“the international acceptance rates bear her argument out”
As a U.S. citizen, aren’t you a domestic applicant? True international applicants face the higher admissions bar set for them at the many U.S. colleges that are need aware for international students. The acceptance numbers for this cohort may not apply to your situation.
If you are a US citizen you are not categorized with the rest of the pool of internationals who lack US citizenship. For the purposes of aid, private schools will treat you the same as any other domestic applicant with respect to aid and admission rates. In fact your third culture kid status may actually prove to be beneficial in terms of admission to the most selective universities.
@NotVerySmart, the Sciences Po / Columbia program is taught through English- they do ask you to take French (if you don’t already speak it) while you are in France, but no French is required on admission.
As whenhen & merc81 have pointed out, as an American citizen you won’t count as an international applicant. Unfortunately, though, you won’t get much for being a 3CK on its own- there are more of them than you might think! It can make a good essay, if you go beyond the first level of ‘this is what my life has been’, and the second level of ‘so that is why I am interested in international affairs’ (I have read at least a dozen essays along those lines just from people I know). - you have to get to a third level of ‘and this is how I have taken/am taking 1 + 2 and made 5’
@merc81 @whenhen @collegemom3717 -As a US citizen living abroad, how would my application be considered if it isn’t included in the international pool? I can’t imagine I’d fit into the domestic pool of applicants-for starters, what state would I be assigned to?
There may be some technical issues that I am unaware of, but your classification should be along the lines of, “U.S. citizen, applying from out-of-country.” Unless you are applying to a public university, any assignment to a state appears irrelevant, except as an indicator of diversity – an aspect you already possess, and which could nicely serve your application.
Agreeing with merc81- except for public (state) universities where there is a benefit to being ‘in-state’ there is no need to ‘assign’ you to a state. Truly, you are not the only American applying to college from another country: there are thousands of students who are living with their parents in other countries who come back to the US for college (everybody posted overseas in the military/state department for a start, plus people whose companies have international operations. Of course, if you want to be considered an international applicant just put down your Estonian citizenship and leave off the American…
Many of these schools were already mentioned, but you might want to consider their urban studies or public policy programs, rather than just political science:
Urban Studies:
Pitt: http://www.urbanstudies.pitt.edu/program/concentrations.php#comp-intl-urbanism
Berkeley: http://ced.berkeley.edu/academics/city-regional-planning/programs/bachelor-of-arts-in-urban-studies/
Northwestern: http://www.urbanstudies.northwestern.edu/overview.html
Washington U: https://urbanstudies.wustl.edu/programs/undergraduate-major
Penn: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/urban/students
Minnesota: http://urbanstudies.cla.umn.edu/about/interdisciplinary.html
Macalester: http://www.macalester.edu/academics/urbanstudies/concentration/
Brown: https://www.brown.edu/academics/urban-studies/
UCSD: http://ucsd.edu/catalog/curric/USP.html#major
Tulane: http://tulane.edu/liberal-arts/urban-studies/
Public Policy:
Duke: http://sanford.duke.edu/academics/undergraduate/curriculum
NYU: http://wagner.nyu.edu/undergrad/major/reqs
Virginia: http://www.batten.virginia.edu/content/academics/degree-information/ba-public-policy-and-leadership
Michigan: http://fordschool.umich.edu/ba
North Carolina: http://publicpolicy.unc.edu/academics/undergraduate-program/bachelor-of-arts/
Cornell: http://www.human.cornell.edu/pam/academics/undergraduate/
Indiana: https://spea.indiana.edu/doc/undergraduate/ugrd_policy_tabsheet.pdf
Chicago: http://pbpl.uchicago.edu/
Syracuse: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/Major_Requirements/
Princeton: http://wws.princeton.edu/undergraduate-academics
Brown: http://watson.brown.edu/public-policy/undergraduate/concentration-required
Maryland: https://publicpolicy.umd.edu/plminor (minor)
Ohio State: http://glenn.osu.edu/undergraduate/ba/core/
@NotVerySmart - If urban planning is of interest to you, take a close look at the very dynamic major offered by Bryn Mawr (women’s college) and open to Haverford College students (coed) called Growth and Structure of Cities. Its a very popular and well regarded major. Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges are two small liberal arts schools located within miles of each other that have a bi-college system allowing students to study on both campuses. They are also part of the Quaker Consortium which allows students to also take classes at UPenn and Swarthmore. The colleges are located in a bucolic and well-developed suburban area that is just a short 20 minute ride away by commuter train from downtown Philadelphia, with its great art, dining, and music scenes.
