<p>This is my first post here - my mom found this website and pointed it out to me as a place where I might be able to get some information. </p>
<p>To begin, I’m a junior in high school, a fairly decent honors student, 21st in my class (my academic average is a 95.7, we have a class of overachievers), a 1330 on the SAT (planning to take the new version in June). I’m beginning the college search, and already I’m finding that I’m much more limited than my peers because, due to my mom working at Syracuse University, my parents really want me to attend a school on the tuition exchange list. They haven’t necessarily saved money for me to go to college, and are instead relying on the schools I apply to having reciprocal agreements with SU.</p>
<p>I want to go to college for writing, possibly to become a college professor or journalist. I’ve accomplished a lot with writing during my high school years - I was accepted to a prestigious statewide summer program, I’ve attended many writing workshops, I placed in a local poetry contest, I’m the editor of the literary magazine and on the staff of the school newspaper. I don’t necessarily want to major in writing because I feel that it would be limiting, and I’m interested in liberal arts colleges. </p>
<p>I live in Syracuse, and am very connected to SU because my mother works there, I will soon be working there (in VPA, doing filing and stuff) and I’m always on campus for voice lessons/etc. So far in the college search, SU has been the most promising due to Newhouse and the option of a dual major that would allow me to study journalism there along with the basic liberal arts degree. However, I’ve encountered a lot of disapproval from my peers when mentioning SU, as people around here tend to equate it with a community college due to it being local. This isn’t to say that I honestly care what my peers think, but I’m worried that by the time I ultimately make my college choice, the idea of staying so close to home will terrify me. This pressure is added to by my boyfriend (who I’m incredibly devoted and attached to, while being realistic about college and the high school relationship) looking at incredibly top-notch colleges. The peer pressure of the college search is mounting, in other words.</p>
<p>So my questions are - have any of you gone through the college search process while bound by the tuition exchange list? Did you find yourself a bit freaked out? And also, do you have any recommendations for a liberal arts school that is strong in writing and journalism, close to NY state, and also on the tuition exchange list?</p>
<p>Thanks for any help you guys might have.</p>