Small to mid-sized schools, West coast or NE, for Int’l Studies

College Search & Selection
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Hi. My son just finished junior year, and I’m hoping to get some input on his college search/possible majors.

The basics:
Race: White
Gender: Male
State: IL
HS: Public
Grad yr: 2022
GPA: 3.7UW/4.3W
Top 10% of class is about 4.5W, so best guess is he’s about top 15% of class?
ACT: 33 composite superscore (35S, 34R, 33E, 30M)
33 composite single sitting (35S, 34R, 33E, 28M) – intend to send ACT scores
SAT: 1420 (740 EBRW, 680 M) – intend not to send SAT scores
EC’s: HS soccer (not recruitable) and various theatre productions throughout the 4 years.
Some work experience
Budget: Likely full pay, so merit aid will be welcomed

Classes taken (H = honors) or will take senior year ():
English: 9H, 10H, AP Lang, AP Lit
German: 9, 10H, 11H, AP German*
SS: World History (regular), AP Euro, APUSH, AP Gov’t*, AP Econ (macro/micro)*
Math: Geometry H, Alg 2 (regular), Pre-calc (regular), AP Calc AB*
Sci: Bio H, Chem H, Physics H

Background:

  • Reasonably bright, fairly laidback, historically not the hardest worker (looks for the path of least resistance), definitely not detail-oriented. Prefers liberal arts over STEM classes. Teacher feedback has always noted good class participation.
  • His test scores outshine his grades. Based on Naviance, he has no chance at the most selective schools.
  • I think he keeps an eye on current events, but I don’t think of him as someone really into politics. Call himself a moderate on the political spectrum.
  • Says he doesn’t want a standard 9-to-5 office job (insert eyeroll here), but isn’t clear what types of jobs he might actually be interested in (he has mentioned airline pilot – can’t tell if he’s serious about that, nor do I know what’s involved with going that route). I’m not sure what jobs would be available with a liberal arts major; I imagine a number eventually go on to law school, grad school, or teaching, but my son claims not to be interested in those routes at this point.

Possible majors:

  • He definitely wants to continue taking German classes (probably more interested in German Studies than in German literature) and do study abroad. I have noticed that German seems to be a major on the decline, headed for obsolescence? I think he’d be fine with schools that offer only German minors (no majors), as long as he’s able to work on reaching/maintaining fluency.
  • Favorite HS classes include German and social studies classes (AP Euro in particular). Doesn’t know what he wants to major in, but I have suggested something along the lines of International Studies or European Studies. He might be willing to consider International Business, though I’m not sure if some foundational classes might be more quantitative than he would care for.

The search criteria:
Here are the parameters I’m trying to work with, which admittedly are a little jagged:

  • Says he does not want to go to a big state school. For several years, said he saw himself at a LAC, but now seems to be leaning more toward a mid-sized school. OK to include Catholic schools on the list.
  • Does not want to stay in the Midwest (too close to home and too “boring”) and does not want to go south of the Mason-Dixon line.
  • Expresses love of mountain views or other scenic vistas. I think he prefers a more outdoorsy setting over an urban setting. Has CO or PNW top of mind, even though he’s never been to PNW before.
  • Does NOT want a SJW LAC
  • Bonus points for schools with club/intramural spikeball/soccer and/or drama productions where he might be able to get a role
  • Greek system: neutral. My preference would be less Greek, the better, but probably not a deal-breaker
  • Will most likely apply EA when possible (unlikely to use ED at the reach schools, even though it would certainly increase chances of admission)

Schools under consideration:
CO: Univ of Denver, Colorado College (reach).
Will also look at Colorado State as one example of a big state school.
WA: Gonzaga, Whitman, Puget Sound
OR: Portland, Lewis & Clark, Willamette
NY: Syracuse, Hamilton (reach)
While in NY, may also take a quick peek at a subset of Hobart, Colgate (reach), Union, Skidmore
VT: Univ of Vermont (may chop this. Just saw UVM plans to eliminate German as a major.)
ME: Bates (reach)
PA: Bucknell, Lafayette, Dickinson
Local:Will throw in an app somewhere, perhaps Marquette or Butler

Schools he as shrugged off to date:
OR: Reed (too … intellectual?)
MN: Macalester (high match/reach?), but he has shrugged that off (too urban for him?) Carleton College (reach) also too intellectual? I’ve also mentioned St. Olaf.
CA: I realize the list has no CA schools, but we don’t have anything against CA per se. He has shrugged off schools like Santa Clara, Univ of San Diego, and Occidental (not interested in LA). Unlikely to get out to CA to visit any schools in person.

