School of Journalism Revises Admissions Procedures
Columbia, Mo. (May 13, 2003) — The Missouri School of Journalism today announced revised admissions procedures for undergraduate students entering the University in the Fall Semester 2004.
Journalism Scholars. Scholars are those who score 29 or higher on the ACT (1280 on the SAT) and rank in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating classes. Scholars will be automatically admitted to the MU Honors College and will be eligible for special Freshman Interest Groups designed especially for them. Students who fall just short of those standards may appeal to the Honors College for admission through its petition process. If accepted to the Honors College in that way, a student also will be admitted to the School of Journalism as a Journalism Scholar. Effective that semester, students accepted to MU will be admitted in three groups:
- Directly Admitted Freshmen. The School also will directly admit all students with ACT scores of 26 or higher (1170 on the SAT) or those who rank in the top 10 percent of their graduating classes.
- Pre-Journalism Freshmen. Admitted students with ACT scores below 26 and who do not rank in the top 10 percent of their graduating classes will enter the College of Arts and Science as pre-journalism students. Upon completion of 60 credit hours and all pre-requisites, a student who has maintained a 3.0 average at MU will be assured of admission to the School of Journalism.
Students in the first two categories must maintain MU grade averages above 3.0 to be assured of progression to upper-division status upon completion of 60 credit hours. Students below that threshold will be permitted to advance only on a space-available basis. Pre-journalism students with MU grade averages below 3.0 also will be admitted on a space-available basis.
“The Missouri School of Journalism is a high-demand program that attracts exceptional students,” said Brian Brooks, associate dean for undergraduate studies and administration. “We want to recognize our highest-achieving freshmen and sophomores by providing direct admission.
“At the same time, we want to manage our enrollment to ensure that a Missouri journalism education remains the best in the world. To maintain intensive interaction between students and faculty, we must limit enrollment.”
In the past, the School used floating admissions standards and admitted undergraduates by academic concentration.
The School has about 810 undergraduates in the junior and senior classes and about 240 graduate students.
Updated: March 2, 2020