Drake or Truman? (Midwest Kids, Please Help!)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I understand that neither of these schools are at the level of prestige that most students on this website are discussing, but please bear with me. I am currently waiting on admissions decisions from other schools, but I expect finances to bring me down to this decision. (Actually, given Drake's tuition, finances might make this decision, too.) </p>

<p>I'm a high school senior from Missouri. From what I've heard people say, Drake and Truman State seem to have similar academic reputations. At least, in Missouri, Truman has a good reputation. With in-state tuition, Truman seems the obvious choice. They offer rigorous curricula (some call them overwhelming) at a competitive price. However, there is a blatantly obvious problem with Truman, if you are familiar with the school: Kirksville. It's hard to find a college town of less opportunity. I am strongly considering going into magazine editing, which I understand to be a competitive field. In my college search, internships have been one of my top priorities. No matter how hard I try, I can't overlook the problem with trying to launch a journalism career from Truman.</p>

<p>Drake, on the other hand, has almost everything I'm looking for. It is a smaller school with a relatively competitive academic reputation (#3 regionally). It is situated in Des Moines, a small, but active city. On top of being able to work with the Drake media to cover stories like the Iowa caucuses and Drake Relays, I would also be able to enjoy a wealth of internship opportunities. Drake has close ties to the Meredith corporation, which is what attracted me to the school in the first place. As stated above, Drake also presents a problem with money. I haven't received any financial aid information yet, but I predict that it won't be pretty. They already granted me an annual $13,000 academic scholarship, but, unless they give me far more aid than the website projects, it will still be very expensive.</p>

<p>As you may have guessed, I am very partial to Drake. When I imagine myself in the future, I imagine being far more satisfied with a Drake diploma hanging in my office. Unfortunately, I'm not sure my future pride, or lack thereof, is justification for the extra years of loan payments. Any input would be appreciated. I would really like advice from other people in similar situations, or from people who know someone who has made a similar choice.</p>

<p>On a sidenote, if you're wondering why Mizzou was not mentioned above, (as I am from Missouri and am looking at journalism degrees,) it is worth mentioning that I applied and was admitted to the J school. The thing is that I visited the campus. While I was dazzled by all of their emphasized majors and state-of-the-art equipment, I just couldn't picture myself fitting in or being successful in a school so huge.</p>

2

<p>I think you are overestimating the internship opportunities available at drake. Des Moines is a decent sized city but there wont be an abundance of opportunities that are just here you will have to work for them. However, drake is the better school fit wise for you but if the finances do not make sense it does not make sense to take on debt to get a journalism degree. </p>

3

<p>I am very familiar with both schools. I live in Iowa and son strongly considered Truman State and we visited multiple times. Know lots of kids at Drake.</p>

<p>Truman’s career services area is probably the weakest part of the school, not really impressed with it at all. You are correct, because of the strong presence of Meredith(and other publishers) in DM, Drake will have far more internship opportunities readily available and their career services and industry contacts in journalism/advertising blow Truman out of the water.</p>

<p>Tuition/Fees/Room/Board is around $40,000, correct? Net of $27,000?</p>

<p>How easy for you to pay the $27,000? Drake is not more ‘prestigious’ than Truman. In fact, in the academic community, Truman is considered the better school. Drake is very, very, very pre-professional. Truman State, not at all, much more ‘intellectual’.</p>

<p>Any thoughts on going to Mizzou? </p>

4

<p>You have solid reasons for choosing Drake over Truman if the money works out. But please do make a clear plan NOW as to what your financial limits are. You want to be able to kiss Drake good-bye if the money doesn’t work, rather than struggle with ways to make an unaffordable option work for you.</p>

