<p>A minor in psychology is pretty popular with comm majors - particularly those interested in careers in the human and social services. These aren’t likely to be lucrative careers, but they can be extremely rewarding! These are also areas where internships with non-profits could work really well. Again, these internships are unlikely to be well-paid (or sometimes paid at all) but they can provide some great experience that combines many of the issues covered in various areas of communication with pragmatic concerns.</p>
<p>It’s important to remember that a communication degree includes both skills components (speaking, writing, technology) and more content and theory in topics like media studies, organizational communication, health communication, etc. This lends to the flexibility of the degree - a good thing if you package it right, a not such a good thing if the flexibility just lets you flounder through the program.</p>
<p>Great posts. S is going in undecided as I encouraged him. More because every college tour we took all of the tour guides had changed their majors and he really has no idea what he wants to do, but he has mentioned journalism and/or communications. He too has gotten the “what are you gonna do with communications” remarks. I think it may be the path he takes and thanks to you all for giving me some hope.</p>
<p>OneGirlsMom, Stradmom, Cbug, and other cc posters, is there a minor that might be “smarter” to pair with a communication major in terms of employment opportunities after graduating?</p>
<p>^^that really depends on what direction the student wants to go in…</p>
<p>I would argue (gently) that, for example, a future in health care communications might benefit from a science or public health minor…</p>
<p>and so forth…really depends on which area of comm the student is interested in; they may not know that until they start to take their liberal arts requirements…</p>
<p>I guess this major can be a valuable learning experience, but I am having trouble understanding what you actually can learn from it beyond what you gain from just plain common sense and a few years of employment experience. I know I am going to get yelled at here, but what exactly is organizational communications or health communications. Aren’t these subjects somewhat contrived? Do you really need an expensive college education to learn something that a reasonably intelligent person can learn on the job in a short period of time. Don’t be too hard on me; I just don’t get it.</p>
<p>^^ 10 lashes for you Parent57!! Just kidding! When I graduated with my Communication Studies degree I had two very tangible skill sets – video production and graphic design. Both of these are used in almost any communications related field. And IMO they are not things one can just decide to take up after a “short period of time on the job.” I’ve also done a fair amount of writing for brochures, newsletters, newspapers, magazines, etc. Companies don’t typically hire people for these types of tasks without a related degree and relevant experience.</p>
<p>It is true that there are some aspects of communications you can do without a related degree or maybe without a degree at all. But I believe it would take a great deal of time and trial and error to eventually get onto the same plane as someone with training.</p>
<p>One could say the same thing about history or literature or business or…</p>
<p>A lot of people figure they know all about communication because, c’mon, we all communicate every day, right? And hey, we can all watch TV, who needs a degree for that? :)</p>
<p>Communication as a unique field of study didn’t really exist until about 40 years ago. Communication departments grew out of English departments, Theater departments, Sociology and Psychology departments, Business departments etc etc etc. Even today, you’ll find that different departments have a different focus. </p>
<p>There’s “content” for a Communication major, ranging from theories about how people interact with one another to the historical development of communication media to details about how to use the latest video editing software to how the Nazis used propaganda to secrets for giving an effective business presentation to how to write a script to how the First Amendment shapes everyday decisions of a journalist to the ethical implications of releasing Osama’s death photo to the economics of social media to you name it. </p>
<p>But like many (all?) other college fields of study, the study of Communication really is a way for students to learn how to learn. Reading and applying information from a variety of sources, sharing that information through writing, the spoken word and media, assessing the credibility and veracity of information, using critical thinking skills, evaluating qualitative and quantitative data, facility with technology usage, understanding what makes us human…all these are the real study of Communication.</p>
<p>Stradmom, thank you for your last post. I have read posts about other majors teaching how to learn, or how to think in depth. I have not read that about communication.</p>
<p>The discipline of communication is in the position of sometimes being seen as a liberal arts degree (and is typically in a college of liberal arts at large universities) and sometimes being seen as a “professional” degree more akin to business (witness the fact that many small LACs don’t have a communication department). And like many social research disciplines (psychology, sociology, political science, etc.) it sometimes seems like “common sense” - but there is a lot behind that common sense in all of these fields.</p>
<p>It might be helpful to think about the research that communication professors do at major universities to get a feel for the value of the degree. Everything from the role of social networks in terrorism to dealing with conflict in the workplace to communicating appropriately at end of life to the effect of various political appeals to campaigns for reducing teenage drug and alcohol use.</p>
<p>So, yes, it’s a relatively new discipline and one that is situated “between” a variety of other disciplines. But one that I’ve been a proud member of for many, many years!</p>
<p>I took a few business communications (I like to leave the s on the end) courses in undergrad and it does help you to think outside yourself to get the perspectives of other people - something that a lot of people don’t do well. The courses have been quite useful in my working years in a variety of ways.</p>
<p>I suggested that my daughter take a course in communications too and she did and she enjoyed it. It was in Mass Communications which one aspect - maybe I should suggest that she take on in Business Communications too.</p>
<p>I had five years of Toastmasters-style speech training which isn’t quite the same thing as voice and diction but that training has been pretty useful too. The practice builds into quite a confidence-booster for many different aspects of life.</p>
<p>So happy to read this thread. My daughter will be a freshman, communications major, leaning toward journalism, and minoring in theater. But everyone keeps saying “but newspapers are dying!!! You can’t major in journalism!!!” It’s nice to hear how many different directions you can take that major.</p>
<p>I earned a BA in Communications ~ 25 years ago with a business minor. Everyone thought I wanted to be a “radio DJ”. At the time, the Commuincation Majors were hired at larger starting salaries than the Busines Admin grads were. (There were far fewer of us.) </p>
<p>I was hired into the Marketing Dept of a large corporation as an entry level Marketing Manager and assisted with Trade Show management.<br>
I was able to travel for the company to coordinate their exhibit activity. It was a very fun and visible job within the company. I have subsequently earned and enjoyed a very successful and lucrative career moving on with two different companies. I believe Communications (including all the sub specialties) is a misunderstood, but valuable degree. </p>
<p>When you are able to communicate well, the possibilities are endless. The exposure to classes such as Communication of the Sexes, Mass Communication, Cultural Communications (fascinating), Public Speaking, Small Group Decision Making, Interpersonal Communication and Human Relationships, Public Relations, Public Speaking, etc. and writing, writing, writing (many research papers!) is invaluable. It would be a good idea to meet with the department and determine with whom their current grads are being hired. I am an advocate of trusting your instincts and interests and studying what you enjoy.</p>
<p>Yes! Think of all the marketing and PR needed in the music industry, whether that be for recording companies, concert venues, etc. Also, we once met a Newhouse PR alum who had been a talent manager for a well-known recording artist and loved it. It required a lot of travel, obviously as this musician did lengthy tours, so he resigned after several years so he could settle down, but he loved it while he did it.</p>