@gluttonforstress Hello! Thank you for taking the time to read through my post and to offer me some valuable advice. Here’s what I have been thinking. Firstly, it seems most of your criticism of the dying journalism industry comes from the decrease of jobs for people working at newspapers/magazines. I’d be more looking at a job as a broadcast sports journalist/analyst/commentator (think Mike Greenberg, Bob Costas, Dicky V, etc.). I feel like in order to get in the door at some place like ESPN, that sports broadcast journalism degree from a respected school would be quite an advantage. I also realize that things don’t always go according to plan, so wherever I go I’m looking to double major, preferably journalism/business, so that worse comes to worst, I would have the writing skills necessary to land some jobs and would be versatile enough to be a hireable candidate. I know journalism isn’t exactly the best industry to go into, but the sports entertainment industry is trending upwards, and people will always need sports analysts and commentators. Just things to consider.
Not suggesting journalism is dead, (my company had a record year last year and we’re doing even better this year) just that it’s changing very quickly. And my experience has been that even the best j-schools aren’t necessarily preparing people for the new environment any better than the more reasonably priced institutions.
For every Greeney that went from NW to ESPN there are hundreds more like Kellerman or Simmons who took a more non-traditional path. They parlayed good real world experience into great jobs and didn’t need a prestigious J school degree to do it. As an employer I would much rather hire someone who went to State U and had a successful blog or radio show than someone from NW or Columbia without similar relevant experience.
I guess the real point I’m trying to make is that you definitely can get from point A to point B in this business without spending $300,000 on your undergrad education. And if you do spend that much and have to go into debt a lot more doors will close than will open for you. You won’t be able to look for prestigious unpaid or low paying internships because every decision you make will be based on making enough money to stay ahead of the debt monster.
As a UM grad and parent of a high stat kid I certainly understand the drive to attend an elite university. But as an employer I can tell you that in this field it’s not worth it when there are much more reasonable options.
@gluttonforstress haha I just don’t know what I would really major in if not something involving journalism/communications. Ideally something in business marketing, but I’m not 100% sure my heart’s in business.
Oh! I’ve also figured out my senior year schedule for next year (I think)! Tell me what you all think, and if you have any recommendations!
H Creative Writing
H TV Production
H Newspaper Production
AP English Lang & Comp
AP Econ (Macro and Micro)
H Chamber Choir (Highest Level)
Gym (IL Requirement 
)
What do you think of my schedule? I was thinking of maybe adding Calc to appease any potential business schools, but I’ve already taken Algebra 1&2 (with Trig), Geometry, Precalc, and Stats. Plus I kinda hate math 
If you hate math, I would say don’t do business. Or accounting.
@chuckleberry what about a marketing/management route?
Hello WKC
I too am actually an aspiring sports journalist heading into senior year.
So far I have been looking at a couple schools.
Nebraska: My home state and it has a fairly good journalism program as I know a few kids heading there next year for it.
Arizona State: When I first went to visit, I was confident this would be my school. It has a very good journalism program. However, as I visited other schools I realized I didn’t want to be in downtown phoenix, where the J school is, but rather a college campus.
Mizzou: I went to visit here about a month ago and have fallen in love with it. I loved the campus and the sports traditions are incredible. I also can’t mention enough how awesome their journalism school is. I would be looking at a great scholarship and being a Walter Williams Scholar which is pretty neat.
Syracuse and Northwestern: I am pretty interested in these schools, but I just need to visit them. So I don’t know much about them.
@Baseball03 awesome! Stay in touch and join the party 
interested to see how viewpoints change moving forward
My mom is really against me majoring in journalism lmao. She keeps talking about all the “people she knows in the field” and how hard it is to make money. My dad says I can major in anything as long as I learn how to write well, which he thinks is the most hireable skill that there is. What do you think CC, is majoring in journalism a bad idea?
It’s not that journalism majors have a hard time making money so much as it is that most journalists don’t make a lot of money…so even if you major in business, if you choose journalism as a career, then you won’t be looking at making a ton of money. Like I said before, if you major in journalism, double major.
Just my two cents, major in what you like to do. If you are miserable at your job everyday, who cares how much money you make? Better to make not as much money and like what you’re doing every day than to make a bunch of money and dread going to work everyday for the next 40 years.
@paperlady I totally agree with that sentiment, but you can’t ignore the allure of money.
Latest update!
Today I think I’m going to take another step forward by contacting 6/7 of the colleges I’m interested in and asking to be put in touch with a current student majoring in my field. Has anyone does this in the past and had a good experience? How about a bad one?
Never tried that before but it seems like a great idea to slim down your list. May I ask which schools you are considering for this?
@Baseball03 I sent out three “trial” mails today to Syracuse, Northwestern, and Mizzou. I’ll let you know what happens! If it goes well I’ll probably end up attempting to do it to most, if not all of the universities I’m interested in applying to.
