Journalism major

Paris learns from Rory’s file that she has chosen to be a Journalism major. In some American high schools, students choose a major subject stream in the same way they will at college or university. This will affect which electives they can take.

Journalism and Political Science at Harvard

Rory tells Headmaster Charleston that her aspiration is to study Journalism and Political Science at Harvard. Harvard doesn’t have an undergraduate degree in Journalism or Political Science, but Rory might have been planning to obtain a Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies, focusing on Government, and then getting a Master of Liberal Arts in Journalism.

4.0 Grade Average

EMILY: Hanlin, did you know that Rory has a 4.0 grade average?
LORELAI: I’m sure he does, Mom.

A 4.0 grade average means that Rory’s average overall letter grade in school is an A, and her overall grade as a percentage is over 90%. In other words, she’s a straight A student.

M.I.T.

RICHARD: Lorelai, your daughter’s tall.
LORELAI: Oh, I know. It’s freakish. We’re thinking of having her studied at M.I.T.

M.I.T. is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a prestigious research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The long gaps between visits to her grandparents – which are apparently at Christmas and Easter – mean that Richard is surprised to discover Rory’s height. She must have had a growth spurt since they last saw her the previous April.

Harvard University

LORELAI: This is it. She can finally go to Harvard like she’s always wanted and get the education that I never got and get to do all the things that I never got to do and then I can resent her for it and we can finally have a normal mother-daughter relationship.

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachussets, and one of the most prestigious educational establishments in the world.

Being accepted into Chilton will help Rory get into Harvard, because Gilmore Girls implies that Chilton is a Harvard “feeder school” – one whose selective admissions process, academic culture, and strong college counselling will provide a clear advantage.

The real life “Harvard feeder schools” where a high proportion of students go on to Harvard are Boston Latin, Phillips Academy in Andover, Stuyvestant High School, Noble and Greenough School, Phillips Exeter Academy, Trinity School in New York, and Lexington High School.

This is the first time that we learn that Rory has “always wanted” to go to Harvard. The fact that Lorelai immediately says that Rory will get the education she never got and do all the things she never got to do suggests the source of Rory’s goal.

From the very first episode we begin to suspect that Rory’s role, in her mother’s eyes, is to fulfil all Lorelai’s hopes and dreams that ended when she gave birth to Rory, and to grow up to be the new, improved, child-free Lorelai.