I’m a current high school junior who has been recently looking into Tulane. I was actually in NOLA on April 21 for an NYU session, which got me thinking about Tulane. My mom grew up in NOLA, I’ve spent a lot of time there, and the more I look into Tulane, the more it feels like home, academically and otherwise.
Question: how good is Tulane for communications/media studies? I saw that this major was offered there, but I wasn’t sure how strong and modern it was, which is very important to me when it comes to schools.
Anyway, I’m curious to see what you guys have to say!
Here’s my financial lowdown:
I looked at my parent’s 2015 tax return, and we made about $110k this year. 2015 was the first time my father held a full-time job after being laid off when I finished sixth grade (I am now a high school junior). However, just about a month ago, my father got laid off again, meaning that if my dad doesn’t find a job, my family’s income will be dipping by a lot very quickly.
I live in one of the poorest, if not the poorest, counties in Florida, and a majority of my family is VERY poor and not well educated (except for both of my parents who have overcome very difficult situations and both hold professional degrees).
Basically I’m solid middle class, and my family’s income has been around 70-85k over the past few years (with the recession and my dad’s unemployment), minus 2015’s anomaly.
Here’s my profile/academic lowdown:
Sex: Female
Race: White
State: FL
GPA: 3.95/4.45
Rank: 5/330
ACT: (retaking in June)
C 30
R 30
E 35
S 28
M 27
SAT: (taking in June)
High School: Public, Magnet (“A” School, best/only “A” school in county, top 200 public high schools in US)
APs (my school does not offer many): World History (5)
Junior Courses: APUSH, AP Lang, APES, Honors Chem, Honors Pre-Cal, Journalism 2, Web Design
Senior Courses (potential): AP Cal AB, AP Gov, AP Macro, AP Art History (online), AP Lit, Journalism 3, Television Production, ACE*
*My school is “special” because it offers “career academies” that all students must stay on for four years. I am in the Multimedia academy, so that’s why you see Web Design/Television Production. ACE, which stands for “Advanced Career Eduction,” allows students to have one or more periods dedicated to jobs/internships/in-school jobs related to their career academy. With Multimedia, considering my area does not have a ton of opportunities, I would just be dong a period for yearbook.
Extra-Curriculars/Summer: attended the Washington Journalism and Media Conference at George Mason University summer 2015, active in my church youth group, yearbook staff writer (10th), yearbook editor-in-chief (11th, 12th), NHS member (10th, 11th), NHS President (12th), Spanish Honors Society member (10th – my school does not let you be in SHS if you are not in Spanish III or higher, but my school does not offer anything past Spanish III, so I couldn’t do it after 10th grade), applied for a local leadership program (waiting to hear back), doing a local teen outreach/volunteer program this summer through next school year, co-founder/VP of my school’s Environmental Club (11th, 12th), founder of my school’s Creative Writing Club (10th – got busy with yearbook), possibly going to a University of Florida Journalism camp this summer
Community Service: ~60 hours, but getting more this summer
Intended Major: Communications/Media Studies/Journalism @ Annenberg
Awards: (nothing major, just school stuff) Academic Achievement (highest grade) in Photoshop (freshman Multimedia)/English II Honors/Spanish III Honors, Top 10 (10th, 11th)
Certifications: Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Premiere Pro, and Flash; Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel (though my Multimedia Academy/my school is very technology-focused)
Work Experience: worked part time at PacSun lol
My teachers, especially my English teachers & my yearbook advisor, would describe me as one of the most driven/unique students they’ve ever had, and I’ve been told by many that I’m a really good writer.
I would not be able to attend Tulane without major financial aid/scholarships, so I want to hear what my chances are of getting anything, money wise and admission wise. Thank you & have a great day 