<p>well, i'm not a parent yet but i was hoping someone here might be able to offer some experience or advice.
i just got into rutgers, my state school, and i will automatically be offered admission into their honors program. the masters of public policy is something you apply into once you're in jr year of college. i will have taken AP Eng and US His and I'm in Ap Calc Ab, Ap euro, Ap french, and Ap Eng and Ap Govt and Politics this year. I am interested primarily in Political Science and would like to pursue english and french as well in college. I would like to make a career of advising politicians in areas of policy, probably not as a campaign manager, work for some NGO or think tank like Brookings, or teach at the university level. one of my goals in life is to get a PhD.
In college, I would like to have small classes, a close knit community, safe and beautiful surroundings, lots of interaction with professors, and a lot of opportunities to do internships in DC and do research, and also not too far from my home in central nj. and did I mention I want to avoid the type of cut throat atmosphere, and pretention of my large public high school.
i'm applying to
smith, bryn mawr, wellesley - to get the chance to live in a women's world that will never come again
williams
amherst
boston college (ea)
and possibly lafayette and georgetown.</p>
<p>my family is middle to upper middle class, (my parents are a lieutenant and a nurse) making a lot of money on paper because we live in central nj, but really not living as well the raw figure would make it seem. my parents have not saved anything at all towards college. i'm worried about getting financial aid.
So should i just go to rutgers and take advantage of this program? I would have no undergrad dept whatsoever. however, rutgers would NOT be my ideal college environment- it;s a large state school in a not so safe city that takes masses of not so amazing people, far from uva or umich. so any body have some worldly advice, or experience of this program?</p>