<p>Can anybody recommend schools with good advertising programs (the verbal part of advertising, not the graphic design side). Geographically, we are looking mostly in the DC to Boston range, but state flagships in other parts of the country could be considered. We are leaning heavily toward state schools, but compelling private programs could also be considered. For stats, we are projecting 3.3 UW in an academically rigorous HS, SATs in the range of 550-600 per section.</p>
<p>My D graduated from Univ of Illinois’s school of media with a BA in Advertising. She was not in the graphic design side. She had similar stats as you child but she entered 7 years ago so do not know if the stats have changed since.</p>
<p>Did she like the program? Any comments on what to look for (or avoid) in these programs? Thank you!</p>
<p>She really liked it and works in advertising in Chicago now. It is al digital now & so make sure there is a strong digital content to the program</p>
<p>Good to know. Anybody else out there? I know we’re heavy on STEM at College Confidential, but there must be some more parents whose kids went into advertising.</p>
<p>Iowa State has a solid program. OOS tuition is also relatively inexpensive.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.jlmc.iastate.edu/undergraduate/advertising/index.shtml”>http://www.jlmc.iastate.edu/undergraduate/advertising/index.shtml</a></p>
<p>Daughter of a close friend works for an ad agency in Boston–she went to the University of Missouri School of Journalism. There’s a concentration in the J school for people interested in PR, which is what friend’s daughter studied. Not sure of academic requirements for admission to the J school, but among journalists the school gets high marks and is well known.</p>
<p>My son is an advertising copywriter in Boston. He studied advertising at UNC Chapel Hill J school. Copywriting is a tough field to crack with an undergrad degree and S1 had to have luck with a lot of extracurricular effort. </p>
<p>Interesting. These are all programs we’ll look into. About the stats, there’s still some time for possible improvement, so my theory is: assume that nothing will change, make a list, and then if the stats get better, some better options may open up. I’m guessing, without even checking, that UNC Chapel Hill is in that category.</p>
<p>Any comments on the small, more “hand-holding” private schools, for someone in the academic bracket that I described? I tend to be leery of them for various reasons – smaller alumni network. Essential upper level courses in any major are often offered on a rotating four-semester basis, because they don’t have the student headcount or the faculty to offer them more often, so that makes your program very structured, and can make it difficult to do a semester abroad. Their programs also tend (again, of necessity) to be more general in their treatment of the subject – if you wish to specialize a bit, you may be frustrated. All that being said, maybe I’m overlooking something good.</p>
<p>Another factor I’m watching is whether they’ll even commit to let you into the program, when you apply in 12th grade, of if you have to enter the university undeclared and then vie for a spot in the program. UDel, I believe, works that way, and so does U of Arizona. It leaves you with an unhappy choice if you’re not selected – give up your dream, or transfer (and good luck trying to get a seat in another limited-enrollment program as a transfer, when the kids who entered that school as freshmen are on the inside track and your home school didn’t want you). I attended a LAC, and you could opt into any major you wanted.</p>
<p>I see pros and cons. There are undoubtedly people who would benefit from being counseled away from a given field. But UDel, for example, rank-orders the kids’ GPAs in four freshman courses, and the top 100 kids are permitted to stay in the program. We can tell from this process that kid #101 is ill-suited for the field? I doubt it.</p>
<p>UArizona’s marketing program is great, the Eller college of business is one of the best in the country. OOS tuition is relatively cheap when compared to California schools, UNC types, etc. and it is a great value for the cost of tuition and return on investment. Everyone loves it here, can’t go wrong by choosing UA!</p>
<p>It is not necessary to major in advertising. Good writing skills, ability to write for digital media are most important these days. The ability to communicate verbally and to have an outgoing personality will get the interview. Any major will do but look for the J school or business schools with communication majors</p>
<p>What about double-majoring in English? Rutgers has a school of communication, but again it’s a junior-year admit (you spend freshman and sophomore doing something else, and apply to SCI). Many people find that a double major in English readily dovetails with the SCI program.</p>
<p>I know nothing about this field. While it’s too early in D’s life to expect her to be precise about what she wants to do as an adult, she seems to be leaning toward the event planning and true public relations side of things, such as events rolling out a new product, rather than actually putting advertising together. I noticed that the U of Arizona specifically forewarns applicants that the program is not meant to train broadcast journalists, PR people or event planners. So, clearly some forethought is required, about what part of the field you want to enter, and which programs are meant for that.</p>
<p>I looked at UArizona again. The Communication major is part of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, not part of the Eller College of Management.</p>
<p>Based on what I’m hearing from D, I guess we need to watch for programs that are broader in their scope, that offer something for the aspiring PR people (the ones that UArizona specifically says are often disappointed when they get into the major). I don’t see her in the marketing department of a business school, which seems to have become all the more a quantitative field. (I could honestly see her naming nail polish shades for a living. That is not a put-down. How many people can come up with this stuff?)</p>
<p>Does anybody know of a useful book to get an overview of the communications, PR and advertising field, both the academic side of it and then the practical?</p>
<p>Field- you can’t cut the salami into slices as thin as you’re trying to. I’ve hired PR and marketing folks and event management folks and honestly- we don’t look to see if someone has taken a course in event management.</p>
