Chance Me/Match Me female comm/PR/broadcast journalism interest in NE/SE/Mid Atlantic; 3.85 UW GPA [<$45k]

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Rising senior at a large, suburban public school in central PA
No special factors
Max budget 45k/year
Major interest:
Mass Comm
Journalism/Broadcast Journalism
Public Relations/Advertising

3.85UW
4.3W
Class rank: 61/493 (just outside of 10% sadly)
SAT: 1210 (retaking in August)
AP Lang: 4
AP Gov: 4
Coursework: 10 Honors, 4 APs (two senior year), 3 dual enrollment (all senior year)
English: all honors/AP (Lang and Lit)
Science: Honors Lab, Honors Bio, Chem, senior elective
Math: all college prep grade level (Alg I, II, Geometry), dual enrollment Intro to Stats
Social Studies/Sciences: Honors Global, Honors American, AP Gov, AP Psych, Dual Enrollment Econ
Spanish I-Honors Spanish IV
Electives: Journalism, Holocaust Studies, Honors Digital Marketing, Honors Financial Planning, Marketing and Sales, Yearbook, Public Speaking, Video Production
Awards: distinguished honor roll every trimester of high school
EC’s:
4 years Mini THON (annual charity event modeled on PSU THON; 12 months of planning and fundraising); personal fundraising total exceeding $2,500
1 year Mini THON committee captain (chair)
4 years varsity swim/dive
1 year swim/dive captain
4 years year-round club swim
2 years JV Field Hockey
3 years school paper staff; one year social media editor
4 years yearbook staff; one year section editor
NHS member (2 years)
Interact Club member (2 years)
Part-time work (lifeguard) 3 summers; lead position 1 summer
Second part time job during school year (also lifeguard)
Student Council (elected position) 1 year
Spanish immersion school trip: Spain (Madrid, Seville, Toledo, Costa del Sol)
LOR’s: 2 from English dept faculty (AP Lang and journalism teacher); 1 from business teacher who advised MIni THON involvement

Schools:
NC State (reach)
Fairfield (reach)
FSU (reach)
PSU main campus (target)
University of South Carolina (target)
Delaware (target)
College of Charleston (safety)
West Chester (safety)
Miami of OH (safety)

applying all EA
Open to suggestions for other good fits! I think I need more targets. Would like mid size to large suburban settings (some cities OK; would like to avoid rural), strong comms dept, high energy atmosphere.

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So - let’s start with your budget:

NC State - not going to happen. Schools support in state students. NC State is over $50K a year for tuition, room and board.

FSU hits budget - but you’re highly unlikely - with the low SAT.

PSU makes sense

U of South Carolina - could happen with merit but also could be out of price. It’s near $60K for tuition, room and board. Will be a tough in - reach - due to SAT.

Delaware same - you’ll get in but not sure you can afford.

College of Charleston - no chance to afford - sorry. Even if merit the first year got you there, once you move off campus it costs far more than on campus.

W Chester - yes to all

Miami Ohio - yes you’ll get in - but it’s well above cost. Depending on their weighting scale it could happen - but unlikely.

Surprised you don’t have well regarded Temple - but perhaps it’s the area.

Interesting list as you’ve left off the “popular” schools.

Hofstra - I just put in your stats - can get you to $47K. Check out Ithaca as well (I didn’t run). And Quinnipiac too. Don’t think they’ll work but you can check.

Ohio U will make budget - whereas Miami might not…so that’s likely a better choice.

University of Kansas will make budget - and it’s excellent for journalism.

U of Alabama will just get in under the budget but if the SAT score goes up, then the cost goes down.

Interesting list of schools - most will go Syracuse, Northwestern, etc.

I like it. I’m an SU Journalism alum and recently attended an online session. The message to the students was - where you go doesn’t matter. Why? You have a phone - and you can do a stand up or sports play by play or anything camera related wherever you are.

Given all your major interests, I would send you toward Alabama and not because my son went there.

But because they’re one of the most reputed in advertising / PR and they are strong for BJ too - so of all your schools, it might be the most comprehensive for your needs. Won’t be cheapest though.

Another strong one would be OU (Oklahoma) - like Alabama, strong in your areas of interest and will hit budget (be cheaper in fact). The reason I put Bama first is it’s very geographically diverse with thousands from the NE where OU will be more Oklahomans and Texans - but it’s be a great fit too.

Good luck.

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Maybe look at Missouri. I think it could hit your budget with merit aid. They also allow you to apply for in state residency after the first year.

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thank you for the feedback! I was hoping merit for UofSC and UD would get them to 45k, but I know the SAT is a problem. I’m hoping to bring it up to 1300 and apply in Sept. right after the updated SAT scores are released. Math is my issue (which is probably clear from my coursework as well). When I visited UofSC, they did say that merit can be given with test optional submissions but maybe that is less likely… I will take a look at the other schools you suggested! I appreciate the help!

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Thank you! I had not considered them; I will check them out!

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You could get some merit from UD, but I think they like a nice test score (before COVID test scores were even more important for merit), but I don’t think enough to bring it down to $45,000, but you never know. New at Delaware, honors now costs $2000 a year.

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7

SUNY New Paltz and Rowan University have very good programs in communications and journalism.

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