<p>Hey,</p>
<p>I'm an international student, I'm finishing my Bachelor's degree in East Asian Studies in Germany and I'd like to do my MA in Communications. Now people telling me that's not going to work because BA and MA have to be in the same field of study... Is that true? PLEASE HELP ME!</p>
<p>It doesn’t always have to be in the same field of study, but you need adequate preparation for the more specialized degree. Do you have any courses or work experience in communications? In general, the lower ranked the program, the less stringent the admissions requirement.</p>
<p>Here’s an example of an M.A. program and its requirements. (I googled, and it was one of the top hits.) Note that it doesn’t require an undergraduate degree in communications; however, it does require some coursework.</p>
<p>[CSF</a> - College of Communication](<a href=“http://communications.fullerton.edu/graduate/comm/admissions.html]CSF”>http://communications.fullerton.edu/graduate/comm/admissions.html)</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your help!!</p>
<p>I’d like to go to Hawai’i Pacific University, but I can’t find the relevant information on their homepage. Do you know something about their program? Would they accept me for grad school?</p>
<p>Thanks so much</p>
<p>I have no idea of your chances, in part because I know nothing about communications programs. You might want to try emailing the program will a polite inquiry – or just go for it and hope for the best. In any case, you’ll want to spin your work in East Asian Studies as preparation for communications.</p>
<p>You would be fine with an East Asian Studies BA to apply for an MA in Communications. There is no requirement for the BA to also be Communication.
Here is a link to the admission requirements for the masters programs - [Hawaii</a> Pacific University](<a href=“http://www.hpu.edu/grad/admissions_info/admissions.html]Hawaii”>http://www.hpu.edu/grad/admissions_info/admissions.html) </p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>If you want to continue your studies in the United States, that is absolutely no problem, especially in the social sciences.</p>
<p>I don’t know about Germany, however. It’s much more rigid. But for Hawai’i, you should be just fine. Many American students have one social science or humanities major and do a different masters (often in a more practical or applied field).</p>
<p>In the US it is perfectly acceptable to call the department to ask questions, or to e-mail them. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Definitely ask questions about the program, but also realize that such programs want to make sure that you have a real interest in your new area of study. Have you done any research in the area? Taken some classes along the topic? Done out of classroom work to support your interests? Those kinds of things make it more obvious to the programs that you really are interested in this new field, and would succeed.</p>
<p>I’m personally doing a masters program completely unrelated to my undergrad major or minors, but I’ve done a lot of outside work in the field.</p>
<p>Nikara, are you in science? Most people in the humanities work on cross-disciplines, and many majors, like communications, have to do with all of the specific social sciences. So knowledge of a specific topic other than the one studied is actually a big plus, assuming of course that the student plans to build on it and not dismiss it as an area of past study.</p>
<p>I have no doubt that knowledge of the specific topic would help hugely with admissions. I’m just making the point that there are ways other than specifically taking classes in that topic to gain experience/knowledge of the field. My field is sort of social science (although I’ll be earning a MS), but is very strange, and there aren’t many undergrad programs in it. I didn’t take any classes in college whatsoever having to do with it, but I have extensive experience in the field from out of classroom activities. I’m in a 2 year break between undergrad and grad school, and I was able to work on the weaknesses of my application during that time.</p>
<p>I completely agree with your advice to call the program and ask them about what the requirement are, and how necessary a related undergrad program is. This information may also be available on the website. Here’s a sample from one of my programs:</p>
<p>"What undergraduate majors do you prefer to admit? </p>
<p>We welcome applications for the master’s programs from ANY undergraduate major. Our programs are interdisciplinary in nature, so all academic backgrounds are respected."</p>
<p>Thanks so much for helping me :)</p>
<p>I already have some experiences in the communication field (internships,freelance jobs,…). </p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>