<p>Hi. I'm looking for small liberal arts colleges in urban settings. I'm really only considering colleges on the east coast. Schools like Emerson are what I'm looking for. I have found that many of these schools are very expensive and I'd like to avoid a $60k annual tuition. My SAT math and reading score is 1340/1600 and I'd like to major in Political Communication or Journalism. Thanks for any suggestions!</p>
<p>you should look at rhodes
<a href=“http://www.rhodes.edu/”>http://www.rhodes.edu/</a>
you are making a mistake limiting yourself to just the east coast(IMO)
rhodes is urban but not in your desired geographic region. </p>
<p>+1 on Rhodes. First school that came to mind.</p>
<p>Macalester comes to mind.</p>
<p>On the East Coast? <em>shrug</em> Manhattan’s the only one that comes to mind right now. Expand beyond the East Coast or to suburban, and there’re more.</p>
<p>How about Trinity College? It does not offer a major in journalism but political science will meet your interest. Journalism is actually an interdisciplinary area. A strong knowledge base in social sciences and a good command of English, plus some technology skills, are necessary to get a good job in journalism and an LAC can serve you well on these requirements. Your stats fit into their middle 50% range. It will meet 100% of the financial need of admitted students.</p>
<p>how about Duquesne in Pittsburgh? It’s very urban. It has a $42k sticker price (tuition, room, board) and you’d be at the 75th percentile of SAT scores. They have a major in Journalism and Multimedia Arts as well as Political Science.</p>
<p>Not in your desired geographic location, but on the West Coast: Occidental College in L.A., Lewis & Clark in Portland, OR and University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA.</p>
<p>Barnard if you are female, but it does not have your majors (which seem to be less likely to be offered at LACs, as they are pre-professional majors).</p>
<p>Can’t do much better than UMD-CP for politics and journalism, and at an OOS price of just $43K. It’s urban, but it’s not small. It has a scholars program and an honors program to which you can apply to give you more of that small school experience of bright kids rooming and partying and taking classes together. </p>
<p>Size is going to be a barrier for journalism, but UMD’s one of the best. My S went there, no, wait, he still goes there. :!! </p>
<p>Sarah Lawrence is just outside NYC. So you would get a beautiful campus along with the hustle and bustle of a big city. Another school to look into is Reed, which, too, is a quiet residential area with easy access to the city.</p>
<p>for journalism and political communication, @International95?</p>
<p>Journalism? Well, SLC does have a strong culture of sending students into journalism, but there is no vocational program for it. Not Reed, then.</p>
<p>The OP won’t get into Barnard or Reed with that SAT score unless their GPA is much higher than the SAT score would suggest.</p>
<p>OP, you say you want to avoid a $60k annual tuition. That will depend on your own financial situation. Others here may be able to advise you on which LACs offer generous merit aid or whether you’ll get your financial need met at any of these schools.</p>
<p>Goucher (outside Baltimore) offers a communication and media studies program that might work. It offers cross-registration with JHU, which is well-known for its writing and IR programs. Financial aid is pretty iffy, however.</p>
<p>A less likely fit, Wake Forest offers a communication program with concentrations in rhetoric and film & broadcast journalism. Like many schools, it runs a [DC</a> semester program](<a href=“http://college.wfu.edu/washington/]DC”>http://college.wfu.edu/washington/) that would let you explore journalism and politics. While it has the amenities of a small/medium city, Winston-Salem is not a bustling metropolis, and Wake is small but not tiny (~4500 undergrads). Because much of its financial aid is merit-based, it’s difficult to predict financial aid there, but in general it offers good aid packages. </p>
<p>Like others have said, your constraints are narrow enough to be problematic. Budging on size, location, and/or major will expand your options. U Denver, for example, is a smallish university (5000 undergrads) with very good programs in journalism and political science/IR. </p>
<p>@warblersrule, this is the first time I’ve heard that Goucher’s aid policies are not generous. Perhaps someone can clear this up.</p>
<p>You would probably qualify for a decent merit aid package at Eckerd, in St. Petersburg, FL. They are on the waterfront, but not far from the downtown area - buses and trolleys run nearby.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! I’d definitely be willing to expand my search to suburban schools. I may start school undecided or go in as a communications major. Chicago is about the farthest that my parents are willing to let me go (I’m from Charleston SC). </p>
<p>Also my composite SAT score is 1980.</p>
<p>I think you’d also qualify for merit aid at Guilford. Greensboro is a booming city, with a thriving arts and cultural scene. </p>
<p>
I’m hesitant to classify any financial aid program that doesn’t meet the full of need of all students as good (or dependable), but others might disagree, especially if you factor in merit scholarships. Admittedly, the majority of colleges do not meet that high bar. </p>
<p>According to its CDS, Goucher met the full need of only 10% of its students with need last year, and on average it meets about 75% of need. That can be a significant gap and either make it unaffordable or lead to significant debt in private loans. For comparison, peer schools Juniata and Hampshire met full need for 23%, and the financial aid packages covered on average 83% and 86%; Goucher is pretty much in line with schools of similar selectivity or only slightly worse. </p>