<p>How hard is it to get into COM as a freshman undergrad? My parents are pushing the idea that I should immediately choose BU because I was accepted into COM. </p>
<p>How does BU’s COM compare with other communication schools, in terms of selectivity, prestige and ‘success in work?’ </p>
<p>Where is BU’s COM in terms of rankings?</p>
<p>What are your other choices? What is your interest? I assume you're interested in journalism, PR or advertising. </p>
<p>I pay no attention to rankings, though COM is supposedly near the top. From what I've seen, they have very good programs and, like all such programs, they concentrate a lot on the practical, which includes jobs. Boston is a great market for learning in these fields and for getting pratical experience. Advertising, for example, has AdLab, in which you do real work for real clients.</p>
<p>when i was a COM freshman in fall 2005, Dean Schulz told all of us on the first day of class that COM's admission rate was 20%. that's more selective than some of the ivy leagues. consider yourself extremely talented, hard-working, and lucky if u got into COM.</p>
<p>the school is often said to be one of the best communications schools in the country. it's normally compared to syracuse university's newhouse school of communications. please see this thread and the links on there for more info: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=329676%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=329676</a></p>
<p>and lergnom, just out of curiosity, why did u assume the original poster was interested in just one of those 3 fields?</p>
<p>Because if he/she is film/tv, then the scope of schools is even narrower. If he/she is film/tv then there's a different thing to say.</p>
<p>At the Open House last week the Dean said that this year's admit rate for COM was about 30%</p>
<p>Was Tobe introduced as the Acting Dean? He's a nice person, has a ton of energy and is a big improvement over the last Dean. COM admissions stats - SAT's and grades - are high. You're talking about journalism, etc. in one of the true major media markets.</p>
<p>COM is also not an accredited communications school..such schools that are accredited are Syracuse, Northwestern etc...</p>
<p>What the hell does that mean? I can only surmise you are referring to such things as audiology and communicative disorders, which are not in COM but are in other accredited schools at BU. Many communications schools mix together journalism and the like with clinical disciplines like speech pathology. BU's COM doesn't so it is not accredited to teach you to be an audiologist. If you want to be an audiologist, you go to Sargent, which is accredited for that. </p>
<p>I sincerely doubt the questions were about the speech pathology program, so this post about being "accredited" qualifies as pure [url=<a href="http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=define:+FUD&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8%5DFUD%5B/url">http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=define:+FUD&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8]FUD[/url</a>].</p>
<p>Yes, he was introduced as the Acting Dean. He was impressive and engaging. Overall, they did a great job at the Open House.</p>
<p>thanks for all your responses.</p>
<p>I initially decided to either major in film or double major in film and journalism in college, and although journalism will serve as a strong interest while film directing is really what I want to be doing with my life, I'm now questioning the worth of film schools for me. These are some personal things I have to sort out within myself, and quickly, before May 1.</p>
<p>On questions that I can ask coherently and receive answers:</p>
<p>-BU is practically the 2nd best Communications school, just behind Syracuse University (even though Boston is a bajillion x better than ...where?)?</p>
<p>-How does BU's undergrad COM, and specifically journalism program, compare to schools like USC's Annenberg or Northwestern's Medill?</p>
<p>-Is it possible to double major in Journalism and another discipline at BU, or is it too rigorous?</p>
<p>I can't answer most of your questions, but regarding the last one -- is it possible to double major in Journalism and another discipline -- the answer is yes. My S is majoring in political science (CAS) and public relations (COM). You have to apply for BUCOP in your sophomore year. Its not a double major, but a dual degree.
