Hey everyone,
I am a rising senior from MA hoping to major in International Relations. I have a good list of colleges I’m considering, but I really need to fine-tune this list and get a definite grasp of what colleges I’ll be applying to. If you have any recommendations for what colleges to add to my list or remove, that would be greatly appreciated!
My application would look like this:
-White female from MA
-GPA: 3.76 (4.5W)
-SAT: 2160 (800-CR, 590-M, 770-W)
-ACT: 32 (31-English, 27-math, 36-reading, 32-science, 29-writing)
-good ECs (lots of leadership)
-Hooks: first gen college student (using definition of first to graduate from college)
My current college list is:
Reaches:
-Middlebury
-UChicago (EA)
-JHU
-Georgetown (EA)
Matches:
-Emory
-Hamilton
-Colby
-U of Rochester
-Macalester
-William & Mary
-Colorado College
-Reed
-Carleton
Safeties:
-American
-Dickinson
-U of Denver
What I want in a College:
-preferably a school that isn’t very preppy/snobby
-intellectually curious students
-small to medium sized
-has a good campus feel
-has some school spirit (not so much rah rah football! But just school spirit as in students are proud and appreciative of their school, and aren’t always complaining)
-decent/good food
-grassy or tree-y (even if it’s in a city or something, just has like a nice quad area and nice buildings)
-has a good reputation (not really talking about oh this school’s ranked 20, and this school’s 25, but rather- is it respected by its peers, grad schools, and future employers?), also good reputation in my major (international relations/studies)
-good selection of languages
-good/great study abroad programs
-does it snow there? (Not as important, but I do love skiing so this is a want/bonus rather than a need)
Ok any recommendations would be great for colleges that would seem to fit me!
Mount Holyoke’s student body is 36% international, and it offers an unusually interesting, although highly competitive, selection of fully-funded international internships. Look into it, maybe?
As to Reed, just note that the ‘international relations’ major is an interdisciplinary major with a “home” department that you must choose: history, sociology, economics or political science. We only have one professor in political science who is devoted to international relations, but he is very, very good at what he does: research in nuclear politics (he has worked at the Pentagon too). That said, the other departments do offer a good mix of ‘international’ courses that meet the requirements of the interdisciplinary major. I am taking international trade and international environmental politics next year, for instance.
@katcollege Some of your matches are only paper matches. The admit rates are too low at Hamilton, Colby, William & Mary (OOS), Emory and Carleton to be true matches.
@International95 Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll look more into Mt Holyoke. And for Reed, I didn’t know that, but I’d probably choose political science for my home department.
@BatesParents2019 ok, so if these aren’t really matches, do you know of any that would be better?
I agree with other posters that you have more reaches in your list than you bargain for, due to admit rate, plus your math scores are well below the bottom quartile for many of these schools. And I’m not sure if first gen is going to be much of an advantage for you: it depends how it’s worded in the app (e.g. first gen to attend college), and it depends how colleges see the opportunities that you’ve had with respect to your parents’ occupations and income. It’s safer not to view that as a “hook”.
Reach: Chicago (high), JHU (high), Georgetown, Carleton, Middlebury, Hamilton, Emory, Colby, U Rochester.
Match: William & Mary (high), Colorado College (high), Macalester, Reed, American, Dickinson.
Safety: U Denver.
Everything changes if you need significant merit aid (from another thread). When your parents are finished shuffling their finances, the risk will remain that your EFC will be higher than you think, so having UMA-Amherst on your list is a must. Alabama is sensible, too. You’re going to require more financial certainty in your list, regardless of what your parents’ financial advisor cooks up. Run some NPCs when your finances are settled and let us know the results.
^^ unfortunately Reed may be a high match or low reach too now (although the median test scores of enrolled students has always been at the same level as those of, for instance, Middlebury and Vassar, which may indicate a very self-selected pool). The college has been experiencing dramatic increases in applications and this year faced an unusually high yield rate that is causing some… constraints. This will most likely lead to a smaller incoming class next year, which means a sharp drop in the acceptance rate for an already v. competitive pool.
@apple23 I hadn’t really considered them much since neither have my major (though Wesleyan has a certificate in IR), although a lot of my friends have visited Bowdoin and said it was great. Also, my twin sister has both on her list of colleges to look at and since we are visiting all our colleges together, I’ll probably end up visiting them anyway!
Clark University has a strong program, a top 25 model UN team and offers merit scholarships. Check to make sure it has enough green space.
Tufts has a top program focused on practice as well as theory. There is a diplomat in residence assigned by the State Department, a Tufts in Washington program that meets regularly with government officials, several study abroad sites, and program called EPIC taught by leading practitioners
Tufts is one of the “references” in the field. Requires a high level of language proficiency (either 3 levels above AP, or two languages at the equivalent of AP Level).
Note that both Bucknell and Gettysburg are “preppy”, as is HWS, which as per your first post is a characteristics you’d rather not have. I figure you’re flexible on that but would rather mention it.
Note that a college may not strictly have an International Relations major listed, but may have it under a concentration in Government/Political Science. That’s the case at Spelman, where Honors Students actually have a live-in Diplomat as the faculty in residence (the person changes every year).
@Mastadon I didn’t know that about Clark! I’ll check it out. Also, Tufts is great for IR but I figured it would be another reach (when I already have a lot) so I didn’t include it…if I get rid of any reaches I will probably add it @MYOS1634 Thanks for the heads up. And for the language learning at Tufts, that’s one of the things I’m looking forward to about IR, since I’ve always been fascinated by languages. Also the resident Diplomat at Spelman sounds really awesome!
