Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): Granny went to UDub, Mom went to Duke undergrad and UDub grad, Dad went to Cornell
Intended Major(s): History, political science, and philosophy were the three I usually listed in commonapp, international relations as #1 if it was an option (planning to pursue master’s in IR)
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.97
Weighted HS GPA: 4.26 (each AP, IB course gets +1 point on a 4 scale. ex. An A in an AP class is worth 5 points, B+ is 4.5, B is 4, etc.)
Class Rank: 1 (weighted rank, though, probably shared by 1/4-1/3 of my class)
ACT/SAT Scores: 1530 SAT
Coursework
Freshmen can’t take APs at my High School
AP Euro (3) and AP Gov (5) sophomore year
Full IB Program junior and senior year
7 in IB Math AI SL junior year, currently taking AP Calculus AB
Latin all four years of high school, currently taking IB Latin HL
Awards
Bronze medal on National Latin Exam (10th grade)
Silver medal on National Etymology Exam (11th grade)
Sons of the American Revolution Good Citizenship Award (11th grade) (does this belong in my awards section???)
Extracurriculars
Highest rank in JROTC-type program, in charge of local unit (plan and carry out monthly drills), staffed multiple cadet trainings, directly responsible for 60 cadets at home unit and 10-30 at trainings.
Black belt in martial arts. Took classes since I was 8, earned black belt at 15. Attend weekly classes, proficient at grappling and sparring
Student instructor at martial arts classes for kids 5-10 4x a week. Leads large class groups and works in small groups with students on grappling and techniques. (Unpaid)
Attended Boys State. Was City Party Chair, in Cabinet, City Party Nominee for Lieutenant Governor.
Job: Aide at after school daycare program. Checks kids in, feeds snack, provides entertainment. I bring my Rubik’s cubes and teach them how to solve them if they’re interested.
Parliamentarian in school Junior Classical League chapter. Rewrote parts of the constitution so they’re more specific and up-to-date, writing new amendments to abide by national level protocol. Helps plan club events.
President of History club. Plans club meetings, makes presentations to present
Counselor at a summer camp for trans kids. (unpaid)
Essays/LORs/Other
Commonapp essay was about my love for spreadsheets and how I use them to collect data and make graphs about things that I’m curious about to answer my own questions. I wrote about how my love for Eurovision and my fascination about all the numerical data led me to making my Eurovision spreadsheet to track data for fun. I also wrote about my spreadsheet listing and organizing all the books I own, and what it taught me about my reading interests/habits.
I’m incredibly hard on myself and I think everything I write in general is passable at best, but everyone who read my essays said they were good. I put time and effort into them, and I think they’re reflective of that
LOR #1 from 10th grade AP Euro teacher, who was also my IB EE supervisor and the sponsor of History club, which I’ve been in all of high school
LOR #2 from 11th grade English teacher, who I admired and who I know really liked me. He said he had a lot of great stuff to write about
Cost Constraints / Budget
Can pay in full, but will apply for need-based financial aid
Schools
(I don’t really know how to categorize these, but here’s the list):
Even though a bit dated at this point, I always like to recommend this Foreign Policy list of the Top 50 undergraduate programs in IR. I just think it is a particularly interesting methodology, and it helps generate some leads that are less selective than the usual suspects:
One obvious observation is William & Mary is a great option for IR. They also have a cool dual degree program with St Andrews (you spend two years each place), and I always think that is potentially a great opportunity for IR intenders (it is one of the six allowed majors/courses). Generally I think William & Mary is likely to be a very good fit for the sort of person who truly loves spreadsheets. In fact, although the vibe may be a bit different, I think it is a cousin of Chicago in the sense that is unabashedly a college for kids who like to nerd out about their passions.
Another observation is George Washington and American are great IR colleges, and somewhat easier admits. Of course DC is arguably the world center for IR, so it makes sense. You can check out their NPCs to see what aid you might get.
The last specific college I suggest you check out is the University of Denver. They have a great IR school (Korbel), obviously Denver is a great place to go to college, and they have a very robust merit program.
I think you have a realistic chance at many of these schools. However, for UMich, UVA Duke and the Ivies, I would be concerned about GPA.
It sounds like at lot of people at your high school all get the same high grades and I’m sure these colleges know that so your 3.97/4.2+ may not carry as much weight. Plus, being from wealthy, well educated areas like NoVa doesn’t help because of the competition from everyone else from NoVa.
So, submit them and see what happens. You have good ECs and good rigor and great SATs. W&M might be the sweet spot.
But, I agree with the poster above about schools like GW and American especially if you are full pay.
