<p>Question: Why do you want to do journalism? What kind? What beat? What do you want to bring to the job? (There are many different flavors of undergraduate journalism programs, so this stuff matters.) </p>
<p>Why do you want journalism if you want to go to law school?</p>
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<p>Uh…undergrads do not “place” students into law school. Law school admissions is based on GPA, LSAT scores (which have nothing to do with the school you went to), etc. Law school admissions have to do with YOU, not your undergrad. </p>
<p>Any good school is good enough for a pre-law student. There are 200+ really good schools out there.</p>
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<p>are your parents divorced? If so, then your dad’s income will also get used to determine aid at schools like Duke.<br>
If you want to apply ED at Duke, go ahead, but that doesn’t give you much time to raise your ACT (or SAT) score. </p>
<p>And what is so enticing about NYU? If you get into Duke, go there. At least at Duke you’d have a college experience.</p>
<p>“forgot to mention that I have a double legacy at Duke via my grandparents on my father’s side. Since I have a lower EFC and Duke meets 100% of demonstrated need, would you recommend using my ED bullet here? I don’t know if I can visit, but Duke was my top choice for a long period of time.”</p>
<p>Why did your dream school change from NYU to Duke? These schools are very different!!! Duke does not have a journalism major, just a certificate.</p>
<p>It’s impossible to advise you intelligently on an ED strategy without knowing where your ACT scores will end up. If you achieve a 32 composite, then there can be a conversation about whether Duke ED is a reasonable strategy. But the fact that you haven’t visited is a concern in terms of applying ED. IF you had a 32 composite with a double legacy and thought you’d really like Duke, I’d try to get down there and then make a decision about ED. It would strengthen your application if you visited too, because you would be better able to describe details in your application about what makes Duke a great fit for you.</p>
<p>Not to be critical, but you are “absolutely certain” about Duke, then about NYU, then about journalism, then about law school in NYC…relax! You are in high school, for goodness sakes, you don’t need to be absolutely certain! My view is this - if your scores and course rigor place you above the 50th percentile in a very selective school that meets full need, and that school emerges as either a clear first choice or a very top choice that is a great fit (AFTER you have visited), then you can consider ED.</p>
<p>My personal experience with financial aid at Duke has been ho-hum. I have seen them offer only a $5K loan to one student who was also offered well over $20000 in need based grants at the HYPS school that he ultimately attended. So my sense is that at higher income levels they do not determine demonstrated need as generously as HYPS (no surprise there.) But if your EFC is low, you might do fine (if admitted, of course.) As stated above, it’s very hard to advise you re: financial aid without knowing more details, which I can certainly respect that you might prefer not to provide publicly.</p>
<p>Back to strategy - if I were your counselor, I’d advise a Plan A (current ACT scores ) and Plan B (improved scores.) Make a flow chart.</p>