I very much enjoy languages, but Spanish no longer interests me. I’ll look into the subject test.
Following up on the IB discussion.
Universities may have listings on their own websites that help students in IB programs. For Georgetown see https://college.georgetown.edu/guide-to-prereg-AP-IB#IB
Hmmm…Perhaps for us it is a state educational requirement that as a result has been integrated into the IB curriculum.
OK, that makes sense. If you don’t intend to specialize in South America or Central America, then knowing another language would be good. Think of your geographical areas of interest and how they intersect with skills (CS/Russian, Economics of Development/French&African languages/Western Africa, Human Rights&Religion/Arabic/Gulf countries, terrorism/French&African Languages/Saharan and subsaharan countries…) in order to choose another language and jumpstart it. Having just one year of HS language will be pretty useless so think about an immersion program for instance, so you can cover 1+2 over the summer and complete level 3 in HS.
“pickpocket” made some fine suggestions and submitted a strong list of historical STEM universities which do not require foreign language background. However, if your goal is a government studies major you will usually be in a more traditional LA program.
If you feel comfortable in a STEM world, you can still look into STEM university programs where you can design your own programs. Your major might be in the social science areas like Psychology or Economics. Design the program to fit in a language minor and integrate some serious overseas studies and research. Plan your BS so you can go on to Georgetown, Tufts University, Woodrow Wilson or a Washington DC University for Masters.
Undergraduate admission to many of these universities may still be competitive as their average GPA’s are higher.
By way of example of this alternative approach, see https://www.wpi.edu/academics/departments/interdisciplinary-global-studies
Check out the University of St. Andrews. It has a top ranked IR department, it is loved by its students and best of all for you, they primarily accept applications based on test scores.
If you’ve maxed out your school’s Spanish offerings, I don’t think colleges expect you to find a way to continue that language. If you are interested in foreign service though, consider another language.
Re, American, they too have a very well-respected school of international service (top 10). With your high ACT, assuming a good application, you may get significant merit aid there. Last year, they gave 20k per year plus 10k per year if you apply to and are accepted to honors. I’m not sure what our S’s unweighted gpa was at the time he was accepted with the 20k (didn’t finish honors app) but he had senioritis and got at least a couple, maybe 3?, Bs 1st semester which would have lowered his 9-11 grade ~ 3.8 UW gpa (34 ACT). Anyway, AU might be a good school to look at. If you can visit, that’s a way to show interest. We visited over the summer when there wasn’t a tour and just left a card with his name, etc. we had called and they told us to do that.
@Lindagaf Lindagaf nails it, as usual. Well said.
@Lindagaf Excellent post. And in fact Steve Jobs didn’t even graduate Reed. I’ll take well rounded all day. This is life and it should be interesting. Well rounded. Well read and well fed.
And OP. You have a wonderful profile. Georgetown loves quirky things like teaching yourself a language. And demonstrating it with actual results like your work experience at the restaurant and subject test would be great.
However. Big but here. 4.0uw Val’s with 1530 sat 35 act with all the great ecs and leadership get waitlisted all the time. I know first hand. But give it a go and add lots of other choices. You’ve earned it. St. Andrews and GW are great options as mentioned.
Reed vs well-rounded. Well said. The Reed president once described an incoming class as a majority of outliers. Cal Tech, Harvey Mudd, Swarthmore, UChicago, Carleton, MIT, Grinnell. Not so vanilla.
If your school doesn’t offer another Spanish course, colleges will recognize that. Some colleges really favor IBD students, upping their admission chances for 10-30% in the RD round, but…although your GPA and test scores matter, your projected IB score is key. In order to reap the full benefit of the increased chances, you really need to get in the projected 38-42pt range, with a 40 or above for IVY and mini-IVY. I’m not sure if IBD is a benefit at Georgetown but UMich Ann Harbor, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, UT Austin and and Georgia Institute of Tech, among dozens more, have a considerable increased rate for IBD students.