<p>I am starting to compile a list of schools to visit this coming summer, and I visiting:</p>
<p>Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Stanford
Brown
Columbia
Cornell
MIT
Dartmouth
UPenn
University of Chicago
Georgetown
Northwestern
Amherst
Bowdoin
Washington University
Duke
Johns Hopkins
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
University of Virginia
William and Mary</p>
<p>Well, there are a lot, but I want to make sure I find schools that aren't just great schools, but that are good for me, so I'd like to check them all out. However, the only problem with that list is that there is a severe absence of safety schools. I'm looking for safety schools that I could still enjoy going to if the other schools fall through.</p>
<p>I'm interested in international relations & political science and I prefer large schools (though not ridiculously huge) in urban areas (or at least a short train ride away from a large city).</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore this year, and yeah, I know, but I want to apply to those schools because I like them not just because they’re the top schools–I want to find the top schools that I like.</p>
<p>I could do that =)</p>
<p>GPA: 3.9 UW, 4.2 W</p>
<p>PLAN Score (mini-ACT): 31 (it’s out of 32, not 36)</p>
<p>Extracurriculars are rather extensive, 2 leadership positions this year, plus I’m looking at more next year</p>
<p>I’m applying to TASS this summer and a variety of other programs, and if that doesn’t work out, I’ll be interning for a US Senate campaign</p>
<p>Previous summers I have done a lot of volunteer work and interned for a state senator</p>
You seem to be missing Caltech, Emory, and Rice. You were trying to visit all of the USNWR top 20 schools, no? :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Check out American and GWU while visiting Georgetown. While I hesitate to say that they are still safeties for anyone, they could certainly be matches.</p>
<p>Why would you want to attend MIT if you want to major in political science? Do they even have a international relations major? There’s no harm visiting, of course, since it’s only about ten minutes from Harvard.</p>
<p>Mapquest all of these and break it into visits that will help. MIT is odd on your list, frankly I’d drop it, but that’s your call. If you look at Dartmouth, look at Middlebury maybe instead of Amherst. Look at American and GWU in addition to Georgetown on that visit. When you look at Northwestern and Chicago, I’d drop ND (unless you are Catholic and legacy) and instead take a look at Macalester, St. Olaf and Carthage near the Twin Cities. If you actually manage to get to Maine, you should visit all 3, Bowdoin, Colby and Bates. Why just Bowdoin on your list? Maine is not really urban so does not fit your last “desire” of being in an urban area. It does at first glance, however, look like you spent two much time looking at the USNWR rankings. Spend alittle time on the websites of the individual colleges and you might be able to organize your list relative to you wants and needs abit better and perhaps isolate some regional groupings. Make sure whatever your first trip ends up being you look at big and small, rural and urban, LAC and uni…that there should help trim focus your list more. You don’t say where you are regionally, but maybe start in your own “backyard” with a few “day trips.”</p>
<p>GWU practices Tufts syndrome big time, so it’s not a safety. I don’t know about American.</p>
<p>I think that University of Wisconsin Madison is the ideal safety if you are competitive for the top schools. It is in the state capitol of Wisconsin. It’s rolling admissions and primarily numbers based if you are way off the charts. If you apply in September, and have the goods, you will hear very quickly.</p>
<p>I think that you should spend some time visiting each of those school’s websites to immediately cross some off your list (maybe do it over the holiday break). Do each school’s online/virtual tour, check out their IR and poly sci departments’ webpages, check out the school’s housing, look at what the school’s offer recreation-wise, etc.</p>
<p>Once you do that, you can probably cross of at least half of your list.</p>
<p>Is money no object?</p>
<p>*I prefer large schools (though not ridiculously huge) in urban areas (or at least a short train ride away from a large city).
*</p>
<p>What is your home state?</p>
<p>Safeties…
UTexas
UWisconsin
UFlorida (not in a big city)
U Miami</p>
<p>Wisconsin and Michigan are generally the fallback schools for people of your caliber. Pretty dang good schools that are a ton of fun to go to. Check em’ out especailly Madison, where i am going next year, as it has an amazing poli sci program and the state capital is only five or so blocks from campus.</p>
<p>Posters with “mom” in their screen names very often know what they’re talking about. So listen to mom2collegekids. It simply is not practical to visit all the schools listed in the original post. </p>
<p>But you’re right about needing safeties – and match/“likely” schools, too. At this time of year, you can begin to read about kids with amazing credentials being deferred or rejected outright from Ivies and other top schools. Keep in mind that top public flagship universities (UVa, Michigan, etc.) can be just about as selective as the Ivies for OOS students (and much stingier with finaid.)</p>
<p>Pitt, UMiami, American U. sound good. Maybe USC and NYU also. These probably are not all safeties, but fall somewhere in the match/likely zone depending on your credentials. If you are willing to consider a smaller school, Macalester is an urban LAC, less selective than Amherst or Bowdoin (but still competitive), and known for attracting many international students. If you want someplace more conservative, larger, or in a warmer climate, check out Wake Forest (again, not a safety, but perhaps a good match.)</p>
<p>The top schools that aren’t in big cities are on there because of parental influence–they’d like me to at least look at them. My top three choices would be:</p>
<p>Georgetown
Columbia
Harvard</p>
<p>But as we all know, Harvard isn’t easy for anyone to get into, nor is Columbia, though Georgetown is a little better, it’s still difficult…</p>