Finding The Right College or University for Me for Broadcast Journalism

<p>Hello everyone.</p>

<p>I hope that you have happy Christmas holiday and happy 2012. I need help finding a college or university that has a very good, strong/rigorous, great, and excellent journalism program. I currently attend the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) and they do not have a journalism major nor journalism program. They do not have any extracurricular activities nor any opportunities (employment opportunities and internship opportunities) for me to do journalism. They do not have any journalism classes. The major that I am in is Media & Communication Studies and the major nor the faculty members are not teaching anything about journalism nor helping me in journalism. I am not getting help in journalism in the school, I am not learning anything from the school to become a journalist, they do not have any classes in journalism, they are not helping me find internships opportunities, employment opportunities, and extracurricular activities in journalism, I have to do that on my own. I am considering transferring to a university that is right me. I have been harassed by other students in this school and not a lot of people in the school are not willing to get to know me and be a friend. That is also another factor, but my biggest factor is my academic major and that is extremely important. Since I have come to UMBC since August 2010, the school has not done anything for me within my major. I am in the Media & Communication Studies major and I do not like it because it is not the major that I want to be in and it is not journalism. The major is very, very, very weak and is not teaching me anything about journalism and UMBC is not giving opportunities for internships and extracurricular activities. I have to go find internships and other experiences on my own outside of UMBC. UMBC is not helping me in academic major nor fulfilling my needs non-academically. I do not have any friends in the school. No one does not want to get to know me and they have other friends and commitments that are important to them. I was also bullied on this campus by a group of students for no reason which there was justice and a positive outcome in court. My roommate and suitemates are STEM majors and they really do not want to get to know me nor be my friends. I felt lonely and isolated and then I cried to myself because I felt that I do not belong to UMBC and in reality, I do not belong to UMBC and I want to find a place that can belong and be in an in-group and not an out-group. UMBC has not done anything for me. I really hate UMBC to tell you the truth and I do not like my experience here, I hate it very much and I have to lied to others about my major in fear of them might knowing that my actual major (Broadcast Journalism) does not offer in the school that I attend . I am embarrassed and ashamed of the Media & Communication Studies major. The major itself is not doing anything for m UMBC is not doing anything for me both academically and non-academically. Because of this experience at UMBC, I am intended and decided to transfer to another university that really has my major and opportunities for it. I have tried to transfer to the University of Maryland-College Park, but because of requirements I was not accepted. I want to pursue an academic major in Broadcast Journalism and Political Science. I am also trying to find internships in my local area which is the D.C. Metropolitan area and I am having trouble getting internships because I have not been taught in my school how to use editing tools, how to write news, and etc. I want to find an internship in the D.C. Metropolitan area that can teach me these skills. I would like anyone to please recommend any schools that I should look into. I want to apply for the Fall 2012 admission. I am aware of the University of Maryland-College Park's journalism program and I have been to the school multiple times and I live close to the school. Money will not be a problem. I have an appointment with the University of Maryland-College Park Pre-Transfer Adviser either on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 or Wednesday, January 11, 2012 in the afternoon and I want to ask them the course that will transfer and to take as well as an alternative major in case I do not get into the Journalism program. I have looked multiple times at the Phillip Merrill College of Journalism website in regards to the journalism requirements.</p>

<p>I am also looking at other schools in the DC Area which are American University and George Washington University. I am also looking at schools outside of Maryland and D.C. such as Pennsylvania State University, Syracuse University, University of Florida, University of Miami, Northwestern University, University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Southern California, Boston University, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the schools in the State University of New York System (SUNY), the schools in the City University of New York System (CUNY), Hofstra University, New York University, and others.</p>

<p>I know Maryland-College Park's journalism program very well, but I do not any of the other universities journalism program that well. I am asking if you have attended any of these universities, if you are current student, alumni, a former student, an prospective student, or someone who visited the schools, if they have a good journalism (Broadcast Journalism) program. I am concern about schools that located in the D.C Area (except for UMD-CP) and schools outside of the state of Maryland and DC Area. I am concern about the class size, to courses, to everything. </p>

