Match schools for international relations/applied mathematics?

College Search & Selection
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<p>Hi! I am a rising senior (graduating May 2015) and am planning to double major in international relations and applied mathematics when I go to college next year. I have already identified several (too many?) reach schools, such as Yale, Columbia, Brown, and University of Chicago. I am also interested in Georgia Tech and University of Michigan. Can anyone identify any other schools, most preferably match/safety schools based on my stats? Also, I know this isn't a chance-me forum, but if you could chance me for the schools I mentioned above that would be great. Thanks so much!</p>

<p>Academic Stats:
3.98/4.0 (UW), 4.18/4 (W) GPA
SAT: 2350 first attempt (800 CR, 750 M, 800 W, 11/12 E)
ACT: 35 first attempt (36 E, 35 M, 36 R, 33 S, 11 W (35 combined E))
SAT II: 750 USH, planning to take Math II, Chem, possibly Lit and expecting at least 750 on all three
APs: World History (4), Chemistry (pending), Physics B (pending), US History (pending), Calculus BC (pending), English Language (pending)
Senior Schedule: AP Computer Science A, AP Literature/Composition, AP Biology, AP Macroeconomics, Teaching Mentorship, GT Distance Calculus (hopefully - if not then AP Statistics), Chamber Choir</p>

<p>Academic Awards:
Recipient of Agnes Scott Book Award
Recipient of University of Georgia Certificate of Merit
National Merit Semifinalist (pending, but with 231 I'm pretty sure I got it)
Semifinalist for Nordstrom Scholarship 2014
Nominated for Governor's Honors Program: 2013 (Math), 2014 (Math, Chorus, Social Studies, Communicative Arts)</p>

<p>ECs:
Classical Piano (14 years) - graduated 9/10 levels in Suzuki repertoire including a 9-Encore; graduating level 10 soon after high school graduation
Voice: Taking lessons for 9 years - originally Indian Classical, then switched over to Western. Participated in three musicals (Hairspray, Les Miserables (school), Les Miserables (voice studio)). Top 5 in Stars of Tomorrow Voice Competition. Lead in Les Miserables school production (Eponine).
Choir: Vice President of Chamber Choir (2013-14), Co-President (2014-15), Alto II section leader (2012-13), piano accompanist (2011). 3-time All-state qualification.
Mock Trial: next year will be my 4th year. Co-president (2 years), lead prosecution attorney (1 year), winner of Outstanding Attorney Award (2013).
Model UN: treasurer (2013-14)
Member of NHS: ~50 volunteer hours so far
2-year employment at Mathnasium (tutoring middle and high school students)
Tutoring at Kids Teach It Forward (disadvantaged minority students)
Organizing musical performance at senior homes
Volunteer at FIRST robotics competitions - robot refereeing, field resetting, team queuing, national anthem singing
Mu Alpha Theta (3 years)
Rho Kappa (1 year)</p>

<p>Other: Attending Yale Young Global Scholars Program (July 2014) on a partial scholarship (not sure if this has any bearing)</p>

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<p>Anyone? I’d really appreciate a response.</p>

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<p>Wow! I’m just in awe of your accomplishments. You have an excellent chance of getting in almost anywhere, and you’ve included some realistic match schools on your list, as well. Carnegie-Mellon is renowned not only for science, but for its Musical Theater program, and so you might consider applying there for Math & IR (I’m not sure about their IR), and see if you could get involved with music along the way, also. Vanderbilt also has great music, along with strong academic programs. Don’t overlook MIT, either. They are best known for STEM, but their Social Sciences are first-rate. Philadelphia is also a wonderful city for music, and so you should look at Penn.</p>

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<p>Thank you so much! I am interested in doing musical theater, but probably not as a degree - I would prefer more opportunities in MT around campus (through theater clubs or something) or in the community so that the competition isn’t as intense as it would be with actual theater majors auditioning against me, haha.</p>

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<p>Muhlenberg is great for MT (including for non majors) and with those stats you’d get a great merit scholarship. The school itself is pretty good - check out their website and fill their “request info” form to get on their radar. Don’t make it obvious they’re a safety, as you may end up waitlisted so that you don’t decrease yield, instead show real interest (fill the request info" form, email the MT profs as well as your potential majors’ profs, visit, etc…
Fordham would probably be good, although I don’t know how it is for MT minors who also work in applied math.
Occidential is worth a look, too.</p>

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<p>@MYOS1634‌ thank you so much for the information. I was actually looking at a school more focused on International Relations along with Applied Math. A good musical theater program is a plus for me, but most definitely not a deal breaker, since I’m not planning to major or minor in the field. Do you know if any of those schools have a decently ranked IR program?</p>

