<p>Hello. I would like to know more information about the journalism program at the School of Communications and theater here at Temple. What you tell me about it? I am interested in transferring to Temple in the Spring. What is the transfer GPA and how can you transfer? Thank you.</p>
<p>Hi winterpark! I was actually a journalism major at Temple for the first few months of freshman year. I didn’t end up sticking with the program–not because it didn’t have exceptional professors, classes, and internship opportunities, but because I decided to change career directions–regardless, I twill tell you everything I know. </p>
<p>In terms of transferring: to the best of my knowledge, there is no special requirement for the School of Communication and Theatre (Film and Media Arts the lone exception). As long as you have a 3.1 or higher, you should be fine! </p>
<p>Temple’s journalism program begins with the overview course Journalism & Society, and is followed by several survey courses, which teach you the fundamentals of journalistic writing, broadcast journalism techniques, and research databases. After the foundation courses are completed, I believe you have approximately 6 electives. Paths (newspaper, magazine, photojournalism, broadcast), are no longer required, but you can specialize in one area if you hold a strong interest. Back when I wanted to be a journalist, I chose Temple’s journalism program because it has such an expansive array of electives–whether you want to take a class in food writing, ethnic news, sports reporting, photographic lighting, Internet journalism or fiction for magazines, Temple’s got it! The higher-level classes do some really amazing work: magazine journalism students produce their own glossy publication (it looks very professional, I will add), and photo students usually compile some sort of social commentary photography book. The capstone course for everyone is based in the Multimedia Urban Reporting Lab, and essentially, you concentrate on some of Philly’s underrepresented neighborhoods to compile multimedia features (for publication on the center’s website). Most students complete internships, although it’s up to you whether you want one for credit. When I was a journalism student, I decided I didn’t want to go this route, as you are essentially paying Temple to work for someone (in most cases, for no pay). </p>
<p>Temple also have several extracurricular opportunities for journalism students, or students who aren’t majoring in journalism but have an enthusiasm for the field. There’s the Temple News, Temple’s student newspaper. They pay $7 for each article and photograph, if I’m not mistaken. I tried it for a few weeks, but I didn’t stick with it because you typically only have one week to collect 2-4 interviews and write your article (not to say this is unachievable, but it was difficult because I had a rigorous courseload). The paper is excellent reading, and it has some interesting niche columns. There’s also ED2010, Temple’s magazine journalism club, which focuses on networking and sometimes plans tours of magazine offices or trips to NYC. Her Campus is also quite popular (an online branch of the national publication), which has articles on fashion, college life, entertainment, etc. Temple’s newest communications organization is Media Meltdown, which is an attempt at combining all facets of media at Temple (film, broadcast, print, communication studies, theatre). Media Meltdown covers student org and concerts through multimedia pieces, and I heard they were working scripting/filming their own sit-com last semester. </p>
<p>Let me know if I can provide any further information about Temple journalism; I’d be happy to help!</p>