for these potential majors?
Thanks!</p>
<p>Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, and Tufts have strong reputations for IR.</p>
<p>First, think about what you can afford to pay. (Talk with your folks and do the EFC calculation.) Second, figure out what kind of educational experience you want: large public university, mid-sized privates, small LACs. (Go visit a few to figure out how they differ.) Third, figure out what kind of geographic constraints you have: does it have to be in a certain part of the country? urban? rural? suburban? do you need seasons? ocean? snow? Finally, are there any deal breakers? Single sex? religious? must have Div I sports? Then give us your grades and test scores and class rank.</p>
<p>Once you’ve done all of this, we can give you some intelligent suggestions. Without more info, you’re going to get a lot of random recommendations and the usual suspects…</p>
<p>Just to be perfectly honest: as a sophomore in high school, your opinion of what you want will definitely change by your senior year. I wanted to major in music performance until junior year and now I’m undecided as a college freshman, leaning towards philosophy.</p>
<p>Contrary to M’s Mom, I would personally say that the biggest decision is deciding what sort of college you want (large public university, mid-sized privates, or small LACs as M’s Mom said). During my junior year I went to a bookstore many nights, grabbed every college guide book I could find, and (since I knew I wanted a small LAC) wrote down every possible LAC I might apply to, organized by location. Then I could go through and eliminate colleges based on the surrounding area, academic rigor, student-to-professor ratio, average class sizes, student body, majors, etc. After I was down to about 13 schools, I visited most of them and decided which were my top choices. I also applied to a few others as backups.</p>
<p>Speaking contrary to M’s Mom again, I wouldn’t eliminate colleges solely on their tuition. Many colleges have amazing financial aid and there are scholarships for nearly everything these days. Start looking into scholarships during your second semester through senior year and, if worst comes to worst, small student loans to ensure the best education are not a bad idea. Obviously if you’ll have to be take out loans of $20,000 each year then you might want to reconsider that specific college, though.</p>
<p>When looking at college finances, stated tuition price is certainly not a reason to eliminate a school, but it is very important to get an idea of what your family will be expected to pay and what you can afford. If you fall in love with a school that does not give merit aid and you have an EFC that is too high for need-based aid, you could be heartbroken. If you are going to rely on merit-based aid, your list will be different than if you qualify for need aid. Finances will also affect what schools give you aid, based on test scores and GPA.</p>
<p>As a sophomore, it is a great time to start your college search close to home. Even if you don’t plan to stay local, it is easier to figure out if you like large state schools, LACs, etc. by checking out your local schools. Focus on getting great grades and begin studying for the SAT/ACT (though it is early to freak out about the tests).</p>
<p>zchryevns - sounds like you had parents who set no constraints on your search, which is wonderful for you, but not typical. Many (maybe most) of my neighbors set geographic constraints on their kids’ college search. Several even said that the state school was the only option. Others felt strongly that there had to be a certain religious ‘critical mass’ or indicated that their out-of-pocket would be only a certain amount. Scholarships are sometimes available to top students, but often they don’t find out if they’ve won anything until after they have already applied (most are awarded second semester of senior year). Wordnerd would do him- or herself a huge favor by finding out all the constraints before getting too invested in particular schools.</p>
<p>I would definitely start of list of schools that you think you might be interested in based on geographical location, size, etc. Then look at their web sites and see what their admissions requirements are and if you are a fit for the school.
Talk to you parents and plan some college visits for the summer(or spring break this year?)</p>
<p>Also ask people that you know that are in college why they like their school, ask about majors class size etc. </p>
<p>If your school does a college fair or has college reps visit the school get on the schedule and talk to them. This can really help eliminate and add schools to your list.
Good luck and I think it is awesome that you are starting now!</p>
<p>I’ve found that, being young adults, if one is adamant about their choices for colleges then their parents have a much higher chance of budging on their stance. My dad was completely opposed to me going to college across the country, but after sticking to my choice and insisting that we include Portland, OR on our college tour list, he could not have been more impressed. If a parent can not trust their child to make important decisions by the time they are about to head off to college, then there is a serious problem that should be addressed.</p>
<p>Have you ever gone to the scholarship section of the Collegeboard website? The list is massive and does not even begin to cover all of the scholarship programs out there. And so what if they find out second semester? That should not deter students from applying to where they like. Parents agreeing to pay only a certain amount out-of-pocket is very typical, which is why I suggested looking for scholarships starting now. Between that, merit-based aid, need-based aid, you can get yourself out of a bad situation and on a track for a brighter future.</p>
<p>^zchryevns, I agree that a parent would be impressed to see their child be adamant about including certain schools, assuming it is for the right reason. However, many students do not have the stats to qualify for scholarships and may not qualify for meaningful financial aid. In these cases, which unfortunately is a large percentage, tuition does become the primary factor. That does not mean that they should automatically rule out certain colleges due to tuition, they can apply and see what happens, however it becomes critical that they have a financial safety school.</p>
<p>Of course, I would never say I am against safety schools if all else fails. My only point was that you should not give up on a dream school from the start for financial reasons due to the large amount of scholarships out there, many of which are not based on standardized test scores or GPA.</p>