<p>I would like to someone to steer me in the right direction. I am also going to borrow College Board’s Book of Majors 2012 at my local library this week to find schools that have a good broadcast journalism program. I want to become a journalist when I grow up. I also want to be analyst, a lawyer, and an advocate. The University of Maryland-Baltimore County is just wasting my time. I will not and cannot settle for less and I will not and cannot give up on my dream which is to attend journalism school (J-School) for undergraduate to get my baccalaureate degree (bachelor degree) in broadcast journalism and political science and become a journalist. It is my dream to become a journalist. I do not know where to go and I do not know which school is right, good, best, and perfect for me. If I do not find nor get accept to the university that is right for me and has the journalism program that I want and meets my needs by August 2011, my parents are going to force me to stay at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. If I stay at UMBC, I am not going to find employment and I will not be preparing for my career nor my major. I do not want to attend graduate school for journalism. I have heard things about that. </p>

<p>Can you please assist me in the right direction? This is a new year and for the year of 2012, I want to have a positive outcome in this situation I am currently in. I want to have a miracle. Please pray for me. If you are also Catholic, please pray for me through the intercession of Mary, through the intercession Our Lady of Perpetual Help, through the intercession of St. Jude, and through the intercession of my angels and guardian angels. Please, I really need help. Thank you.</p>

<p>Now I going to put what my current school has so that you can know what is going on here:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.umbc.edu/mcs/about.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.umbc.edu/mcs/about.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>(This site tells you what the major is about)</p>

<p><a href="http://www.umbc.edu/mcs/curriculum.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.umbc.edu/mcs/curriculum.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>(This site shows you the curriculum of the major)</p>

<p><a href="http://www.umbc.edu/catalog/2011/courses.php?dept=MCS%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.umbc.edu/catalog/2011/courses.php?dept=MCS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://bookstore.umbc.edu/CourseMaterials.aspx%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://bookstore.umbc.edu/CourseMaterials.aspx&lt;/a> (This site shows all of the textbooks that are associated with the major and the textbooks that students in each class have to take while being enrolled.)</p>

<p>Did you look at Fordham? I heard they have a really good program. UFlorida always wins awards in broadcast. Syracuse too. My neighbor’s D is at Hofstra for journalsim and loves it. My D is looking for journalism, but not broadcast so I can just tell you what I’ve heard. We visited UFlorida and were very impressed with the j-school. We will be visiting UTexas April 1. We loved Medill/NU. She turned UMD-CP and Penn St down… both good programs but many kids from her HS go to those schools and she wants to branch out. Look into Emerson! Wasn’t a good overall fit for my D (she wants sports) but it was very impressive!!! BU was awful! Looks like it hasn’t been updated in decades. Don’t waste your time with the SUNYs, they are not competitive. I hate saying that as I am a graduate of SUNY-Bing!</p>

<p>No offense but this has to be a joke. If you really want to study journalism, why don’t you learn a thing or two about grammar? I know this isn’t an English paper and you want to be a “broadcast journalist” but you still need to know how to write. All those schools are way out of your reach if you’re actually being serious. Why don’t you join the school newspaper? I’m sure you can find friends on the newspaper. Be yourself and open-minded and friends will come. I say stick with your school and try to actually put yourself out there; maybe you’ll learn a thing or two. I’m sorry, but please take a writing class. The whole thing made no sense because you kept contradicting yourself. In addition, you could have summarized everything you stated in just 2 sentences instead of a page. Honestly, this is why so many people think communication/journalism majors are a joke. I’m a prospective journalism/poly-sci major and I wish more people took these studies seriously because the media industry is rapidly expanding and we need more strong leaders and writers to bring ourselves forward into the next generation. Ah well, good luck with your future endeavors.</p>