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<p>Fordham and Occidental both are good for IR. Occidental has a selective “semester internship at the UN” program for instance. Muhlenberg would be a safety for you so obviously it’s not going to rank along with Tufts and GWU so look into its programs, but it’s a pretty good school overall.</p>

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<p>Have you run the net price calculators on all those schools? What’s your budget?</p>

<p>Georgetown would probably be ideal for Applied Math/IR, but due to its low admission rates should be treated as a reach, even though it’s more a match based on stats.</p>

<p>For match schools, the obvious answer is NYU (both Applied Math and IR are strong) and Tufts (good math, superlative IR) but check out: GWU (IR), Rice (Applied Math) .</p>

<p>American would be a good safety school if you can afford it, at least for IR. Not very good for math though. A good safety for math would be UWisconsin Madison. UMaryland- College Park has good programs in applied math and is close to DC so it should fit the bill for a safety with applied math&IR.</p>

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<p>See point 1 of <a href=“Before you ask which colleges to apply to, please consider - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1621234-before-you-ask-which-colleges-to-apply-to-please-consider-p1.html&lt;/a&gt; .</p>

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<p>Yes, we have run NPCs on all of the schools mentioned above. GT is in-state for us, so with the HOPE/Zell Miller scholarship my parents would have to pay room and board there. They are willing to pay that amount at any out of state school as well, but for the rest of the tuition fees I would either have to get scholarships from the school or from other sources. </p>

<p>We are trying not to rule out any schools at this point based on financial profiles, however - obviously my parents are not going to foot the entire 60K for Yale or Columbia if I get in, but we thought we would see where I get in and then work out the financial aspect from there.</p>

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<p>there aren’t scholarships “from other sources” (there are little scholarships like $500 for freshman year only, which wouldn’t even pay for your transportation from OOS for Thanksgiving break).
Most financial aid comes from the school itself. In addition, you are entitled to $5,500 in loans (“federal loans”). That’s it. Please talk with your parents. If they’re only willing to pay for the cost of R&B at GTech, it means that either you must win a full tuition scholarship elsewhere (and those aren’t easy to come by) or attend in-state.
Scholarships exist in two types: need-based (depending on your parents’ income) or merit based (depending on your test scores).
The top schools only give need-based aid, meaning that if your parents make 150k+ (180k+ for HYPM) all top schools are out of budget.
Fortunately your stats make you eligible for quite a few automatic merit scholarships but most would be at schools that are lower-ranked than GTech. The best automatic scholarship program is at UAlabama, which has a great Honors college where you’d be automatically admitted, with Honors Dorm, priority registration, research opportunities, and full tuition (+$2,500 stipend for Enginneering or CS).
Look into UGA’s Honors College, as it is highly ranked and offers a lot of opportunities and advantages.
Finally, there are competitive merit scholarships, and you’re competitive for them. Look at the sticky threads on top of the Financial Aid Forum on this website.</p>

<p>

is an idea that many students and parents have, and come to regret in the Spring of junior year, when all the choices turn out to be unaffordable, parents refuse to pay or “force” their child to attend the lowest cost option after agreeing s/he could agree to a bunch of TOp 20’s on which s/he spent countless hours, etc.</p>

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<p>There are definitely scholarships from “other sources” such as Nordstrom, Coca-Cola, Burger King, and FiSCA, to name just a few, and I plan to apply to several of them. They are not chum change, either - the Nordstrom scholarship, for example, awards $10,000/year. I know that I may not get these scholarships, but they do exist.</p>

<p>Secondly, my parents and I have already established that in all likelihood, I will attend in-state, most preferably at Tech. I do have many friends and acquaintances who go to UGA (it is the most common in-state choice for graduating seniors at my high school) and I assure you that UGA’s Honors College is not as highly ranked as many people believe; it also doesn’t have the community that I am looking for (I don’t particularly want to attend a university that half my high school will also be attending). If I am going in-state, I will attend Tech; if I do not get into Tech, I am going out-of-state. Therefore, I was looking into OOS schools that would offer me significant merit scholarships (that was the point of this thread).</p>

<p>Thirdly, my parents would never “force” me to attend a school just based on the magnitude of a scholarship. They would not, for example, make me attend Georgia Perimeter College on an all-expenses-paid scholarship over Georgia Tech, where they would have to pay R&B. They know that the prestige of a university does have bearing on my future, especially for a field like IR. My parents have also discussed with me the slim-to-none chances of me attending an Ivy League or University of Chicago or similar schools - trust me, I am well aware of the financial struggles. I know that I need to receive a full-tuition scholarship (or something very close to that) to attend these schools. I am not married to the idea of attending a Top 20 - I am fully prepared and content to attend GT. However, I will apply to the schools above and see what financial offers I get.</p>

