Best schools for “Strategic Communications” such as Advertising and PR, or Communications in general? Being able to incorporate some journalism, media, or cinema courses would be a bonus, but my daughter does not want to major in broadcast journalism or film. She has 4.0 UW GPA and 33 ACT (34 superscore) with 10 on ACT Writing, but we’re aiming for substantial merit aid, so probably not the tippy-top tier of schools (unless one is unusually generous with scholarships). Thanks!
St. Bonaventure is highly regarded in Communications and Journalism and ranked in the top 10 by industry insiders. The school has many Pulitzer winners and its students are invited to many prestigious essay competitions. Strategic Communications is a specialty.
Your daughter could get a free ride.
Russel J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Boston U and Syracuse are other good ones.
Thanks @BatesParents2019 , we will look into it. We visited BU and it didn’t strike a chord with her at all - the J-school tour was very focused on broadcast, and she didn’t like the vibe overall. Not familiar with St. Bonaventure but will surely check it out. Thank you.
Did you look into the University of Delaware?
Vanderbilt
Northwestern (School of Comm, not Medill)- Generous need based aid
Ithaca
Emerson
She liked Emerson a lot when we visited! It is a definite candidate, especially with their Honors program.
Are you from Ohio? Ohio University Scripps College of Communication has a tremendous Journalism department. You should be able to get very good financial aid as well.
University of Missouri has a great strat comm program (as well as journalism that could be incorporated into her major if she so chooses) and they have pretty generous merit aid. Students have their own ad agency that they run, so lots of good hands-on experience.
Northwestern has a great program too (but you won’t be getting much, if any, merit aid).
@lvvcsf we’re not in Ohio but a neighboring Ohio Valley state. Schools in rural locations like Scripps or Jandoli will be a tough sell for her. That’s not to say we don’t keep them on a list of worthy options. But what really lights her up are urban campuses in places like Boston, Philly, and Chicago. Although Newark, DE is nice as well - we’ve lived there ourselves - and you can still get to Philly when you want to.