He hasn’t visited any schools yet; we’re trying to organize a few trips this summer. Seems like we have too many schools on the list right now but without the visits, he is having a hard time distinguishing differences between LAC’s. I can neither fully explain nor fully defend some of his criteria. The optimist in me assumes that wherever he lands, he’ll figure things out. If you made it this far, thanks for reading; any input on schools/majors would be appreciated. Thanks.

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These have German majors and some interesting features:

Boise State, with Treasure Scholarship, for a safety.

Dickinson, a LAC in PA. German | Dickinson College

“ The Department of German is one of the top departments of German in the U.S. We have between eight and ten majors and minors each year. In recent years, we have had students receive DAAD fellowships to study abroad in Bremen and graduating seniors return to Germany as Fulbright English Teaching Assistants.”

Christopher Newport University- has competitive Presidential scholarship with study abroad stipend.

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DU sounds like a good match for him, but it is urban. It has a lot of grass and is fairly contained, but does have a city street that runs down the middle of campus and a light rail station on the edge. It definitely ‘feels’ like a campus, but so does Macalester, and I think most students would consider themselves outdoorsy. DU has great international studies programs and a majority of students do study abroad for half or all junior year. U of San Diego is really nice.

I wouldn’t think Colorado College a good fit for him. It’s on the block system so requires students to hit the ground running for each block, and if he’s ‘relaxed’ and taking the path of least resistance (I get that, I really do) he might not like how intense it is for each course. I think they allow language majors to do things a little differently, but, for me, it would be hard to take languages as a block for more than one or two blocks and then lay off for the next 5 blocks. Just my opinion. They do have language majors at CC so some people must think it’s fine.

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Did I miss your state?

American for sure - if you demonstrate interest, it’s not bad.

A little bit South of the Northeast but College of Charleston. They have the international scholars program which is a small cohort that you might qualify for (my daughter is in it). For that fact, a little West is Miami Ohio - both are like liberal arts type vibes - one in the city, one as a stand alone and both give merit.

Occidental in CA - not sure on merit.

Richmond, Dickinson, Gettsyburg, Rochester, Skidmore. Elon too - a bit south but lots from the North East.

Also, Lewis & Clark and U of San Diego.

Good luck.

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If you are looking for merit, you should really be looking at some safeties. For example, Syracuse, bucknell, Lafayette are going to be expensive if he gets in. My son got into Syracuse with a 3.6 UGPA, but even with merit it was way too much $. His twin was actually getting calls from the Lafayette track coach, but even with higher stats was told there wouldn’t be any money.

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I was thinking of UVM too. Tufts is good for international relations, but maybe too urban. Look at Colleges that Change Lives website-?

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This source may be helpful for refining your son’s current choices and for further ideas: Best Colleges for International Relations/Studies.

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Vassar, Connecticut College and Wesleyan; great for regional/international studies, finding yourself. Make acceptance rates are significantly higher at Vassar and Conn College.

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DU = University of Denver might be a great match school.

Colby College in Maine, but it might be too small.

SMU = Southern Methodist University (Dallas, Texas). German language is available.

Wake Forest University (North Carolina).

St. Lawrence University in extreme upstate New York (think Canada) should / might offer a merit scholarship of approximately $30,000 per year. Offers International Studies, Int’l Economics, German Studies, lots of study abroad options.

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Thanks for the suggestions so far. Collectively, the comments have given us some points to consider and other schools to look into.