<a href="http://www.bu.edu/com/undergrad/pdf/bucop_infosheet.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.bu.edu/com/undergrad/pdf/bucop_infosheet.pdf</a>
There was a lot of paperwork and frustration trying to coordinate it. Then as he was not a COM student, he could not register for certain classes to which COM students had priority. For example, he needed to take COM 201 before applying for BUCOP, but had to register after the COM students. It's all working out but he could have graduated a year earlier if he didn't have so many extra required courses for PR.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure you can't double major within COM. BTW, because COM has CAS distribution requirements, with even a little planning, a minor in CAS is not hard. A number of people do BUCOP (horrible acronym). I suppose a lot depends on how hard you find the work. The normal load is 4 classes but some people are fine doing 5 - or, as they say, your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>As the silly post above about being accredited shows, you can't really compare rankings when some schools include audiology, etc. while others put film / tv in an arts program. </p>
<p>The best comment I can offer about USC and Northwestern is that these are all good programs, I'm told, but it's a big country. I suppose it may be easier to get work in LA from USC, for example, but otherwise . . .</p>
<p>here is a website about the communication schools accrediation... its called ACEJMC and there are lots of guide lines you have to follow in order to be a member..the Dean of Newhouse explained all of this to me and gave me some reasons why BU might not be accredited..such reasons were because the ACEJMC requires its schools to take more liberal arts courses than
communications courses..and BU is 50/50..but heres a website for more info..</p>
<p>and there is plenty more like it</p>
<p>and Lergnom- I was not referring to the programs you mentioned, I was referring to the entire College of Communications at BU..</p>
<p>this does not AT ALL mean that BU COM is a bad choice as i was deciding for a month between BU and Syracuse (Newhouse), I chose Syracuse for Newhouse but many MANY other reasons as well</p>
<p>Wait, Massachusetts isn't even listed as a state on that list. So no Mass. colleges are 'accredited'. I don't know but this 'master list' seems a little dumb. </p>
<p>-The Accredited Coot66</p>
<p>Kimmzi, you continue to spread FUD. This accrediting agency isn't regulatory. It offers voluntary accreditation and that's all. If you look at their own info - which they bury on their site - they say, "Accreditation is entirely voluntary, and many fine schools do not choose to seek it." They later note that lack of this accrediting does not mean something is wrong with a program. </p>
<p>The purpose of getting this kind of accrediting is threefold. First, a school that's unknown, that isn't perceived as quality, can get this "badge" to show that it's a real school. BU doesn't need it and is the kind of place that chooses not to get "badges" like this - as a matter of policy. Emerson is the same: well-known communications program, no desire to get this "badge." Second, some good schools do more advertising or puffing up of themselves. They can say they have this "badge" without saying that it means nothing. They get listed on this website as a referral to an "accredited" program. Third, some schools may actually perceive there's value in this process. They may use this as a quality check of some sort.</p>
<p>I really don't care where any person chooses to go to school and I hope you're happy at Syracuse, but if this badge actually mattered in your decision then, well, I'll leave that unsaid.</p>
<p>Maybe you should try to understand what accreditation actually means. You can't issue a diploma in most fields with being accredited. You can't practice law if you don't graduate from an accredited law school. Same for most graduate fields. You can't get a cosmetologist's license without attending an accredited school. That is what being accredited means. The place you refer to has nothing to do with real accreditation. If you want to be a journalist, then understanding and being careful about your distinctions is important.</p>
<p>My earlier reply was about real accrediting.</p>
<p>I can add that the website of this organization says it is officially empowered by another organization, the CHEA, Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Makes it sound very official but CHEA is itself a voluntary organization. BU does not belong to CHEA. Neither does BC. Many schools belong. I think I counted something like 75 institutions in MA that belong. Whether these schools actually go through accreditation by some CHEA entity is not mentioned, so I suspect many schools are members merely to be members of a lobbying group for higher education that's based in DC.</p>
<p>As the mention of 75 institutions in MA indicates - and as the website of the first "accrediting" organization says - being accredited is not an indicator of quality and is not in any way a ranking. </p>
<p>BUT, if you follow all the links, you find that BU and BC are accredited by something called the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, an accrediting group recognized by CHEA and the federal government. (Being "recognized" by CHEA does not, it seems, make them members of CHEA.) What does all that mean? It means that BU (and BC) don't see any value or have other reasons - perhaps philosophical or perhaps pedagogical - not to join CHEA and thus not join this other accrediting group. </p>
<p>In simple english, if anything can mean nothing, this entire thread means nothing.</p>
<p>im sorry for the miss communication..someone asked about the COM school and thats all I wanted to say..I may certaintly disagree with you on many of your points but this isn't a forum to fight/ defend ones choice of colleges...it is to help people out and tell them what they know..i was very aware that the accredidation is voluntary..i was just trying to help someone out that is all..</p>
<p>thanks for everyone else's help in deciding where i go to college but now i feel that anything i say may be taken for somethign else..so good luck to everyone!</p>
<p>Kimmzi, I think Lergnom was proving a point rather than arguing. I'm still wary of the whole accreditation schemes. Can't anyone start up such an organization? I'm sure it's a for-profit company...</p>
<p>-The For-Profit Coot66</p>
<p>It's not a for-profit company. It's a membership association. The CHEA is a membership organization that lobbies and tries to set standards. There are competitors, lots of them. In fact, the list of accrediting groups in higher ed fills a couple of pages and includes religious accrediting groups. </p>
<p>My point, to be clear, is that a person posts that BU COM isn't accredited as though that means something, so I showed that means less than nothing. What amazes me is the statement that this was discussed by the Dean at Syracuse's communications school. I assume it was in answer to a question because this is not a point an intelligent academic would ever raise.</p>
<p>I can come up with plenty of criticisms of BU - and have - but this one isn't valid.</p>