High school senior applying to NYU CAS [NJ resident, 3.97, 1530, parents require pre-med or pharmacy, and commuting from home]

[AustenNut]

@JayLab

Major is more important than college choice for them. I’m not really sure which majors they prefer, they just want one where I would be able to work right after graduation, even if I might not necessarily do so.

Many families expect their children to be self-sufficient once they graduate from college, and just earning a college degree (with the associated skills of critical thinking, analysis, excellent writing, etc) along with some internships will usually get a student there, regardless of their major.

@JayLab

Major is more important for me, as well, since that’s probably going to determine my future career path.

Many people (most?) are in jobs that have very little relation to their undergraduate majors. Being able to have transferable skills, learn quickly, and adapt are very important, as there are many jobs that exist now that didn’t exist 20 years ago, and there will be many jobs that exist now that won’t exist in 20 years and others that will be entirely new. Your major will not chain you to a particular career for life.

@JayLab

What do you think I should double major in, then? I was thinking pairing Journalism with one of the following:

• Political Science
• International Relations
• Data Science/Analytics
• Statistics
• Economics

What are you interested in? That’s what I’d pick. If your family has concerns, then I suspect that data science/analytics or statistics would be the best bets. But I’d also be checking out what AI can do and what people think it will be able to do. I don’t know how that might play a role in the future. For instance, computer programming jobs are already being threatened by AI. Don’t know whether these other fields would be too, or not.

As you’ve mentioned being a foreign correspondent and international relations several times, have you looked at Seton Hall’s program in diplomacy? One of the majors that might be of particular interest is the International Quantitative Economics and International Relations major which requires fluency in another language and a professional internship. If you’re more interested in financial reporting, there’s a major in Mathematical Finance (or just regular finance). Its journalism major takes advantage of the college radio and tv stations as well as the college newspaper to provide experience and requires students to create and maintain a news blog, providing additional experience. I suspect you’d get amongst their more generous merit awards, but I don’t know if that will bring this school within budget for you. Make sure you run the NPC.

@thumper1

I will stick my neck out and say…reaching six figure salary in journalism will take you a number of years…some good experience, good connections, and some good luck.

Are you eligible for any of these programs? These would be good ways to get an education within your family’s budget.

@MACmiracle

NJ previously had a program that gave free tuition at community colleges to students under a certain income level, which had a rather low cut off. The income limits have risen and currently community college is free tuition with an adjusted gross income of $65K and reduced tuition between $65K-$80K.

Last year NJ announced the community college program would be expanded to include a free or reduced price tuition
for the third and fourth year at any NJ public college. It’s called the Garden State Guarantee and it still looks at adjusted gross income solely and disregards assets and EFC’s. Even at the upper limit of $80K tuition should not exceed $7,500 annually.

Meanwhile earlier this year, Rutgers New Brunswick announced a program that would be even more generous, with the adjusted gross income limit up to $100K and tuition no more that $5,000.

Rowan just announced a similar program, but not quite a generous as Rutgers’. It will provide a first and second year of free or reduced tuition, according to the same criteria that the state uses for the free or reduced tuition for the third and fourth year.

Stockton also has a similar program but unlike Rutgers and Rowan, it uses other criteria besides adjusted gross income, maybe the fafsa EFC. I think another state university, perhaps Kean, offers something like that, too.