I’ve also just rediscovered the College Navigator website, which has been helpful in showing the number of students majoring in various programs; this makes it easy to quickly spot what programs are strengths (or at least popular) within universities. For example, I had no idea just how dominant of a major IR is at American U (which was on the list in merc81’s link).

Some highly-selective schools like Tufts and Colby, unfortunately, will definitely be out of reach for my son, based on the Naviance scattergrams for his school.

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You might be interested that, with Hamilton and St. Lawrence, these schools compose the New York Six: https://www.newyork6.org/.

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Great. I didn’t realize those NY LAC’s had their own consortium. Thanks.

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You might want to consider Gettysburg College (2600 enrollment). Excellent in International Studies with the major enhanced by programs sponsored by the Eisenhower Institute, which has offices both on campus and in Washington, DC. It does have a major in German, which includes study abroad through the Center for Global Education. The Office of Experiential Education makes sure that outdoor experiences are part of a student’s education at Gettysburg, beginning with the pre-orientation Ascent program, for which students arrive on campus a week before regular orientation to engage their choice from a variety of outdoor experiences. Various expeditions and programs are available around the world throughout a student’s 4 years.

Ithaca College (6800 enrollment) offers a major in International Business as well as one in German. Located in a great college town known for its location on Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate NY, for its waterfalls and gorges, and for its easy access to outdoor activities. The Appalachian Mountains are to the south in Pennsylvania and the Adirondack Mountains to the north.

Bard College (1900 enrollment) in Annandale-on-Hudson is a place he’d probably either love or hate. For someone who loves scenic vistas and mountains, it has that in spades. The views of the Hudson River with the backdrop of the Catskills Mountains inspired a whole Hudson River School of painters. Known as a very artsy place (it has an entire Division of the Arts), it also has majors in both Global & International Studies and German as well as a Division of Social Studies. He might just love the opportunities for involvement in theater. The campus is beautiful and has been compared to a medieval village.

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I missed the part on urban - so Charleston is very urban. I think Tufts is a super reach for this student - so while it’s fine to apply, I would not bank on it.

Holy Cross could work (jesuit) in Mass.

Anyone mention Pitzer, one of the Claremont Colleges. U of Pacific out west.

Good luck.

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This might make your list longer rather than shorter, but I am wondering if he should explore applying to some Honors Colleges at larger state schools. Some of the less selective state schools have tried to woo top students with Honors Colleges that operate like their competitor liberal arts colleges. In the most comprehensive Honors programs, students live in Honors College housing, attend small seminar style classes just for the Honors students and get special advising and internship and study abroad opportunities. It might be a great fit for someone who is bright and likes discussion classes and wants to travel — plus he can get scholarship, networking, and mentoring perks not available to the typical student.

Puget Sound has an Honors College with study abroad options and the campus is beautiful. It is unusual for a LAC to also have a separate Honors College, but Puget Sound has both that and some other atypical features — like a Business program and Data Science. So I would definitely keep that one on the list.

But he might also consider Barrett Honors College at Arizona State. (Watch one of their intro videos on YouTube; he may fall in love.) They have great study abroad options. https://goglobal.asu.edu/content/asu-barrett-germany-and-switzerland-finding-frankenstein-monster-and-ourselves

Clark Honors College at University of Oregon might be a good option, also.

Maybe even the Honors Program at Western Washington University? It offers a German major and is mid-size in a lovely outdoorsy setting with no Greek system. I don’t know if it checks his other boxes, though.

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University of Denver will be a great match. but please look to similar options too.

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OP wrote: “Says he doesn’t want a standard 9-to-5 office job”.

No problem. Everything is 8-to-6 with expected overtime now.

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Kalamazoo :slight_smile: – small but with acccess to large WMU across the street.
St Olaf, UDenver
Seconding Dickinson, College of Charleston

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I’m working 8-2 (AM)…Not straight though - but probably 14 hours a day. Plus I travel 3 nights a week. I really need a new gig. Anyone hiring :slight_smile:

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I don’t think I’ve seen anyone mention Middlebury. While definitely a reach for anyone, it does seem to check a few of the boxes you’ve mentioned, especially strength in languages.

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