<p>Hey I'll be a senior in high school this year and I've pretty much concluded that I want to major in the advertising/communication field when I begin college. So my questions pretty much are what skills should I sharpen up on and what should I be prepared for? Also any other advice that you want to give will be greatly appreciated! Thanks </p>
<p>PS I know I can look up some of this info about majors online but I really wanted to hear some firsthand experiences/perspectives.</p>
<p>My mom is a senior exec with a major international agency. She would advise you not to major in advertising but go to the best school you can get into and get a strong liberal arts education. Successful people in advertising need a strong, varied education to draw upon, you can learn the advertising specifics on the job.</p>
<p>Her agency does not recruit at any schools that have advertising majors, they recruit at top colleges.</p>
<p>Well the school I'm considering, Pepperdine, is a top LAC and has advertising as a major so I didn't think anything bad of it but thanks for the heads up!</p>
<p>Shes telling you major in like creative writing or something that makes your imagination go wild for your undergrad. i would perhaps also recommend stats class because that is important as well. my uncle used to be one of the advertisement director/manager for LG, but he says its a stressful job because he has to think of new ideas.</p>
<p>eyebeg2differ: I DO "beg to differ" with newyorka: While her mother is absolutely correct that a top tier school will produce strong writers who are definitely well prepared to handle a "top international advertising agency", there are a small number of top schools around the country that do have communications/advertising majors that attract many of the top recruiters in the industry: Here are a couple....(and there are definitely more......)</p>
<p>USC: Annenberg School of Communications
Syracuse: Newhouse School of Communications
Boston University: School of Communications
Univ of Florida-Gainesville (not sure what their school is called)
In addition, you have journalism programs that also have heavy recruiting in the industry:</p>
<p>Northwestern Univ: Medill School of Journalism
UMissouri
UMaryland</p>
<p>and there are others....</p>
<p>one more thing: any of these schools that are accredited require extensive liberal arts courses as well as communications/advertising to allow for that "creative source".....In addition, most require 2nd majors or minors outside the school........</p>
<p>So, yes, there are a number of ways to "skin the cat" outside of the top 20 schools in the country....</p>
<p>If you have to be in a top 20 school though, you can also explore schools that have these courses embedded in their business schools and some liberal arts majors....the few that we found were:</p>
<p>Emory: Goizueta: They have a business design depth called "business communciations"
Wash U: They have a major in arts and sciences called "media studies" which can be doubled with marketing in Olin.
UPenn: They have a communications major, but from what we have heard, it is research based; designed from someone who wants to be in academia following graduation.......</p>
<p>I have a friend who is an advertising exec for Chrysler, you know that whole lets refuel america deal? He was on the board that came up with that.</p>
<p>He went to a small community college... didn't major in advertising, majored in PR, and creative writing, several minors, he got a couple degrees.</p>
<p>I think it depends what sort of job you're looking for after college? </p>
<p>Personally, I think it's fine to go to any school that has a good Comm/Advertising dept. and go from there. I think companies look less at the school you go to and more at what you have to offer. My S is a Comm major (he also has to double major and chose Graphic Design)and I think he would prefer to work in a smaller company with people who are passionate about what they do in a more casual environment. I don't think the prestige of the college he goes to is as important as his passion for what he will be doing and having some good basic skills to draw from. He has an internship this summer at a small company in Manhattan and he is learning a lot.</p>
<p>**If you're like...SERIOUS about advertising and not one of those "oh, sounds like one of those glamorous jobs that gets a lot of perks and connections despite sh-ty pay" people, then undergrad doesn't matter much quite frankly.</p>
<p>newyorka is probably referring to brand management, or something more along the lines of a marketing field that approves of advert campaigns, rather than an actual Creative agency like Omnicrom or WPP.</p>
<p>The most important thing is to have a portfolio of your work. A golden portfolio will cancel almost any GPA. The best way to get a good portfolio is to go to a "finishing school" (equivalent of Masters degree for advertising people)</p>
<p>Virginia Commonwealth University - school of Mass Communications (the UNANIMOUS #1 ranked advertising school in the nation by several surveys including Creativity Magazine)
Miami's Adschool (another good alternative)</p>
<p>Check out Medill</a> - IMC Undergraduate Certificate at Northwestern (5 credit = 5 courses). What's nice about this is you do not have to be a Medill student to get into this certificate program. By the way, Kellogg is #1 in marketing; there may be some collaboration between the two.</p>