I know this post is premature. Anyways, as I was working on my undergrad apps, I started thinking about life post-undergrad and how I always fancied going to graduate school, but something dawned on me: I know nothing about grad school.
This is just a post asking for a little advice/info. When I started high school, it seemed that I already had some idea of what I needed to do throughout HS to get into a good college, and I’d like to have a similar mindset once I get into college (only this time to get into grad school, obviously).
I intend to go to college to get an undergrad degree in communications/journalism/media studies, and I have this idea that I want to go to Columbia University for my graduate degree in a similar field (of course, nothing is set in stone yet). So, I guess my question is: what does one need to do while pursuing an undergrad degree in order to reach this goal? Especially since I’m going to be studying media, it seems that the work I should do in college is a little less concrete (as compared to a STEM major).
Again, I don’t claim to be knowledgeable when it comes to graduate school or graduate work. I’m just looking for a little advice and perspective. Thanks!
Well, there are your standard things that are necessary in every grad program:
-You need to keep your grades high, obviously. Professional master’s programs have less stringent requirements than a PhD program, but I think trying to keep it above a 3.2-3.3 is a good goal. Higher, if possible.
-You’ll need letters of recommendation, so do things to cultivate those. Go to office hours with professors; take more than one class from a professor or two that you really like; maybe do an independent study with a professor.
-Almost all grad programs require some kind of statement of purpose, so when you get closer to your junior year of college, start thinking critically about why you want a master’s degree in media/journalism/communications. What do you want to do with it? What are your career goals? What do you have to gain from getting a master’s? As you shape your application list, you’ll also begin to form concrete reasons why you want to go to the specific universities/programs you choose. For example, you’ll write what it is about Columbia that appeals to you - the professors, the coursework, the resources, the location, the alumni network, whatever it is.
While you don’t have to think about the precise writing of this now, use the mindset to figure out what you want from your career and your grad program. Follow your interests - take classes that are interesting to you, pursue internships that interest you, take other opportunities like extracurriculars and projects that interest you. And reflect often - why are you doing the things you do? Do they all add up to some higher interest you are noticing? As time goes on, you will make a story out of it. Now, that’s not to say that EVERYTHING you do has to point towards graduate school and some grander goal. Have fun, pursue some things simply because you like them even if they aren’t overtly related to media, and really explore all of your interests as a full person. I’m simply saying that at the end of all of it, you’ll look back and realize that there’s a pattern to what you did - even if you didn’t explicitly set out to make one - and it reflects the things you are interested in.
-Most grad programs require standardized test scores, probably the GRE in your case. So you’ll have to perform well on that. But you won’t take that until summer of junior year at the earliest, so don’t worry about it now.
Then there are things that are particular to the kind of program you want. In professional master’s programs, work experience is usually highly valued. So at minimum, you’ll want to make sure that you get some good solid internship experience - definitely during the summers (1-2 of them at least), maybe during the academic year if you can secure a good internship. You may also decide that you need to work for 2-3 years after college. At professional communications and journalism programs, the average age tends to be a bit older - maybe around 24 or 25, indicating that students worked for a few years after college.
Extracurriculars also don’t matter as much in graduate programs as they do in undergrad, but in your case they matter - especially as they are related to journalism or media. You might want to seek a position on your college’s newspaper (or one of them, as it were), or radio station, or blog, or whatever other media outlet your college offers. If you attend college in a sizable enough town, you may also have opportunities to participate in the media for that particular town, too.
As a last note - Columbia has an excellent journalism school. But it’s best not to get attached to a specific program too early. You may later decide that another place is the best fit for you because of any number of reasons.
Thank you so much! This is very helpful and puts it into perspective 