Hello, I am interested in majoring in English/journalism. My GPA is a 3.99 (one A- so far) and my top ACT is a 33. Schools that I am interested in applying to are Northwestern, University of Michigan, USC, and UNC. However, none of these are safety schools in which I am more than likely admitted.
I have done some research, and some other schools I have looked into a little bit are UT-Austin, Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana, Syracuse, and a few others. However, the one thing that I need to have at my school are sports teams, specifically both football and basketball (I know all those schools do, but this is just for schools that anybody recommends). Would those schools I listed here in the second paragraph be considered safeties with my GPA/ACT? What other schools have good journalism programs and would be safeties for me (Besides for Michigan I plan on majoring in Journalism, at Michigan I would likely major in English).
I also want to go to a school with a solid reputation. I know safeties won’t be as highly regarded as my target schools, but I would like some safeties that have some respect to their name.
What can your family afford? A safety must be affordable. Right now you’re applying to public Us in multiple states where you would be full pay (up to $60K/year).
Is this for next year? If so you’ve missed deadlines at some places where your stats would get you some money. If you are a junior then UofSC has a good journalism school (College of Information and Communication) and a brand new, state of the art classroom building and studio. Your stats would likely get you in-state tuition rates. UGA also has good journalism program.
I think this student is a junior because he posts in the grad 2018 thread.
Safeties must be affordable and rarely give good need-based aid. So, how much will your family pay each year?
Missouri is known for journalism, but I don’t know what scholarships they give. They don’t seem very generous.
Alabama has many students going into broadcast journalism. Don’t know if that interests you. Bama has an amazing broadcast studio for TV, and also has 3 radio stations. The Digital Media Center was recently rebuilt to accommodate the expanding needs. You can tour it as well https://cis.ua.edu/digital-media-center/
You’d get free tuition there with your stats. Football and basketball, too. https://jcm.ua.edu
UT would not be a safety because of how hard it is to get into OOS, but it’s a great school. UofSC would be a great one, and they have two great honors programs that you’d be able to get into. UGA would’ve been a good option, but their deadline passed.
@jennacwa is UT-Austin that hard to get into out of state? I get that it probably isn’t a safety, but is someone similar to my stats likely to be admitted or is it really that tough that I shouldn’t bank on it at all?
You can’t go wrong with Missouri. It is at the very tippy top of the J schools out there. With your grades you would be a direct admit to the Journalism school. It is a great Journalism school.
You have a very good chance at UT, but it’s pretty similar to UNC in terms of getting in OOS. They have to accepted in state students in the tops 7% of their hs class, and class rank is a huge deal for them. It’s a little easier to get into liberal arts than engineering or business, though. Are you a junior right now?
Definitely apply EA if you’re interested in UGA. how many ap classes have you taken and how many does your school offer? That’s very important to them, and if you’ll graduate with 7+ you’re chances are very good. They have a great journalism program. Syracuse would probably be a safety for you. UT admissions are really weird, but Austin is great so I’d encourage you to apply; you have good chances. Most of those big state schools you listed as possible safeties would be good too, and relatively easy for you to get into.
UT, even with your stats, is going to be very very difficult: once the top 7% have been admitted, only 25% are left. In those spots they admit Top 10% students from Texas with high scores and/or strong curriculum rigor, athletes, and legacies of special interest; whatever remains is what’s left for international and OOS applicants.
Mizzou would be a terrific safety, apply early (“early in the year”, not “ed”, which they don’t have).
Syracuse Morehouse is a match.
What’s your parent’s budget? If you don’t know, run the NPC on several of your choices and present each result (they’ll all be different) to see what’s affordable and what’s not affordable.
I’ll second UW-Madison. Great city, great campus/school, very good profs/academics, excellent J school. Fair disclosure: it’s my undergraduate alma mater. My BA is in Journalism.
But UW is not a safety for OOS admissions.
(Several other schools mentioned in this thread are excellent in Journalism. In terms of safeties, I don’t think you can do better than the J school at the University of Missouri.)
@jennacwa I go to an all IB school. For freshman/sophomore year they are all MYP honors classes. For this year and next I am taking 6 IB classes each year I believe