<p>Im an African American male with a 3.55 gpa, president solar cup at my school and frequetly volunteer at international missionary organization. I take my SAT/ACT in october and received a 600 on my u.s History and 580 on my literature SAT 2s, respectively i have had a few ap classes and scored mostly 3s. As a poly sci major i know my search wouldnt begin at the very top, but im not sure where to start.</p>
<p>I would start by having a conversation with your parents about what their expectations are for college and about their financial situation. You need to know both how much they can afford to contribute and, as the people who know you best, what they think should be important in your college search.</p>
<p>Second, you should do some reading about the kinds of schools that are out there and get a feel for what you might be interested in: your local state university (always a good starting point), liberal arts colleges, private universities, etc…If you don’t know what some of these schools are about, you can search on CC for more information and you can visit an example of a school of each type in your area to get a better feel. </p>
<p>The third step is to come up with a list of criteria that helps you narrow down a huge field to a group of schools that you can research in more depth. Offering a political science major would be just one of the criteria, which pretty much every school will be able to meet. Others are cost, size, geographic location, demographics, culture, selectivity, etc…</p>
<p>If this sounds like a lot of work, it is. To the extent your parents can help, take advantage of that. If they can’t help you, talk to your school guidance office and see what kind of support they can offer. Then come back to CC with your questions.</p>
<p>There is also a sub forum on the College Admissions page that focuses on African American students that you should find very helpful.</p>
<p>Good Luck to you.</p>