<p>As a junior in his second semester, I’m starting to go all out on the college search again. When I was younger I’d been looking a little bit so I know about a lot of the colleges that are out there, but I thought I’d see if I could get a little more direction before I go browsing through 100+ colleges to see if they have what I’d love.</p>
<p>Anyway, I’m not too worried about stats, I’m technically a URM and am confident I have a decent chance (not shoe-in, obviously, but possible) at wherever I apply. </p>
<p>So, I live in California, and would love to get out of here. I’m not saying that staying in California would be absolutely impossible, but if given the choice between a college out here and one out East, I’d be much more likely to accept the one in the East. I’m definitely not looking for a rural college, and would prefer one within 1-2 hours of a major city (Chicago, New York, Boston, etc.). Something bigger than 1500 people would be nice, although it’s not absolutely necessary. I just can’t imagine spending another 4 years in an environment just like my high school, even if it’s not exactly the same.</p>
<p>But here’s where I kind of get stuck. I can find all of the above easily in a college book, but I’m not sure what to do from there. I’m taking spring break to go visit some colleges out east (HYP, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Amherst, Swarthmore, Brandeis, and a couple others). It’s mostly to get an idea of the difference between big and small, pure urban and somewhat suburban.</p>
<p>Problem is, I have two ideas for what I want to study in college, and they’re radically different. The first idea is what I consider the “practical” one, and it involves biotech, nanotech, genetics, or some other type of science-y/engineering major. I haven’t really considered civil or biomed, as I see myself more as innovating, but basically, science. The other would be the “ideal” one, with a focus in international relations, specifically in either business or politics. Learning about cultures, learning different languages, and being able to apply that to interations with other corporations/countries.</p>
<p>I’ve also being doing theater since freshman year, and I’ll have a dozen or some plays under my belt by the time I go off to college (if not more). I know it’s not as much as a professional actor, but I’d love to go somewhere that had a strong theatre undercurrent. I’m not so sure about actually taking classes in it (although it wouldn’t be unheard of), but lots of theatre groups would make me happy.</p>
<p>So from there, I don’t really know where to look. I’d love to take any suggestions, and if anyone needs any more information I can answer. Even if you all don’t know specific colleges, hints on how to go about looking to tell if a college has a strong department in any of those subjects would be helpful, as I’m not really sure.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone!</p>
<p>EDIT: That got kinda long, but one last question! What do you do with a Bachelor’s in IR? Government work, sure, but anything else?</p>