Hey all! I’ve posted here before, but my resume has changed pretty drastically over the past year and I wanted to get a re-evaluation before college app season starts in earnest. All feedback is appreciated!
Demographics
US citizen in Southeast
Large public high school (600 kids in my grade)
Unhooked
Intended Major(s)
English Literature, Political Science, Journalism
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0
Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.6 (A in AP=5, A in Honors=4.5, A in regular=4)
Class Rank: none
ACT/SAT Scores: 36 ACT, 1590 SAT
Coursework
5’s in all 8 APs (Human Geography, APUSH, Bio, Chem, Lang, Seminar, Spanish, Calc BC)
Taking 7 APs senior year + dual enrolling Multivariable Calc
Awards
1st at FBLA nationals in Journalism
2nd in state professional journalism competition for an article series I wrote in the local paper. Sidenote: How do I make it clear in my apps that this was a competition with other professional journalists, not high schoolers?
Some top 5 placements in national essay contests
Two-time runner up in state debate league tournament
1st place in pretty prestigious state cello competition
Telluride finalist
Local math competition wins
7 department awards
Extracurriculars
EIC of school newspaper, lead 31 staff members, founded digital pub with 50k+ page views, raised $1000 for Ukrainian Press (9,10,11,12) (3 hrs/week)
EIC of my state’s first state-wide youth lit mag, dedicated to Appalachian culture etc. 500+ submissions to 3 issues found in 5 libraries (11,12) (3 hrs/week)
Freelance Journalism; 20+ articles published in local paper, Buzzfeed, Huff Post (10,11,12) (2 hrs/week)
Intern for national constitutional advocacy group: work directly under national director to edit/write op-eds, successfully lobbied my local rep to co-sponsor an amendment to the Constitution (11,12) (2 hours/week)
FBLA National Social Media Ambassador and Chapter VP; conducted broadcasted interviews with the FBLA National Officer Team at the National Leadership Conference, ran social media pages (11,12) (1 hours/week)
President of school peer mentorship program, developed system to pair at risk freshman with upperclassmen mentors to prevent truancy (10,11,12) (2 hours/week)
Varsity PF Debater (9,10,11,12) (4 hours/week)
Associate principal cellist in local university orchestra, concert master in local cello orchestra, 12+ years of experience (9,10,11,12) (6 hours/week)
Varsity Tennis (#6 singles, #3 doubles, Class AA Team State Champions)
Free summer program at Duke to study shape topology and number theory, presented research on Borsak Ulam thrm to faculty
Original narratology research (developed mathematical method of representing narrative structures with vectors while still allowing room for human interpretation), not sure if I will publish
Essays/LORs/Other
AP Lang teacher (7/10), probably will say good things about my writing but might be a bit bland on the personality side since our class was quite big
AP Calc teacher (9/10) I think he really liked me and definitely found me creative and eloquent
My counselor has changed three times so aside from regurgitating my brag sheet counselor rec expected to be (4/10)
Cost Constraints / Budget
*Less than 50k per year
Schools
Safety: University of Tennessee, University of South Carolina, Fordham, other suggestions would be great
I’m really trying to put a lot of effort into my supplementals so keeping the college reach list concise is important to me. I know that some of the schools on my list don’t necessarily have the best journalism programs, but I don’t actually plan on pursuing journalism as a career and would rather attend a school with stellar educational opportunities all around so I can figure myself out in an enriching environment. Thanks for your time
I would add that even if you do plan to pursue journalism, there are many reasons not to major in it. Major in disciplines that could inform a career in journalism (history, poli sci, econ, any of the sciences …), and get experience on the college newspaper and in journalism internships. There’s no reason to limit yourself to schools with a journalism major.
So off hand, I am not sure I understand what you are doing in terms of size/type of university. Meaning if a private college like Yale is your first-choice, with about 6500 undergraduates, it is not obvious to me why so many of your matches and safeties are much larger, and mostly publics. Alternatives could include somewhat less selective private research universities more similar to Yale, and also possibly stand-alone liberal arts colleges (although those could be too small for you, depending on your preferences).
Of course the sticker price on those alternatives can be expensive, but so is the sticker price for Yale. So you have to check NPCs. But an additional intriguing possibility is that with your qualifications, you would likely be in the running for merit scholarships.
So at least in my circles, common options to explore for applicants like you with Yale-type schools as top choices would include Case-Western and Rochester, which both have quite a bit of merit aid, and of course are R1 universities with similar-sized colleges. This is outside my normal “jurisdiction”, but I understand that is true of Tulane too.
