<p>Here's the situation: I already sent in my regular applications a few weeks ago but at that time I didn't know what I wanted to major in so I just chose something from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, but now I've decided that I really want to major in broadcast journalism which would be Medill. Assuming I get accepted, is it easy to get switch? And how would I do that?</p>
<p>This is probably the third instance I've seen on these formus in the past month in which someone has a Weinberg/Medill conflict. Your conflict, in particular, has two different solutions that I can see - one of which may be infinitely easier than the other.</p>
<p>Fortunately, since you've applied RD to Weinberg and won't receive an admissions decision for a few months, you have time to contact the NU admissions office via snail mail and inform them that you'd like to apply to Medill instead. I know for a fact that you can do this, because when I applied ED, there was a little option on my NU "Applicant Services" online account to change my intended major, before I received my accepted/rejected decision. </p>
<p>If you write to NU and change your intended major to journalism, NU will then view you as an applicant to Medill instead of Weinberg. When you get your admission decision in the spring, it will pertain to Medill.</p>
<p>IMHO, this is the very easy way to handle the situation. The other option is to not do anything yet and hope that you are admitted to Weinberg, and after that, attempt to transfer into Medill. I've heard that it's possible to do this, but it's not a sure thing by any means. From what I know, about 1-2 people are allowed to transfer to Medill each year.</p>
<p>I think your best bet is to contact the undergrad admissions office ASAP and let them know you'd like to be a journalism major; it will save you the trouble of trying to transfer schools later on.</p>
<p>Good luck! :)</p>
<p>The only risk to the above is that your app is surely geared towards WCAS. A Medill app will have specific references to Medill and an emphasis on journalism experience. Because of this I would GUESS that your chances of being admitted to Medill with your current application are substantially less, unless you for some reason talked a lot about journalism on your app. If you are set on NU, I would honestly wait to see if you get into Weinberg, and the second you do make it a priority to get in touch with Medill, let them know what you want to do, and take the steps towards getting there. Worst case you could take a bunch of distro classes freshman year or try to get into large Medill core classes, and eventually transfer in as a sophomore to take the Medill-only classes. I bet if you talk it out with advisers and whatnot over the summer, it won't be a huge problem.</p>
<p>dfleish is right -- your application probably isn't suited for Medill as much as for WCAS. That said, I am a freshman in Medill and I know two or three freshmen in Medill that were accepted to Weinberg and told Medill over the summer that they wanted to switch. None of them had any journalism experience thought they did, in fact, have strong writing scores/skills.</p>
<p>As much as I would love for you to apply directly to Medill, you may find it easier to get in through Weinberg. I don't know your stats, but if you are lacking in the writing department, it might be better to leave things they way they are and contact Medill if you get in.</p>
<p>You have much better chances of being admitted to Medill as a freshman than as a transfer. Period. If you notify the school that you want to switch majors, you could also ask if you are permitted to send in some sort of supplemental documents demonstrating your interest in journalism. However, they already have your essays and writing scores, and probably can make a decision based off of those. I personally know a few people in Medill who had absolutely no writing experience prior to college.</p>
<p>I should add to the above that if, as dfleish mentioned, you are set on going to NU regardless of your major there, you should definitely keep your status as a Weinberg major and attempt to transfer into Medill after you've been admitted ... but if you absolutely want to major in journalism, and you are applying to other colleges' journalism schools, I think you should change your status.</p>
<p>^^ Really good points!</p>
<p>I do think that people overemphasize the difficulty of transferring, though. I feel like if you are REALLY set on it, you will get it by the end of sophomore year. I just can't imagine the school screwing someone over that badly. Plus, I know someone who came into NU as a theater major with about a 1200 SAT and he was able to transfer into Medill before the end of freshman year. I can't guarantee anything obviously but I believe if you started ASAP over the summer, it wouldn't be a huge problem.</p>
<p>Oh wow, lots of advice. Thanks guys!</p>
<p>I think I'll just see if I get accepted first and if I do, then I'll take it from there. I chose political science as a tentative major and my application essays, etc emphasized it somewhat so I'm afraid to switch schools now. (although I was interested in polysci for the same reasons as broadcast journalism.)</p>
<p>taryn mentioned how difficult transferring is, but hopefully it wont be as hard if I try before freshman year starts.</p>