<p>I've always thought I would be a doctor but Ive come to the realization that it truly isn't the job for me. I love to write, whether it's a fictional story or an inside report. I just don't know what types of jobs are in the Journalism field. I do know that the field is extremely competitive and doesn't pay much unless you get lucky. My question is if I got lucky and got into Harvard (or Columbia) would getting a good paying job be much easier.</p>
<p>Harvard doesn’t offer a journalism major. The closest thing would probably be English, though.
And while no official preference is given to journalists from prestigious schools, a cursory inspection of the journalists working at top publications would indicate that such a bias does exist in the hiring process.</p>
<p>Working as a Crimed (Crimson editor) is better than any journalism degree. It is a daily newspaper with a circulation of nearly 15,000. Writing, copy-editing, laying out and then editing the Crimson will get one job offers (I was an editor at the Yale Daily News and was offered a spot by the then-editorial page editor of the NY Times John B Oakes. I decided not to go that route, but a number of my colleagues did and I see their bylines in all of the major national publications. A number of their colleagues were Crimeds.)</p>
<p>As for academic preparation-- Social Studies. By far the best preparation-- used to be that Marty Peretz would hire one graduating concentrator each year for TNR and so would Washington Monthly. While that pipeline maybe over, still an excellent concentration for someone interested in national/international affairs.</p>
<p>As a recent grad ('09) and former Crimson editor, I can attest to the fact that the pipeline from 14 Plympton St. to major news publications is still going strong.</p>
<p>Of the people who were at The Crimson when I was there, graduates are writing for the NYT, WSJ, Sports Illustrated, and a ton of new media publications (Daily Beast + such). The alumni network is incredibly strong.</p>
<p>That said, the vast majority of Crimeds don’t go into journalism (law school, med school, consulting + banking are all popular).</p>