Hey, I am a rising senior in the Greater D.C. area, and I attend a pretty competitive school. The schools around me are similar in that regard. I feel like I am behind in my resume and would like some opinions on which college I should apply to, as well as some safety schools I should consider. I also plan to apply to schools in Europe, so advice for that would be helpful. I would like to study International Relations with a minor in a language ( I am taking Arabic next semester, so maybe that). I would like to stay in the D.C area, or East Coast, TBH, any advice or opinions would be helpful. I also plan to write my essay either about a phrase my mom would always say around me growing up, or about my second language and how being the only sibling who understands puts a huge burden on me.
-I have a 3.91 GPA (this should go up, I am taking two summer classes right now) and 4.65WGPA
-
My SAT score is really bad, like not even 1200 type bad, I am taking it in August again, but if I don’t do well, I will most likely go test-optional
-
I am an intern at a law office with one attorney.
-
I have been in mock trial for the past three years and will be captain my senior year. Last year, we got to the semi-finals for the state.
-
I am on the board for the UNICEF club at my school, and we were recently a part of a pilot program after being hand-selected by UNICEF USA.
-
I am the Vice President of a cultural club
-
I am the Vice President of Programming of my school’s Pre-Law class
-
I am on the operations team at my church
-I was a math tutor for a year
-
I am a mentor for freshmen as part of an accelerated program at my school
-
I did the Georgetown Pre-College program in International Affairs
-
I am in Latin Honors Society, Psi Alpha Honors Society, NHS, and plan to join Rho Kappa
-
I was in a mentorship with the women’s bar association for my state
-
I got an award from the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.
-
I have an AP award with distinction
-
I have 283 hours of volunteering hours
-
I have taken 8 Aps. 9: Gov (4), 10: Human Geo (5), U.S History (3), Psych (4), 11: World (5), Lang (3), Macro (4), Micro (3), 12: Comp Gov, Latin, Stats, Lit
-
I have done a DE in Intro to Human Rights, in which I got an A. I plan on taking two more next semester in Arabic and International Relations, and two more in my spring semester in Arabic and something else.
This is pretty long, but I feel like all of this looks like filler activities, but I’m not sure,e any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.
Do you have any colleges on your list so far? Which EU schools are on your list?
Do you have cost constraints, and if so, what is your budget, per year, for college?
3 Likes
What’s your SAI (if you don’t know, time to look into it!!) and your parents’ budget? And yes these are often quite different 
3 Likes
I’m moving this thread to the College Search & Lists forum. I think you will receive more responses there.
Your family budget for college is an important key ingredient in your search.
There are plenty of colleges that are either test optional or test blind that you should research. And you should try the ACT if you have time. It might be a better test for you.
American University remains test optional, and has a minor in Arabic…and your international relations interests should be covered there as well. BUT for this school…you must show demonstrated interest…go visit, do the infor session and tour, apply and then open and read all emails sent to you from the school, etc.
Not sure what your budget is…so it’s hard to say if American will meet it…
2 Likes
Your budget will matter quite a bit.
You mentioned that you are considering schools in Europe. This to me raises two questions.
First: Other than English do you speak any other languages well enough that you would be able to study in those languages? Alternately, do you speak any other languages well enough to just help you get around in a foreign city? If so which language(s)?
Also, have you considered universities in Canada? Whether this is feasible is likely to depend partly on your budget. Some universities in Canada are less expensive compared to US universities, but it is very, very rare for them to be free. Canada does have the advantage that for some of us it is closer compared to Europe.
Also, are you actually resident in DC, or are you resident in one of the other states that are close to DC (such as Virginia or Maryland)?
2 Likes
Your budget will matter - but a school like my daughter attended, College of Charleston, would be a great fit - if the school fits you (size, environment, cost), etc. It’s got the Mroz Institute - and is well connected - so you have a chance to meet ambassadors and other dignitaries. And for those in Honors, you can go to the DC Semester and work.
I don’t know if DC area is Maryland or Virginia - but VA has some great schools like Christopher Newport (one of the key people in the Trump public televised hearings the other year went there).
You might want a larger school like Delaware or URI or a private school like Dickinson.
We need to know what state you’re from, your budget or what your parents are willing to spend, and what you like - large, mid size, small? Urban, suburban, rural? Do sports matter? Greek life? Are religious schools ok? Things like that.
1 Like
I assume you’ll be applying to Sciences Po Reims and Sciences Po/Columbia as well as St Andrews?
You might want to look into the William & Mary/St Andrews joint program. International Relations is one of the six majors you can do in that program:
Then with interests in IR and Arabic, I assume you are already looking at George Washington and American (if not, you definitely should be!)
A little bit more outside the box suggestion would be Bucknell. People usually think of it for other purposes, but it actually has a robust and reasonably popular Arabic Studies major, which includes studying Arabic:
Or you can do it as a minor if you like.
Another with a robust program along those lines is SUNY Binghamton:
Again it is available as a minor as well.
1 Like