Liberal Arts College for IR?

MidwestDad3
Thu, 18 Dec 2014 17:06:31 +0000

You’ve got excellent scores and a really interesting background @akskrjdf321 . Here are a few recommendations, FWIW.

Consider applying to a range of schools, from internationally known schools such as Tufts to the smaller LACs (including the “Colleges That Change Lives” schools). Very generally speaking, if you look at the top 100 LACs in the US News ranking, as you move down the list and toward the midwestern and southern US regions, you are more likely to be offered a higher amount of aid from those schools. Earlham in Indiana is a great example. D visited in August and had a wonderful tour by an international student from Belarus who absolutely loved it there. Don’t let the lack of an IR major at any school dissuade you. At almost all of the LACs you can piece together a challenging program from Political Science, cultural studies, language courses, etc. Kofi Annan is a graduate of Macalester College, for example. You can have a wonderful career coming out of an LAC, and applying to a range of schools early action (to get in on scholarship consideration) should end up presenting you with a lot of excellent options.

At your reach schools, a significant EC would increase your chances. You still have a year to go, so I’d suggest getting involved with something that you really enjoy, related to international relations. It might have more impact if it is in the community rather than your school. I believe Pago Pago has sister cities relationships with Oceanside, CA and a city in Indonesia. That might present an opportunity for you. You are smart to get started on this now! Good luck. (P.S., it’s not in the US, but you might also have a look at the University of Sydney.)