I have a 3.75 GPA and 11Bs (most of them are like 88s and 89s), and a 1520 SAT score. The reason why my grades dropped really bad is because of a family situation. But my grades are a upward trend. any school recommendation? I have pretty strong honors and ECs and recs. and my major is communication.
Nothing wrong with a 3.75 and top 50 what ? US news? By major ?
What does #45 get you that #85 or #125 doesn’t. Large school or LAC etc.
Figure out what you want in a school beyond rank which does nothing to find fit. Do u want large or small ? Warm or cold ? Sports ? Greek?
What are you studying ? What’s your budget ?
Then let’s find you schools. You need to be somewhere four years, day after day.
No point in going to a school that doesn’t fit you just because it’s top 50 from a magazine.
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Are you a junior or a senior?
My favorite under-the-radar college where you’ll get top faculty, which is as well resourced as any top 50, and where a 3.75 is competitive for admissions is the University of Rochester. A 3.75 would be competitive at a number of very good state universities, especially where they put a priority on out-of-state applicants like University of Vermont and University of Delaware. Lawrence University, Connecticut College, Dickinson College, Mount Holyoke College, Sewanee: the University of the South, Rhodes College, and Whitman College are all excellent small liberal arts colleges which would be great choices for Communications.
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Do you have access to your school’s admit data, like SCOIR? Check there for schools of interest and that should help you get a better sense of competitiveness for your stats.
There are a lot of great colleges with excellent Communication programs that will be happy to consider applicants with your grades. If you do a full Match Me, and answer questions as needed, that will give us the information we need to make suggestions:
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I agree posters need more detail, including a budget, to help you build a college list. Note that many highly selective colleges don’t have a communication major. What other majors would you consider in that case?
Also, have you spoken with your HS counselor and/or what have you decided with regard to reporting your academic integrity violation? Do I need to report I cheated on a test to college?
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Please clarify what “communications” major means to you. IOW…what kind of communications major and career?
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Great point - like the tops in the major (which I missed) - Alabama, Arizona State, Indiana, Ithaca, Kansas, Michigan State, Mizzou, Ohio U, Syracuse and more. All top schools depending on which part of comm -broadcast, journalism, advertising, PR etc.
OP is an in at all with merit except maybe Syracuse. Those are schools where kids go who want the strongest programs in the discipline. None are USNews top 50 overall.
Comm (if a specific discipline like above) is a prime example where major strength is different than overall U.S. News rank.
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She said to report it and don’t this stop me from applying to any schools. So I just went on and report it haha, but I am trying to avoid applying schools that is asking this since I notice schools like OSU and penn state don’t ask.
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3.75 and 1520 is good, as long as you have decent course rigor.
Imho you should be in at Penn State Bellisario but be aware some Communication majors have a secondary admission process (you need a B/B+ GPA for them).
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what is a secondary admission process?
You are accepted to the university but must apply to be accepted to the specific major. And sometimes students accepted to the university do not get accepted into competitive majors.
This is an example, if you chose advertising/public relations as a major (at Penn State Bellisario):
Entrance to Major
This program currently has administrative enrollment controls. Administrative Enrollment Controls are initiated when limitations of space, faculty, or other resources in a major prevent accommodating all students who request them. Students must follow the administrative enrollment controls that are in effect for the semester that they enter the university.
First-Year Students Entering Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026
In order to be eligible for entrance to this major, students must satisfy the following requirements:
- be enrolled in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications or the Division of Undergraduate Studies
- 40-68 graded Penn State credits (excludes transfer and AP credits)
- completed with a grade of C or better: ENGL 15 (or a University equivalent), ECON 102
- earned a minimum cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of 3.20
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Schools highly regarded for communications, such as one or more from Boston University, Syracuse and Hofstra, would appear to be within reach for you.
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BU has an 11% acceptance rate.
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Adding American to the mix for communications. These stats should be fine for admission, as long as the applicant shows interest - they are very big on demonstrated interest - and of course if it’s within budget.
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I may have missed budget info (and career goals) but as a person with a communications degree, I personally wouldn’t take on any major debt for this degree (I went to a state school with a strong program). The exception might be if you have a niche career goal and a particular college has a pipeline or an excellent job placement record for that specific career.
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I think that the OP needs to clarify the type of communications she’s interested in. Whether she needs the type of specialization that she could access at a place like Syracuse seems up in the air to me.
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I think important fit OP to know - they are interested in 10-50 by rank (presuming US News).
And in these disciplines, these two things aren’t one and the same.
None of these schools mentioned, short of BU, are top 50 U.S. News.
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BU may offer an alternative avenue of admission through its College of General Studies.
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