In keeping with the format of the forum:
Accepted: University of Southern California, University of Maryland
Waitlisted (but offered Summer admission): Northwestern University
Undergrad: UC Irvine (Orange County, CA)
GPA: 3.411
GRE: 1260 (600 Verbal, 660 Math, 4.5 Writing)
I have absolutely no experience whatsoever in Journalism. I was an International Studies Major at UCI, and I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life until very recently. I'm looking to get into Sports Broadcast Journalism and from what I hear, two of the best places to do that are USC and Syracuse. I had no interest in applying to Syracuse though. I live in Charlotte, North Carolina right now and I'm dying to upgrade to a larger city. I'm over the South. Being from Southern California originally, USC is really, really tempting. I have some friends who went there and have already gotten gigs on local television stations across the country. However, I feel the pain of the original poster. I've already done SoCal. I grew up there, went to high school there, went to college there, do I really need to go back?
I was initially disappointed with being waitlisted at Medill but being offered early admission for this Summer (June 20, 3 months from now) might just be a blessing in disguise. Unless you go to NYU or Columbia you really can't match the prestige of Northwestern, am I right? So many ESPN analysts went there, including Mike Wilbon, J.A. Adande, and Kevin Blackistone, just to name a few. Blackistone actually teaches at Maryland now though. I do love D.C., but at the end of the Medill program you can go intern in D.C. if you want (and I think I want). I hear Medill is more Print Journalism and less Broadcast but honestly I don't think it matters. You go to any of those schools you will get a well-rounded education. It just so happens that I love Chicago and Evanston. I've only been there twice, but it was fantastic both times.
So I think I've pretty much decided on heading to Northwestern in June. I'm going to visit Maryland next week, but barring some unexpected turn of events I'll be accepting that early admission. I believe there is an orientation for kids starting in June next month some time, April 14-15 I believe? I'll be there and looking for apartments/roommates. It's a tough call picking between all these schools. Both of you got into great universities. The programs are all relatively short, so why not get out of your regions and experience something new, right? Although, coming from India, anywhere you go will be exotic.
Good luck =)
