I want to be a journalism major most likely somewhere in DC, NY, or Boston (I live in Boston) I have about a 3.67/4, a 3.81/4.3 (my school counts A+s as 4.3) and a 3.86/5. My sat is expected to around a 1370-1400ish range and I would say my extracurriculars and recommendations are really good. What schools do I have a good shot at and are a good fit for me (based on what little you know lol) Also, I think it’d be a nice plus to find a school with a pep band or concert band and maybe like a D3 or less field hockey program.
Emerson?
I second Emerson. Also look into American, BU, GWU, and NYU.
Depending on the type of journalism you want, you might find Suffolk to be an affordable safety with a pretty good program. I’m familiar with them as a Broadcast-focused school, but you could do some research into what else they have.
U Mass, BU, Syracuse, Fordham, CUNY, SUNY, WPI
For band and field hockey smaller state schools like: Worcester State, Bridgewater, Fitchburg
What’s your budget and EFC?
Schools like Emerson offer lousy aid. Most schools listed don’t meet need.
Fordham or American University would be other good choices but neither meets need.
Run the NPC 's and bring results to your parents.
Work/prep for that sat because it’ll likely make all the difference in affordability at these schools.
Note the #1 school of journalism for undergraduates is Mizzou and it’s pretty generous with merit scholarships.
For journalism, a strong strategy is also to pick a university with excellent students publications and work there while completing a 'traditional ’ major that requires a lot of writing and researching: political science, economics…
American offers a foreign language +culture + business major that’s also interesting and versatile.
@MYOS1634 thank you for your feedback! What do you mean by don’t meet need though?
Imagine (it’ll take a huge stretch of the imagination… :p) that your family can’t afford 65k a year. You need financial aid. The college costs 65k, your family’s EFC is 35k. Your financial need is 30k.
If the college 'meets need ', they provide you with 30k with 5.5k in loans, 2.5k in work study, and the rest in grants and scholarships.
If the college doesn’t meet need, they don’t care if you can pay or not. I’d put can’t, not their problem. They may offer you a loan and 10k in scholarships. You’re 'gapped ’ 20k. Or, you have high test scores compared to their typical applicants - you’re well-above the top 25% threshold so they want to attract you by providing you with some incentive, usually as a scholarship that may or may not meet your financial need. This usually depends on your test scores - 1450 is the 'magic’number that unlocks the best scholarships but 1400 would provide you with some opportunities, just not at BU or NYU) . But it also depends on the college 's endowment and resources : Emerson has comparatively very little so they gap basically everyone. If your parents aren’t wealthy it’s very difficult to justify the costs.
Finally, you have the common situation where your EFC is 35k but for whatever reason your parents can pay 20k. Even 'meet need’colleges won’t help above the EFC. In that case, you must focus on schools that offer significant scholarships for stats.
Your other posts indicate you’re a high school freshman whose dream school is NYU. You need to talk to your parents and find out their plans for funding college. If they can pay, how much can they contribute? If it’s not much, you need to focus on getting a high GPA and good test scores so you qualify for merit aid.
If your family files the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) it will generate an EFC (expected family contribution). If your parents are lower income (~$40k/year), your FAFSA EFC would probably be $0, but all that means is that you would qualify for a $5k/year Pell grant. Students who file the FAFSA can take a federal student loan of ~$5k/year. If your parents earn ~$60k/year or more, you probably won’t qualify for a federal grant at all.
Colleges use the FAFSA and sometimes their own financial aid form to determine how much need a family has. NYU costs $70k/year. They may decide that a family with a $40k income can pay $12k/year. So the financial aid package may look like this:
$70k - $12k expected family contribution = $58k net cost
$58k - $5k Pell grant = $53k
$53k - $5k federal student loan = $48k net cost (student need)
The $48k/year is the student’s need, but NYU doesn’t guarantee to meet it. The family could very well end up with a package that requires them to pay $60k/year even though their income is only $40k. This family would need to target schools that offer merit aid and/or need based aid.