<p>The companies I’ve worked at are looking for people who are strong writers- first and foremost. Whether they are writing advertising copy or press releases or annual reports or speeches for the CEO or talking points for the head of R&D or web articles or blog posts- strong writing is strong writing. Good, clear, declarative statements. Second, we look for people who read constantly. They know “stuff” because they read. Books, magazines, blogs, newspapers- good copy writers and good PR folks keep up to date by reading. Third, we look for people who can make connections between things which don’t appear to be connected but actually are- think of the saddest Hallmark commercial you’ve ever seen or one of those fantastic Chevy ads that ran during the superbowl. Great writers (pr or advertising) have taken history and econ and sociology and literature and can view a client’s problem through a complicated and multicultural lense. They just “get stuff”.</p>
<p>Naming nail polish shades for a living or its equivalent does not require going to college. Your D will go to college to read and write and expand her intellectual horizons. The naming stuff will come on the job after she’s gotten a college education.</p>
<p>Two useful resources are the website of the PRSA (Public Relations society of America) and the IABC (International Association of Business Communicators). Very well regarded organizations which can answer many of your D’s questions.</p>
<p>But truly- she does not need to “major” in PR or study how to name nail polish in college. I’ve hired copywriters who had degrees in Renaissance Studies (history, art and literature) and PR folks who had degrees in chemistry.</p>
<p>And bad news for you- virtually any business discipline is going to have some quantitative element to it. Even copywriters are handed a deck of market research stats and need to be able to interpret the results. They aren’t doing complicated regressions (that’s what the statisticians and market researchers are there for) but they need to be able to interpret data. PR folks are often handed three and five year sales data (or earnings per share, or market share, or ROI metrics) and asked, “what can we do about it?”. So interpreting numbers- taking at least a few accounting and statistics courses, is very important for an aspiring business communications student.</p>
<p>Honestly most of the PR people come out of ; schools or business schools with communications concentrations or they are English majors at lacs… One of the most successful PR and event planners I know in their young twenties was an art major at a big 10 school. Most kids get their foot in the door because they were involved in events or working in organizations in college. It is a pretty hands on learn on the fly industry. There is no academic side of it per se outside of a basic course or two. She can read trade pubs on line or join a linked in group or two and learn more about the industry. </p>
<p>I don’t know about PR, but for advertising (copy writing), a portfolio is a must have to break into the field (plus a lot of luck). That’s where a school with a specialized program and an internship helps. But, I certainly agree that a liberal arts background is also a must. This is why programs with Junior admits are a good idea. It gives the student time to explore their options, and the student can get a broad liberal arts education. Critical thinking and strong writing and oral communication are the most important foundation for the aspiring PR or advertising professional. </p>
<p>Look for colleges with active chapters of ad club or PRSA. Those chapters often buddy up with the business counterparts</p>
<p>I’ve worked in advertising for years - most of my colleagues either studied liberal arts with heavy writing components - lots of journalism, English and history majors- or did business degrees with emphasis on marketing/advertising. Internships are a must so you can cobble enough of a portfolio to even get your resume looked at - be sure that whatever school your child considers, it has a track record of placing kids in advertising internships. Sometimes, strong desktop publishing skills can serve as a good entry into an internship/first job – that’s something I always urge undergrads to work on (along with extensive social media skills, since that’s the fastest-growing, most important part of today’s marketing/PR/advertising world.) </p>
<p>Poli Sci undergrad - internship in advertising - 15 years in ad agencies, 20 years in corporate communications then marketing. I agree with much of what katliamom says, and as I said earlier digital is a must - especially for PR, as the ways of “old school” PR, calculating ROI and simply communicating with the media has changed. </p>
<p>Sorry I was traveling and just got home so here’s some more:
Sorry traveling today and my post got truncated:
For me, Poli Sci undergrad - internship in advertising - 15 years in ad agencies, 20 years in corporate communications then marketing. I agree with much of what katliamom says, and as I said earlier digital is a must - especially for PR, as the ways of “old school” PR, calculating ROI and simply communicating with the media has changed. This is one area where in my humble opinion, adjuncts might have the leg-up on the professors who are not practicing the profession.</p>
<p>Here’s an example of a university I’m familiar with that has a strong PR Program - I’m not advocating this university at all…I just happen to know they turn out strong graduates as it is in my state. It will give you a glimpse of a curriculum at one school. It is interdisciplinary with English.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.emich.edu/english/programs/public-relations/”>https://www.emich.edu/english/programs/public-relations/</a></p>
<p>Here’s another example at MSU where it is part of the Communication Arts & Sciences college:
<a href=“http://cas.msu.edu/places/departments/advertising-pr/programs/undergraduate-studies/specializations/”>http://cas.msu.edu/places/departments/advertising-pr/programs/undergraduate-studies/specializations/</a></p>
<p>and at UofM it is a major within LSA (Literature, Arts, & Sciences College)
<a href=“Communication and Media | U-M LSA”>http://www.lsa.umich.edu/comm</a></p>
<p>and in our state alone there are probably three or four more programs at other universities that have what your D is looking for. The outcome at graduation is going to be very much a function of HER drive and ambition and how much “stuff” she can do to build a resume/portfolio. If she wants to be an event planner then she needs to organize some events - golf outings are low hanging fruit and we’ve all done them when we were in our twenties. There’s a whole 'nother field that deals with tradeshows, too. </p>
<p>You should find very similar programs in varying strengths at many unis. Syracuse and Missouri are well known. But AGAIN, many people enter advertising and public relations as well as communications and marketing with all kinds of backgrounds. </p>
<p>Here is the link for PRSA
<a href=“http://www.prsa.org/”>http://www.prsa.org/</a></p>
<p>and the link for IABC -
<a href=“http://www.iabc.com/”>http://www.iabc.com/</a></p>
<p>and the American Advertising Federation
<a href=“http://www.aaf.org/”>http://www.aaf.org/</a></p>