<p>Hi, everyone! I’m a junior, and I’m going with my dad to visit schools in late January/February, so I thought I’d get started picking where I want to go! I want to major in international relations for sure, and Brown is where I’d really like to attend, but I’m fairly sure it’s a big reach for me. I’ll include my stats and background info so you guys can let me know if I’m on the right track! Thanks so much :)</p>
<p>Schools we hope to go to this time:
-Brown
-Columbia
-Georgetown
-Penn
-Princeton</p>
<p>ME!
Gender: Female
Race/ethnicity: Black, of Somali descent. My parents were born there, I’m first gen.
Citizenship: Canadian
Location: Texas
I’m bilingual (Somali/English) and proficient in French.</p>
<p>SCHOOL STUFF:
Rank: top 13%. I believe I can hit the top 10% if I just keep my grades up*
GPA: 3.7 UW. I’m hoping for a 3.9 by the time I graduate.
APs: French 3 (fell asleep during speaking, haha)
World Hist. 5 (both taken soph. year)
This year: Eng. Lang, US Hist, self-studying Human Geo. and Psych
SAT/ACT: I haven’t taken real ones yet (my SAT is Saturday), but the highest I’ve gotten on a practice SAT was a 2210 and a 31 composite on ACT, and I’m hoping to keep them in this area or go up.
I take the toughest courseload I can at school (all APs/honors), and am in the gifted/talented program. My school is a super extremely competitive public school that sends a couple kids to Rice or Cornell, but since Texas has the top 10% rule, all the bright kids go to UT Austin or A&M.</p>
<p>ECs:
-NHS*
-Student council
-Junior World Affairs Council
-French Honor Society
-French club
-Students for a Viable Environment (treasurer/co-founder)
-Hope for Africa
-Athletic training (when the players get injured, we help them. Kinda like mini-doctors haha)
-Youth Action Council (selective non-school type club…we work directly with the mayor. Like a mini town council)
I do community service at the library and elementary schools and stuff. I’m aiming for ~250 hours by the time I graduate.</p>
<p>Me and my dad are going to the east coast this time around, but please let me know of any good schools anywhere with strong international relations program! Thanks a lot!!! 
Sorry I had you read all this D:</p>
<p>You’ll be fairly close to Boston while visiting Brown, so Tufts would definitely be worth a visit.</p>
<p>[International</a> Relations Program : Tufts University](<a href=“Homepage | International Relations Program”>Homepage | International Relations Program)</p>
<p>Tufts is a great suggestion, but before you start adding schools to your list, look at the restrictions: how many days are you allowing, and are you thinking of driving or taking the train? Although the schools are not terribly far apart, there is enough traffic to make getting around difficult. You wouldn’t want a car in a city like New York or Boston. If you take the trains, you are tied to their schedules, but they can be a great way to see the area. Most schools have excellent directions on their websites, so start there and see how a train would work. Amtrak has some special fares for students. </p>
<p>You will have to deal with very cold weather at that time of year. For this reason alone, you may want to concentrate on southern schools in January, and defer the east coast to spring break or next fall.</p>
<p>Most schools have info sessions and tours between 9 AM and 2PM. Be sure to work this into your schedule - it makes seeing two schools in one day difficult. A good system is to arrive at the college the night before and see the area, then get up early, visit the college and leave after the tour for your next stop. </p>
<p>You should also check airfares from your home to the east - you’ll want to start at the north or south end and, for example, fly into Boston (for Tufts) or Providence, and out of Washington DC (use Reagan airport, not Dulles, if you can.) Look around for the best fares - they can vary quite a bit.</p>
<p>Finally, if you find you have to shorten the trip, consider leaving Washington DC for a family vacation in spring or later. It has so much to see and do for all ages, and Georgetown’s campus is nice but not spectacular - you would go there for the opportunities and location.</p>
<p>midwesterner:</p>
<p>We’re planning on about 5 days, but we aren’t going to those schools for sure. Brown is the only one we absolutely are visiting, but thanks so much for the advice! I’m used to cold weather (from Canada), so that won’t be a problem for us :D</p>
<p>You said focus on southern schools. Could you please tell me about some schools in the South with strong IR programs? Thanks :)</p>
<p>Will you settle for schools outside of the northeast? How about U of Chicago, William and Mary, Claremont McKenna or Duke?</p>
<p>Look at Johns Hopkins too which is very much known for international relations. If you might do another trip in the summer or fall, Georgetown, Hopkins and Penn could be combined. For schools that do on campus interviews (Hopkins does but most of your list doesn’t, I think), you should check when they begin interviewing (probably May) and work that into your plans if possible. If you are interested at all in liberal arts colleges, Middlebury has a fabulous international studies major and language departments. For a LAC back-up, you might consider Macalaster.</p>