<p>What I meant by that post was that at this point in my college search, I am simply looking for schools that offer the majors, location, community, and opportunities that I am looking for. While financial aid does have a major part in my college decision, I am trying not to rule out any schools simply based on PROJECTED aid offers. Thank you for the information on Alabama and the FA forum. I will look into those.</p>

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<p>I see what you mean wrt scholarships (most students, when they speak about “outside scholarships”, don’t mean these) but they’re still much less likely than institutional aid.</p>

<p>GTech is a fine choice for Applied Math, not much for MT, okay for IR.</p>

<p>UGA’s Honors Program IS highly ranked:
<a href=“Top Honors Programs! - Public University Honors”>http://publicuniversityhonors.com/new-top-programs-by-category/&lt;/a&gt;
Questions to ask wrt Honors:
<a href=“http://publicuniversityhonors.com/2014/03/25/choosing-an-honors-program-twenty-questions-to-ask/”>http://publicuniversityhonors.com/2014/03/25/choosing-an-honors-program-twenty-questions-to-ask/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Although, if one goal is to attend a school that fewer from your high school choose, UAlabama’s Honors program is about 50% students from OOS so it’s be more cosmopolitan than UGA’s.</p>

<p>Glad to hear your parents would never “force” you to choose Georgia Perimeter over GTech, but that’s not what I meant; rather: if you got into MIT or Yale, would your parents still insist on paying just R&B? In effect, that means they’d remove that choice from your grasp. This is something you need to know. </p>

<p>You don’t need to wait and see what financial aid you’ll get from UChicago or the Ivy League, MIT, HarveyMudd, Stanford, etc: unless your parents have a complicated situation (rental properties, small business…) the NPCs are pretty accurate and should tell you, right now, whether they’re doable within reason, or out of your planned budget. You have the right to dream especially since you worked so hard and have such tremendous achievements, so you should definitely apply to a couple of these schools, but your focus should be on your match schools. </p>

<p>For example, no need to apply to UMichigan if your parents won’t pay the OOS fee surcharge.</p>

<p>Since you’re a girl interested in a variety of fields, you should look into the women’s colleges, especially Scripps (with access to Harvey Mudd for Applied Math), Bryn Mawr (access to Penn for math), Wellesley (access to MIT), Barnard (access to Columbia). These DO have merit scholarships although I don’t think they have full tuition scholarships.</p>

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<p>This may be of interest, too
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1549857-what-schools-did-your-child-pass-on-in-order-to-attend-alabama.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1549857-what-schools-did-your-child-pass-on-in-order-to-attend-alabama.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Beside women’s colleges, many tech schools would be interested, but oftentimes IR wouldn’t be possible (nor musical theater). Rose Hulman or RPI have a big gender ratio imbalance so you’d likely get some preferential packaging. </p>

<p>For schools such as NYU or AU, with NYU clearly a top school both for Math and IR + musical theater opportunities, financial aid is quirky. NYU does not promise to meet need and is notoriously stingy but will provide great scholarships for students it wants - so if you’re interested, start showing it (fill out the request info forms, email professors in your fields of interest, visit if you can, etc.) as this will increase the likelihood of a good financial aid package. Tufts does not award merit scholarships, so if you qualify for NMF they add $2,000 to your financial aid package, but if you don’t qualify for aid they only give you a token $500. </p>

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<p>I definitely want a co-ed college - I could never imagine myself at a women’s school.</p>

<p>I’ll look into NYU… that seems like an ideal choice for me. Great IR, great math, awesome location (New York, come on) and great music. So I’ll start showing interest. Thanks for that suggestion! Tufts was already on my list, but like you said the financial aid was iffy.</p>

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<p>I also forgot to mention that I’m primarily interested in schools in the Northeast. I would prefer not to go too far west, and my western limit for my area of interest is Illinois or Missouri. My southern limit is North Carolina - the only exception is Tech which is in-state.</p>

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<p>An advantage of some women’s colleges is that some classes are women only and the dorms are women only, but otherwise since they’re part of a consortium, you’re not just with women. Barnard is just accross the street from Columbia, for instance, and you can take classes freely there; Bryn Mawr is in a consortium with Haverford, Swarthmore, and Penn; those are the two women’s colleges that are both women’s colleges and not just women’s colleges, but Smith and Mount Holyoke are in a consortium with Amherst, UMass, and Hampshire so even if it’s not as convenient as crossing the street, it’s still a very diverse environment, and, as previously mentioned, Wellesley has agreements with other Boston colleges (and it’s not like you’ll lack male college students in Boston.)
Rose Hulman is in Indiana and RPI in NY, so both are within your limits.
In North Carolina, you can try for some merit at UNC-A, UNC-W, or NCSU (UNC-CH is almost impossible to get into from OOS unless you have something unique like being a legacy or a recruited athlete… Also: need-based aid).</p>