5

<p>Top 50 Journalism Schools, if you can make it work financially, Drake is probably your best choice of the two.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.collegemediamatters.com/2012/12/04/50-best-journalism-schools-and-programs-at-u-s-colleges-and-universities-updated-for-2013/”>http://www.collegemediamatters.com/2012/12/04/50-best-journalism-schools-and-programs-at-u-s-colleges-and-universities-updated-for-2013/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Can you compromise at all to save money, give up the small school, for a larger school with an equally strong (or stronger) journalism program (compared to Drake) or a stronger program than Truman? Mizzou? You could probably go to Iowa State for about $21,000 per year? Iowa State also has strong ties to Meredith and is 30 minute drive from DM.</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.jlmc.iastate.edu/prospective/map”>https://www.jlmc.iastate.edu/prospective/map&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>That is the whole dilemma. I simply have no idea what the bottom lines on either of the schools will be. Actually, I don’t really know the financial aid situation of any of my schools right now. (Stupid FAFSA.) My family is in a complicated financial situation that could tip the scales in one direction or the other. It looks more likely that I will end up at Truman, but it will feel like a compromise. </p>

<p>The funny thing is that Truman was once my first choice in schools. I was just beginning my college search and I had several people recommend them. They were the first college I visited and I fell in love with it. I’m from a podunk town and I had only been on one other college campus. (The college my parents went to, and I hadn’t gone there to tour.) And when I met with the Truman English and journalism students, I actually felt like I fit in. (Something I’ve never accomplished in high school.) But I eventually visited other schools with bigger programs and more opportunities and I became much less sure about Truman. </p>

<p>Not that anyone here really cares to hear more of that story. The point is that I don’t really see Truman as an inferior school. I never said they were less “presigious” than Drake. In fact, I never used that word to describe either school. I only brought up rank to say they have somewhat similar reputations. (USNWR only gave them a ranking difference of 4, which, in my opinion, isn’t enough to say much of anything.) And I am ready to give Drake a big “Screw you” if they expect anything even close to $27,000 a year. I wouldn’t pay that in my wildest nerdy dreams!</p>

<p>To answer Haystack’s question, Mizzou is an option I’ve been bouncing around, but I really can’t picture myself going there. Also, Mizzou seems like the path to take if I really want to commit to a journalism major. I’m very aware that I will be a different person by the time I leave college, and their J-school reputation is pretty much the only reason I would like to go there. I am bouncing around career options other than journalism, most of which pay a heck of a lot better. Editing just matches my skills of which I am currently aware. I want a career that involves writing, but I can write a book regardless of my career.</p>

7

<p>I asked my kid this…which is more important?</p>

<p>-being surrounded by lots of nerdy kids where writing is important and small classes dominate (Truman)?</p>

<p>or</p>

<p>-having access to lots of different majors and courses allowing you to study just about anything and be able to join any of about 800 student orgs? Knowing that you will typically have larger classes especially your first 2 years with less writing. (Mizzou)</p>

<p>My kid ultimately decided that having a rolling buffet of majors, courses, clubs, concerts, sports, activities, etc was more important than the makeup of the student body and he didn’t mind having large lecture classes. </p>

8

<p>Haystack, I’m going to take a shot in the dark and say that you recommend Mizzou. Going black and gold isn’t off the table, but I would like to weigh all options with respect to their situations. Mizzou’s reputation and programs do weigh heavily in my mind, but I’m not sure I can easily compare the three. They’re all so radically different. It seems, for now, that I will probably first choose between Drake and Truman before choosing between that school and MU. If I chose Drake over Truman, but Drake came to be dramatically more expensive, I would probably go to Columbia. </p>

9

<p>Which colleges did you apply to beside Mizzou, Drake, and Truman?
How much can your parents afford/are willing to pay?</p>

10

<p>All three have distinct advantages. Truman is really well known in St. Louis and respected. Drake is a fine school and Missouri is Missouri, so please don’t think of any of the three as being a ‘let down’…Any of the three will be great for you when the time comes. College is what you make of it regardless of reputation or size. I’m sure Truman has numerous student publications where you can get some experience if that is where you end up.</p>

11

<p>Well, if any of you see this, looks like I’m probably headed to Truman next year. My financial situations at Drake and Mizzou are confusing and irritating. Drake actually came out to be slightly cheaper than MU, but I feel like that is only because MU offered me just about nothing other than loans. The tiny merit scholarship they gave me is insulting coming from a school with as much money as Mizzou. Also, I was extremely irritated with the way they handled pretty much everything during the application and financial aid process. The whole time I was looking at them, I really got the sense that they care about nothing other than taking my money. Screw them. Colleges are big businesses and it’s naive to see them any other way, but most other schools at least pretended to be interested in me and what I want to do. </p>

