What state are you a resident of? If New York, I would swap out Stony Brook and replace it with SUNY Albany as the latter does have Russian majors and as the state capital, there are also a lot of international/global-looking opportunities there as the state tries to attract investment from foreign countries/companies.
With your interests, I’m surprised by a number of the schools on your list, and I’m surprised that some other schools haven’t made it on.
If this was my list with the preferences you’ve mentioned, these would probably be my ruthless cuts:
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
Temple
U. of Delaware
Likely (60-79%)
SUNY Stony Brook (49% admit rate for students entering in fall 2022)
U. of Vermont
Toss-Up (40-59%)
American (depends on how much demonstrated interest you show)
Very concise breakdown. I was wondered about U Del because I have heard a few stories over the last couple of years about students being waitlisted. But it could just be the area I live in, or hearsay, or confusion.
I think the Low Probability category could be narrowed down more to Very Low Probability, especially for Bowdoin, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, and U Penn.
@AustenNut just saw your suggestions. Very nice ideas there!
The first thing to do is to make sure that you have at least two solid safeties.
I expect you to get in to Stony Brook in-state. I think that it is a very good choice. I am not sure whether it is quite a safety. Has your guidance counselor commented on this? They should know better than I.
This looks very likely to me, but I do not know it well.
I am thinking that UVM is quite likely. Again I am not quite sure whether it is quite a safety, but “target” seems either correct or even a bit cautious. It is a bit expensive out of state unless you qualify for a merit scholarship, but this does look likely to me also. Their NPC did accurately predict merit aid for an out of state student many years ago when I ran it.
Otherwise I think that you have a good list, but it is long. You should make sure that you leave at least two safeties on your list, and then try to figure out which of the other schools are likely to be a good fit for you. Then prioritize your applications to your safeties and to whichever schools you think would be the best fit.
And make sure that you and your parents are okay with the likely costs of these schools. You should be trying to avoid debt if you possibly can. Leaving some $$ in the bank for some combination of graduate school and study abroad would be even better if it is possible.
Seton Hall has a School of Diplomacy and Intl Relations. Probably the best program at the school and regularly puts people at the UN for internships
Pitt is a good size, has good grad programs in this area and a new co-major in Global Studies. Tons of languages. Larger, but doesn’t feel huge, and a great city to be in for college. Too far???
OP, there was a lot of great advice in the post to which I am responding. I would particularly emphasize I think you should take a long look at the University of Denver, which has a great IR school (Korbel). I also think American is a great fit for you and you should really consider a lot of focused interest on them.
I would only suggest a couple alternative ideas given an interest in IR:
Personally, I would cut Richmond and Trinity rather than Macalester. Macalester is a really cool option for IR that seems to me to maybe fit better what you are looking for.
I would also strongly consider adding William & Mary to your list, possibly the joint program with St Andrews.
Lehigh’s overall admit rate for fall 2022 was 37%, but it was 34% for RD. For the fall of 2023, the acceptance rate was 29%.
Trinity’s overall admit rate for fall 2022 was 36% (RD and overall). For the fall of 2023, the admit rate dropped to 28% (source).
For both schools, those admit rates are definitely in the 20-40% bucket, and your background does not make me think that those numbers are unrealistically high or low for your particular situation.
I would add that since IR is interdisciplinary, it’s likely that each school has a different emphasis or strength, even if they all have a major labeled IR. (This isn’t a major I’m super familiar with, but in general that’s going to be the case with interdisciplinary fields of study.)
So while you are at it, I would take a look at each school’s curriculum for its IR major. You might be able to cross off a few schools that way. Or you might see certain schools that are just perfect.
It might feel time consuming to do this for every school on your list, but it’s going to be a LOT more time consuming to actually apply to the schools.
I don’t see Stony Brook as a true safety- I see it as a very strong match, but I do think you will be accepted. More like a “safe match.”
American is a match (not a safety), BU is a reach, Wesleyan is a reach, Lehigh is a reach, UMd is a low reach, Richmond is a reach, UW Seattle is a match.
I would add another sure bet school and trim this list- there are too many reaches.
It’s a high reach if you apply regular decision. If you decide to apply to UMD, apply in the early round where they accept about 90% of their incoming class.
American University does not like to be a “safety” for “overqualified” applicants. If you are such an applicant, you are likely to get a wait list or reject unless you apply ED.
Since your goal is a career in journalism, I think that you should consider starting over and looking at colleges and universities which offer the opportunity to triple major or to double major and add a minor. Focus on international relations / international affairs/ Russian studies/ Latin American Studies/ etc. and journalism as your two primary majors while also studying one or two foreign languages.
The College of William & Mary offers a joint degree program with St. Andrews University in Scotland. Must apply specifically to this program. 2 years at Wm. & Mary and 2 years at St. Andrews.
Georgetown, Northwestern, University of Missouri, ASU (Arizona State University), College of William & Mary/St. Andrews, U South Carolina (International Business), University of Georgia, GWU, American University, U Denver, JHU, Ole Miss Croft Institute, Middlebury College, and several others.
A master’s degree in journalism (Northwestern Medill or Columbia) should be considered if you cannot satisfy all of the above during your undergraduate career.
Scroll down to bottom right where it suggests double majoring. Very easy to double or triple major at Northwestern University.