<p>I'm looking for colleges and universities within about 4 hours of New York City. I'm interested in media communications, journalism, advertising, political science and film and music, so I want a school that's strong in these areas and encourages interdisciplinary studies. I really want to go to school in or near an urban area, and I definitely want a diverse school with an open-minded, liberal vibe. Money IS (is is is is) a factor, so schools that are known to be quite generous with FA are very welcome on this list. Small to medium size would be great! (>2000 to <15,000). </p>
<p>I like to involved in lots of activities, and I like to be a part of things (I also like to be a leader lol :)). I want a school with spirit, somewhere where carrying conversations outside of the classroom and "geeking-out" over what you learn is the norm, not an exception. </p>
<p>I have some schools already, but welcome all suggestions!</p>
<p>Thanks in advance :)
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(If plausibility is a factor in your suggestion, I'm looking at a 3.6 uw taking the most challenging classes at an NJ magnet school, 2300+ SAT)
I'm a mixed race female (mostly African-American, partly Puerto Rican, Italian, and Cherokee), and will be the first one in my family to graduate from college</p>
<p>Your scores, grades, and URM status should serve you very well. I suggest applying to a range of schools, as long as you keep some safeties (e.g. Rutgers, Temple, et al, for you) that are certain to accept you and offer a solid financial package. I would certainly advise shooting high, for Harvard, Columbia, Barnard, Penn, and Brown - not all of them, necessarily, but try for two or three. Add BU and/or NYU and/or GWU. They are usually stingy with aid, but you might be attractive enough for them to make an offer. Some of these schools might be bigger than you’d choose. You will almost certainly get into Emerson. They are also stingy, but it’s worth a try. They need more diversity. They do not have much in the way of Poli. Sci, but have excellent media and communications departments. Johns Hopkins and Georgetown are both good for Poli. Sci. If I were you (which I’m not), I’d aim for the top. I think you’d probably qualify for an automatic scholarship at Temple, and for Honors programs at Rutgers (with in-state tuition, of course). Good luck.</p>
<p>I think you’ll be a person of interest to many schools, but first you need to clarify your financial status. Does your family qualify for enough need based aid? If you don’t know, pick a few schools and ask your parents to run the net price calculators to get an idea of your estimated family contribution. If that works financially, then fine, you can put together a wide list of schools including those that only offer need-based aid. </p>
<p>If your EFC is too high, then you have to look for schools that offer merit aid. These are a different list from the need-only schools.</p>
<p>For merit aid I’d look at Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Bard. Colby, Bates if you’d reconsider the urban requirement. For generous need-based aid you’ll have a lot of choices. In addition to woogzmama’s suggestions, consider Wesleyan, Haverford, Swarthmore, Vassar. </p>
<p>The small liberal arts colleges that are most receptive to diversity factors are often in rural areas or in the midwest so if you can waive that criteron, you’ll find many more choices.</p>
<p>^No merit aid at all at Bates. Only need based. But, as a very attractive candidate, imo, need based aid would be quite substantial. Also, Bates is in an urban area. Lewiston/Auburn has population around 100K. Granted, it’s not the most beautiful place, but it is definitely not rural by any stretch of the imagination. </p>
<p>Sarah Lawrence College? It is only 30 minutes away from NYC and is very liberal. The only issue is that it is VERY expensive without financial aid so it would be good to look into if you are interested. Feel free to check it out! <a href=“http://www.slc.edu/”>http://www.slc.edu/</a></p>
<p>Syracuse (more than four hours away and not in an urban area)
TCNJ
Connecticut College
George Washington University
Georgetown
Barnard College
Rutgers (you’d likely be a candidate for some excellent merit aid)
College of the Holy Cross
Tufts
Brandeis
Clarke University
Lehigh</p>
<p>“Syracuse (more than four hours away and not in an urban area)”</p>
<p>It’s approx 4 hours from the city taking Rt. 17 (The Quick Way) and 81 N. 250 miles. </p>
<p>City of Syracuse has a pop. of 144K and the university is smack dab in the middle of a very urban area of the city. The metro area has a population of approx 650K people. </p>
<p>I think Brown would be a dream for you, but you’d really need to get your GPA up and explain whatever happened in sophomore year very convincingly. It’s everything you described. You should visit. That said, no one is guaranteed admission to an Ivy. Tufts would also probably be a good fit - similar vibe to Brown. Would second Connecticut College, Holy Cross, Wesleyan, Vassar, Haverford for LACs and add Bryn Mawr if you’d consider a women’s school.</p>
<p>Also, I know it’s outside of your geographic target and is decidedly rural, but Kenyon would be a good fit for your academic interests and desired “vibe”.</p>
<p>I doubt a school such as Pace would meet need.
Tufts and Barnard should be on that list based on your criteria.
Ithaca would be a good safety, excellent for communication.
Note that a college may not have a “communications” major but may have
majors that lead to jobs in the industry (especially top LACs and universities).</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus I’ve run a few calculators based on what I already about my parents income and what not, but to get all of the information accurate to a level I’d be comfortable with, I’ll need to wrangle my parents into a sit-down about money… ugh</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 I really like Tufts, but I’m not sure I’d want to go to a women’s college (though I know there’s a decent amount of contact with Columbia and NYC, still) I’ll look into Ithaca, and yep, noted about the communications vs jobs thing</p>
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