Junior into journalism and business - how is my list looking?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I plan on majoring in Journalism, minoring in business. Or vice versa. Not sure yet I live in NYC and campus size I don't care about. Location isn't a huge factor at all. I'm not exactly asking to chance me at these schools, just take a look at my stats and tell me if I have a good list going. And feel free to add any schools I should add as a safety or target. I don't want to go further south than NC, and no further west than Michigan.</p>

<p>A few quick facts about me</p>

<ul>
<li>I am a hispanic male</li>
<li>First generation college student</li>
<li>Only source of income is from a disabled mom</li>
</ul>

<p>Now, here's my academic profile. I am coming from a school that has been ranked as one of the top 50 Catholic High Schools 5 years in a row. Solid GPA, average SAT scores, very good EC's for me.</p>

<hr>

<p>GPA: 88.5. I've taken honors courses each year, and 3 years of Latin. As a senior I will be taking AP English, most likely AP economics as well. My grades have gone up each year since freshman year (only by a point or two though. I'm always a consistent 85-88 student overall). My English grades are always in the 90's, but science kills me. Not sure about rank, but it's top 20 percent.</p>

<p>SAT's: I've only taken the test once. 610 Writing, 590 Verbal, and.. well, this is where it gets ugly... 480 math. Yikes! I'm hoping to break at least 550 in Math and I'll be happy. I'm a writer, not a math guy. I have also received some training and great tips for the writing and verbal sections, things that will surely help me increase my scores. I am taking the SAT II's in Latin, Literature, and US History come June. And then the SAT in October.</p>

<p>Extras:
-Editor-in-chief for the school newspaper. I've wrote since Freshman year and became editor this year.</p>

<p>-Captain of the Mock Trial team.</p>

<p>-Selected to take part of Job Opportunity Program, a program that trains top students in the NY Archdiocese on interview processes, working in a corporate setting, etc.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Interning this entire summer for Bloomberg L.P. Information Systems.</p></li>
<li><p>Selected to compete in National Hispanic Institutes (NHI) Youth Legislative Session. They take only the best students from not only America, but we had kids from Mexico and Puerto Rico. Highly selective. It was an 8 day leadership program at the University of Rochester. While there I campaigned for the Supreme Court, and at the programs end, was one of three nominees for male with most potential.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>-I will be doing another NHI program in NYU this summer, called the collegiate world series. Here I'll be meeting with the admissions officers from top universities and going over building relationships, interviews, college life, etc. We also get drafted into colleges and negotiate financial packages. Good stuff; admission officers from Yale, Boston, and others will be there.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>I'm starting my own website revolving around interviewing bands, doing reviews, etc. Should help a lot especially when I apply to journalism programs. I am trying to get this off the ground ASAP so I can have a nice product going when it is time to apply for schools.</p></li>
<li><p>As a freshman and sophomore I helped out every Saturday from 9:30-11:30 as a Catechist aid for a bible class.</p></li>
<li><p>As a junior, and next year as a senior, I help every Tuesday and Wednesday again as an aid, but this time with high school students. I help out teachers, teach when necessary, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>I'll be doing the Photography club next year</p></li>
</ul>

<p>-Various intramural sports</p>

<p>Now, here are the schools I have been looking at.</p>

<p>Northeastern University
Boston University
Syracuse University (Newhouse)
SUNY New Paltz
SUNY Oswego
University at Buffalo
SUNY Geneseo
Ohio State University</p>

<p>Any schools I should maybe think about crossing off my list, schools I should consider, etc? I'm starting to get really paranoid about college and want to make sure I get into a good school I like. </p>

<p>Thanks guys! (And girls).</p>

2

<p>Hmm… okay, I’ll give you some chances on the colleges that you have listed.</p>

<p>NEU - Reach
BU - Reach
Syracuse - Reach
New Paltz - Low Reach
Oswego - Match
Buffalo - Low Reach
Geneseo - Reach
Ohio State - ???</p>

<p>You probably need some more colleges just in case because I would not guarantee that you could get into Oswego. How about SUNY Farmingdale?</p>

<p>To have basically any chance at like Buffalo/Syracuse… your gonna need like a 1800. Same goes for NEU, BU + Geneseo, but you would need at least a 1900 or so.</p>

3

<p>"I’m starting to get really paranoid about college and want to make sure I get into a good school I like. " </p>

