Hi! I’m planning on applying as a writing major or journalism major (depends on each school). I don’t qualify for financial aid, but was hoping to get a merit scholarship. I’m applying to: Pratt, the New School, George Washington University, Howard University, Washington and Jefferson College, and Savannah College of Art and Design. I also live in NYC, so I plan on applying to CUNY Brooklyn and Stony Brook and New Paltz as safeties.
Grades:
GPA: 97 or 3.88
SAT: 1340, Essay 6/8
AP’s: Ap Euro- 3, Ap Lang.- 4
Full IB diploma candidate
I don’t have many APs because those are the only two offered for junior year. I do the IB program though, which is pretty rigorous.
Extracurriculars
Dance team in my HS and classes outside of school (6 years)
Key Club member
Intern at my local newspaper
Previously interned at social services organization where I visited and cared for homebound senior citizens
Writer for a few online and print magazines
Part of a program where I was a mentored by a professional journalist (2 years)
200+ hours of community service
Accomplishments
Read at this event at the NY Historical Society
2 Silver Keys for written pieces from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
National Honor Society
Sorry if this is too vague, but please let me know if you have or know someone who has received a scholarship from these schools and if they have similar academic achievements. If you went to one of these schools, let me know what you think of their writing or journalism program. Also, please recommend any schools with a writing or journalism that give out generous scholarships. 
Hate doing chances but here it goes:
Right now you really don’t have any true safeties and only one affordable option.
Brooklyn College- you will be admitted, but SAT scores are not high enough for honors or Macauley Honors College
I would not call New Paltz or Stony Brook safeties any longer. With this years Excelsior scholarship, there will be a major influx of applications to SUNY. Unfortunately, you you may become a victim of gender balancing at New Paltz, because they are not for a loss of young women (including URM women). Stony Brook is not a safety because your profile is a little higher than the EOP profile (Stony Brook EOP is just a hair under the gen admission profile), but not high enough for merit $$. Recommend getting your application in as soon as it opens next month because it is rolling admissions and there will be a lot of applications.
Pratt/New School -unless you get in through HEOP (which will give more of a tip to art portfolio students as Parsons is part of New School), neither one will provide you with the money you need. If you are lucky you may get $10k from New School, but that is just a drop in the bucket for tuition.
George Washington, Washington and Jefferson College and Savannah Art and Design I recommend running the net price calculator because none of these schools meet 100% demonstrated need and GW is one of the most expensive colleges in the country.
How much are your parents willing to pay or borrow for you to attend school.
Thank you for responding. My parents are willing to pay 25-35k, so I only need the scholarship really for the private schools. I didn’t think about Excelsior too much because I don’t qualify for it, but now realize how much it lowers my chance of admission. I think that the schools that I have a pretty high chance of admittance, based on academics and my writing portfolio, like Pratt and SCAD, are the ones that I would struggle to afford. They are in my top five though.
your 25k will cover SUNY. As I said before, with the excelsior scholarship admissions will be come more competitive.
Your best bet is to make sure you apply to EA for new paltz and get your Stony Brook app in ASAP so that you re a first read
If you get a small scholarship from Pratt and take your $5500 student loan, can you commute to Pratt?
You would be eligible for Capstone Scholarship at Howard with those stats. If you go to their website and look at Admissions for domestic applicants and click on cost of attendance there is info about freshman scholarships.
Thank you so much! I’ll check it out.
I can commute, but I would much rather dorm. I would rather go to a SUNY/CUNY and dorm than commute to Pratt, which would probably take about 1.5 hours. My parents want me to be independent and learn to live on my own, and I would really like to dorm as well. Guess it’s just a decision I’ll have to make!
I think you would get merit at Eckerd College in FL, which has an excellent writing program and art school kind of vibe. Run the NPC and see how much you qualify for based on your stats. You might be able to get an arts scholarship on top of merit to put it in your price range.
There is still time to study for and retake the SAT. That would improve your merit chances.
Agree with others to get those SUNY apps in early. It will make your senior year so much easier if you have an admission in hand by December.
Thanks so much! I’ll definitely check out Eckerd. And I’m scheduled to retake my SAT in August.
UofSC has a great journalism school with great new facilities. Check to see their scholarships for OOS students. They will recalculate your GPA. You might be in range to get in-state tuition rates which brings it down to the level you are trying to reach.
What are the odds Missouri will throw more scholarship $ out there next year to get more students in the door? Last couple freshman classes have been lower than expected. From just a little digging I think you’re competitive for admission. COA is $42.5. Might be worth it to run the NPC, iIt’s a solid journalism school…