<p>gtown, I think you need to sit down and have a heart-to-heart with your parents. They don’t have to reveal their total financial position, but they should give you an ideal of how much they can or will pay for your college education. </p>
<p>Using an online calculator is a good starting place for need based aid. Even middle class families are often eligible for some aid.</p>
<p>Making up the rest in merit (and loans if necessary) is difficult but doable. It’s a good thing that you’ve started early as it takes a good deal of research. </p>
<p>I don’t mean to be negative but it does seem to me that merit aid is getting tighter as the economy declines and white, middleclass males are not the target demographic. </p>
<p>If I were you I’d forget the IR angle and concentrate fully on the money – plus good academics, of course. A GPA of 3.95 (if it’s out of 4.0) is an excellent starting point. Keep up the good work and think about how to build an appealing application. </p>
<p>You should keep your options open on college location. Often the colleges that are generous with aid are those that you might not have heard of.</p>
<p>Some ideas for good merit and good academics would be Rhodes and Grinnell, maybe Macalester. College Confidential has a lot of information on merit aid, do some research.</p>
<p>University of Wisconsin is certainly not a bad choice, especially the honors college. I assume that could be your safety, your sure thing while you’re waiting to get the financial packages from other – smaller – colleges. </p>
<p>But your first step should be getting a clear picture of your parents’ expectations. Possibly your high school college counselor could be helpful in initiating conversation.</p>
<p>The tri-co is definitely good seeing as it’s right near Philly.</p>
<p>thanks again for your help momrath, i was definitely going to apply to wisconsin, one of my main problems though is that almost all above average students from my high school go there and i kind of want to break away from my high school by that time. Raiderade, what schools make up the tri-co?</p>
<p>gtown, I understand entirely. I’m a Michigan graduate and although I received an excellent education, it wasn’t a good fit for me. My son went to Williams, so I can appreciate the difference between the ambience of a large State U and a small private. Both can be good choices, but not necessarily for the same student.</p>
<p>You’re lucky that your State U is a good one.</p>
<p>Tri-co = Swarthmore, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr. All top ranked LACs with great connections and easy city access. Swarthmore even has a SEPTA train station on campus.</p>
<p>do any of these schools have reputable IR programs?</p>
<p>All selective colleges have decent IR programs. If not majors, then at least concentrations combining political science, economics, history etc. If you look at the backgrounds of IR graduate students at Georgetown, Tufts, Princeton, JHU you will see that they draw from a wide range of undergraduate programs, including their own.</p>
<p>The problem remains that few (maybe none?) of the most selective eastcoast schools offer merit aid. So if you want small to medium, you want IR, and you want merit money you’re going to have to look beyond the usual suspects.</p>
<p>My Cousin studies in Occidental college and he his pretty happy with it and i also think it is very close to LA</p>
<p>gtown, Have you looked into West Coast schools? If you are looking into need-blind merit-aid scholarships and a mid-size liberal arts university for International Studies, I suggest you to try Chapman University in Orange, California. They are located between LA and San Diego and you’ll have very good opportunities for internships. Sounds like they would be a match for you.</p>
<p>claremont mckenna, has a great IR program, great LAC and close to L.A</p>
<p>thanks for the suggestions guys, i hadn’t looked so much at west coast, not really a particular reason why, i think the weather more than anything. But if there was a good fit on the west coast i would definitely go for it. I haven’t looked at Chapman at all, but in regards to claremont mckenna, i dont think i would have any shot of getting in. I know i dont have my act’s yet, but i think it would be unlikely for me to get a score like a 35 or 36, which correct me if im wrong, would be the range i should be in for that school.</p>