Hi all,
I am a rising high school senior who is looking to major in communications in college, more specifically public relations. Does anyone know of schools that are known for having renowned Public Relations programs? Or even sneaky good PR programs, I am also looking for safety schools.
Thank you in advance!
Anyone?
Over the past several years, Alabama’s undergrad PR dept has been ranked within the top 5 in the country…sometimes #1.
What are your stats?
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — For the sixth consecutive year, The University of Alabama’s public relations program, housed in the College of Communication and Information Sciences, is one of five finalists for PR Education Program of the Year, according to national awards compiled by and published in PRWeek magazine.
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cGPA: 3.5
wGPA: 4.01
SAT: 1330/1600: 720 on CR+W and 610 on M
ACT: 31: 34 on Reading, 34 on English, 27 on M, 30 on Science
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You should test again! A 32 on the ACT or similar on SAT would get you more merit scholarship money.
How much will your family pay?
Some of the better schools with dedicated PR programs
(as opposed to a concentration within a Communications or Business degree) include:
U Miami
Chapman
U Southern California
Syracuse
BU
George Washington
U Denver
Here are some schools that have strong PR components within their Comm/Business/marketing programs:
U Oregon
UT-Austin
Michigan State
U Florida
U Alabama
Look into Ithaca College, American Univ and Elon Univ
I know someone who is quite successful in PR, earning about $300K in his late 40’s. He started as a volunteer in a political campaign for a local politician while in college. Are you volunteering in this election year? They liked him and offered him a job as a part-time worker helping constituents while he went to school. This led to a full-time job with them, and got to know some of the lobbyists that worked in the city. He went to work for a lobbying firm. His career has been a succession of stints working for lobbying firms, in-house lobbyist for companies doing business with the city or state, public relations, etc. In each round the connections he has built, along with the respect for his work, has helped him on and up.
The point I want to make knowing his career history is that you don’t need a specific degree to prepare for this career. You need experience and to perform well. HS kids often view the world as one of credentials since that’s all they’ve known; when you finish grade 7 you go on to grade 8, when you finish HS you go to college. Implicitly they seem to assume that the path to any career is to have a diploma or recognized training in that field. For some areas such as accounting or engineering it is indeed true, but there are many careers where many successful people have degrees more or less unrelated.
My parents are willing to pay up to 32k a year. I have been debating testing again, but I don’t know if I could do much better. Both of those test scores are good right?
Yes, the scores are good…but if you have a financial restriction ($32k per year) then you might want higher scores to get add’l merit from the schools that give merit.
That said, UA would be affordable. You’d get a 2/3 tuition per year merit scholarship, so remaining costs would be about $24k per year.
Most of the PR people I know (and I used to work with them a lot) are former journalists. Corporations like that background, since the job requires superb writing skills and an understanding of how media works and how to use it. In fact, out of all the people I’ve worked with (at several Fortune 200 and higher companies), only 1 had a communications degree – she also had a bachelor’s in business (double major.)
Nebraska
Let me ask: Why PR? What itch are you trying to scratch? What type of school do you want to attend, region of the country, etc.? Also, keep in mind, older PR pros’ career paths are not the same as the path for today’s young PR pros.
Sorry I took forever to respond! But to address the first question, I’m closing PR because it combines my passion with a realistic job. I have found that I am in love with the English language, whether it be reading, writing, or editing, and a job in PR effectively combines all 3. It also gives me a chance to put my social skills to use which is a plus. And, since nearly every business in the world needs a PR team, it gives me the flexibility to find a business I truly want to work for.
Now to answer the school question, I do not particularly care about any certain region for a school. I am mainly looking at D1 schools but I am open to any school as long as it isn’t smaller than 5,000 students.
Also, thank you to those who replied earlier in the thread that I have not directly responded to, your insights are a lot of help.
@mkat12 Alabama’s app is now live, so get your app in.