More of a reach, but also a common option to explore, would be colleges like Washington University in St Louis, which also has a lot of merit aid (and just a lot to commend it in general). Again, not that popular in my area, but a college like Emory might also fit into this category. I understand you don’t really need or want more reaches, but I think for applicants like you, putting yourself in the running for merit scholarships from colleges like that can sometimes work out really well.
And then there are more LACs that people typically consider, but again that may or may not be something you would be interested in.
Of course that will be true of some students. But if a given applicant was indifferent to college size, I would usually expect a mix of sizes at all of the “likely”/“match”/reach" levels.
So at least off hand, I found it worth noting that the OP’s reach list had several smaller R1 universities (Yale, Duke, Northwestern, Columbia, and maybe Harvard), and their match/likely list had none, unless you count Fordham (which is still bigger than all of those, and also an R2 not an R1).
But I am not suggesting the OP should NOT consider larger R1 universities too. I was just pointing out that for people who like Yale, Northwestern, Columbia, Duke, and maybe Harvard, there are more colleges broadly like that which are a bit less selective, AND which might offer the OP merit aid. And therefore the OP might want to explore such options too, if they have not already.
If I am reading your opening post correctly, you aren’t sure what major you want to pursue and would like a school that is strong all around so you can explore different fields. The majors you have listed are not known for great career outcomes; are you thinking about follow on degrees (for example, Political Science is a feeder to law school)? Have you considered double majors and minors? If so, you may want to research which schools encourage and facilitate double majors.
If you are looking for an enriching environment with a focus on humanities, have you considered small LACs like Amherst, Williams, Carleton, etc.? While not as prestigious as the Ivies, they will offer smaller class sizes and better access to professors.
It might help to have a better understanding of what you consider to be stellar educational opportunities so folks can recommend schools that fit those ideals.
When I look at your resume, I think UPenn, given the mix of experiences you’ve had and your clear ambition. UPenn has a terrific newspaper and an Annenberg school of journalism, in case you do want those opportunities, but also obviously a Strong business Program. They also have the Kelley Writer’s house, which is a neat community of writerly sorts. And it’s in a big city that will offer plenty of resources and opportunities for internships.
Looking across the spectrum of options, you might at University of Michigan to your list, and Boston University, too. On the safety side, Wisconsin might be interesting for you, given its proximity to the state capitol and multiple newspapers. Syracuse could also be a good one to explore. Since you’re in the south, look at Wake Forest, too (maybe that’s a target). Tulane might give you terrific merit if you show some interest.
Is UW the University of Wisconsin or the University of Washington?
UW-Madison has a very good Journalism program and strength in just about everything else, including Lit and Poli Sci. I have my BA in Journalism from -Madison. I had a blast as a copy editor at the Daily Cardinal.
It isn’t a safety anymore, particularly for OOS students. It would be a good match for you, probably. Madison is a fun town and campus.
But be sure to run the NPC to ascertain whether it would be affordable. (same as you should for any school you are considering)
Agree completely. Of the journalists I respect most, almost all majored in something else. Many even have an advanced degree in their area of reporting expertise. I really noticed the difference in quality during the Pandemic. The journalists with advanced degrees (in medicine, science, or statistics etc.) wrote pieces that were worlds better than those without.
While we wait to find out whether OP’s family will qualify for any need-based aid, I have another college suggestion. Indiana University is strong in many areas you express an interest in, it has one of the top student newspapers in the country should you wish to continue with the activity, and I think you would be a competitive applicant for the Wells Scholarship, the full ride that they offer. The Wells Scholars are an incredible cohort (usually about 20 students/year) and you would definitely find academic peers at IU (within Wells, the honors college, and elsewhere within the university). It’s a great college town, too. There’s no guarantee you’d get the Wells, but the possibility of a terrific education for free is always nice, particularly if you think grad school might be in your future.
If you’re looking for other top college newspapers, here are some resources:
Pacemaker 100: Awards that were part of looking back at the 100-year history of the award
UNC and UVA end up being a little over 50K, so I would need to take out about 10k in student loans for all four years or else find merit scholarships. The advice to not major in journalism is pretty unanimous here so I’ll definitely keep that in consideration.
Sorry for being unclear. UW is University of Wisconsin Madison. I really like their poli sci program and they have a great student publication. While I know that UVA’s 15% OOS acceptance rate is daunting, I was under the impression that my stats make it a likely acceptance.
