<p>I am a rising senior and am debating wether or not to apply ED to Northwestern. I really love NU and was blown away with my campus visit, but I'd just like to make sure NU is the perfect fit for me before agreeing to that binding, ED contract (here's where you guys come in). I am hoping to be accepted to Medill, and, if I am, I would like to obtain the IMC certificate as well. I'm very interested in PR and the more business side of journalism, and I was wondering: if I were to take this route at NU (Medill+IMC), would that set me up for the sort of career that I'm looking for? Also, how hard is it to actually get accepted for the IMC certificate? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>IMC is about marketing, yes, but you don’t need to be in Medill to study that. If you really want that sort of thing, you might consider a SoC major. Medill would set you up well with anything to do with journalism, though, yeah.</p>
<p>You’re guaranteed to be accepted to the IMC program conditional on completing their requirements–the problem is making sure you fill all the prereqs. Some of the classes are sort of small and/or hard to get into, so make sure to plan for that early.</p>
<p>Look up the IMC undergraduate certificate, have a look at the requirements. It’s very informative.</p>
<p>The IMC certificate is 8 courses: 3 prerequisites and 5 IMC specific classes. Depending on your major and AP tests, you might already have completed the requirements, so 5 extra courses isn’t much, especially on the quarter system.</p>
<p>“before agreeing to that binding, ED contract”</p>
<p>It’s an honor-system agreement, not a contract, not legal. Being accepted ED is binding unless you need financial aid, in which case if enough is not offered, you say thanks but not thanks, and apply RD elsewhere.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses, everyone! They were a lot of help. Also, vonlost, I guess “contract” wasn’t really the right term to use. I was just trying to insinuate that I’m a tad worried about the college application process right now, haha.</p>
<p>The IMC certificate should not factor into your decision. It’s only 5 classes and that stuff is kind of common sense that can be learned pretty much anywhere. </p>
<p>Also, what is the business side of journalism? maybe you want to do an econ major or the kellogg certificate also to give you more options.</p>
<p>Twins127, I kind of thought the business side of journalism was marketing/PR? That’s why I figured Northwestern added the marketing aspect to Medill. Also, I do love journalism as well and that’s why I’m looking to go to Medill. Though, I know job opportunities can be slim in the feild, and that’s why I’d like to know if something like the IMC certificate could set me up in something like marketing (which I’m interested as well).</p>
<p>The business side of journalism includes marketing and PR, yes, just like any other corporation. It also involves logistics, finance, strategy, etc. Journalism is no different from any other industry, and it has all of the typical business components. The “business side of journalism” is business. That’s Kellogg, LOC, and economics. Marketing and public relations plays a role, but nothing larger than it would play in any business.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in that sort of thing, you’d be well served to focus as much on business as journalism–knowledge of business combined with a familiarity with the particular nuances of the journalism industry would help.</p>
<p>IMC would help you, but it’s not really the be-all end-all for marketing. It’s something that you do as a part of a larger plan. If you’re interested in marketing analytics, you might take statistics along with IMC, and probably some psychology and sociology. If you’re interested in the design and message sort of thing, you might do better as a comms studies major in the SoC. If you want to put together marketing campaigns from a strategic standpoint (think rebrandings and image repair/revamp), you might be more interested in the same sociology/psychology, but with more focus on business and Kellogg.</p>
<p>Your choice will really depend on what you end up choosing, and that’s the sort of conversation you have with your adviser (and the profs you develop a relationship with) no matter where you go.</p>