<p>I’m a junior in high school, third in my very large class, 4.0 GPA, VP of our student body, 35 on ACT, 2350 on SAT. I’m looking at UT Austin (I live in a suburb of Austin, so I could live at home/save money, which is very important) or University of Washington (I’m completely in love with the atmosphere of Seattle, and the campus, and generally everything about it) or Columbia as a stretch school. I’m hoping to get through college with as little debt as possible - while I’m fairly sure I could get into a school like Columbia, it’s the money aspect that’s making me favor the first two universities.</p>
<p>I want to double major in International Relations and Arabic, and go into the Peace Corps when I’m done with college. Eventually, I want to pursue a career with the Foreign Service - I know it’s a very selective organization, but I’m hoping my majors and experience with the Corps will help me break into the field. This sounds good on paper, but I have no idea if it’s a realistic plan. My parents aren’t very supportive (they’re dead set on me being a doctor, but taking Advanced Anatomy this year has pretty much convinced me that’s not a good field for me), so I’m kind of on my own with this one. Any advice would be awesome.(:</p>
<p>If you apply for need based aid, Columbia is likely to give you a much better deal than U of Washington. As an OOS student there, you can expect to pay full price OOS tuition or very close to it. So while it seems like U of W might be a better deal, that may not be the case. To be honest, I don’t see the Peace Corp as much of a stepping stone to the foreign service. No better than study abroad during college or summer interning at someplace like the Department of State. You might consider Georgetown SFS as a reach instead of Columbia (or alongside) for that specific goal.</p>
<p>But in the end it is very possible that UT-Austin will be the best deal financially.</p>
<p>I don’t have much help for you on the issue of the majors with your parents. Some parents only “get it” about their kids and pre-med when their kids wash out of the intro science courses needed as a pre-med major. I am not recommending that, but it is often what happens, especially when a student is not committed to the pre-med path at a high ranking school.</p>
<p>Good on you for having a good plan! With Columbia- get accepted, then look up financial aid packages, it is probably more attractive to the Peace Corps. U of Washington has good aid too,so look into that as well. Good luck- rooting for you!</p>