<p>I’m an upcoming senior from Arkansas who has no idea about anything. I’m wanting to go to school in the New York City. Not necessarily in the City, but close enough to take advantage of it. I have a GPA of about 3.1 and a 25 on the ACT. I don’t do any extra-curricular activities other than being Editor of the school Newspaper.</p>
<p>I want to pursue Journalism in college, so obviously any school without that major is out. I’m not looking to attend a super-huge school and I’m not sure if I want a private or public. I probably don’t want a LAC. Also, I’d be applying for financial aid anywhere, so any school that is good with that would be worth looking into.</p>
<p>Are there any SUNY’s that would be worth looking into? I like New Paltz, but it’s going to be a reach I think. How about CUNY’s? After that, are there any schools just in the area that aren’t too expensive or selective? I know that’s a pretty ridiculous request, but I guess I only need one :)</p>
<p>Also, how much of a help (or hindrance) will it be for me to be out of state? Obviously it shouldn’t affect me much at private schools, but I’ve heard it can be a benefit at SUNY’s. Is that true?</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. I’ve looked into Purchase, but it seems really artsy. Or is that not completely true? And after doing a quick check on Hunter, I think it looks like a place I could get into, but what’s going to a CUNY like? Do they really have campuses and dorms like regular colleges, or are they just a couple of buildings together in the city?</p>
<p>I think you should give Fordham a shot. Coming from Arkansas will give you a big advantage since it’s an underrepresented state. Fordham has the most “campus-feel” out of all the NY colleges so that will be good for you since you’re looking for a moderately sized schools.</p>
<p>Yeah, Fordham pretty much sums ny thoughts up. Might want to try Stevens if you want to be an engineer or do something “techy”, along with NYU-Poly, and maybe Seton Hall for another option, too.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t totally rule out New Paltz. Try and ad to your EC’s now - do some volunteer work in an area that interests you(animal shelter, environmental group, helping kids,etc.) and write a strong essay. Being out of state may help you.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies! I’ve looked at Fordham but the tuition seems absolutely ridiculous. I’m sure I could get a pretty good amount of financial aid, but I’m not totally sure how that process works. Would it get to the point where it would be affordable, or would it be a stretch no matter what?</p>
<p>If money is an issue, you should seriously consider Queens, Purchase or Hunter. Hunter really doesn’t have a campus, but Queens and purchase have campus. I think Queens has dorms now. New Paltz is really far away from NYC. I would not recommend it if you want to spend your weekend in the city.
You can apply other private schools in NYC as your dream schools (financially) but don’t expect a lot of miracles. It will be nice if you have it, but there are too many students applying for the same limited aids. Try and don’t count on it.</p>
<p>It really depends on how much aid you need. No SUNY or CUNY is likly to give an OOS student with your stats aid past the Federal, but they cost under 25K/yr, so if you qualify for a Pell Grant and Federal loans, and your family can pay the rest, they would be good schools to look at.</p>
<p>Schools like Fordham give their aid to the students at the top of their pool. The bottom line is that with your stats very few schools will offer you much aid and your state school will end up being your best bet if you need much money.</p>
<p>Also note that most journalists did not study journalism in college, you can learn to write anywhere.</p>
<p>look into schools in New Jersey and Long Island too, as neither of these areas are too out-of-reach from New York City itself. Stony Brook might be a good school choice.</p>
<p>First off try taking the SAT, its much more common in NY. Try Queens, City College, Purchase (but your GPA is low for Purchase, and yes Purchase is artsy), and Brooklyn.</p>
<p>Adelphi and Hofstra are both on Long Island with relatively easy access to NYC and have journalism majors. Of course, like most of the other schools mentioned, most of the students are from NY. That’s not a bad thing in and of itself, but it’s something to be aware of.</p>
<p>I would encourge you to try for Fordham depite the class profile. Your scores are fine but your GPA is pretty low (in comparison). As someone mentioned earlier, being from Arkansas may help you quite a bit - close to 50% of the class is from New York (state), and 2/3 of the class is either from New York or the mid-Atlantic region. </p>
<p>(Also, interesting to note - 23% of the incoming class of 2012 is from NYC).</p>
<p>I have a few more suggestions: try schools that are close to NYC, but not in the city itself. i.e. Fairfield University or Sarah Lawrence are great. You’re right about Purchase SUNY: very artsy (a bit overthetop imo). CUNY is incredibly international, but some students really struggle with English. Fordham is excellent, and consider other Catholic schools (aside from Fairfield): Villanova, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s. Good luck</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for all the great replies. I’ll be sure to look into all the schools that’ve been mentioned. It’s really nice to have a place to start now :-)</p>
<p>I was going to mention Sarah Lawrence or Bard, but they don’t have journalism majors. And you said you wouldn’t consider them. But I think liberal arts schools are great for people who would like to be a journalist.</p>
<p>Seton Hall would love you, Monmouth U, which is absolutely gorgeous, Fairleigh Dickinson. Don’t underestimate how diverse Arkansas would make you! Also St. John’s. Definitely check that out.</p>