@mamom thank you! i am really worried about the commuter culture at my local campus, as im not incredibly social to begin with and i dont have the benefit of having a roommate and being forced to meet people that way.
Did you run the net price calculator at Susquehanna? I am coming up with a net price of around $16,000 there.
$59,920 tuition, fees, room and board
$37,520 of scholarships and need based grants
$5,584 in Pell and PHEAA
Net price $16,816
minus work study and loan would be $8,866
so you would have to come up with about $11,000 and you would earn the WS money during the semester at a FWS job on campus.
I know they are supposed to have a good writing program. Maybe you can visit?
I second Susquehanna.
The psu branch->psu main or pittbranch → Pitt means you won’t lose any credit. Mixing it up makes that more complicated.
For instance, note that the Pitt Bradford courses don’t match the PSU requirements…
Community colleges are set up to transfer credits to the Passhe schools and main campuses (Pitt or PSU) often don’t consider the cc classes as equivalent to theirs, adding up to a year in extra classes.
You need to email each branch and ask if the classes I outlined for Bellisario pre-major are offered.
Behrend wouldn’t be much cheaper than Main, although with Altoona and Harrisburg it’s one of the most residential branches. But if you can’t afford the dorm it’s kind of pointless. 
Apply to all the scholarships offered to freshmen.
Bellisario (PSU) is better than Pitt (where communication is only a Dept, not a free standing college).
If you want to major in communication at Pitt, check that Bradford has com0300 (processed), 0310 (rhetorical process), (0320) mass communication, 0520 (public speaking), 0550 (speech composition). As you can see we there’s not much overlap with the writing major at Bradford and not much overlap with Communication/journalism with political science at Penn State Bellisario.
I don’t think you applied to Denison? Their non fiction program is fantastic and they meet 100% need. It may be worth trying to transfer into if this yezr’s college doesn’t work.
For journalism, if you’re lucky, Mizzou will still have spots through NACAC but not sure whether it’ll be affordable.
Can you list all classes taken, perhaps with grade?
possibly? i wonder if they are still accepting apps. i actually got a npc of 10k when i ran it with the most accurate info i have, this is minus work study and loan.
i did not apply to denison. it might be worth transfer. i’ll check the classes at pitt and i will see if mizzou has spots through NACAC but idk how much need they meet.
i assume you mean HS classes?
EDIT: ran a NPC on MU and it would be 34k left over. blech. not an option.
Just reading through - you folks helping with suggestions and calculations are absolutely awesome!
Wish you luck OP!!
@jerseyparents thank you!! im really grateful for everyone’s help. really wishing i would have known how to market myself at the beginning of this process, haha.
If you go to visit Susquehanna, maybe go by Lycoming too, if it’s not too far out of the way.
Yes, the SU net price calculator was probably a bit higher if you went by total COA. I just look at tuition, fees, room and board when I compare, the direct billed costs.
i will check lycoming if i go up, though i knew someone who lived in williamsport and im not a huge fan of the area. it seems if i want city connections my best bet is pitt transfer or penn state commute and then transfer, but these are certainly great options. thank you sm!
But think of this, if you could live on campus at a good quality school, for $16,000 or less?
Even PSU branches cost almost that much just for tuition and fees.
I ran the NPC at Lycoming,
It is $50,895 for tuition, fees, r&b
$31,311 scholarships and need based grants
$6,893 Pell and PHEAA
That leaves a net price of $12,691
minus your loan that would be $7,191
that is true. i will check all these out and present the options to my parents and see what they think. i think our first course of action is to talk to PSU and see what they say.
SU and Lycoming might be free to apply to.
I agree, apply, visit if you can, and look at all of your options once you have all of the facts on the table, then decide.
Don’t forget to add Susquehanna, Lycoming, IUP to your FAFSA. You can do that now.
There should be only one school code needed for Pitt and PSU for all of their campuses.
When you visit, focus on the major program you are interested in, ask about study abroad and internship opportunities.
if i get honors at a penn state regional branch do i stay in schreyers once i transfer to main?
