<p>I'm a History major (with an American History focus) and while that's all well and good and I love history, I don't foresee my post-college career coming directly as a result of my major. Ideally, what I'd like to do is enter Book or Magazine Publishing and get into editorial work. I have an editorial internship at a small, independent publisher for this upcoming semester and I've been able to do a very little amount of editing for an on-campus publication.</p>
<p>What worries me, however, is that I will not be able to get into a graduate program for Publishing (Emerson is far and away my top choice, followed by Pace and NYU) because I don't have an extensive background in English or Journalism. If anyone has any advice on the subject I would greatly appreciate it, thanks.</p>
<p>If it makes any difference:
3.23 overall GPA/3.50 major GPA
Planning to graduate in 3 years + 1 summer</p>
<p>Your best bet is probably to call the programs (not email, call) and set up a time to talk with someone in graduate admissions. The Emerson program doesn't seem to say anything about undergrad and NYU explicitly states they'll take any background so that shouldn't be a problem.</p>
<p>I suspect, but don't know, that your GPA will be more of a issue than lack of specific English or Journalism experience. After talking with the program advisor(s) you might find that taking the normal 4th year to improve your GPA and get any background material taken care of will be a sensible course of action.</p>
<p>Have you taken the GRE yet?</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I haven't taken the GRE yet, but plan to sometime this year. I took a practice test and got a 1200 without paying much attention, so hopefully I can get that up a little bit.</p>
<p>Also, on the GPA issue, I go to BU, where the average GPA is a 3.04 so does that help me out at all? Additionally, my grades definitely have an upward trend--freshman year I averaged 3.08 and sophomore year 3.38. The low grades were due to a few bad required courses (i.e. math). </p>
<p>And since I go to school in Boston, would it be better to talk to someone in graduate admissions in person at Emerson, or is that too overbearing?</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your input.</p>
<p>I agree with WilliamC - take the 4th year and bring up that GPA. It matters little where you go and what the average GPA is. Also, how many English courses have you taken? If you've taken few, I would take them during that 4th year and perhaps add a minor if possible. While people do go from one undergrad major to another grad major, if you have an entire year you could take courses, it's silly not to take advantage of that to help your application.</p>
<p>AS far as Emerson goes, for what reason would you go? There is no one in admissions who will be able to tell you anything that will not be on their website. However, You can always contact a professor you want to work with and try to arrange to sit in on a class of his/hers and perhaps sitting down with a few questions. Just make sure you actually have some questions related to the program and your career, not just admissions.</p>
<p>And if you take the 4th year, you might be able to fit in a minor in a more related subject. One of the biggest things I learned in undergrad was that life is not a race, you're not going to get points for finishing first. In fact, an admissions committee looking at an application where the person had finished school quickly with a non-stellar GPA might easily assume that this was a person who did quick and careless work, or didn't much enjoy being in school since they were so keen to shorten the experience.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the advice. I'm now seriously considering a 4th year. The only reason I wasn't earlier is the large debt I'll be facing after leaving school (I already have $26K after 2 years) and wanted to minimalize that as much as possible. </p>
<p>What about studying abroad for a year doing internships in my field of interest(I was thinking Dublin, London, Paris, or DC)? Would a graduate admissions committee look favorably on this?</p>
<p>Study abroad and internships abroad are two different things. Study abroad is taking classes at an exchange university. Internship abroad is working in a business or organization. Assuming you mean English or publishing as your field of interest, why would an internship take you if you have no classes in the field? They'll want you to have some background. Study abroad is always a good experience, but if it is debt you're worried about, study abroad will cost more than a regular year (tuition is usually the same, but living expenses and travel there and back add up).</p>
<p>An internship of any sort, related to the graduate field, will always be of interest. Study abroad - not so much (unless it's a foreign language field).</p>
<p>My school actually has programs where you can take 3 4-credit courses at a BU-run center or at a foreign university (I would take as much English or Literature courses as possible) and then do a 4-credit internship, some of which are offered at publishing houses.</p>
<p>An overseas internship sounds like it would be very cool. </p>
<p>I know little about publishing, save anecdotes from author friends - but the opportunity to "network" internationally has got to be worth something, if only in that it would stand out in a pile of otherwise nearly identical resumes.</p>
<p>Internship is practical experience - always good on applications. Being able to do it overseas is just gravy :)</p>