Match Me/Chance Me! First-Gen from FL (Econ + International Relations) [4.0 GPA, top 2% rank, 1230 SAT, need lots of FA / scholarships]

I’m not aware of a path to affordability for a low-income OOS student at UT-Austin. UGA has some big merit awards but it’s a big reach to get one and it wouldn’t be affordable otherwise. I don’t know whether there is full-ride merit at Stony Brook but I don’t think so. Most public U’s don’t give need-based aid to OOS students; UVA is an exception, but this makes it a tough admit.

American practices yield protection, so it probably isn’t even a safety admissions-wise, but it definitely isn’t a financial safety since they don’t guarantee full-need-met aid. GWU is more generous than American but still doesn’t necessarily meet full need.

You need to run the Net Price Calculator for each school you’re considering, and build your list accordingly. Every school has one; here’s one example: Net Price Calculator

Fortunately you have great prospects in Florida (although I’m not sure whether Rollins would give enough aid - run the NPC to see), plus possibilities for Questbridge and possible Posse.

Since you’re interested in Virginia schools, you might want to check out U of Richmond. They meet need, and the International Economic Policy concentration within the Global Studies major might be a good fit.

If you’re eligible for Posse, Syracuse might be worth a look as well. Model UN was invented at their Maxwell School, which has an undergrad IR major. All of your languages are offered, too. Not sure if it would be affordable outside of Posse, though (again, run NPC and see).

Dickinson is another school that’s known for IR and meets need.

Use financial aid and the NPC as your first filter, so you don’t waste time and energy on schools that have no potential to be affordable. There are quite a few schools that do have generous aid, so focus on those, and on QB/Posse. And of course on your in-state options which offer great affordable choices - all the more reason there’s no need to be looking at OOS schools that are too expensive.

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