<p>Hi, I'm currently a junior in high school but senior year is quickly approaching. I will also be the first one on my mom's side of the family to attend college so that's why I have a lot of questions when it comes to college and college majors. I love journalism, especially broadcast, but I also know that it is a very competitive field, that is why I'm considering double majoring. I'm considering double majoring in Spanish because I am fluent in it and I've always had translator as a back up plan. I've also felt like a Spanish major could possibly help get a job at a Spanish speaking news or radio station. What I'm not really sure about is how hard it will be to double major? Will it take me any longer than it would have to just major in one area? If you could please leave me some advice I would greatly appreciate it. </p>
<p>If you work with an advisor to plot your requirements in each major through your last semester (plan for four years) and consider using summers for community college and interning, I be you could do it. For example, in freshman year take your journalism, television, English, and Spanish courses. Of course, you’d need to be at a school that permits you to start in your majors during freshman year. </p>
<p>If you are already fluent in Spanish (written and spoken) you’ll be able to skip to the 5th or 6th semester classes in college (sophomore/junior classes) ie., start your major as a freshman and gain LOTS of advanced credits, which is always quite impressive. Do you have an AP score though? If not, take the test next year.
Having that many credits already for one major would make double majoring pretty easy. </p>
<p>@MYOS1634 I took my AP Spanish test in May and I’m still waiting on the scores which get here sometime in July so hopefully I did well enough </p>
<p>Which universities are you considering - American, NYU, Syracuse, Mizzou, Ithaca, Chapman, USC, SDSU?
For journalism, multimedia applications (there are many names for this) would be a necessary minor, and you don’t need to major in journalism but a strong major in economics, political science, environmental science, etc., would be quite useful provided you can get internships. Internships will be more important than the actual name of your major for this field.
Have you taken AP language and composition? Are you allowed to dual enroll at a local college, taking more advanced Spanish and Writing classes?
BTW, your plan is excellent. Spanish speaking media are a growing segment of the market. :)</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 I’ve been looking at more local, In State colleges. My top choices right now are Ball State and Indiana University, out of state colleges are a little out of my price range. The highest level of Spanish my high school offers is AP Spanish and I’ve already taken it so I won’t be able to take another Spanish class senior year</p>
<p>Run the Net Price Calculators on American, Syracuse, Mizzou, Ithaca, Chapman, USC. NYU is notorious for being stingy but has started giving scholarships to students it really wants. Depending on your stats, you could also look at colleges that meet need or offer merit scholarships. Mizzou has automatic and competitive merit that you could qualify for.
I’m not sure it’d be good to go for journalism at Ball State or even IU, because it’s a very hard profession to break into, even from these universities (it’s hard even from schools like Syracuse, American, or Mizzou.) In addition, what’s the local market in terms of Spanish broadcast?
Spanish + Journalism is a great combination - I looked into it and UMiami would probably have the best opportunities for you.
I also checked out FIU but you’d need to qualify for Honors for the non-major classes and scholarships.
<a href=“http://journalism.fiu.edu/”>http://journalism.fiu.edu/</a>
<a href=“http://honors.fiu.edu/”>http://honors.fiu.edu/</a>
<a href=“Cost & Aid | Admissions | Florida International University”>http://admissions.fiu.edu/costs-and-aid/scholarships/index.html</a></p>
<p>If there’s no higher level at your HS, would they allow you to dual enroll at a community college to take the next level in Spanish?</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 Thanks for the links I’ll definitely check out Florida </p>
<p>Any interest in these summer programs?
<a href=“High School Summer Workshops supported by the Dow Jones News FundDow Jones News Fund : Promoting careers in Print and Online Journalism”>https://www.newsfund.org/PageText/Prg_HomePages.aspx?Page_ID=Prg_DJNFHighSchool</a></p>
<p>Also, get involved with NAHJ now: <a href=“http://nahj.org/”>http://nahj.org/</a></p>
<p>If you look at most broadcast journalists today, they didn’t even major in Journalism. They did English or Political Science. So it’s really what you do with internships that matters when it comes to becoming a broadcaster.</p>