<p>Drake pretty much cut their price in half for me with their scholarships and grants, but I’m still not sure it’s doable. I really wasn’t expecting it to be within reach, but I was kind of counting on being pleasantly surprised, if that makes sense. It usually doesn’t hurt to try. At least the application was free. </p>

<p>Truman was the first school I visited, and now, I wish it had been the only one. I sifted through probably 50 schools all over the country and applied to a few others, but figured I would probably end up at one of these three. Now it seems like Truman was the only option I ever really had. (I’m really not much of a fan of the other Missouri state schools.) I think this will require rethinking my future and finding a new career path. From what I’ve heard, their journalism is kind of a joke and, when I visited again recently, I spoke with the guy in charge of media internships and asked about their career services. From what he described, they sound woefully unhelpful. Maybe I’ll discover a new, more lucrative skill in college. You don’t go into english-related fields for the money. I wonder if I could be a good accountant. Wait, I hate math.</p>

<p>Oh well. College is only a few years of my life. I’ll get out of Podunkville, Missouri, some day. </p>

12

<p>In order to get a job in journalism, most professionals actually recommend you major in English/Writing, and/or in history, international relations, government, etc. So, you will have a good major from Truman, but you know you’ll be on your own for internships. That will be crucial. Mizzou sounds like it’s mired in red tape, but then again, budget cuts mean that they probably cut support staff a lot and that the remaining staff are just overworked and overwhelmed.
You can still apply to a few good schools outside Missouri (and yes they do have financial aid): Albion, Hendrix, New College in Florida (which is heavy on writing and is an Ivy-feeder AND has guaranteed scholarships for OOS kids), Drew (close to NYC and good for internships)… Deposit at Truman (I don’t think it’s much), apply to all four, and see if one is affordable. HURRY though.</p>

13

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<p>Yes, broad general knowledge of subjects that you may encounter in a journalism career (economics, history, politics, religion, science, etc.) is likely useful.</p>

14

<p>It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster today. I have spent the last few weeks waiting for additional scholarship information. This morning, Drake offered me some additional scholarship money and I think I’ll go for it. I hear the general rule is not to go into more debt than a year of starting pay. With the new scholarships, work-study, outside scholarships, summer jobs, and some (unexpected) parental help, I think I can do it. Heck, I talked to some people and think I might pull off an early graduation. Wouldn’t that be financially helpful? </p>

<p>As for the major thing, I actually applied as an English major and plan to pursue it. When I said what I did about English-related fields, I was just trying to highlight that I am under no delusions that I’ll ever be rolling in cash. I do hope to double-major, though. The only problem is that I’m not committed to what my second major should be. I was considering an English/Journalism coupling, but I feel like that locks me into a box. One of the things I like about an English major is that it’s versatile and can compliment most other majors well. I would kind of like a degree that keeps a lot of job options open. Right now, I’m leaning more toward the editing field than anything else. (And I do realize that editor is a job you have to work your way up to.) I’m hoping the real-world work experience Drake will help/force me to get will push me in the right direction.</p>

15

<p>I’m not sure Drake is better than Truman but if you like it better it’s certainly a good school. check that it offers a concentration in writing though. a double major with economics would be very versatile .</p>

16

<p>It’s not that I think Drake is better. I just think it’s a better match for me and what I want to do. I know Truman is a great school with a lot of extremely smart kids attending. My best friend will be one of them next fall. (She got a full ride. I swear, if she weren’t so awesome, I would hate her.) </p>

<p>And Drake does offer a writing concentration. That was the path I was planning, actually. You can choose either writing or literature, but I feel like a literature major sounds a little… pointless? I don’t really know what you would do with it other than teaching. (I don’t like children, so that’s out of the question.)</p>

17

<p>So it sounds like it’s Drake for you. :slight_smile: English with a concentration in writing is still going to be a lot of literature (just be aware of this, but I assume you love reading). Your complementary major could be economics, political science, etc.</p>