I am a high school junior and I’m looking into colleges. All the schools that I am seriously considering are out of state private schools. My parents have enough money saved for the first 2 years tuition of a private college. I do not apply for FAFSA or any other income-based aid. My parents will not pay for me to go to a private college, but I cannot see myself at the state school they want me to go to (UF). I can get Florida Bright Futures scholarship (academic based) if I stay in Florida. They will not let me take out student loans.I fully understand that my parents are paying my tuition and have the final decision where I go.
I want to major in journalism and UF doesn’t have a great program for print journalism. I recently visited UF and was not that impressed. I see myself at a college in an urban city where I can easily get internship opportunities after I graduate, UF does not fit that. Journalism is a competitive field and I feel that UF cannot provide me with the experiences that the colleges I actually want to attend will.
This is kind of long and it sounds like I’m complaining, but does anyone have some advice about what I should do?
No, file the fafsa and the CSS Profile (if applicable), regardless.
If this helps my top schools are NYU, GW, and American. My gpa is UW 3.9 and W 4.3. I have taken 5 AP classes and will take 5 more next year. I am working to get my SAT up to hopefully above a 1350. I am an editor-in-chief of my school newspaper.
Simple advice.
You can NOT attend any college unless you can pay the bills. Period.
If your parents won’t complete a FAFSA, you won’t be able to get the federally funded loans.
Are you saying your parents will pay the full cost of attendance at UF…balance after Bright Futures is applied? If so, that means you would have no college undergraduate debt which is a huge gift, especially in journalism where salaries are pretty low.
Unless you get a full ride…including all costs to attend, you won’t be able to attend an out of state college or any private school…unless your parents agree to pay.
What colleges are you thinking about?
- Taking on a lot of debt for journalism (a highly competitive, usually not that well paid field; see https://www.poynter.org/news/how-poorly-are-journalists-paid-depends-where-you-live ) is not that great an idea.
- Borrowing more than the federal direct loans requires a cosigner (usually a parent). This is usually a bad idea for both the student and parent (and your parents are presumably unwilling anyway).
Given what you have written, go to UF or other school where you can graduate without student loan debt, so that you will have more freedom in your career and life choices than if you graduate burdened by large amounts of student loan debt.
You wrote this. And you also wrote that your SAT score was low…second taking.
I would strongly suggest that you take NYU right off your list. The school costs $72,000 a year. You won’t get merit aid…and even IF you parents did the FAFSA and Profile, the school is not likely to meet your full need…because they don’t guarantee to do that. In addition NYU does preferential packaging meaning they award higher aid to students they really want to attract.
GWU is also around $70,000 a year. You won’t be receiving merit aid there either, and certainly not a full free ride.
You need to look at affordable options…places where your college bills will be paid.
And I want to buy a new car, but I can’t afford it, so I will buy a used one. That’s life! You have to make decisions based on financial realities.
I did not know that you could apply for FAFSA even if you thought your income was too high, so I will be doing that…
You can can fill out the FAFSA forms, but that does not mean you will be given the financial aid you want if your parents don’t qualify. Even if you take the federal student loans, that will not be nearly enough to pay for the out-of-state private schools you mentioned. Are there other schools in Florida you would consider?
You do not “get” anything from FAFSA, technically. It will just determine if you qualify for Pell grants (I doubt it, if your parents have significant money socked away for your education). What it also does, though is give you an expected family contribution number, or EFC. It could be $200. It could be $20,000. It could be $75,000. That’s the number that gives colleges a sense of how much your family can pay each year for your education. Colleges often come up with their own number, but it’s at least a ballpark idea.
UF’s J-school is not as bad as you think it is. Good profs, good training, and great internships. The Independent Florida Alligator is a daily newspaper, run entirely by students, with a circulation of about 35k. If you can get hired there, they even pay the reporters. There are tons of Gators in the news business.
Why you want to go into print journalism, however, I cannot help you with.
If your parents complete a FAFSA, you will be able to take a $5500 Direct Loan in your name only for freshman year.
Looks like whatever the cost of UF is minus bright futures is your budget. Although a little confusing since you said parents have enough for 2 years private college. How much is that? You need to Find out exactly how much they will spend and then you can try to find another school for that amount but ones you listed are unlikely.
For instance Uof SC has good j school and give higher stat students instate tuition rates but still doubt you’ll beat UF. Can you look at other colleges in florida that accept Bright futures?
I know it is very far away but consider Arizona State University - the journalism department is in the ASU Downtown Campus…Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. You may have a chance at some scholarships and placement in the Barrett Honors College. It would be less expensive than a private university. I agree, don’t pay full sticker $70K+! https://cronkite.asu.edu/
If you really want to be a journalist, don’t major in journalism, but major in a subject that will enrich your understanding of the world, like History or Political Science, which will develop your critical and analytical skills. Then join the school newspaper and try to take some journalism courses on the side to learn some of the nuts and bolts. I’m basing this off of advice shared with me by a former NPR journalist.
Look at the other schools in Florida, even the private ones. Bright Futures won’t cover all of the private school tuition, but it will go a long way toward it (U of Miami?). If you get the top level, it is almost $7000. You’d also get a resident grant of $3300. But USF is in an urban area, FIU and FAU are too. FSU is in the state capital and that makes a big difference when reporting politics.
And look at U of Missouri, one of the best journalism schools. Mizzou was offering a lot of money to attract students in the last few years.
I went to school many years ago with 4 friends who were journalism majors. One is a lawyer, one a pharmacist, one a school teacher, and the last is…a journalist! She worked for 20+ years as a newspaper reporter and editor, won a Pulitzer, left to work in public radio, left to set up the journalism school at our university, left to return to public radio. She now is a producer. Journalism is changing and you have to change with it. The one who is a teacher wrote guest editorials for many years about things that interested her (mostly education issues).
Regardless of major, perhaps throw in a wide range of other electives that are commonly in the news or helpful in understanding the news, like statistics, economics, various sciences, history, political science, sociology, business, computer science, etc…
Does UA have a reputable journalism program? It could be worth looking into since they give out insane amounts of scholarship money!
The other reason to fill out a FAFSA even if you don’t think you will qualify for a grant and don’t want a loan is that some scholarship organizations ask if you have filed a FAFSA and require that you have done so to be eligible even for their merit scholarships. Work study is also awarded through FAFSA and some states award their aid through filing a FAFSA. Scholarship organizations want to make sure students aren’t overlooking all the aid available to them so the dollars they invest are in addition to everything else available to the student.
Second looking at Mizzou. Usually highest ranked in country for journalism. In state status is easy to achieve after freshman year. Great journalism alum network.
Respectfully disagree with @Westchestermom Journalism today is a technical skill. Go to a good j school if thats what you want because to get a job you need those connections.