<p>This is a short breakdown of my stats:
SAT I (2250) - M: 720, CR: 770, Wr: 750
SAT II - Math II: 730, US History: 770, Spanish: 700
GPA - UW: 4.0, W: 5.25
Most rigorous course-load at a good public school in South Florida
APs (8 so far): four 4s and four 5s
ECs (not great): 500 volunteer hours, debate, political activism, etc.
URM: possibly (half Hispanic)
Income: below 100K</p>
<p>I know the ivies are an extreme reach, but what about the others? Do I need some more backup schools? I'm possibly looking to go into international relations, so does anyone know of any other schools similar to these that have good IR programs? I need help! </p>
<p>P.S. I know 13 schools is a lot of $$$ to apply, so maybe you could give me some suggestions about eliminating some as well? Thanks for your time.</p>
<p>before anyone can give you ideas, you need to figure out what you want.
There is no reason to apply to nearly every ivy. They are too different for you to like them all for any reason other than prestige</p>
<p>Do you want an open curriculum? Keep brown, knock of columbia. Do you want a core? do the opposite</p>
<p>figure out what you want…then ask for help…</p>
<p>Ok well I applied HYP simply because they are the top schools and there’s no sense in not trying … Also, I like the quasi-liberal arts atmosphere of Brown and Dartmouth, but Columbia is also appealing because of its location, diversity, and renowned faculty. So yes, they are different in terms of their curriculum, but each one is appealing to me in a different way.</p>
<p>There’s a lot of sense in not trying for HYP if you don’t really have a good reason to go to them other than “they are the top schools”. That doesn’t really mean much.</p>
<p>Also, with a perfect UW GPA and 2250, alongside being a URM, I think that just about anything is a reasonable reach to apply to.</p>
<p>I recommend getting a little focus on what you want out of your college experience and what environment you learn best in-- it’s hard to choose safeties and matches when your list appears to be a random smattering of top schools + your state public.</p>
<p>ok thanks
aside from visiting each school personally you can’t ever know a school thoroughly … how can really know what you’re going to like?</p>
<p>also,
I can’t see myself trying to muster 50K a year to go to a school outside of the top tier … GW is a good school but Florida might be better and it’s practically free</p>
<p>You have to do research-- it’s not about differentiating these schools through visits at this stage (at least, the stage it appears your at from your list), it’s about figuring out what you want. There is a difference between identifying what you want and where you want to be. Envision your ideal school and the qualities that make it your ideal school and seek those qualities. Anyone can find good reasons to go to just about any school, but you need to figure out what you specifically want.</p>
<p>I would recommend Swarthmore, which has a top 20 undergraduate IR program, in addition to the fact that it’s a LAC. But, if you’re looking for the city life and resources of a school like Harvard or Columbia, then it wouldn’t be for you.</p>
<p>I think that’s what the above posters have been trying to say: you should come up with some baseline traits you look for in colleges. There’s no harm in having one or two exceptions to that baseline; after all, that’s what finding the “best fit” is all about: give and take. For example, I’m generally interested in larger research universities near bigger cities, but I think one exception to that rule might be Davidson College, because I loved the campus, the presence of the honor system, and the overall attitude towards academics.</p>
<p>Check out Johns Hopkins. Is there any way you can visit some of these schools? If you visited all of them, you’d probably drop at least several because they just don’t appeal to you. With your stats, you’ll get into a lot of the schools you mentioned. I agree with whoever mentioned George Washington U. as a safety.</p>
<p>I actually visited Johns Hopkins but I wasn’t totally thrilled with it … I know I’m going to narrow this list down, but I have very diverse interests so they all appeal to me in some way. I was advised by another college student to apply to as many as you can (within financial limitations obviously) because the admissions process can be arbitrary and you never know where you’re gonna get accepted … </p>
<p>anyways thanks for posting your thoughts, they have been helpful so far.</p>
<p>I’ll join the chorus that says your list should be shorter, not longer-- especially since it seems you would be content with UF. You don’t need to go hog wild on reaches if you are happy with your safety.</p>
<p>Which four would you really, really hope you could go to? You can see yourself there, making the most of it, and enjoying it academically and socially. (I almost said really hope you could get into, but you might like to be able to say “I got into Stanford” but not really want to go that far or Dartmouth and deplore NH winters.) If you want, add two or three more that have something that intrigues you. If none of these is a match or safety, look for two or three of those.</p>
<p>You like the liberal arts atmosphere of Dartmouth and Brown-- add Chicago and Macalester and Kalamazoo to your list to investigate. If you get excited about any of them, apply.</p>
<p>You made a comment about $50K on anything but a top tier. Do the EFC calculator. Look at whether you would be a good candidaate for merit aid at some of the schools that have it. I understand not wanting to spend a lot of money unless it is for something truly special. But make sure it is for something that is especially good for YOU. remember you won’t know how much a school really costs until you ge</p>
<p>The University of Pennsylvania has a very broad IR curriculum (takes courses from parts of the University that other schools don’t let undergrads touch, or simply don’t have at all), and a rigorous set of requirements to graduate (including a year-long thesis). Graduates of the program go on to the best graduate schools and the most sought-after jobs in the private sector and the government–around the world.</p>
<p>It never shows up on the horribly flawed FP IR rankings etc because it doesn’t have a graduate program–it’s undergrads only. But the records of achievement of those undergrads speaks for themselves</p>
<p>You DEFINITELY need some more back up schools! the only one that seems like a safety is florida. look for schools that are less selective with good IR programs</p>
<p>Mix in a public school in there unless you want to go to schools with loaded classmates and people who are all geniuses. The University of Virginia offers, in my opinion, the best combo of academics (top 25), athletics (D-1, ACC), and social life (meaning vibrant partying), on the East Coast. You will find amazing students, skilled athletes, and people that party their brains out here. IR is a great major here (actually not a major but within Politics department we have a foreign affairs concentration).</p>