I want to throw in my 2 cents, re: is it worth getting a journalism degree. There are plenty of good reasons NOT to major in journalism, and what other posters have said is correct: the industry has been shifting/dying/changing for a while now (since I was in j-school back in the mid-2000s, at least) and journalists don’t make much money. Never have. There are many paths to a journalism job, yes, but I also think you can’t simply look at who is currently in the jobs you like b/c their education and life experience for the most part cannot apply to you. Most current, successful journalists, including and especially in sports journalism are Baby Boomers. It’s a generation that didn’t even have to get a college degree to get a job, and most Boomer journalists came up in a time where j-school was not really a thing. It was who you knew and whether or not you had XYZ chops to do the job. It’s still both of those things, but your college education matters a lot. And j-school can give you the “who you know” connections and the trade-like skills that you need. Fact of the matter is: jobs don’t want to train people anymore. So you NEED to pick up the base, core skills of what you want to do in college or immediately there after (usually via vile, unpaid or low-paid internships, which are a bastion of the privileged and can present significant barriers to certain people getting into the industry).
So that is to say: you certainly won’t waste your time with a JO degree. You’re better off at least taking some JO classes, even in a minor, than not taking them at all. Also, honestly, a JO degree is fun. I really enjoyed it. I am not, in fact, a journalist for a number of reasons, but I picked up some really useful skills & honed my writing during my journalism program, and it has aided me in my career thus far. I work in marketing, which is a cousin of journalism (and pays wayyyy better)… it all worked out well for me. It seems like you love writing and are really interested in journalism, so why not major in journalism? At the least, it will make you eligible/competitive for the right internships, and if you major in broadcast, knowing how to put together a package will 100% be an asset for sports journalism. You don’t learn how to do that as an English major.
Related, my other advice: when you’re looking at schools, look at the student publications and how easy it will be for you to cover sports. Can you have your own sport radio show at the campus station? Write a column for the newspaper? How many local newspapers are there, and would you have a shot at working or interning for the sports section at some point? Does the school have a cool/robust program that will help you get an internship, or a study abroad program with a kickass journalism internship component? These are the things that will help you most for sports journalism, IMO.
@proudterrier Before I go into replying to your post, I just want to thank you for taking the time to type all of that wonderful advice out and to share some of your own life experience with someone like myself. It’s so easy for people to say “you can’t do that, you’ll never make any money” or “you’ll never be successful in a career like that” but I feel like the people that succeed are driven by a desire to not only achieve their goals, but to prove people wrong in the process. For essentially giving me hope that I’m not crazy, I thank you
Now. To the content of your reply. I totally agree that a journalism degree would be a blast to get. I’ve only toured one journalism school, (@northwestern) but the kinds of people there and their motivation to tell stories excited me to no end. I’m willing to bet I can find similar people at J schools all around the country; when people are passionate about the things that you are, it creates a euphoric kind of happiness. The whole “united by the same goal” mindset. I’m definitely going to read and reread your advice many times over, but the one part I had one major question with was the third paragraph. While I agree that all those questions are important, I am at a loss as to where to find that information. If you could give me one example (where to find the info on one colleges website) I would greatly appreciate it!
Again, thank you so much for your advice and I look forward to sharing the rest of my college journey with you!
You definitely may need to approach it from multiple angles… I know in the case of BU (just b/c I’m familiar w/ it, obviously!), if you go to the JO program page, they mention “student opportunities,” which are the campus radio station and TV station: http://www.bu.edu/com/academics/journalism/. Of course, BU also has some print publications… and your question raises an excellent point, because I know they exist… but I’m not sure where they are on the BU site. I did a find-it-backwards Google search (for BU student newspaper) and they apparently list it here: http://www.bu.edu/com/current-students/com-activities/
Soooo that is to say, it may actually be challenging for you to find that info! I would ask current journalism students and/or call and talk to someone who works there. So your reaching out to some schools, as I know you already have, is a great idea. They may even be able to connect you with a current journalism student who could answer your questions personally (a junior or senior student in particular could help you assess what your local opportunities are). Google may help with half the battle, too.
@proudterrier alright! Good to know I wasn’t just being lazy and the info wasn’t staring me in the face. I’m going to wait to see how my requests I’ve put in to Northwestern, Syracuse, and Mizzou turn out, but I feel like asking current students coupled with Google is definitely the best methodology to choosing the right program. BU does look really awesome though!!!
Great news! I woke up this morning with an email in my inbox from the Missouri School of Journalism! In less 16 hours, they had found someone who has covered sports journalism for the local news TV affiliate and would love to talk to me about it! I am beyond excited right now about the speediness of the reply and how Missouri matched me with someone exactly like I wanted to meet. More on that later!