No Dartmouth? It has a top 10 international relations program according to Foreign Policy, the best undergraduate teaching in the US for 5 of the last 6 years, the best study abroad program in the Ivy League, and almost the highest quality of life in the country. Only drawback is the location, which is several hours away from NYC and Boston. However, the unique academic plan means you can do internships/study abroad ANYWHERE in the world during the fall, winter, or spring.
From what I have heard from people that are currently in the 1693 Scholars program, it is initially screened through students with high standardized test scores and then how much you stand out in essays and/or interviews. It’s definitely not a sure thing, but I think you do have a fair shot given your SAT scores. Doesn’t hurt to apply.
The think tank project on campus I mentioned earlier is called the Project for International Peace and Security (PIPS). It is under the umbrella of the Insitute for the Theory and Practice of International Relations (ITIPR), which hires many students each year to be part of its many projects.
Under that umbrella, there is AidData (where I am working over the summer), they track international aid and development using spatial data. There is also TRIP, which analyzes how teaching IR affects policy outcomes. There is also a social science science research lab, which includes a “Political Psychology and International Research Lab” and many more. I’m just delving into some of this right now, but I am still blown away at how much they offer.
Here are some links that you might find useful, there’s plenty to explore:
PIPS: http://www.wm.edu/offices/itpir/pips/
ITIPR: http://www.wm.edu/offices/itpir/index.php (see the many subsections)
Gov Research: https://www.wm.edu/as/government/research/undergraduateresearch/index.php
Acc. Public Policy program: https://www.wm.edu/as/publicpolicy/undergrad/acceleratedmaster/index.php
Happy searching!
@shawnspencer -Wow.
The Whip Count project seems like it would be right up my alley. Being able to graduate with a MPP in 5 years’ time would be amazing. Being close to DC is also an enticing prospect.
William and Mary isn’t my first choice, but right now I’d take it ahead of a lot of big-name schools, and even if I don’t get in at so much as one other school, I get the sense I’d be happy there. If I get acceptance letters from several other colleges, it’ll still be tough choosing one over W&M.
I know now that I’ll definitely apply.
I disagree with collegemom’s statement on NYU. With your stats, you could easily find substantial scholarships coming from NYU.
Regarding European schools, Edinburgh does not have the domestic reputation as its international reputation would suggest. Durham, LSE, Warwick, UCL, York, Nottingham and St Andrews tend to have better reputations (and of course Oxbridge). Certainly the top UK universities are thought of as Oxbridge, UCL, LSE, Durham, Warwick, Imperial (for sciences).
Are you sure @NYU2013? afaik, the only scholarships for which the OP is eligible are the Arch (assuming ‘demonstrated financial need’) & the MLK, for which the current ECs don’t look persuasive. Could possibly get "Presidential Honors Scholars’, but I don’t think that has money with it.
LSE is one of the best schools for political science in the world. However, they have strict entry requirements. To even be considered for a political science degree, you must have taken at least 5 relevant ap courses and have gotten 5’s on all the tests. To see which ap courses they consider relevant and other usa entry requirements, view this link http://www.lse.ac.uk/study/informationForInternationalStudents/countryRegion/northAmerica/USA/entryRequirements.aspx
@Cardinals2000 I’m applying from a school outside the US and, so far as I understand them, LSE’s requirements are satisfied by completion of appropriate IB courses.
@NYU2013 Edinburgh has a reputation as a popular destination for American students, but our school’s admissions counselor takes more or less the same view on the matter of which UK schools are among the best (with some differences due to a school’s strength in individual subjects).
@NotVerySmart Yes an IB diploma can fulfill the entry requirement at LSE in any country.
@collegemom3717 NYU gives scholarships outside of the listed ones as part of financial aid packages.
Fair enough, @NYU2013, but I thought the OP wasn’t eligible for FinAid & wants merit aid.
@NYU2013 @collegemom3717 That’s right. In all likelihood, I won’t be eligible for much financial aid and will need either merit aid or a work-study arrangement to make it through college without accumulating a crushing debt.
The good news is that I’ve discovered my parents’ employer will be providing somewhere between $30,000 and $35,000 a year towards university tuition, so the aid package I’d need is now considerably less than I previously believed.
@collegemom3717 OP can apply for Fin Aid and see what he/she gets. I wasn’t using ‘Fin Aid’ to only mean ‘aid dependent on family income’.