However, applicants to these schools who appear “overqualified” need to find a way to show substantial level of interest, particularly in terms of showing that they are not being applied to as “backups” or “safeties” behind Georgetown (or American behind George Washington).
I submitted Pitt with my early applications, but I screwed up with sending my SAT scores, so they only got my completed application at the end of November. I haven’t heard back yet.
I went to William & Mary for Model UN conferences in middle school. I haven’t done an official tour or anything, but I felt like I got a good sense of the campus and the vibe when I visited.
Very true and much more so with American. They seem to have an inferiority complex and demand lots of interest to the point of tracking emails.
My son is a Capitol hill staffer and sees lots of American GW W&M UVa and Georgetown interns and grads and the American students do very well on the hill. But they will outright reject without interest.
Yeah, if the OP decided American was their top remaining choice, and the NPC checked out, it could work out really well to ED II (due January 15 it appears).
If American is just buried deep on their list somewhere–well, it might not happen at American, because American understandably does not want to wait around for such people to reject them.
Which is fine, particularly if the idea is to get a Masters eventually anyway.
So, from the colleges’ perspectives, you applied to Pitt late November (I’m assuming that’s when they received your SATs, not when you sent them? The date that counts is when they received all the pieces), and you have not visited William and Mary.
Both are possibilities, but neither guaranteed.
Have you done anything else to demonstrate interest for William and Mary? Online info session or anything?
Yeah the date Pitt has for my completed application is 11/29.
I haven’t done anything to show interest for William & Mary. I think it might be close to being a safety, though nothing is certain. When I look at Naviance for my school, everyone above a certain threshold of GPA/SAT is admitted, and I’m well within the group of admitted students.
I note William & Mary also has ED II (January 5, same as RD deadline). Which would make sense if the OP decided it was the perfect college.
And I think particularly for someone who liked Chicago, was interested in IR, and would get in-state tuition, that could well be a rational choice. Again, though, if the OP wants to keep open other preferred options, that to me is fine too.
Edit:
That sounds promising. It is possible those people also demonstrated interest, but I do think it would be logical if in-state students needed to do less of that–William & Mary will know they can make a very competitive offer to you.
If you can pay in full, you should expect that you will not receive any need based aid. Please be sure that your family is comfortable with the full price tag at all of your schools.
I agree you have a great shot at W&M (at the very least, make an official visit and join their mailing list) and UVA.
I’m not sure you have a true safety though beside Oregon State which isn’t really a university for what you’re interested in (they’re very good for Engineering, Environmental&Sustainability issues, etc.) I don’t know whether UDub would be a safety for your specific subjects of interest - I would think so but will let PNW specialists estimate thzt better than me.
Why not apply through UCAS or CommonApp? St Andrews would be a no-brainer for IR (#1 in Europe); though not a safety, depending on your IB score its fairly predictable; and Queen’s Belfast Liberal Arts course (=degree) with an IR concentration starting your 2nd year would be a great safety - much better than Oregon State for your chosen fields. They will need predicted IB score (with EE, CAS, TOK pts).
What does this mean? Do you “prefer” to be much less - because with your stats, you certainly can be.
I wouldn’t panic at a Chicago ED rejection. Your list is eclectic.
I suspect you’ll get in Oregon State, Pitt, Washington, Wisconsin, W&M, Rochester, Nova and unsure about the rest.
If you’re happy with those first schools - and all will be far less than full pay at a Cornell or Dartmouth type, etc; then it’s great.
If you want to spend less than $40K or $50K, those options are out there too that would be equivalent to a Pitt or Oregon State or either UW in your fields of choice.
My family has the ability to pay in full, but we want to see what we can get in terms of financial aid. College is pretty expensive. I know my parents have money saved up and make a fair amount every year, but I don’t want to unnecessarily burden them with paying for college when we might be able to get at least some of the cost knocked off, especially because I want to pursue a master’s. It’s just to try and ease the burden a bit. I’m fully expecting to not get very much in aid, but applying is worth potentially saving a bit of money.
If this is the case, then I suggest you make sure to include either in-state schools or OOS schools that offer merit (and it appears that you have, so you should be okay). If your financial situation is as you suggest, then you’re likely to get no more than a minimal loan ($5500 for the first year) and no federal grants for financial aid for schools that offer only need-based aid. And I would recommend turning down the loan if your family can afford to pay.
If you are living pretty comfortably you might not be eligible, most middle class families are not. I’ve had 3 in college at the same same, have never been eligible for FA. I think most fami,ies are usually surprised at what colleges think they can pay.
If you haven’t run the NPC at all of the schools on your list, I suggest you do so ASAP. Not too late to get a few more applications in at some more affordable schools if necessary.
