<p>Hello,
My D has applied to a variety of journalism schools & communications. We are nervously waiting to hear from her schools. Could anyone give me an idea of what her chances are? She graduated from a top 10 LAC with a major in Asian Studies & minor in English. She studied abroad in Beijing, an intensive Chinese immersion program, and is somewhat fluent in Mandarin. She was awarded 2 study abroad scholarships. For the last 4 years she has been living & working in Shanghai. She taught English at a unviersity for 2 years, and for the last 2 years she has been working as an editor for a magazine. Her undergrad GPA is 3.5 and GRE scores are: V - 600 ((85%), Q - 690 (68%) & AW - 5.5 (87%). </p>
<p>She has applied to Columbia, BU, UNC at Chapel Hill, & Northwestern. Also, Berkeley's concurrent degree program in Asian Studies & Journalism, & USC dual degree program in global communications that includes a year at LSE. These are all master's programs. She has also applied to UPenn & USC Annenberg Communications for Ph.D program. Now she is panicking that she has reached too high. I think she has a chance at BU & UNC. Would appreciate anyone's input. We knew more or less what to expect when she applied to undergrad but have no idea about grad school. </p>
<p>I would say that the choices are well made. The fantastic practical experience she has is definitely what they want.... the verbal and AW scores are good. I would say she will do will - I would expect that she will get a lot of offers for the master's courses.</p>
<p>Ph.D's are a little more fussy about GPA and GRE scores, but again her practical experience should make up for that, so she has a good shot at it too.</p>
<p>Everyone gets a worried at a time like this. I think her application selection couldn't be better. Good luck - and let us know how it works out. And don't get discouraged if a rejection does come in - we all get rejected from somewhere - (I got rejected by all my "fits" and got into my only "reach"! lol)</p>
<p>Unclebob, thank you for your response and for your optimistic words. When my D starts hearing from grad schools, I will post her acceptances & rejections (hopefully there will be few of those.)</p>
<p>Just curious...are you still in grad school? What did you go to grad school for?</p>
<p>A couple of points from someone who has a lot of friends who went to J-school and/or journalism. </p>
<p>The most successful journalists have something to write about. I went to an IR grad school with an econ. and Asian studies focus. There are some first rate journalists who went with me, and now work for the likes of WSJ, Fortune, etc. The thing they all have in common is that they didn't go to J-school, but learned about economics, the world, etc. Thus, if she gets into one of the joint programs for a Master's and truly wants to be a journalist, suggest she go there. One of my best friends went to Columbia's IR grad program took 2-3 journalism classes there and now is a bureau chief in a large country for a famous magazine (not saying which). It helped more that he had the knowledge and basic writing ability than that he had journalism classes under his belt.</p>
<p>The other thing is: I thought journalism school entrance was about clips, ie articles already written. The scores your daughter received are more than sufficient. The question is has she done any journalism?</p>
<p>Before anyone goes to J-school, they should consider the pros and cons of going. There has always been a great debate about the value of J-school and whether it's necessary.</p>
<p>I just replied but it didn't seem to post so will try again.
Thank you, BedHead & Pseudonomdeplume, for taking the time to reply. My D is currently working as a writer/editor for a magazine in Shanghai. She did include writing samples with her applications. I agree that the dual degree programs would be better & give her more diversity. Berkeley is one of her top choices but it is very competitive. She is concerned she will be rejected by Berkeley because they have not contacted her yet for an interview & the deadline was Dec 1. My D is also part Chinese & I don't know if this will hinder her or help her. I recently read Berkeley's Asian student population is 40%. I wish my D had applied to Columbia's joint program in Journalism & IR...don't know why she didn't. I suggested to her that if she gets accepted into Columbia's J-school, she should apply to SIPA as part of the joint program afater she matriculates. According to their website, she could do that. Of course, there is no guarantee she would get into SIPA.</p>
<p>Pseudonomdeplue, I read the articles you posted & admit I am a little worried. My D is very excited about all the programs & my husband & I didn't know enough to try to dissuade her. They seem like good choices. It is too late now because she has finished all her appplications. I know she hopes J-school will improve her journalistic skills, lead to good internships & open the door for good journalism jobs in the U.S., & hopefully pave the way for more money & managerial positions. I hope she is right.</p>
<p>By the way, has anyone started hearing from journalism grad schools yet?</p>
<p>Berkeley has done some very innovative things with their school, though I do fear the questions we brought up are still valid. I don't think that her ethnicity will play against her at all at Berkeley, if that's what you were implying. Her overseas work experience will be viewed well. And I do think that J-School can still be a good proving ground, particularly if the person uses it to try out working in other media. Film, for instance. I would strongly suggest that if she really wants to go into journalism that she apply to SIPA or matriculate at Berkeley and take courses not just in Asian Studies, but also economics and international relations, if she can.</p>
<p>Berkeley is definitely one of the top J-school in the nations, and it's competitive. That being said, I think she has a good chance of being accepted. </p>
<p>Average Undergraduate GPA= 3.5
Average GRE Score (Verbal)= 610
Most Common Undergraduate Majors: English / Literature; Journalism / Mass Communications; History</p>
<p>Also, I hope my reply didn't worry you too much, kwoo. J-school can be worthwhile experience for many people. It can be great for networking, and you can learn a lot simply by spending time at a university. I agree with what BedHead suggested; journalism students should take courses in IR, economics and history because there's more to being a journalist than knowing what's a nut graf, a lede and a story that structured like an inverted pyramid.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, and I think I read that students in the J-school have access to some Management of Technology courses in the B-school through some kind of program at Berkeley (or did I dream this?). Berkeley is not far from Silicon Valley and has one of the best technology-focused b-schools in the nation, so she could get some exposure there if she wants to be more of a business journalist. I know Columbia has business and econ. courses that allow writers as well. She may want to go this route, more than an Asian Studies or IR route, though it didn't seem like it from your post....</p>
