I am a rising senior from Oregon looking into colleges to apply to. I am thinking I want to study political science and eventually work for some part of the government. I am interested in the international relations branch of poly sci as well. What are some good universities I should look at that are not all the way across the country from me and would still give a solid education. Although not necessary, I love sports and would love a college where there is a solid program of something, but this is not a deciding factor, just preferred. Any recommendations?
It might help if you give your budget and financial aid situation and some general idea of your college admission credentials, so that others can avoid naming those which are unrealistic from a financial or admission situation for you.
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Thank you for the recommendation! Okay so I’ve done some price calculators and have learned that my parents make too much to be able to qualify for a lot of finical aid, however, although I have some money saved for college, I still will have to pay for the majority, so I am looking for scholarships and such. However, money is not the biggest problem for me, and I would like to find some schools that are not absurdly expensive, I am looking for some which I will thrive in, aside from financial ideas. Currently I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA and am enrolled in AP’s as well as dual credit courses through my high school. I participate in two sports, soccer and tennis, and am involved in young life and my church, however, other than that I don’t have an astounding amount of extracurriculars. Does this help?
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What is the amount that you and your parents can pay without taking loans?
Large scholarships are typically more available at colleges where you would be at the top of the admission class, since colleges use them to attract the most desirable (to them) admitted applicants.
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I talked to my mom and she said we have about 50K in a fund for college. I know I will have to pay for tuition myself (with the help of the fund), and then my parents are still pondering on other costs such as housing and who will pay them. I have also looked into the WUE scholarship which I think I would apply for, which would save me money at many of the less competitive schools in the west.
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$50k means $12.5k per year… and if your parents are unable to pay for living expenses, that means that you need to look for very large scholarships in your college search.
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I strongly recommend starting a new thread in the “chance me / match me” category. You’ll be presented with a template—please fill it out. It provides useful information that will help others give you better guidance.
Thanks.
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@Payton_Taylor if this is your real name, I would suggest you change it asap. Here is how:
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If I were interested in International Relations, and wanted to stay on the West Coast, and were looking for merit aid, I’d start with 2 colleges - Whitman in Walla Walla, Washington and Occidental in LA. Both offer a major in Politics within which you can focus on courses in government and international relations.
At Whitman, you can supplement that with a concentration in Global Studies which offers an internship in a foreign country in addition to its coursework in Global Studies.
At Occidental (where President Obama spent his first 2 years of college), you can choose to major in either Politics or Diplomacy & World Affairs (a rare undergraduate major), the latter which includes the opportunity to access high level internships with a variety of U.N. agencies and diplomatic missions while living and taking courses in New York City. A double major of Diplomacy + a foreign language is an excellent option.
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What does this mean? Are you (the student) going to have to pay for the majority of your college costs? If so, how much can you contribute annually.
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By way of example, the Korbel School at the University of Denver is excellent for International Relations:
But it is also very expensive full pay. However, they do have merit:
However, their max merit award is $36K annually, $33K if you live off campus, although there is also an additional $5K (not actually sure if that is one-time or annual) if you apply ED.
However, DU also has need aid. So for that, you need to check their Net Price Calculator:
OK, so is DU an option for your application list? Maybe! It depends on what your family can actually contribute in costs, whether merit alone could get you there, or if it would take need aid, and if so will they give you enough.
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Do you live close enough to any four-year school to commute from home? How about community colleges? You have a tight budget, so it would be helpful to know what your “financial safety” is, and something local may work best for this. The community college path would preserve your college savings to cover two years away from home rather than four, which may be more realistic budget-wise than living on campus all four years. (That said, it can be tougher to get merit aid as a transfer student; you’d most likely be looking at in-state or WUE public U’s as transfer destinations.)
I was thinking about Whitman as well. They will give a merit pre-read, which could be an opportunity to gauge where you stand with this school and others that are similar.
In terms of merit-hunting, it might be worth applying to see how much merit you can get from Willamette U, which is great for your interests given its adjacency to the Oregon State Capitol, and the resulting opportunities for involvement that students have access to. Not sure if there’s a way for this to add up financially, but as private colleges that give merit go, it seems like a good one to try.
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First thing you nee to do is discuss with your parents and come up with a realistic annual budget.
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A public university instate is about 20-35k.
For Poli sci/IR, UO should be on your list - with your gpa, you can aim for the UO Honors College if you have decent rigor (math through precalc or calc, 3-4years foreign language, bio/chem/physics, 4 years of honors English possibly with AP Lang, world/european history and US history +1-2 other history/social science, and some courses that show what you’re passionate about academically.) That would likely come with a scholarship that could make UO affordable.
(Note: you’re limited to 5.5k loans for freshman year.)
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University of Oregon cost is listed at Cost of Attendance | Financial Aid & Scholarships , which puts it at the high end of the range above. Commuting from parents’ place usually has lower living expenses (but not $0, although parents are often more willing to subsidize that so that it looks like $0 to the student compared to the cost of living on or near campus).
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I was about to suggest Whitman and Willamet, but I see @aquapt beat me to it.
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Although there will be OOS costs, UCSD has a great Poli Sci and International Relations program.
You may want to also check out some “local” schools like UO or OSU. Maybe UW?
UW is a great school, but I don’t see it getting to this student’s price point. They only give teeny tiny amounts of merit to OOS students (of course every little bit is appreciated, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to UW OOS tuition). UCSD, similar problem, of course.
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No way UCSD or UDub will be affordable.
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Yes, if price is a huge factor, I agree. UO or OSU would be the best bet within the price range.