Hi there! I’m currently a student at a community college and am planning to transfer to a four-year university for the Fall 2019 term. I’m looking for schools with strong programs in these majors:
Philosophy
Political Science (specifically anything dealing with international relations)
Economics
I’m looking for strengths in these areas specifically because I plan to be an international human rights lawyer
I would just love some input from the CC fam and them will delve deeper into the schools you recommend
@happymomof1 I’m currently in Washington and I can transfer easily into any state school, however I’d like look at just any school strong in all of those programs, regardless of location or price. Then I’ll narrow accordingly
Cconsidering that the Cost of Attendance can exceed $70,000 each year at some institutions, it makes good sense fo you to define what you consider to be affordable sooner rather than later. That way you can evaluate the likelihood of getting financial aid that you might need.
Law school is fiendishly expensive too, and admission depends much more on your GPA and LSAT scores than it does on name recognition of your university, so if you need to go to the cheap place, that’s OK.
What are your grades like now? What were your HS grades and ACT/SAT scores? Why did you start at a CC instead of a 4-year ititution?
@happymomof1 Again, I’d like just a list of what others have known to be strong schools in the fields I’ve listed above, and then I will narrow it down myself, because if someone else narrows it down and doesn’t TRULY know who I am, then they are doing me a disservice
There are literally hundreds of schools that could fit this description. It is kind of a waste of time for us to reel off lists of schools without better parameters on your stats and budget situation. Telling us that info isn’t telling us “who you are” — but it tells us what schools are reasonable to recommend.
@intparent Well I guess I should’ve included that I wanted schools that were EXCEPTIONALLY strong in ALL THREE fields, essentially the best or near best. And there can’t POSSIBLY be hundreds of schools that fit THAT, now can there?
Shouting is not required. The questions are to help save you and us a lot of wasted time. So… to keep from wasting time, I looked at your other posts. Says 3.95 GPA at a CC and very low income. Assuming you are a US citizen, but let us know if you aren’t.
Your GPA is very good. So you have a shot at some “meets need” schools, although not all give as much aid to transfers. This info tells us that schools like NYU aren’t good options (poor aid). Most state universities outside WA will be out of the picture, except a few that give need based aid to OOS students (but you need to confirm how their aid is to transfers, too).
How is your HS record and do you have test scores? Some schools will ask for those things.
Oxford University has the world’s strongest undergraduate PPE (Politics, Philosophy, Economics) program in the world. By your parameters, that school would be the best choice, followed by Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, Cambridge, MIT, Williams, Amherst. I hope this list helps.
Oxford has no financial aid for US students and runs $45K+ / pa, so probably not a runner for the OP. UNC-CH has a really strong PPE program, and meets full need for both instate and OOS students. UPenn and Wesleyan are also good choices that will meet need- but obviously are highly selective.
From there, I planned to study international law, but, as someone else has mentioned… the funding for law school is quite limited.
So, I applied to the Rotary International Foundation for a fellowship. I was selected as a Rotary Scholar on the strength of my education and experiences at Earlham.
The Rotary International Foundation fully funded my law studies and provided a stipend ( for living expenses) for me, as a Rotary Scholar, and I studied at Université de Fribourg in Switzerland where my primary focus was in International Minority Protection Law.
Long story short: I concur with the recommendation of Earlham for someone with your aspirations.
That being said, and as the other posters have pointed out, aspirations aren’t the same as resume, and Identity is incredibly important at Earlham, as at most similar schools. Earlham is not for everyone.
We need more information about you, before we can really help you. Especially as a CC transfer student who needs a lot of financial assistance … we need something a little more compelling and a little more specific than a decent CC GPA and an aspiration to be a human rights lawyer (what does that mean to you? Why do you want to be that? Where do you want to practice, and what fields interest you?)
What community college? (What is its reputation?) You mentioned “university” --are you planning to apply to a specialty school as a direct admit, or are you planning on general admissions. Are you willing and able to move? How far? Etc… We do need a lot more info to be able to give you a decent list. Otherwise, she wasn’t kidding, there are -literally- hundreds of schools that fit and you can just google them, if you arent interested in capitalizing on the community experience to try to know more about how well they actually fit your situation…which is kind of the point of asking the community, instead of just googling it, right?