<p>A magazine publisher/editor friend of mine once told me that, consistently, the absolute worst journalists he comes across on a daily basis are journalism majors. In his opinion, the best academic preparation for a career as a journalist is English, history, philosophy, political science, economics... basically, anything but journalism.</p>
<p>But that probably referred to undergrad journalism and communications majors in college, and frankly, few top schools offer those majors that I've seen. Though correct me if I'm wrong. </p>
<p>In this case, she graduated from a top LAC with Asian Studies and English, so undoubtedly knows how to write.</p>
<p>Pseudonomdeplume, I agree with you that J-school should be great for networking. And I hope she will have top internship opportunities as well. Bedhead, my husband has also suggested that our D take some business courses. She took several economics classes as an undergrad & didn't hate them so hopefully she will take a few at grad school. I know that Berkeley is one of her top choices & I think their dual degree program would be ideal for my D. She is also applying to the Integrated Marketing Communications program at Medill at Northwestern, which is more business-oriented. Also, I think NYC will be a great place to be for journalism opportunities, if she gets into Columbia.</p>
<p>Once again, thank you for your helpful ideas & suggestions.</p>
<p>Pseudonomdeplume, I forgot to thank you for the Berkeley link. They also include a list of where their graduates are working & it does look impressive.</p>
<p>My D received an invitation from UNC-Chapel Hill Journalism & Communication school to interview. They will pay $500 toward her air fare from Shanghai & all her hotel expenses. The interview is for admissions & fellowship that includes full tuition, fees & $11,000 stipend. Do you think they are serious about admitting her? She is planning on visiting. Does anyone know anything about their journalism school? Is it well-regarded?</p>
<p>Thanks for any info. She is very excited about this.</p>
<p>I have no idea about UNC personally in terms of journalism, but overall of course its a fantastic university. I am curious is this for a Master's in Journalism of a PhD in somethng? If it's a pure journalism Master's I would question perhaps along the lines of above. My impression in terms of rankings for the straight journalism programs were that Berkeley, Columbia, Northwestern, and University of Missouri-Columbia were the best. This could be way out of date and arguably doesn't matter much anyway....</p>
<p>But one way or another this is great news and must be a big boost, at least to the ego. The wouldn't be putting that kind of effort into talking to her unless they were very serious, I imagine.</p>
<p>Hi Bedhead,
The program is a two-year Master's in Communication. According to their website, their Master's has 2 major sequences: a professional sequence to educate students for careers in Public Relations, Advertising, Journalism & related mass communication fields. Their mass communication sequence prepares students for teaching or research. Of course, we don't know yet where else she will be accepted, but it certainly would be nice to graduate without any debt.</p>
<p>My D will be meeting with faculty & current grad students when she visits as well as seeing the facilities, so hopefully that will give her better insight to the program. Will keep you updated. Thank you for responding. I appreciate your advice.</p>
<p>KWOO: I think the underlying issue here is what does she really want to do? Having lived with a couple of J-school grads when in Hong Kong, I know they consider PR, advertising type jobs as sell-out and the dark side often in journalism programs. I don't think so myself, but what does she think?</p>
<p>Does she want to live in the states or does she want to go back to China? Does she want to do "serious journalism" or does she just want to make a good living?</p>
<p>These are questions she should answer. If she wants to be in China, like friends of mine whom I knew after I graduated from Berkeley and went to live in that part of the world for a few years to learn Chinese and progress my career (a personal digression), she should go for one of the joint programs we talked about above. If she wants to do PR, I don't know what to suggest. I would have thought that's a profession you just do without a lot of schooling for it. Particularly since your daughter is well-educated.</p>
<p>If you can, I'd prod her to try to form some ideas about these things.</p>
<p>That's great news Kwoo. A friend of mine received a fellowship to go to Berkeley's J-school basically for free (and she's out there right now), and that stipend offer for UNC seems like a good deal.</p>
<p>From what I've heard, UNC is definitely a well-respected J-school -- but it may not be as prestigious as going to somewhere like Columbia, Northwestern, Missouri, Berkeley or USC. However, I think it's important to note that going to a prestigious school isn't nearly as important in journalism as it would be in say, law or business. There are also many great journalists out there without master's degrees in journalism or IR or anything, but there are exceptional journalists with master's degrees or PhD's too. People come to journalism from various backgrounds. </p>
<p>If I were offered the opportunity to go to UNC basically for little or no cost, I would go. But it might not be the right choice for her. If she's interested in Berkeley and their joint degree program, I would recommend getting in touch with Carolyn Wakeman (<a href="mailto:wakemanc@berkeley.edu">wakemanc@berkeley.edu</a>) who's the faculty coordinator for the Asian Studies/ Journalism concurrent degree program at some point. If she's interested in Asia and journalism, Berkeley would probably be the place to attend.</p>
<p>pseudondeplume, My D has already applied to Berkeley's concurrent degree program. Would it still be appropriate for her to email Carolyn Wakeman? Would the purpose of the email be to let Ms. Wakeman know that Berkeley is her first choice? And maybe to ask where they are in the admissions process?</p>
<p>Can you tell me what kind of credentials your friend had when she applied to Berkeley's J-school?
Thank you.</p>