<p>Don’t stress too much, I’ve been through it without worrying too much and I got through just fine. I like your pick of Northeastern :)</p>

4

<p>In regards to Syracuse:</p>

<p>My school has an excellent relationship with the University. We send several students there each year. In fact, there is a lady who comes to our school and does interviews. I know a student who got in with a GPA a point less than me, a 1560 SAT, and good EC’s (not as good as mine). BUT, it was not for their journalism program. He also got 34 grand a year to go there. </p>

<p>How much more competitive is New house?</p>

<p>And Northeastern is my dream school =]. I do hope I get in, and with a decent financial package.</p>

5

<p>I think you will get into Northeastern, I had a 3.1 GPA, 2010 SAT, 34 ACT and managed to get into engineering with a $14,000/year early. However, I did apply EA and all the people I know who were accepted and who applied early got a scholarship of some sort from $5,000-$20,000 so I would recommend that you apply by the November deadline.</p>

<p>Northeastern is great because it’s in Boston and the co-op program is the amazing. I’m surprised that more people don’t take advantage of co-op because co-op students are nearly guaranteed a job with the company they work at with so they don’t need to worry about finding a job after college. Also, it gives you work experience on your resume which would make someone more likely to hire you over another college graduate who hasn’t had work experience.</p>

6

<p>Yea that is what draws me to Northeastern. The campus, the city, the people, and especially the co-op. But my main concern is of course price. They aren’t huge on giving aid as some other schools, but hopefully I can get it somehow. I don’t mind taking out loans. But taking out insane loans I do not want to do. 20 grand might not just be enough unfortunately, but we shall see. As I said, my mom and I have an income of about $1,200 a month <__<. If I apply with EA, do I get less/more money?</p>

7

<p>Well i’m going to let you stop dreaming because there is probably less than a 1% chance you will get into Northeastern, BU, or New House with those stats. You dont meet the avg mean GPA or SAT’s for any of these schools. Very slim chance you will recieve the merit of this type at any of your schools listed. NEU is very generous with merit aid as everyone that i know recieved 14k. BU is ok with aid as well im not sure about Syracuse. My suggestion is to take the SAT’s and shoot for around a 1900-2000 then go back to the drawing boards and establish your list.</p>

8

<p>Gah, think my chances at the Boston schools are that low? I know my SAT’s need to come up, but I thought my GPA right on par. </p>

<p>Syracuse I can get into, how much harder is Newhouse though? I believe it’s the assistant director of financial aid and admissions that I will interview with. Hopefully I can build a good relationship with him/her. </p>

<p>My friend with the 88 GPA and about a 1560 SAT got into Buffalo and University of Rochester, and a few other SUNY’s. SO I really am hoping I can pull off the same.</p>

<p>Do you guys see Oswego as more of a target or a safety for me? I was kind of hoping to use it as a safety as I really am unsure of what to have lined up as a safety.</p>

9

<p>You sound so much like me, except I am a not-hispanic female, and I’m looking at schools on the west coast, mostly. But I’ve also been in journalism since 9th grade and next year am going to be editor-in-chief.
On the east coast I’ve been looking at Colgate and University of Pittsburgh, and possibly Brown, but that’s a stretch.
Good Luck!</p>

10

<p>don’t listen to superstar12, I got into Northeastern with an 85% average and a $14,000 a year scholarship…</p>

11

<p>Pierre, i have no idea what you have against me. NEU median 50% had avg SAT’s 1260 and gpa 3.7 last year. I got into BC and WPI as a transfer after freshman year at BU but not into NEU for engineering. I am being realistic Because NEU doesn’t even look at writing so if you tally up the OP’s SAT score thats a 1070 with a B - B+ GPA…thats a reach dude. </p>

<p>I dont know what your deal is but you need to get a life because you have yet to enter college and you have over 2100 posts.</p>

12

<p>superstar12, I have nothing against you, I am just saying that you shouldn’t be putting the OP down just because he has a slightly below average GPA. If you have a B+/A- average as the OP does, you should be competitive for admissions. His SAT score isn’t truly bad.</p>

13

<p>Newhouse is much harder to get into than SU in general. Students going into Newhouse typically have close to a 4.0 GPA and SAT scores around 1400 (old scale). However, you can always go into another college at SU and transfer into Newhouse if your grades are good enough.</p>