<p>I recently submitted my SSA for direct admittance to the IU School of Journalism...how competitive is it to get in freshman year?</p>
<p>I hope you understand that the School of Journalism will no longer exist after next year. The school is merging with a couple of departments from the COAS to create a new school: the IU Media school.</p>
<p>[New</a> IU Media School Receives Approval - Newsroom - Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick](<a href=“http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=61930]New”>http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=61930)</p>
<p>Journalism will still exist at IU. BTW–this has been a very controversial move. </p>
<p>As an FYI–in most instances you find out if you are a direct admit to a school prior to SSA. SSA is for scholarships, not direct admission. Direct admission is based upon your application. I would guess that direct admission invitations are a bit slower this year with the creation of a new school.</p>
<p>rrah…thank you for the information. I have been in contact with the School of Journalism over the last 6 months and not once did they tell me about this merger. I even asked about the direct admission invitations and they said they would be sent out soon. Makes me re-evaluate going to IU for Journalism. Not sure if the merger is positive or negative.</p>
<p>bigbooklover–It only received final approval in late October. It’s been very controversial to put it mildly. I know the woman that has served at interim dean of Journalism and will serve as an asst. dean in the new school. She and other journalism profs really worked hard to make sure that the core foundations and identity of the school would not be lost. </p>
<p>While IU is “losing” a long standing and respected school I think the end result will be positive for students as it will offer more additional opportunities. Also keep in mind that the profs will remain the same. </p>
<p>Here is another article about the merger approval.</p>
<p>[Archive</a> » Trustees approve new Media School; Major appointed associate dean » Indiana University School of Journalism](<a href=“http://journalism.indiana.edu/general-news/news/trustees-approve-new-media-school-major-appointed-associate-dean/]Archive”>http://journalism.indiana.edu/general-news/news/trustees-approve-new-media-school-major-appointed-associate-dean/)</p>
<p>I’m currently a freshman at IU, and I was directly admitted during my senior year of high school. I’m going to be honest and tell you that I don’t know exact numbers of how many DA’s there are in my freshman journalism class, but I will say that I was directly admitted with no high school journalism experience. My school didn’t have a newspaper or anything of the sort. That being said, I had good SAT/ACT scores, GPA, etc. Also, I think having good essays on the SSA is a huge part. Obviously they want to see how you can write. Definitely take time to make sure they’re the best you can do. You’ll find out whether you’ve been directly admitted around March (if I remember right). The SOJ will send out a letter containing all sorts of fun info on if you were directly admitted, got any scholarships, or were selected to be a Media Scholar or Ernie Pyle School. If you haven’t looked into those, I would check it out :)</p>
<p>On the topic of the merger, yes it is very controversial. However, as a student in the current journalism school now, I can assure you that you’re still going to be getting a great education. My professors are dedicated and it’s obvious that they truly have your best interests in mind and want to better prepare the new age of journalists. Just because standards are changing a bit doesn’t mean that the actual schooling gets less rigorous. You’re still going to be taking classes from renowned professors who are not only teachers, but also standouts in their field. That won’t change.</p>