<p>morrismm, the five year dual degree programs are for students pursuing degrees in both engineering and either business or the liberal arts. its basically a dual major, but is structured as a five year program given engineerings extensive degree requirements.</p>
<p>anyway…</p>
<p>1) i am almost certain that financial aid will be available for your fifth year of study. and i only say ‘almost’ because i dont actually know anyone who failed to graduate in four years.</p>
<p>2) if youre getting a political science major (which has international and comparative politics options), minoring in international relations really isnt necessary. that said, it should be possible. it wouldnt kill your ability of have a social life, either, as thats kind of the point of completing both sets of degree requirements as part of a five year program instead of a four year one. (and you might not even need five years if youll have a good number of ap credits.) that said, as an engineering student there probably will be the occasional weekend in which it will be very unwise to be, uh, social.</p>
<p>3) in terms of financial aid, all need-based aid is, well, based on the financial need of your parents. each school to which you apply is going to calculate and potentially meet that need somewhat differently (for example, bucknell is different than most schools in that it excludes equity in your primary home but consequently assesses income/other assets at a higher rate), but this calculator is a good place to start:</p>
<p>[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculator - Finaid)</p>
<p>getting your parents to fill this out NOW (select ‘institutional methodology’ in the ‘need analysis methodology’ box) will get you an idea of how much a typical good private school is going to expect your parents to pay out of pocket each year. (that is, federal loans are going to help meet your need, not your parents expected contribution.) if the number is impossibly high, then its going to be important that you target schools with good merit aid opportunities, affordable sticker prices or exceptional financial aid policies (like those at harvard, yale and princeton). thats not to say you have to take all other schools off your list, but the last this you want come next spring is offers of admission from six schools you cant afford and one safety school you can but dont really like.</p>