Extremely interested in Study Aboard, and internship program in DC or United Nations
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 95/100 or 3.75/4.0
Weighted HS GPA 96.75 (3.5 points for AP, Honors and DE)
Class Rank: school does not rank (assume top 25%)
SAT Score: 1360
Coursework
will end senior year with 5 AP, 4 honors, and 5 DE
3 APs in History, AP Bio, AP Psych
2 DE in Spanish and one in Entrepreneurship, Stats and Sociology
4 years of language, 4 years ELA, 4 years Math (inc Pre Calc), 3 years lab science, 4 years social science
Awards
National Honor Society
Extracurriculars
2 year baseball, 4 years basketball, 2 years track
PT job as a summer camp counselor
Cost Constraints / Budget
EFC ~$30K
Schools
Would like to stay East of the Mississippi. Wants a large campus with a good social seen, campus spirit. High on the list so far are Syracuse and Univ Maryland
Have you run the Net Price Calculator for Syracuse? Seems like a great fit if the financial aid works. The Maxwell School invented Model UN.
U of Miami is similar to SU in size, spirit, and financial aid. The poli sci department has majors in both poli sci and public administration. They have a wide variety of study abroad programs.
Denison isn’t big, but it’s still a friendly, energetic campus that he might like if he checked it out. It strikes me as a good small school for students who would have liked a big school. Their Lugar Program in DC is particularly strong. They meet need. Their acceptance rate has been dropping like a rock, but his stats are still a hair above their median.
The challenge here is that the kind of school he likes is a big, vibrant public flagship… but the NY flagships aren’t as big and rah-rah as many other states, and the cost of most OOS flagships is not going to work. (For example, Delaware could be a great school for him, but there’s no way he’ll get enough merit to meet your budget. U of Maryland is even farther out of reach financially.) On top of that, a lot of the generous full-need-met schools are too competitive… and a lot of the schools that would meet his need with a combination of merit and need-based aid are smaller than he wants.
If you find a school that he loves, with a favorable NPC projection (whether that’s Syracuse or another school that you identify), I’d strongly consider an Early Decision application.
WVU could work. I just ran their scholarship estimator with his stats, and it looks like he’d get around 12K in merit, which would bring it into budget. It’s a very fun school, spirit-wise. The poli sci major has several different concentrations, and a range of study abroad and internship programs, including some in DC.
And of course there’s SUNY Albany, in the state capital - good school for his interests, even if the tailgate factor isn’t quite up to his standards.
He’d have to have super-high stats to get enough merit to get UGA OOS down to 30K, though. I had similar thoughts about IU Bloomington, but I don’t see any way the money works there either, unless I’m missing something.
It isn’t east of the Mississippi but UWyoming has D1 sports (and Josh Allen shows up occasionally) and the Cheney School of Government, a really good study abroad program (and you get a Cheney scholarship for that too), and you can do an exchange with another school for a semester/year so could do one in/near DC. It will come in under $30k, and probably way under which is good because you’ll need to buy some really good winter clothing.
You might be able to find other schools like this. Miami U of Ohio has some pretty good OOS scholarships.
I think Syracuse & Maryland would be in the reach category for you. UGA as well (it’s not an easy admit from out of state and you may be light on AP’s for them).
For the large campus/social scene requirement, how about University of Buffalo, West Virginia, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina University, James Madison University, University of South Carolina, University of Tennessee (note that the last 2 are getting harder to get into for out-of-state applicants).
if you get your sat score up, i’d try for uva! i was accepted this cycle (oos) submitting scores with a 1410, so you really wouldn’t have to increase it by all that much. also, many students intern in dc over the summer, and there’s an established connection between uva and dc.
uva also gives incredible aid to oos students — i only had to pay 11k a year, which would’ve went down to 7k with work-study.
I’m concerned that every school mentioned may not be affordable. Check each schools net price calculator. Yes UVA and UNC meet need but are high reaches.
I know your EFC is $30k but what’s your budget? At OOS schools and privates your EFC may not matter. They either don’t give aid or at UNC and UVA require the CSS.
A UMD and SU are unlikely to be affordable. And UMD a reach and SU a low reach. UGA a high reach.
I’d ensure you have a couple SUNYs on your list. You could do an Alabama. You might win the diversity scholarship of four years tuition and one year housing.
Most schools have study abroad and most have access to a DC program.
But you need to find an affordable school. Other than WVU above, I’m not sure I’ve seen one - not to mention many listed are reaches.
Ole Miss is another with its Kroft School. Michigan State is likely not affordable but you can try. Same with Ohio U.
UVA is a wonderful school with great need based aid…but it’s a reach for this student. Then again…you can’t get accepted if you don’t apply.
