Political Science major - please help me choose a college

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello CCers,</p>

<p>I want to major in Political Science and/or International Relations, and want to attend the best school for these. According to my stats, which is the best undergraduate school that I have a good chance of being admitted into that is known for their political science program? I'm looking for one that is ranked highly in the nation, and one where my chances are likely of getting in. My stats are:</p>

<p>**3.87 UW*
**4.40 W*
SAT
-Reasoning Composite **1940<a href="%5Bb%5Dretaking%20for%202100+%5B/b%5D">/b</a>
-Math II, USH, Chem each **750+*
-Low income first-generation college Afghan (Caucasian) female, single parent</p>

<p>Senior year courseload: AP Calc AB, AP US Gov/Pol, AP Lit, AP Span, Adv. Graphic Design, Speech and Debate II</p>

<p>Not many continuous years for extra-curriculars below because the clubs are starting up at a new school, and I switched schools after 9th grade.</p>

<p>Interact Club (Director of Public Relations, **Co-head of Fundraising Committee, Founding officer, Treasurer) (11,12)
*California Scholarship Federation (Active Membership) (10,11,12)
*Key Club (Active Membership) (10,11,12)
*[My school] University Club (Active Membership) (11, 12)
*Philanthropy Around the World <a href="Active%20Membership,%20Founding%20member">PAW</a> (11,12)
*Internship with the City Manager<a href="summer/senior%20year">/b</a>
*Taking college courses in psychology, physics<a href="summer/senior%20year">/b</a>
*Debate Club (Founding officer<a href="12">/b</a>
*Freelance Graphic Designer<a href="design%20logos,%20t-shirts,%20etc.%20for%20clubs%20and%20businesses%20-%20sometimes%20for%20%5Bb%5Dbusiness%5B/b%5D,%20sometimes%20for%20%5Bb%5Dcommunity%20service%5B/b%5D">/b</a>
*Fundraising for Athletic Booster Club (10,11,12)
*Fundraising for PTSA (11,12)
*Yearbook staff, (Editor, Section Editor, solely initiated use of Adobe software and font standards)
*Winner of international logo design contest*
*misc.</p>

<p>Thank you sooo much!</p>

2

<p>Please take a look at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1158533-should-i-consider-ivies-kinda-chance-thread.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1158533-should-i-consider-ivies-kinda-chance-thread.html&lt;/a&gt; for some ECs that I left out</p>

3

<p>bump10char</p>

4

<p>In addition,</p>

<p>*Paid job at a learning center (10,11,12hrs/wk)
*Tutoring in Spanish (my strong suit-taking subject test in Nov) and Math(10,11,12), including a recent emigrant who I helped with English
*Fundraising for Tetanus prevention, orphans in China, Hope for Japan and organization/fundraising for other causes as part of club and school efforts</p>

<p>Graphic Design
*Ever since 6th grade
*created and maintained several content websites with new content regularly for a few years
*familiar with CSS and HTML</p>

<p>*Graphic Art selected for display at District art show
*selected [my school] Ambassador (mentioned above) for leadership ability (3 years)
*possible arts supplement (what do you think?)</p>

5

<p>A few questions that might help:</p>

<ul>
<li>Can you describe your financial situation? Do you know what your EFC is?<br></li>
<li>Are you a US citizen?</li>
<li>Assuming you can’t afford to fully pay for college, do you have concerns about having large loans coming out of college?<br></li>
</ul>

<p>Political Science/IR is not a high paying career choice (my daughter is a Poli Sci major, so I am pretty familiar with it), so you need to consider some of these questions in choosing where to apply.</p>

6

<p>^
-I didn’t qualify for a fee waiver at the local community college (just on the edge), but my mom recently got 100 hours cut off her monthly pay, so for the FAFSA, our income should qualify us for governmental aid. My mom says she has savings for my college, but according to her number, it’s not enough to cover a year of tuition, room, board, etc. at target schools. She spent most of our savings on a house, which was foreclosed -_-
-I was born and raised in California.
-I don’t have worries about student loans, I’m fine with them. My only issue with them is that if I have a have a good chance of getting admitted to a top-50 college that meets 100% need, then why not take advantage of the opportunity?</p>

<p>I’m willing to make a low/average starting salary (hopefully it will grow with experience and promotions), as long as I get to work in the field (government).</p>

7

<p>You need to be realistic about the loan situation. The rule of thumb I hear most often these days is not to take out more in student loans that you would make in salary the first year out of college. So you need to take a look at Poli Sci/IR jobs and think about this.</p>

<p>You need to find an EFC calculator and run the numbers in it. “Qualify for government aid” does NOT mean someone else is going to cover all of your tuition. And schools that “meet all your need” often have (1) an unrealistic picture of how much your family will be able to pay (it is THEIR definition of your need, not your definition!), and (2) it can include a lot more in loans than you realistically should take out.</p>

<p>One thing to know about government jobs is that the payscale is often tied to education levels. You may need additional education (graduate school or law school) to move up that payscale. You don’t want to come out of your undergraduate program with so much debt that you can’t afford to consider graduate school.</p>

<p>Go ahead and apply to some top 50 schools. But also find some in-state (or state with reciprocity schools) that are more affordable, and maybe a couple of private schools that give good merit aid where you are in the top 25% of their statistics pool. If you get your SAT score up, you might find some of those private schools in the 50-ish ranking range. You want to have some choices that are affordable; going deeply into debt for an undergraduate degree in the social sciences just isn’t a smart move.</p>