<p>I'm a high school junior whose life is pointing more and more toward a career in journalism, and I'm currently tackling the decision of whether to place precedent over Missouri's j-school or Northwestern's. Now, let me explain why I'm having such a hard time with this:</p>
<p>I understand that Mizzou edges out Midell a little as far as going into a journalism career. However, there are three factors that are making me think twice:</p>
<p>1) I know this will sound pretentious, but I've been trying extremely hard in school and am scoring at the top on standardized tests. I feel like if I go to a school with an 80% acceptance rate, I won't be in as intellectual an environment as I would in a school with a near-Ivy acceptance rate. </p>
<p>2) I would much rather live in Evanston near Chicago than I would in Missouri, even if Columbia is not exactly the best representation of the state as a whole. I hate to base school choices off location, but I already live in a desolate desert, and moving to the Mid-West doesn't seem to be too much of an improvement. </p>
<p>3) Current friends and acquaintances have been accepted to Mizzou. I really, really hate my current high school reputation, and a friend of mine who played a huge factor in putting me into that reputation just got accepted to Mizzou and is definitely going. If I go there, he WILL revive my high school self again, unintentionally or not, which I don't want at all. It may seem odd, but I really want to go somewhere where I don't know anybody from my past. I don't expect too many people to understand where I'm coming from on that, but it's a huge factor in deciding colleges for me. </p>
<p>So what should I do? Northwestern is a wonderful school (though I am disliking the cost and the Greek life), and Medill is one of the top j-schools, but is the slight edge of Mizzou worth it?</p>
<p>Daughter goes to Mizzou. She is an excellent student that had many choices but chose Mizzou because of its awesome journalism program. She is in the honors college and is a Walter Williams scholar which requires one to have a min 33 ACT and at least top 10% ranking. There are more then 50 WW scholars in the freshman class.
Columbia is a really fun college town with lots of things to do and is also very reasonably priced.
Lastly Mizzou has about 25000 undergraduates so that even if there are a few people from your school you are unlikely to have much contact if you don’t want to.
Northwestern is a great school and they do have an excellent journalism program but it is almost twice the cost of Mizzou and only you can decide if it’s worth it.</p>
<p>Any of the two colleges would be good for your journalism interests. I’m a high school junior looking for j-schools too, and one of the things I’ve been told to consider is the location of the college. NW is near Chicago, a major town in the state and there may be more opportunities for internships, jobs, etc. in that area than Columbia, Missouri (although I am not 100 percent sure–since Mizzou is often regarded the place to be for journalism).</p>
<p>Also, have you visited both? You may get a better feeling for one of the colleges if you can compare visits.</p>
<p>If you’re worried about costs, remember scholarships and financial aid are always available. That may help even out the costs so the schools are more comparable price-wise.</p>
<p>Well, not to be mean, but you’re only a junior. You haven’t even gotten accepted to either school so you’re first priority should be getting accepted, not choosing between the two. It’s important to note the difference in selectivity between these two schools; Northwestern’s Medill (not Midell) School of Journalism is one of the best in the nation, and one of the most difficult to get accepted to. Just keep that in mind for now, but definitely apply. Also, there are a lot of other well regarded journalism schools, so these two aren’t the only options.</p>
<p>Like adamom said, Mizzou is a large enough school that you can avoid who you want to. Even if one person who you don’t like goes to same school as you, they can’t create your entire reputation. Also, Northwestern does not offer many merit scholarships, but offers a lot in need-based for those who have low income.</p>