For internships in DC, contact your congressional representatives. That’s the way to get an internship on Capitol Hill anyway…or at their local instate office.
Most colleges have study abroad.
Also, look for schools that participate in the exchange program which allows students to attend another college in this country for up to a year…I think it’s called National Student Exchange…or something like that.
You could try University of South Carolina, or SUNY Albany, both located in the state capitals.
Certainly look at some SUNY options since affordability is important…SUNY Buffalo seems like a good fit and as noted upthread SUNY Albany may not be as spirited but it is in the state capital. SUNY Binghamton is great but may not have the size or school spirit you seek.
UGA is unlikely to admit OP under the new policies recently instituted giving preference to Georgia residents.
American University in Washington, D.C. should be given consideration, however, it is not a large campus and it does not have a great deal of school spirit. Unfortunately, as pointed out below by tsbna44, American is unlikely to meet your spending limit.
For people interested in public policy, I’m partial to schools located in their state capitals.
Florida State: About 34k undergrads. You may want to learn about what is going on in Florida with respect to public institutions of higher education. If Florida seems like it would be a fit, then this school in the state capital offers tons of school spirit and there might be sufficient merit aid to bring it within budget (COA is $37k at sticker).
Georgia State: About 29k undergrads. Nowhere near the tradition and spirit levels of some other big state schools, but from what I have heard, it’s becoming more residential and filled with spirit. Perhaps someone with Georgia ties can comment about this Atlanta school? Also, I would reach out to the admissions office to check on the likelihood of the school meeting the budget.
Louisiana State: About 30k undergrads and lots of spirit at this SEC school in the state capital. If your son received a waiver for out-of-state fees, then this would be within budget.
U. of Nebraska – Lincoln: About 20k undergrads at this school west of the Mississippi River. But there is tons of school spirit and using its out-of-state scholarship estimator (I used 680V, 680M for the SAT), it appears that your son would be eligible for $15k/year in merit aid (and possibly more), bringing the price well within budget. This school would be an extremely likely admit and affordability, so if your son would be happy to attend, a great safety.
U. of South Carolina: About 27k undergrads. This school would be a reach to get sufficient scholarships to bring the school within budget with your son’s stats, but I don’t think it would be an impossible reach.
Moving beyond the state capitals, these are some other schools that may interest your son.
Marquette (WI): About 7700 undergrads. Basketball, rather than football, is the big sport here, but there’s lots of school spirit. Though Milwaukee is not in the capital, Wisconsin’s senators all have local offices in the city. For more info on poli sci at Marquette, click here.
Seton Hall (NJ): About 6100 undergrads. Its D.C. program has its classes at the UN Foundation and seems more robust for your son’s interests than some other schools’ programs which just use partnered affiliates. If your son is interested in international policy, its Diplomacy and International Relations program seems particularly well-suited to his interests, and the school takes advantage of its proximity to the UN. I’m dating myself, but I know that it used to have lots of basketball school spirit, but I don’t know how the fandom is currently doing at this school.
U. of Arkansas: About 24k undergrads and lots of school spirit at this school a bit west of the Mississippi River. At the very least, your son would be eligible for a reduction of 80% of the out-of-state fee, so this school is another option that would be an extremely likely admit and within budget, so if he’d be happy to attend, this could be another good safety. Additional scholarships could be awarded, too (source).
U. of Louisville (KY): About 16k undergrads and good school spirit. Your son would be eligible for at least $15-16k in merit aid, depending on whether you’re in the NYC metro or not (source 1, source 2) which would bring this school within budget. There’s both a BA and BS in political science, and recent poli sci majors have won Fulbright and Truman awards. There are minors in Peace, Justice and Conflict Transformation; Social Change; Urban and Regional Analysis; as well Philosophy, Politics, and Economics among other potential areas of study that might interest him. If your son would be happy to attend this school, this would be another good safety option.
West Virginia: This school of 20k was already mentioned.
The challenge here is that the kind of school he likes is a big, vibrant public flagship… but the NY flagships aren’t as big and rah-rah as many other states
Exactly! SUNY schools really lack spirit, a nice campus, or one that isn’t located in the suburbs. Albany would be one choice given it’s located in the capital.
$30K is the annual budget and EFC. Above $35K annually would be a stretch.
It’s west of the Mississippi but maybe look at Missouri and the Truman School of Government and Public Affairs. If he could bump up his SAT or try taking the ACT, the top-tier auto merit would get you close to the 30K number. Plus, SEC sports, along with it.
One tidbit to keep in mind – a friend of my D who was interested in public policy was able to take a semester at American U through his college (rather than study abroad) so that programs like that could be an option depending where he ends up.
Be sure to run the net price calculators for schools you are considering to get a sense if they can meet your budgetary needs.