Lycoming is Rolling Admissions and free to apply. You can apply by sending EITHER two graded writing samples or your test scores (+ “why Lycoming” essay). They have political Science, or philosophy&Law, or EconomicJustice, Communication as major - and minor in Writing and in Corporate Communication. They have a scholars program for which you’d qualify since you have 3.45GPA (uw) and 1250SAT.
John Carroll is still accepting applications. They are free to apply and have some majors of interest. They meet 80% need.
They have three honors programs that you can try and see if you can apply for but the deadlines were in January.
http://sites.jcu.edu/arrupe/
http://sites.jcu.edu/lsp/
http://sites.jcu.edu/honors/
http://sites.jcu.edu/professionalwriting/
http://sites.jcu.edu/russert/pages/programs-of-study/major/2017-19-bulletin/2017-19-bulletin-integrated-marketing-concentration/
http://sites.jcu.edu/politicalscience/
Susquehanna’s deadline has passed. Email to see if you can still apply. They have lots of majors of interest and meet 80+% need.
https://www.susqu.edu/academics/majors-and-minors/department-of-communications
https://www.susqu.edu/academics/majors-and-minors/department-of-english-and-creative-writing/professional-and-civic-writing
https://www.susqu.edu/academics/majors-and-minors/department-of-english-and-creative-writing/publishing-and-editing
https://www.susqu.edu/academics/majors-and-minors/honors-program
those look good. i’m not a fan of religious higher education but it is certainly an option. got a call from upitt bradford and learned a couple things
- bradford degree says “university of pittsburgh” same as main degree.
i need a 2.0 average and 60 credits to “apply for relocation” (transfer) and it is not guaranteed and depends on how many spots pitt has.
the person on the phone described the department head as very “hands on” and said internships are possible. i will schedule a meeting with him once i have a day to go up.
i will email susquehanna.
Strictly speaking, what you’ll be sending companies isnt the degree, but the transcript, and the transcript will say Pitt Bradford.
I’m also willing to bet that a 2.0 doesn’t get to “relocate”: Obviously the higher the GPA the higher the odds. (I know that for the STEM students, a 3.0 is needed).
However as mentioned above, Pitt doesn’t have journalism or communication. Look at Pitt main’s majors and try to figure out what you’d major in and see if Bradford offers the classes.
I found a couple more possibilities:
Temple’s deadline was March 2 and it’s not on commonapp. You may have to wait to see if they are on the NACAC list or not. But you may also email and ask, explain “due to a change in family plans, I must also change my college plans. I was wondering whether it is still possible for me to apply to Temple”. It does have communication. It doesn’t meet need. Your stats would make/would have made you competitive for scholarships (remember for next year if need be).
St Bonaventure:
rolling admissions, still accepting applications, would likely offer scholarships for your stats.
Are you sure about merit at Temple? It has become more competitive and I thought that higher SAT scores might be needed, otherwise the cost is going to be the same as PSU or Pitt without merit.
SU and Lycoming are good choices, because they give merit and good need based aid for OP’s stats and FAFSA EFC. And they are in PA.
John Carrol is in Ohio, and St Bonaventure in NY, bye bye $3,000 or $4,000 PHEAA grant.
OP said he only applied to 8 schools because of cost.
I think applying to 2-3 more instate schools would be worth it to have a few more affordable options.
IUP would cost $37 ($25+$12)
SU and Lycoming should just be the SAT score send $12 each.
While SU and Lycoming are affiliated with the Lutheran and Methodist church, I don’t think they are religious in the sense that they push the religion on you.
You will have to visit and see for yourself.
But find out first if admission and merit is still a possibility.
My daughter applied to Temple via the Common Application. She was accepted (Fox Business) and received about $18K (in-state grants, loans, and Temple Univ. grant). There is the Fly in 4 grant, $4K/year- for freshmen. According to the cost calculator, the cost for a communications major will be about $30K/yr, more if there is a tuition increase for the next school year.
St Bonaventure NPC gave a direct cost of about $47,000 and $22,000 scholarship and about $8,000 in grants. So about $17,000 net cost.
They have a Jandoli scholarship for some communication majors of $1,000.
That might bring it down in cost to SU level.
It might be worth it to contact them if those awards are still available.