But - make sure you visit Northwestern and fall in love with it. There’s many fine journalism schools and there’s many journalists that go to less prestigious schools or major in other things. You want to ensure you love the school you are binding too- and you want to ensure you can afford it. Northwestern is near six figures each year.
Find the right school for you.
If you like Northwestern, also look at Syracuse Newhouse.
But honestly, tons of great places to study and practice journalism.
Why Northwestern - reputation or is there something about the campus, environment, etc. that you love?
Do you have budget concerns?
What do you truly want in a school - environmentally - size, weather, urban vs. rural, etc.
Yes, if you apply ED and write essays that point to specific reasons for your interest in attending Northwestern University (Medill School of Journalism).
You will be able to double major–which is either recommended or required for journalism majors–in the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences. Also, once admitted, you can change schools in addition to undertaking double or triple majors.
Your involvement & awards in photojournalism should make your application stand out.
Congratulations on your strong record in college so far! Since you are currently a junior, you have lots of time before needing to figure out how college application strategy, and whether you want to include an ED school within that strategy. Right now your focus should be on continuing to follow your interests with respect to ECs and doing your best in school. If you’re interested in starting the college search process at this time (which I totally understand), I’d focus on figuring out what you want out of your college experience and then, if possible, trying to visit some schools of interest.
In terms of your college experience, some questions you may want to think about are:
What size school do you prefer?
What size classes do you prefer?
How do you feel about significant enthusiasm for intercollegiate sports?
How do you feel about Greek life?
How do you feel about urban/suburban/college town/rural schools?
Are there areas of the country you prefer (or prefer to avoid)?
Are there any climate factors (like the amount of sunlight) at play?
Will religion or politics play any kind of role in your selection?
Are there any other interests you want to pursue while in college?
Also, you may want to try and visit some nearby campuses just to get a sense of what it’s like there. For instance, visiting UT and A&M would both give you the feel of a big state school, but one in an urban location and one in a more remote area. You could add in Southwestern U. to visit a small suburban college while you were in the area. Alternatively, if you’re in the Houston area, you could visit U. of Houston (big) and Rice (medium). If you’re in the Dallas area, try U. of Dallas (small), Southern Methodist (medium), and UT-Dallas (large). But you get the idea.
Additionally, when you’re thinking about building your college application list, the most important schools are the ones where you would be happy to attend for four years, that are affordable, AND that you are extremely likely to be admitted to. You need to have at least one, and preferably more than one, on your list.
Based on your interests, some additional colleges you may want to consider:
Indiana University
U. of Missouri
Ohio U.
Syracuse (NY)
George Washington (D.C.)
New York U.
Drexel (PA )
Susquehana (PA )
Moreover, don’t overlook your in-state options, particularly UT, U. of Houston, and U. of North Texas.
Talk to your school counselors. I think that Texas high schools might be required to give an indication if you’re in the top 5% or 10% or some such metric as that is how most of the seats at UT, A&M, etc filled.
Frankly, this was super impressive to me. To be the best in any state is great, but there are some very low population states out there. Texas is not one of them. Being the best in Texas is something you should be very proud of.
If you visit Northwestern and it’s your clear first choice in the fall of your senior year and it remains affordable for your family, I would definitely understand why you might choose to ED there, and I do not think it would be a “waste” of an ED. But just because it might have the lowest admit rate doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best school for you. Make sure you pick a school that’s the right fit for you, without regard to its admit rate.
I’d say you have a better shot than most at Medill and if it’s your first choice definitely ED. I have two family members that went there and both loved it.
I agree with the other poster that thinks Texas schools must notify you of rank if you are in top 10 percent AND if you indicate an interest in applying to a Texas school. They also must select and report a single valedictorian if that person is interested in a Texas school (because of valedictorian tuition waiver). And UT Journalism is great so if considering that definitely check with your school on whether you are top 5 percent.
OP expressed an interest in journalism and photojournalism with some experience in sports journalism. I wanted to suggest a smaller school for OP to consider and know that Susquehanna’s sports media program has lots of opportunities for practice, and its location has proximity to a number of professional sports teams.
You might want to think about NYU. One interesting aspect of their journalism major is that you are required to double major with something else. I think it’s also quite easy to spend a semester at their DC campus as part of the journalism degree, if that’s a location you’re interested in (obviously study abroad as many other colleges have is also an option).
Thank you for your clarification. Nevertheless, as one who has been familiar with Susquehanna for over 50 years now, it almost certainly would be a poor choice for one with the OP’s qualifications.
Susquehanna is a great place for a struggling student (including those with learning disabilities) who needs an intimate environment. Journalism is a tough profession so OP should target a different class of school.
By law Texas public schools must provide rank for the top 10%. Non ranking schools are not required to report rank on transcripts but if students request their rank be included if the are in the top 10% or above the school has to report it. You should really talk to your GC about this. I know my kids non-ranking public TX school had a form that had to be filled out to include their class rank.
