My son is a Junior and we are beginning the search process for colleges. He is thinking of a degree in economics (International Economics would be a bonus) and or International Relations/Policy. His ultimate goal is Law School. His stats are:
Unweighted GPA - 3.75
Weighted GPA - 4. 04
ACT - 30 (he will be taking this again - goal 32)
His extracurricular activities are Debate (Lincoln Douglas & International Extemporaneous Speaking), Scholar Bowl and Chess Club
His School list right now:
Stretch
Georgetown University
Fit
George Washington University
American University
Trinity University (San Antonio, TX)
Drake University
Safety
University of Kansas
Truman State University
We have ruled out MU due to the current campus climate.
Suggestions for other schools? I would love feedback on Stretch, Fit & Safety. He will be getting glowing recommendations from his Debate Coach (4 years of the class and leadership plus his coach is his AP Lang teacher) and Scholar Bowl coach.
Fore pre-law, it’s best if he doesn’t take a prelaw major. That’s not the best major for law. He should major in anything else and go to law school (theater, nursing, engineering, finance, Italian, art history, etc.) Likewise, top law schools draw from the entire range of undergrad colleges. What he would need to do is to 1) Get As 2) figure out a passion or area of interest by doing internships and working; 3) get 172+ on the LSAT. He can start studying for the LSAT as early as he wants. Practice will get him that score. Aim for a top 14 law school, preferably top 5. Know that law pay is bimodal, meaning there’s a group clustered around $70K and one clustered at $160K. If he wants to pay off debt and go into the lower pay bracket (generally public interest law or small firms) he should plan to attend a school that forgives debt. If he wants to pay off debt (and gain useful skills and connections) by going into Big Law, then he should plan to attend a law school known for placing students there, plan to work at least 2 years living small and paying off his loans. While there he gets some sort of specialty and either stays on for partner track or goes into the several other wonderful careers in law: PI, government, in-house counsel, etc.
Here’s the list of undergraduate colleges that Harvard accepted students from in 2013.
Macalester (Minnesota). Former UN Sec Gen Kofi Annan is an alum, and the school is marketing itself as “international”. Great location. Advantage to male applicants as student body skews a bit female. A few nice merit awards available too.
More important than location is campus “feel”. We live in Kansas City, Missouri and my husband travels to Houston, TX frequently for work. He ruled out most of the deep south and upper east coast because he felt the cultural difference would be too wide. He only wants to go to DC for the opportunities it would bring as far as being in the political center of our Nation. He is a social issues liberal, but leans more moderate to conservative on fiscal and foreign policy. So he would not be comfortable at a very conservative school. He really dislikes “uppity” people (he does not buy it to being better than someone else because of your parent’s bank account). He actually took a school off his list after meeting a representative at a College Fair, because he thought the guy acted snooty. He put Drake on his list because of the College Rep talked about how there were so many diverse clubs and activities that there was a place for everyone and he was especially interested in Model UN.
We have a considerable budget for his college so we can full pay, but we hope to get some merit as he plans to pursue Law School. I am trying to encourage him to look at schools where he will be top 25% or greater of the student body. I believe it’s better to be the top student at a good school (Drake) rather than an average student at a top school (Georgetown) if your planning on graduate school. One of our good friends went to the University of Missouri undergrad and then went to Georgetown for his law degree. My son’s high school is one of the top rated high schools in Missouri and is very competitive, so even with 10 AP’s on his schedule and only a few B’s he will not have a high class rank which I think will hamper his ability to get into a top college like Georgetown for undergrad. I also think he would be better off at a smaller university, where he can get to know his professors as he has good relationships with his teachers in HS.
This may be out there, but has he looked at Earlham? The person you’ve described would probably love it. They have numerous off campus (some abroad, some domestic ) that might interest him. The academics are excellent, and the student body very "feet on the ground " and engaged.